|
December 20 From carpenter to songwriter – Since leaving construction and recording Torn Screen Door in 1999 Scottish-born Canadian, David Francey is recognized as one of today’s finest singer-songwriters. Earlier this year Francey’s CD, Right of Passage, earned him his third JUNO (Canada’s top music award) in less than 5 years. Francey recently had the honour of receiving the prestigious SOCAN Folk Music Award. "David’s straightforward songs tell honest stories of real people and real places. Poetic perception and a keen eye for the heart of the matter are trademarks of the man and his music. His songs and stories are a direct connection for audiences seeking depth and meaning in the day-to-day." Shelter Valley Folk Festival Touring with David is American ballad maker and multi-instrumentalist Craig Werth. www.davidfrancey.com , www.craigwerth.com David Francey was born in 1954 in Ayrshire, Scotland, where as a paper boy he got his first taste of the working life. He learned to read at an early age, and by age eleven was devouring the newspapers he delivered. This helped establish his interest in politics and world events while developing the social conscience that forms the backdrop of his songs. His attachment to Canada grew with travel. He hitched across the country three times, then thumbed his way to the Yukon. This attachment surfaces in his songs of rail lines, farms, and the St. Lawrence Seaway. He grew to understand the people while working in Toronto train yards, the Yukon bush, and as a carpenter in the Eastern Townships. These experiences colour his first CD, Torn Screen Door, with songs like Hard Steel Mill, Gypsy Boys, and Working Poor and his second, Far End of Summer, with Highway, Flowers of Saskatchewan and February Morning Drive. In concert David is a singer and a storyteller. His wry humour and astute observations combined with his openhearted singing style have earned him a loyal following. David lives with his wife, artist Beth Girdler and their three children Amy, Julia and Colin in the quiet but charming Lanark Highlands in southern Ontario.
| |||
|
Dec 21
Born on a warm night in December 2006, the Good Lovelies had no idea what was to come...
| |||
|
December 27 One of today's true innovators of guitar composition and technique, has emerged as one of the most respected musicians in Canada and one of the top guitarists in the world. In September 1996, he managed to do what no other player has done: win the prestigious U.S. National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship for the second time (he first won in 1988). The competition, held yearly in Winfield, Kansas, cannot be won only with immaculate technique, but the player's music must also display a high degree of emotion and intensity — hallmarks of Don's style. The son of a Scottish immigrant father and a Mi'kmaq aboriginal mother, Don was born in Montreal in 1960 into a musical family. He first started experimenting with the solo possibilities of the acoustic guitar at the age of eight. By age ten he was playing in alternate tunings and exploring "fingerstyle" technique, a right hand discipline similar to classical guitar playing. Preferring to write original music and develop a personal style, Don's self-taught journey on the instrument has encouraged him to follow his musical intuition. The result is an unclassifiable musical style that borrows from jazz, folk, rock and classical music. When asked, Don usually pigeonholes his music as "Heavy Wood"! Don graduated from the Music Department of Toronto's York University in 1983, but waited until 1986 to start pursuing a career as a performer. After his first win at Winfield, Don was asked to sign with Duke Street Records. He recorded three CDs for Duke Street over the course of the next four years: Bearing Straight, Don Ross and Three Hands. The CDs met with unanimous critical acclaim and numerous tours across Canada and the U.S. Don even played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Don signed a new recording deal with Columbia/Sony Music in 1994, releasing his first album for the label, This Dragon Won't Sleep, in 1995. In the fall of 1996 Don released Wintertide, an instrumental album of traditional Christmas tunes played in his trademark style. Lynn Saxberg of the Ottawa Citizen called the CD a "masterpiece," and the public response was no less enthusiastic. Don's next record, Loaded. Leather. Moonroof. was released in November, 1997. The album "...is a further exploration for a rich sense of harmony and groove," according to Don. The CD treats Don's listeners to a compilation of diverse sounds that reflects his influence by all types of music. On this album, Don passionately plays the six-string and seven-string guitars as well as the dobro. He is often accompanied by several other musicians whom all add their specialty. Don considers the first track, "Loaded. Leather. Moonroof." one of the most powerful tunes he has recorded to date, due partly to a great solo by bassist Mark Egan, who asked to play with Don that year. Mark's previous work includes collaborations with guitar great Pat Metheny, singer Joan Osbourne and countless others. The collection of tunes on Loaded. Leather. Moonroof. carries Don further past the usual style boundaries associated with acoustic music.
