C.R. Avery, Jim Byrnes, Steve Dawson Band, & The Sojourners
2012
PM
MEL LEHAN HALL AT ST. JAMES i
3214 West 10th Ave, Kitsilano
Accessible 
All ages
This event has already taken place.
Celebrating 100 years of Robert Johnson, Bill Monroe & Woody Guthrie, 50 Years of Bob Dylan and The Beatles, and 25 Years of Roguery, we present some of Vancouver's finest Roots Musicians, sharing their experience and influences in this music, and above all celebrating our survival!
It's hard to believe that it was 25 years ago that Steve Edge & Margaret Whale, Stephen Fearing, Jane Gowan, and Rick Costigan met on Steve's Kitsilano lawn to discuss the formation of the Rogue Folk Club. The first concert was at The Savoy in Gastown, and Stephen Fearing was our house band. Others on the bill that day included Celtic band Under The Moss, and bluegrass combo The Little Mountain Band. Since then we've moved to The Railway Club, Isadora's, and The Anza Club (all very briefly when The Savoy was sold in 1988) before finding a new home at the WISE Hall in the East End. 15 years later they tripled our rent and when we said we'd have to leave the response of their Board at the time was "good!" Meanwhile we'd presented a few shows at St. James Hall over the years when the WISE wasn't available, and they welcomed us with open arms. So, since January 2004 we've made our home at the former church - now a thriving Community Centre - in Kitsilano.
We've presented over 1,500 concerts since 1987, in a huge variety of musical styles and genres, ranging from New Orleans brass band The Dirty Dozen to Celtic masters like Capercaillie and Altan, blues artists like Guy Davis and Harry Manx, traditional music from Castilla (La Musgana), Brittany (Pennou Skoulm), Hungary (Makvirag), Africa (Abana Ba Nasery, Tony Bird, Boubacar Traore), Cuba (Valle Son), Ireland (Martin Hayes, Lunasa, Four Men & A Dog), Mexico (Son de Madera), and England (The Watersons, Carthy & Swarbrick, Kate Rusby, Bellowhead, etc.) and amazing singer/songwriters like Chris Smither, Fred Eaglesmith, Tom Russell, Eliza Gilkyson, Connie Kaldor, Garnet Rogers, James Keelaghan, Canadian legends like Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Willie P. Bennett, Don Ross, The Barra MacNeils, not to mention six Winter Roots Music Festivals, and six April In Paris festivals of Gypsy Jazz. And so much more. Take a look at Roguestory on our website and marvel at the length, breadth and quality of that list of performers!
So many of our performers have been influenced by the music of blues legend Robert Johnson, Bill Monroe - the father of Bluegrass - and folk singer Woody Guthrie. All three were born 100 years ago this year. 50 years ago Bob Dylan released his first LP and The Beatles' first single was launched. And 25 years ago Vancouver found a new outlet for Roots Music in all its rich variety at The Rogue Folk Club!
In recent years we've been treated to many stunning concerts by Black Hen Recording Artists Jim Byrnes, Steve Dawson, and The Sojourners. We asked them - and also the incredible performance poet / singer C.R. Avery - if they'd be interested in putting something together for this special show; a concert showcasing ways in which they have been influenced and inspired by those esteemed performers who have been with us for 50 and 100 years. They jumped at the chance! This is going to be an incredible concert, rich with songs and stories - a musical history from several perspectives, all brought together under the beautiful vaulted ceiling of St. James Hall to commemorate the Rogue's Silver Jubilee.