Steve's Blog
Thursday July 8, 2010

Hi everyone

Well, we tried everything. We switched dates, we accommodated his request to not have to play too many shows on successive nights, we even offered to fly him across the Strait of Georgia and back, but, alas, Jesse Winchester turned us down. If you want to see him, try the Filberg Festival in Comox on the long weekend.

We do have one exceptional concert at CBC Studio 700 this month, plus exciting news about the Shorefest fireworks, and a sneak preview of our Fall Season.

1. Debashish Bhattacharya at CBC Studio 700 (700 Hamilton Street), on Thursday July 29th 8pm

A unique musical journey, bringing Indian raga to Canada to meet jazz piano!

Debashish Bhattacharya is one of the world's most remarkable musicians, combining the evocative sounds of Indian raga with the slick and soulful sounds of western jazz and blues on a range of guitars seldom seen outside the sub-continent. As he explains, slide guitar was taken to India from Hawaii about 70 years ago. It chimed with the local musical tradition and a whole new art form was developed in Calcutta slide-Guitar.

Debashish began playing Hawaii lap steel guitar at the age of three and gave his first major concert on All India Radio when he was four. All his guitars are unique instruments designed by Debashish - the Chaturangui, the Gandharvi and the Anandi - all accompanied by his brother Subhasish on tabla. These slides represent three generations of instruments and a 1,000 year old tradition of Indian music performed in a hypnotic and stunning style.

The brothers will team up with Bob Murphy - last seen at The Rogue playing Hammond organ with The Sojourners in June. Bob is also a piano virtuoso, and a few years ago he met Debashish and they formed a mutual appreciation society, vowing one day to work together. That day has come! Tom Keenlyside, a stalwart member of the local jazz scene, will add flute and sax to the mix.

We invite you to experience this unique musical fusion and revel in the majesty, grace, and power of one of the world's oldest musical traditions washing up and over and around western music in the air conditioned comfort of the new CBC Studio 700 theatre.

www.debashishbhattacharya.com

2. Shorefest 2010, A Canadian Roots Music Extravaganza as a prelude to the fireworks!

Once again we have teamed up with our good friends at Shore 104.3fm to bring you live Canadian roots music on the four fireworks nights, (Wed July 21, Sat July 24, Wed July 28, and Sat July 31) On the Wednesdays there will be a stage on the beach below the English Bay Bathhouse (last year, it was on top), and on the the Saturdays there will also be a stage at Sunset Beach - The Rogue Stage at Sunset Beach! - running from 1pm to 5:30pm. This stage will showcase the Ten Finalists in Shore 104.3's Songsearch Contest, followed by two popular local acts. Then the Bathhouse Stage will run from 6pm to 9pm, followed by those spectacular fireworks. And the whole event will be be simulcast live on Shore 104 www.shore104.com

Here's the line-up (I've put my personal picks in BOLD type):

Wednesday July 21st
Bathhouse Stage
6:00pm Ladies Of The Canyon
7:00pm Jets Overhead
8:00pm Lee Harvey Osmond

Saturday July 24th
The Rogue Sunset Beach Stage
1:00pm Quest Poetics
1:30pm Lindsay May
2:00pm Scott Valentine
2:30pm Zaac Pick
3:00pm The Matinee
3:30pm T. Nile
4:30pm Leroy Stagger & The Wildflowers

Bathhouse Stage
6:00pm Wil
7:00pm Kuba Oms
8:00pm Spirit Of The West

Wednesday July 28th
Bathhouse Stage
6:00pm Kendel Carson w/ Dustin Bentall Band
7:00pm Jon & Roy
8:00pm Dan Mangan

Saturday July 31st
The Rogue Sunset Beach Stage
1:00pm Garrett Kato
1:30pm Reid Jamieson
2:00pm Robert Wilson
2:30pm Belle Game
3:00pm Headwater
3:30pm Barney Bentall, Tom Taylor & Shari Ulrich
4:30pm Jim Byrnes R&B Band

Bathhouse Stage
6:00pm Yukon Blonde
7:00pm Patrick Brealey
8:00pm Jim Cuddy

It's a pretty amazing line-up! And it's free!

3. The Rogue Concert Calendar - Fall 2010 (dates subject to change. Keep checking the website for updates!)

Note: there will be a $4 discount for members for the majority of our concerts from now on.

St. James Hall has a newly-polished dance floor now! It looks - and feels - amazing!

Sunday, September 12th, 8pm
Ellen Mcilwaine & Rachelle van Zanten
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $24 ($20 members)

Saturday, September 18th, 8pm
Reid Jamieson
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $18 ($15 members)

Sunday, September 26th, 8pm
Martin Simpson
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $26 ($22 members)

Friday, October 1st, 8pm
Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $24 ($20 members)

Friday, October 15th, 8pm
Colin Linden
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $26 ($22 members)

Saturday, October 16th, 8pm
Finest Kind
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $20 ($16 members)

Sunday, October 17th, 8pm
Fred Eaglesmith
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $28 ($24 members)

Friday, October 22nd, 8pm
Vin Garbutt
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $24 ($20 members)

Sunday, October 24th, 8pm
Trisha Gagnon & friends
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $24 ($20 members)

Friday, November 5th, 8pm
Ruth Moody
Joel Fafard
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $24 ($20 members)

Sunday, November 7th, 8pm
Kevin Burke's Open House
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $28 ($24 members)

Thursday, November 18th, 8pm
Battlefield Band
Scottish Cultural Centre (8886 Hudson St.)
Tickets $28 ($24 members)

Friday, December 3rd, 8pm
The Breakmen
The Haints Oldtime Stringband
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $20 ($16 members)

plus more to be announced

4. The Edge On Folk

Val Cormier will be hosting The Edge On Folk this Saturday, July 10th, from 8am to 12 noon on CiTR fm 101.9 and www.citr.ca I'll be phoning in from the Island Musicfest in Courtenay

The following Saturday, Linda Bull & I will broadcast the show Live from Jericho Park at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. We'll also be sending in reports to Code Blue from 3 to 5pm.

The week after that I hope to bring you a special edition, live from the Mission Folk Music Festival!

Meanwhile, Radio Rogue is broadcasting a new playlist, including music by many of the festival performers (much of it never heard before on local airwaves!) You can tune in from our website. Just follow the link to Radio Rogue and follow the instructions.

5. Mission Folk Festival Ticket Deadline for Rogues

Friday July 9th is the cut-off date for your ticket orders (but as long as we receive your money by next Wednesday you'll be fine!)

Deborah Jackson will be in the office on Friday - and Tuesday next, so you can call her on 604-732-1305 or email her.

If you would prefer to mail us a cheque instead, please use the following address as our postal service has been disrupted lately.

Rogue Folk Club
#1 - 3630 West Broadway
Vancouver, B.C.
V6R 2B7

That's it for now. Have a great weekend!

Steve