| |||
|
Dec 28 & 30 (Los Angeles) Award-winning singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith inspires comparisons to icons like Woody Guthrie and Bruce Springsteen, tops the roots music charts, and boasts devoted fans that include a slew of his fellow songwriters. High-profile tastemakers in the know — fellow musicians like Toby Keith and The Cowboy Junkies as well as film folks like Martin Scorsese and James Caan, to name a few — consider him one of the stellar musical and lyrical talents of our day. Though a decidedly grassroots artist in the thematic focus of his songs and how he pursues his career, playing some 180 shows a year across North America as well as Europe and Australia and releasing his own records under his cheekily-titled A Major Label imprint, Eaglesmith boasts an impact that far better known musical acts can only dream of. His latest album and 16th release, Milly's Cafe, hit the Top 10 on the Americana chart, and he is also the only Canadian to have ever written a #1 song on the bluegrass charts. He is the subject of three tribute albums and enjoys critical comparisons to some of the most respected talents in music as well as the respect of his peers. And then there's his devoted if not rabid coterie of fans known as "Fredheads" who travel hundreds and even thousands of miles as well as even overseas to catch his vibrant live performances. His songs have joined the canon of academic curriculum at two universities, illuminating both poetic and societal studies. Eaglesmith has also acted in a number of movies and is a painter who regularly shows in galleries. Fellow songwriters are also drawn to Eaglesmith's songs. Superstar Toby Keith included Fred's recording of "Thinkin' 'Bout You" in his movie Broken Bridges and on the soundtrack album. Keith also recorded Eaglesmith's song "White Rose" on his recently released Big Dog Daddy CD as one of the only two songs he didn't write. "I had 'White Rose' on my list of songs to record for years," Keith says. "The song is such a great story and the beauty of it is that there are no White Rose filling stations in the U.S., only Canada. But it doesn't change the meaning one bit."
| |||
|
Dec 29 Host Simon B. Cotter Dave Hampstead (Just for Laughs),
| |||
|
Dec 31 Chris Whiteley -- For over 25 years Chris Whiteley has been performing, writing, and recording roots music, both as a multi-instrumentalist (trumpet, harmonica, guitar, and pedal steel) and as a vocalist. Along the way he has worked and recorded with such artists as Leon Redbone, John Hammond, blues piano great Blind John Davis, country stars Prairie Oyster and folk legend Tom Paxton among many others. He has appeared on over 100 recordings. Chris has four Juno nominations, including one for “Bluesology,” recorded with longtime musical partner, brother Ken Whiteley. The Jazz Report Awards named “Bluesology” Blues Album of the Year. The latest release by The Whiteley Brothers is “Sixteen Shades of Blue,” an album of all-original blues songs. Chris has written a top ten Canadian country hit for Prairie Oyster, and also had his songs recorded by such artists as Cindy Church, Penny Lang, McGinty, Quartette and R & B favourites Fathead. He also received acclaim for two albums of original songs with wife Caitlin Hanford, including a 1985 Juno nomination and extensive radio airplay. He has also written songs for radio, television, and film, including Sesame Street and the National Film Board, and has performed live on many radio and T.V. Shows, including "Vinyl Cafe", “Morningside,” “Swingin’ on a Star” and “Saturday Night Live” with Leon Redbone. Chris has performed throughout North America at festivals, clubs, and concerts - from New York city to Baffin Island, from Newfoundland to Nashville, and from L.A. to a featured concert with brother Ken at the prestigious Chicago Blues Festival.
| |||
|
JANUARY 8 Following the exciting Hugh's Room launch of Flight of Fancy, their first recording as a duo, Paul Mills and Joanne Crabtree played many successful concerts around southern Ontario, all the while developing their tight vocal harmonies. In the summer of 2007, Joanne was gripped by a song-writing fever that resulted in eight new songs. Just as the fever was beginning to wane, Paul joined in, and over many snow-bound days in late 2007, they collaborated on three additional heartfelt songs. Those eleven songs - some sad, some funny, some from personal history, some plucked from thin air – those songs are the heart and soul of Freedom, and from creativity to civil rights, freedom plays a role in every one of them. Armed with their own writings, two songs from tradition, two from like-minded authors, and the feeling they could not wait to start sharing this new repertoire with the world, Paul and Joanne headed back into the recording studio in 2008. The new CD, Freedom, is the happy result. For the release concert at Hugh's Room, Paul and Joanne will be joined by Tom Leighton on keyboards, accordion, and percussion and Bob Hewus on bass. This band will delight and amuse you…we’ll just have to make sure Tom and Bob don’t upstage the duo too much!
