Steve's Blog
Thursday November 1, 2012

Hi all

1. Lunasa, Friday November 2, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

We get the new month off to a flying start tomorrow night with Irish supergroup Lunasa at St. James Hall. Local scribe Tony Montague submitted this rather witty and seasonal write-up to The Straight but it missed "the cut" and isn't in this week's paper:

STRAIGHT MUSIC CHOICE: LUNASA

Halloween has roots tangled in the ancient festival of Samhain, one of the four quarter days of the Celtic year. Another was Lughnasa, dedicated to the harvest deity Lugh and the inspiration behind Lúnasa, the cream of Irish tradition-based bands. The acoustic quintet – which comes to the St James Hall this Friday, November 2 - is anchored by former Waterboys bassist Trevor Hutchinson, and ex-Flook guitarist Ed Boyd, and spearheaded by a fearsome three-headed beast playing fiddle, uilleann pipes, and flute. They may be a day or so late for Samhain, but their brilliant arrangements of old tunes and new compositions will still open all the right gates to the Celtic Otherworld. www.lunasa.ie

With Hurricane Sandy devastating a few States and Provinces this week there have been a lot of airline problems. Happily for us (but sadly for Victoria) Lunasa have arrived on the west coast in time to start their tour tomorrow. They had to cancel tonight's show on the island, however. Tickets are going fast and we do expect a sell-out so book now and arrive early to avoid disappointment. Doors open at 7pm. There is no opening act, and show time is 8pm prompt.

2. Rogue Folk Review for November

The new issue is being printed today and will be mailed out on Sunday evening. It will be available for download on our website this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest. There are full details of our November concerts, of course, plus a few extras including a bit of a sneak peak into our 2013 Concert Calendar.

3. Blackie & The Rodeo Kings tickets

I must apologize for not having had time to return all the phone calls we've had for tickets to this show at The Vogue on November 27th. We still have quite a few prime seats available - front and centre - at the best price of $49 cash ($50 card) and the easiest way to get them is to buy them at a concert. We will also be selling them over the phone at the office on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and all day Friday on 604-732-1305.

The DEADLINE for purchasing these excellent tickets is Monday November 19th. Any unsold by then will have to be returned to the venue for sale to the general public. That would be a pity ....

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

On this week's show I'll have new releases by Kate Rusby, Mairtin O'Connor Band, and Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart, plus more from the wonderful new CDs by Mark Knopfler, Karine Polwart, Amelia Curran, Fish & Bird, Dave Gunning, Calexico, Old Man Luedecke, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Madison Violet, Janiva Magness, Maria Muldaur, Fay Hield, Hannah James, Bill Bourne, Megson, and The Unthanks. Not to mention a few classics from the likes of Mad Pudding, Blackie, and more from the Vaults. Please join me for four hours of the best in Roots Music from here, there and pretty much everywhere else!

Have a great weekend - with plenty of Lunasa!

Steve