Steve's Blog
Thursday February 10, 2011

Hi everyone

1. Tom Russell, Friday February 11, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

This show is SOLD OUT. If you have booked a ticket already - i.e. before noon on Thursday 10th - you should be fine. Just get there early. Doors open at 7pm.

2. Paul McKenna Band, Saturday February 12, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

The best band of their generation... (The Living Tradition)

A band with the potential to dominate the Scottish/Irish traditional scene for the next twenty years and be spoken about in the same breath as Boys Of The Lough... (Fatea Magazine)

Traditional music as well as original songs and tunes from this dynamic young 5-piece led by singer Paul McKenna with ace Highland fiddler Ruaridh MacMillan, David McNee on bouzouki & mandolin, Sean Grey on flute and Ewan Baird on bodhran. They release their sophomore album, Stem The Tide (Greentrax Records), on March 1st, so will have lots of new material. Not that very many of you would have seen them before. We saw them last year at Folk Alliance in Memphis and were highly impressed. A must see for ex-pat Scots, or anyone interested in Celtic music or acoustic music. www.paulmckennaband.com

3. Radio Waves

I'll have some new releases by the likes of The Wailin' Jennys, Irish supergroup T With The Maggies (Altan's Mairead, Clannad's Moya, Bothy band's Triona, and her sister Maighread), Diaspora - a Jamaican / Egyptian crossover band from London, American / African combo Timbila, Susheela Raman, Pete Morton, and more! Plus previews of our concerts, and Festival du Bois, and much more besides. Please join me for four hours of the best in Roots Music, on CiTR fm 101.9 this Saturday February 12th fro 8am to noon (or download the podcast later from www.citr.ca. Look for Saturday Edge under S in the show index on CiTR's page.

4. Trip to Memphis

Margaret & I are meeting up with Rogue board member Doug O'Neill and his wife Lorraine - and about 2,500 musicians, DJs, and other folk music fans - for the 23rd annual Folk Alliance Conference next week in Memphis, Tennessee. Jim Burnett will host The Edge On Folk next weekend, and I'll be bringing some new music and lots of ideas and stories the following week. This will be my 20th Folk Alliance, and Margaret's 13th.

5. Other shows at St. James Hall

While we're away you might like to catch Petunia & The Vipers on Friday 18th and Caravan's Spirit of Africa festival at the WISE Hall on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th at St. James.

On Sunday March 6th there's a fascinating concert of Tibetan music with Jamyang Yeshi, including the showing of his film Shining Spirit, his journey of reconnection with family through the power of music. Tickets & Info: www.tibet.ca/vancouver or 604-682-3269 x.7883

6. Rogue Concert Calendar changes

There are a couple of changes to our March line-up. Everything stays as advertized, with the following exceptions:

Saturday March 12th
The Dust Busters (without John Cohen, but definitely still showing the film John made about Appalachian musician Roscoe Holcomb). John Cohen was unable to change his flights but is determined to come to Vancouver on their next tour. Meanwhile, come and check out this fine young string band from NYC.

Saturday March 18th
Headwater
Laura Cortese Acoustic Trio
Vancouver's Headwater share the bill with fiddler / singer Laura Cortese and her trio. A truly eclectic evening at The Rogue, featuring some of North America's finest young talent.

Full details of all our concerts - and ticket sales - can be found on our website www.roguefolk.bc.ca

7. An Evening of Pizza and Fundraising, Tuesday March 21st 5pm to 9:30pm, Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company, 1876 West 1st Ave.

Bring your family & friends to this very fine pizza restaurant to raise some money for The Rogue. 10% of the food and bar take comes to The Rogue this night, and we will hold a raffle / silent auction and hope to have some live music too. Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company is located on West 1st, between Burrard Street and Cypress Street. They make delicious thin crust pizza, as well as pasta and salads and desserts. The ingredients are mostly organic and locally-grown. It's really great food. There are only 60 seats, so we will need to have several "sittings" during the evening to make it all worthwhile. This will be a great chance to meet some fellow Rogues and help us bridge the gap in our budget left by the cancellation of BC Gaming Funding for non-profits. Hey, we all gotta eat, so why not join us for this evening and let someone else do the cooking?