| |||
|
January 9-10 "Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, something roars in and it turns you about." Connie Kaldor wrote this and more about the unexpected twists and turns of life and love for her latest album Love is a Truck. She could well have been writing about her personal artistic complexities. Music pundits have tried to define the essence of the prairie-born acoustic performer for over two decades but even the most eloquent have fallen short of perfection. Fact is, Connie Kaldor is a performer without borders. A contradiction in terms. She is a Juno-award winning singer who has flourished on the folk music scene for over two decades yet her repertoire of original material blurs musical boundaries, embracing elements of gospel, rock, country and western, folk, blue grass and adult contemporary. She is an artist of substance without pretension, witty and urbane without condescension. She is a fearless chronicler of the human experience without the folksong angst. She has recorded nine albums, sold tens of thousands of copies, but has never had a commercial hit. Her live performances are legendary and her fan base broad and fiercely loyal. People come back to see her again and again because a Connie Kaldor performance is about more than just the power of music. It is also about the power of personality. What she says between songs is as intriguing as the lyrics she sings. She has travelled prairie backroads to visit modest community centres and sold out concert halls in major cities. From Bejing to New Dehli to Saskatoon to Washington, Connie has triumphed with a mix of song and spoken word honed in pacing and tone by the many years she spent performing. Like many prairie girls in the 5os and 6os, Connie grew up singing in the church choir and listening to Patsy Cline and The Beatles on her record player. But it wasn’t until the 1980s after four years spent performing with an avant garde theatre company in Toronto that Connie turned to music full time and was welcomed by the folk scene. A musical bard whose music and lyrics have diverse appeal-appropriated for everything from anger management workshops for men to economic news letters to soundtracks for film. "She’s tough and she’s tender. She sings with love and with anger…indecently talented. " Toronto Star.
| |||
|
January 15 A bit about MAKE YOUR ORGAN DANCE: Make Your Organ Dance is an exciting night of musical fusion. The ten-piece band gives a rousing, energetic show that fuses smooth electronic vibes, rocking vocals, flashy horns, and the haunting sounds of the organ. Playing a variety of remixed popular songs as well as originals by group members, electronica artist A.M., organist Marty Smyth and singer-songwriter Andrea Wappel, Make Your Organ Dance’s pulsating rhythms will get your heart moving. Based in Toronto the show’s design stemmed from an experimental concert at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church where Smyth, the resident musical director showcased the pipe organs versatility in contemporary music by reworking classic rock songs into the organs repertoire. Wanting to expand the show’s audience beyond the church, Smyth along with A.M. and Wappel introduced Make Your Organ Dance to the Toronto club scene in the summer of 2008.
| |||
|
January 16,17 & 18 Three nights!
$30 adv / $32.50
| |||
|
January 22 Performance is Dave Borins’ version of living a fantasy. The weight of the world is lifted from his shoulders, and his personality is revealed, naked, unchecked and unapologetic. In addition to his original compositions, he also draws on an enormous and eclectic repertoire of great songs by other artists. Dave’s energetic performances have long been a closely held secret among a small group of people in Toronto and Montreal, but he is starting to make waves.
