Steve's Blog
Thursday November 17, 2011

Hi everyone

It's another important week at The Rogue - and at CiTR - with a great concert / dance tomorrow night, live music on the annual CiTR Fundrive Special edition of The Saturday Edge On Folk, and a special offer on a new laptop computer.

1. Gary Comeau's Voodoo All-Star Trio, Friday November 18, 8pm, St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue

Described as "irresistibly exuberant" by the Vancouver Jazz Festival, and "an authentic soulful presence" by the North Shore news, Vancouver bandleader Gary Comeau brings his Zydeco-infused brand of bluesy roots music to The Rogue for the first time. Working with drummer Chris Nordquist and guitarist Tim Hearsey, Comeau adds fiddle, accordion, guitar, keyboards, mandolin and vocals to his eclectic mix of very danceable tunes. The Voodoo All-Star Trio have been hard at work on a new CD which will be released in January, so you will hear many of the songs for the first time at The Rogue. We've had some great nights of Cajun / Zydeco music at St. James Hall in the past couple of years (Red Stick Ramblers, Jeffery Broussard & The Creole Cowboys, Jesse Lege with the Foghorn Trio, etc) and this promises to be just as much fun. "The songs are all original, and both the slide guitar and the propulsive rhythms keep things moving as they should. Home of the Mardi Gras and a few other songs still have the rollicking second line or zydeco tinge, but the songs also owe a debt to blues and roots rock. It's a good formula, and it's one that fits him well." (Dirty Linen magazine)

We guarantee a great evening of music - and dancing - and it will be even more fun with a full house, so forget your working blues, put on those dancing shoes, and come on down to The Rogue for some Cajun music, Vancouver style, with Gary Comeau and the band! www.garycomeau.net

2. Fundrive Special with Tim Readman and Jennie Bice on The Edge On Folk, CITR fm 101.9, Saturday 8am to noon, streamed Live on www.citr.ca

I've hosted The Edge On Folk on CiTR for over 26 years now, and CiTR has been on the air for almost as long as CBC (next year is our 75th!) For the past few years there has been an annual Fundrive to help keep CiTr on the air, and on the Cutting Edge of independent, little heard music and spoken word on the radio. Between November 17th and 24th, listeners can call or donate online 24 hours a day to support independent programming, cover operating expenses, equipment purchases and special projects. This year, CiTR has set a goal of $35,000 to support UBC's campus community radio station.

This year's theme, "Tune in to the Future", represents the changes in broadcast technology, CiTR's investment in the future talent of broadcasters and musicians, and the invitation to participate in the future of CiTR.

Broadcasting has changed from emitting an FM signal to the production of curated content and dissemination over multiple platforms. CiTR was one of the first campus/community radio stations to implement a podcasting service in 2007, and is still ahead of many commercial broadcasters. CiTR is continually improving its online services, adding playlist information this past year with plans to release a mobile app in the next year. CiTR has also played a major role in training and developing young writers and broadcasters.

We take our mandate seriously - to educate and train those interested in broadcast journalism; to give a voice to those who may otherwise be voiceless; and to give our celebrated DJ's the freedom to play the best in local, underground, and alternative music, says Grace Macrae-Okine, CiTR's Student Executive President. We want to remain relevant, accessible, and unequivocally awesome through 2012 and beyond, and we need your help to do it.

You can donate to CiTR's Fundrive by calling 604-822-1242 (UBC-UNIT) or visiting www.citr.ca/donate. Donors will receive Fundrive swag, such as our Astro-Ostrich t-shirt, Cold Fusion Cooler, Space Travel Mug and our Friends of CiTR Card.

On Saturday I'll be spinning some hot new tunes, some songs by upcoming performers at The Rogue, and some of my picks for Album of the Year. I'll also have redoubtable Geordie singer Tim Readman and fiddler Jennie Bice with me from 10am to play some songs from their excellent new CD, Out Of The Green. There will be bonus prizes for the biggest donation (a lovely stack of CDs donated by recent performers at The Rogue, for example; and tickets to Rogue concerts too!) So please join us for four hours of amazing Folk, Roots & World Music this Saturday on CiTR fm 101.9, Shaw Cable 88.5 fm, and Telus TV Channel 3717 - or online on www.citr.ca Call 604-822-1242 to help keep CiTR on the air, and on top of the local airwaves. And tell 'em Steve sent you.

3. HP laptop computer for sale

We have a brand new, still-in-the-box, state of the art 15" laptop computer for sale. It has a 750GB hard drive and Quad Core processor with 4GB Ram, and comes complete with a fully-licensed copy of Windows 7 installed. We priced a similar model at Costco the other day. Its retail price there was $599, and it only had a 500GB HD in it. Maybe you were thinking of buying a laptop for a family member - or for yourself - this Christmas. Why not give the money to The Rogue instead of one of the big box stores in town? We're asking for $600 O.B.O. (taxes included) That would pay for a couple of nights rent at St. James Hall, or a couple of months rent at our office on West Broadway, or hotel rooms for a band or two. It would certainly help us out, and if you were going to buy a laptop anyway, why not get it from us? Just email me on steveedgeonfolk@telus.net if you're interested.

4. Rogues Gallery updated

I like to keep a record of past shows, and there is an extensive photo archive attached to our website. I've just added photos from the last 10 concerts (would have been 11, but I forgot to charge the phone battery before the David Francey show!) My gallery is on http://gallery.me.com/steveedge3

Have a great weekend, and don't forget to vote on Saturday before going to see Judy Collins at the Kay Meek!

Steve