I knew Mike Russo well. He and Ron Brentano played every Friday and Saturday night at the 13th Avenue Gallery in Portland in the 1960's. I guess the venue started out on 13th Avenue, but when I joined the gig, it was located in a storefront under the Hawthorn Bridge. The promoter, Paul Hebb, also brought in other artists, such as Jesse Fuller.

I have many fond memories of listening to Mike and Ron over mulled cider. I have a number of tapes - now converted to CD - including a long interview with Mike that I used for a project in college (I monored in ethnomusicology).

FYI: Mike's 12-string was a Stella and his 6-string was a Martin.