| |||
|
January 24 Sheila Carabine sat with her fellow trumpet players. It was the first band rehearsal of her grade 11 year. Upon turning around to check the clock on the back wall, she came face to face with a stranger. A stranger with bright blue hair. A stranger playing the bass clarinet no less. Amanda Walther was new to Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School , and two years Sheila's senior. Since that first meeting, their friendship has grown strong and they can now tolerate each other for almost hours at a time. Amanda is a self-proclaimed control freak with a passion for salted snacks, gardening, making her own clothes, biking, smiling and figuring out which controller works the dvd player. She is good with money and absolutely abhors wearing make-up. Amanda makes and keeps friends easily and she loves sushi. She dreams of one day owning a humble farm and a kiln for making pottery. Amanda is the kind of person who will always lend you a bus ticket. Sheila likes to borrow bus tickets. She is very moody and she reminisces about things before they actually happen. She had a crush on a boy from grade 2 to grade 8 without him suspecting a thing. She played soccer competitively for 14 years, which is why she has muscular calves. Sheila reads Leonard Cohen poetry to help her think her favourite thoughts and she dreams of one day transcending space and time in order to commune with the divine. She is not opposed to wearing make-up, because not ALL of us have perfect complexions AMANDA. Sheila and Amanda formed DALA soon after their first meeting in their high school music class. In the summer of 2005 these best friends signed a major label deal with Universal Music Canada and their debut album 'Angels and Thieves' was released that same year. With vocal harmonies guaranteed to give you chills, the girls also make use of their talents on guitar and piano to create their unique brand of acoustic pop. Dala has won over audiences at festivals across the country, and their fun and energetic stage presence made them a hit on their recent tour opening for Canadian legend Tom Cochrane. Dala’s second full-length album with Universal Music, entitled 'Who Do You Think You Are', hits stores on August 14, 2007. Keep your ears open for the first single 'Anywhere Under The Moon', and be sure to check out the video on Much More Music! You can also find Dala in a town near you this fall, on tour across Canada with Matthew Good. The Undesirables are a refreshing and infectious songwriting duo who kick out heat like an old woodstove. Guitarist/harmonist Sean Cotton and lyricist/singer Corin Raymond deliver a brand new vibe with roots clout. It all began in Sean's basement in Georgetown, Ontario. Corin & Sean met while still in high school, and their fast friendship was sealed by a mutual love of raw, unadulterated American roots music. Pouring over album liners of small-town staples like The Doors and The Rolling Stones led them to the songwriters that would truly rip their hearts out; guys like Howlin' Wolf, Blind Willie McTell, and Slim Harpo. They discovered the blues together, and soon were on a steady diet of southern sounds: gospel, old-school R&B, rag and the music of New Orleans. To ask The Undesirables to list their influences is to spark a conversation that will leave you smiling at their enthusiasm and knowledge, and respect for those who came before. It was in Georgetown, 10 years ago, that they wrote their first song, California Wine - still a requested favourite. As a songwriting team, they each brought an ingredient the other lacked. Sean, who was playing lead guitar in his father's country band at age fourteen, brought the music - a unique style of guitar playing that provided solid rhythm, rich colour, and an unexpected fullness of sound. Corin brought the words. His childhood was filled with stories, poems and the songs of Broadway wordsmiths. In his adolescence he devoured Dylan Thomas, Robert Frost, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. He brought a respect for words and a workman-like attitude to writing lyrics. One goal occupied both their minds: to write good songs. In performance, The Undesirables are a mesmerizing unit. They perform with total commitment. Corin hand-delivers each lyric with entrancing conviction while Sean digs into the guitar with mastery and taste and their voices blend with sibling harmony. Their sound fills the room like the smell of onions frying on an iron skillet. Hips start swaying accidentally. Spirits rise.
| |||
|
January 25 Ken Whiteley is one of Canada’s finest musical statesman. He has worked with blues and folk legends from Pete Seeger to Lonnie Johnson. He has performed at countless festivals in the United States and Canada including Philadelphia Folk Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver Folk Festivals to name a few. He has been called a “playing encyclopedia” for his depth and range of styles, covering everything from blues and gospel to children’s music. Now Magazine said his most recent CD of mostly original material, “Gospel Music Makes Me Feel Alright!”, “triumphs with impeccable arrangements and spot on delivery”. Drawing from the deep wells of many traditions, Whiteley creates something fresh that communicates themes of freedom, love, spiritual aspiration and social comment. His collaborations with brother Chris (The Whiteley Brothers) and old friends Mose Scarlett and Jackie Washington (Scarlett, Washington & Whiteley) have resulted in a wonderful collection of recordings, garnering high praise, successful tours and several awards. Whether performing solo or playing with any of his large circle of musical friends, as one critic has said, “with Ken Whiteley our enjoyment is virtually assured.”
