Steve's Blog
Thursday November 15, 2012

Hi everyone

After Lunasa and the dance the next night, Margaret & I headed over to Ucluelet for a few days, and enjoyed some fine breaks in the weather so we could enjoy Long Beach and Tofino as well. Most invigorating! We've had some really wonderful concerts in the past few weeks, especially Lunasa and Oysterband, but also last weekend's Fish & Bird / Reid Jamieson extravaganza, for which we had a pretty good turnout as well. What a marvellous performance by Reid; now he's off on a cross-canada tour with CBC's Vinyl Cafe and he launched a fine CD last week - Songs For A Winter's Night. It's a seasonal album without any of the usual Christmas references and none of the hackneyed, overworked songs on it. Perfect! Fish & Bird then delivered their unique blend of Celtic / ambient / folk-rock groove, and they have definitely come on in leaps and bounds since I last saw them a couple of years back.

Thanks to a reminder from Rogue member Brian Chisholm, I just watched Lunasa performing live at Berkeley, CA's Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse. It was a live webcast. Great idea! But I'd already missed the first half, with Le Vent Du Nord. Check out the website, www.concertwindow.com They broadcast several shows each night from a variety of small venues across America. Wonder if they would be interesting in adding a Canadian venue ....

So this week we have another exceptional Canadian band playing on Friday night, and the next morning CiTR celebrates 75 years of broadcasting, so I'll have a special radio show - if a slightly shorter one than usual.... I'm hoping to pop in to CBC NXNW too, but haven't heard back from Sheryl McKay yet. If not this week, maybe next Saturday (please!)

1. Madison Violet, Friday November 16th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Canadian songwriters Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac return from a triumphant tour of Europe and commence a short BC tour at the Rogue this Friday. They are touring in support of their latest CD, The Good In Goodbye (True North Records) and last played here in May 2011 on a shared bill with the John Henrys - a double-bill sponsored by our good friends at Shore 104.3fm. This time we'll have a full evening of music from the girls - accompanied by Adrian Lawryshyn on acoustic bass. Since their previous CD, No Fool For Trying, was released in 2009 they have won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for The Ransom (2010) and won a Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year - as well as being nominated for various East Coast Music Awards and a Juno or two. (Incidentally they were the first Canadians to win a John Lennon Songwriting Award. Reid Jamieson emulated their success this year, so we are definitely bringing you some of the best songwriters in Canada this month!)

The Good in Goodbye captures the duo’s growth and musical maturity. Their distinct take on iconic Americana-inspired up-tempo melodies beautifully contrasts with their breathtakingly sweeping and personal lyrics, creating songs that blend nods to Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch with radio-friendly flecks of The Court-Yard Hounds. Tickets are selling very fast, so make sure you book yours online or buy tickets at Highlife Records or Rufus' Guitar Shop. There may be a few left on sale at the door on the night, but get there early to grab the seats closest to the stage; this is a very special band and you may not be able to see them in such a cosy venue in future years. For more information visit their website www.madisonviolet.com

2. The Edge On Folk, Saturday November 17th, 8am to 11am, CiTR fm 101.9 and www.citr.ca

1937 was a memorable year in music and history, but lost amidst news of the terrible massacre perpetrated by Franco and the Luftwaffe in Guernica, the disappearance of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, the coronation of King George VI, publication of The Hobbit, and the deaths of George Gershwin, Bessie Smith and the inventor of radio itself - Guglielmo Marconi - was the debut of UBC's Radio Society. I'll be marking the anniversary with a special edition of the show, looking back at 1937 and some of the intervening years, spotlighting significant moments in recording and broadcasting history - and interlacing them with snippets of news about CiTR and other history.

Remember, this is a shortened version of the show; just three hours, from 8am to 11am. I'll be hanging around at CiTR for a few hours to catch more of the special programming so stay tuned all day - especially from 2pm to 5pm, when various CiTR alumni reprise their roles on-air at this venerable radio station that has been on the cutting - ahem - Edge of radio for 75 years (and I've been a proud part of it for more than 27 of those years.)

Have a great week; see you at The Rogue!

Steve