Steve's Blog
Wednesday February 8, 2012

Hi everyone

There's a big weekend coming up, with a concert by The Breakmen on Saturday night and then a double bill of John Gorka and Rose Cousins on Sunday. Next weekend we are running the bar and the sound for an evening of Persian music presented by Caravan World Rhythms at St. James Hall, and the week after that - while a few of us Rogues are in Memphis at the Folk Alliance Conference - there's a show at Capilano University with the Marc Atkinson Quartet (Feb 25th) to tide you over until the amazing Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill (Feb 29), Quebec's Juno-winning Le Vent Du Nord (March 1), and the long-awaited return of American singer Karen Savoca with Pete Heitzman (March 4th). So we predict lots of happy ears and feet at The Rogue in the next few weeks!

1. The Breakmen, Saturday February 11th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Archie Pateman, Ben Rogalsky, Lee Watson and Matt Lawson kick off a huge cross-Canada tour with a gig at The Rogue. Every time they play here the room is packed, and this weekend's show promises to be no exception! Quite right, too, because you won't find better harmony vocals anywhere, and these guys all write and their melodies are infectious and deeply rooted in Bluegrass, Old Time music and acoustic country rock / folk rock. So, if you haven't heard them before (where HAVE you been these past 4 years?) and enjoy music by the likes of The Band, The Dead, Flying Burrito Brothers, or vintage Bluegrass come along and hear what music sounds like NOW! These guys are truly wonderful entertainers and their three CDs are well worth picking up. More information on www.thebreakmen.com

2. John Gorka with Rose Cousins, Sunday February 12th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

If you like rich vocals, and insightful, melodic and compelling songs then don't miss the return of John Gorka. The NJ-born songwriter last payed a solo gig at The Rogue in 1993, but was here last April with Eliza Gilkyson - and stole the show! I had the honour of introducing his workshop with Rodney Crowell and Jim Page at Island Musicfest last July, and I have to say that was the best songwriting workshop I've ever witnessed. Years ago, John wrote a song about Stan Rogers called "That's How Legends Are Made." If you like Stan's music, you'll love John's voice. And he keeps on writing such good songs. A warm and engaging performer, he is one of the finest troubadours of our time. Check him out on www.johngorka.com

Opening for John is Halifax singer songwriter Rose Cousins, who releases a new CD at the end of the month. I've only heard one song from it so far, but it's a memorable one, called "Darkness." her earlier albums get regular airplay on CBC, and rightly so. She has a glorious singing voice, with an edge to it (I like that!!) and her songs are wonderful vignettes of life and other abstractions. www.rosecousins.com

3. The Edge On Folk, Saturday 8am to noon, CiTR fm 101.9 and www.citr.ca

Please join me for four hours of the best in folk, world and roots music every Saturday on CiTR (also on Shaw Cable 88.5fm, and Telus TV channel 3717) I have no idea yet what I'll be playing this weekend, but expect more of the new CDs by Leonard Cohen, Ruthie Foster and Fred Eaglesmith for starters!

4. Monad: Persian master musicians, Friday February 17th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Caravan World Rhythms presents Hossein Alizadeh (playing traditional stringed instruments the tar and the setar) and Pejman Hadadi (percussion) in a rare concert of Persian music at St. James Hall. We're running the sound and the bar, and it should be an amazing show! More info on http://caravanworld.homestead.com/

5. Rogue Folk Review

The February issue of our monthly newsletter is now available for download on our website, and many of you will also receive it in the mail in the next day or two. If you don't want it mailed please let us know. (I apologize if you've already asked and are still receiving it in the mail. I had a lot of problems printing the labels yesterday. Thanks for your patience!)

Hope to see you this weekend

Cheers
Steve

P.S. check out the new issue of the Celtic Connection newspaper for more Rogue-ish news in my monthly column. The February issue should be out this week www.celtic-connection.com