| |||
|
January 28 It's been a long but steady climb since FATHEAD's debut CD in 1995, and the band has been tearing it up on the North American festival circuit ever since - winning over new fans every time they play - making FATHEAD one of the country's top roots acts. Signed to the world renowned ELECTRO-FI RECORDS' imprint, their latest release "BUILDING FULL OF BLUES" garnered them a second coveted JUNO AWARD (Canada's "GRAMMY") in 2008 for "Blues Recording Of The Year". That they have been described as a Blues Tour De Force comes as no surprise. Georgia-raised lead singer JOHN MAYS has had a storied career that began in the Southern gospel tradition, crossing over into Doo-Wop, R&B and Blues, not to mention a stint with the Godfather Of Soul JAMES BROWN. Hooking up with band leader AL LERMAN (harp and saxophone) in Toronto some years later, FATHEAD's core has remained constant since 1992, offering ace musicianship, soul stirring harmonies and incendiary live performances. The writing tandem of Lerman and bassist OMAR TUNNOCH have produced a large body of work that has enjoyed time on the US, European and Canadian music charts. Guitarist DARRAN POOLE and iconic drummer BUCKY BERGER round out FATHEAD's sound, infusing elements of funk, soul, and R&B into their strong blues backbone. Their indie debut CD "Fathead" was first released in 1995 and landed them the recording contract with Electro-Fi. "Blues Weather" followed in 1998 garnering a Juno Award (Canada's Grammy) for Blues Recording Of The Year. "Where's Your Head At?" was next in 2000, earning several Maple Blues Award noms, while "First Class Riff-Raff" received a Canadian Indie Award (2002) as well as a Juno nomination. "Livelier Than Ever!" was independently released in 2005, and captured the band in full throttle. FATHEAD was also the featured backing band for the late Chicago bluesman Little Mack Simmons on two critically acclaimed discs. FATHEAD has performed on main stages across the continent at high profile events such as Fredericton's Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, The Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival, The Montreal International Jazz Fest, The Toronto International Beaches Jazz Fest, Playing With Fire in Omaha, Nebraska, and Festival By The Sea in New Brunswick. They have performed in Washington, DC for the Canadian Embassy, at Buffalo's Lafayette Tap Room Blues Festival, at Virginia's famed Birchmere Theatre, as well as opening for blues icon B.B. King at Massey Hall in Toronto. FATHEAD is truly an original band with a sound immediately recognizable as their own. They have a ball wherever they play and it shows!
| |||
|
January 29 Kensington Market was a Toronto, Canada based rock band, active from 1967-1969. Named after a downtown Toronto neighbourhood, it was formed by singer/songwriter and guitarist Keith McKie (born November 20, 1947 in St Albans, England, immigrated to Canada in April 1953), formerly with The Vendettas, with guitarist and pianist Gene Martynec (born March 28, 1947 in Germany) from Bobby Kris & The Imperials. The original line up was completed with former Vendettas' bass player Alex Darou (born January 6, 1943 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) and drummer Jimmy Watson (born August 23, 1950, Belfast, Northern Ireland). Former Luke & The Apostles frontman, singer/songwriter Luke Gibson (born November 5, 1946 in Toronto) was added later in 1967, and the synthesizer player John Mills-Cockell (born May 19, 1943 in Toronto) was a member in 1969.
| |||
|
January 30 Ferron is a Canadian folk singer/songwriter and poet. In addition to being one of Canada's most famous folk musicians, she is one of the most influential writers and performers of women's music, and an important influence on later musicians such as Ani DiFranco and the Indigo Girls. Ferron's rough-hewn voicing, chewy phrasing, and poetic songwriting has brought many favorable comparisons, including Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen (cf. Stephen Holden 1994). One wit aptly summed up Ferron's legendary status by calling her "the Johnny Cash of lesbian folksinging" (Bett Williams 2000). The reviewer Al Kaufman (2008) put the well-meaning comparisons to rest, finally, when he wrote, "Ferron is much more than the answer to the trivia question, 'What if Bob Dylan had been born a Canadian lesbian?' For one thing, unlike her nasal counterpart, Ferron's voice is rich and beautiful. Yet like Dylan, Ferron is a poet who is able to convey emotion without becoming maudlin, and beliefs without edging toward the pedantic. Like the great artist that she is, she paints a picture and has the listeners derive from it what they will, based on their own personal experiences." "Ferron … is a real salt of the earth singer who approaches her art with both sleeves rolled up, ready to dive in. She walks her talk with heart exposed and performs with a courage and commitment that few other artists ever muster. The songs don't sound composed and sung as much as they feel wrung from the sweat and toil of hard fought experience. In Ferron's world, the contents of her songs appear as if they're lived out on the canvas of her life and not just inside the confines of her art…when she sings, no one can miss the gravity and weight inferred by her commanding alto voice" (Heselgrave 2008).
| |||
| top | ||||
