Steve's Blog
Friday November 23, 2012

Hi everyone

We have two concerts this weekend, guaranteed to lift your spirits in these dark, wet days. We are fast approaching the end of the calendar year which marks the 25th anniversary of the Rogue. What a year it's been! And the next week or so bring it to a thrilling - if slightly premature - end (occasioned by our trip to visit my brother in New Zealand for Christmas!) So get your Rogue fill this week!

1. CBC North By Northwest, Saturday 7am to 7:30am, fm 88.1 and am 690

I'll be Sheryl McKay's guest on NXNW tomorrow morning, so please join us for a quick look ahead to a busy week at The Rogue!

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

Then I'm off to CiTR for a four-hour extravaganza including new music by the likes of Debashish Bhattacharya, Eric Bibb & Habib Koite, Alex Cuba, The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Shemekia Copeland, Mark Knopfler, Karla Mundy, Mumford & Sons, Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, Lyle Lovett, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tom Russell, Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra, Foghorn Stringband, Jill Barber, Reid Jamieson, Kate Rusby, Show Of Hands, Martyn Joseph, Karine Polwart, Kelly Joe Phelps, Lau, Mairtin O'Connor, Solas, and Mary Jane Lamond & Wendy MacIsaac, plus features on Mad Pudding, Genticorum, and John Reischman & The Jaybirds. I'll also have a pair of tickets to give away to the Blackie & The Rodeo Kings show at The Vogue next Tuesday. And a brief report on the opening night of Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna - and lots more besides. Please join me for the very best in what's new and what's on - as well as what's vintage and unique - on CiTR from 8am to noon.

3. Mad Pudding Reunion Concert, Saturday November 24th, 8pm at St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Their last Rogue gig was their 10th anniversary show on the Rogue's 17th birthday in May 2004. Mad Pudding recorded four CDs and played all the major festivals in Canada and quite a few in Europe and The States from 1994 to 2004. Then singer / guitarist Andy Hillhouse took off to Newfoundland to earn his Masters in Ethnomusicology at Memorial. Cam Wilson devoted most of his formidable creative energy and explosive fiddle styles to the newly-formed Van Django gypsy jazz ensemble, Amy Stephen (vocals, harp, accordion) started a solo career, a family, and numerous choirs, drummer Allen Dionne joined Tm Readman's various bands, and bassist / keyboardist Boris Favre began teaching music at Prussin, gigging with the Quebecois-Style combo Pastiche, and building bagpipes! Now they are back together for one glorious weekend of foot-stomping Celtic music with a unique twist! They certainly stir the pot with some very hot musicianship, fabulous harmony vocals, and wonderfully imaginative medleys of traditional tunes and co-opted pop songs and classical music standards! This is quintessentially West Coast Music, with some of the best fiddle playing anywhere. Guaranteed to be heaps of fun - and extremely melodic as well as danceable. Check out their vintage video from the Folk festival on our website for a better idea of what to expect! Read more...

4. Genticorum, Sunday November 25th, 8pm at St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

One of Quebec's very best trad. bands, Genticorum return to the Rogue 18 months after the release of Nagez Rameurs and its hugely successful launch here. Pascal (fiddle, feet) Alex (flute, bass, vocals) and Yann (guitar) make wonderful music - at once engaging and familiar, yet exotically French enough to keep you guessing where the next beat will take you on their amazing journey through the crooked tunes and backwaters of traditional Quebecois music. It is no surprise that they have just won the ADISQ for Album of the Year in Quebec (effectively a Juno Award) and they continue to win friends all over the world - even in countries where French is an exotic foreign tongue (like Australia) rather than a hard-to-read back-cover of a box of cereal (Western Canada!) This is music guaranteed to put a smile on your feet and keep your cheeks dancing! Er, let me rephrase that. Get up and dance to this fine band from Quebec; they will keep you smiling and dancing all night long if you let them! Whether you're a downhearted BC Lions fan, or a devotee of the Stamps or Argos - or if you don't like football - the Grey Cup will be over long before the show starts. So come on down to the Rogue for a toe-tapping trad music experience that will wash away whatever blues you happen to have about you. For more information visit www.genticorum.com

5. John Reischman & The Jaybirds, Friday November 30th, 8pm at CBC Studio 700 (700 Hamilton Street at Georgia)

A must for fans of mandolin music, bluegrass, and gorgeous vocals and harmonies, this show coincides with the release of John Reischman's first solo CD in many a year. The California native who made his home in BC over 20 years ago is one of the most celebrated mandolinists of this and any era, and a master of many styles. He is surrounded by some of the finest pickers in the business too: Jim Nunally on guitar, Nick Hornbuckle on banjo, Greg Spatz on fiddle, and Trisha Gagnon on acoustic bass. Trisha and Jim handle most of the lead vocals, and their songs range from standards to down-home originals. Everything is exquisitely arranged and performed, and on top of all this wonderful music you can stock up on some of the very best home made jam in the world, lovingly created by Trisha on her fruit farm out Chilliwack way. Please note the venue. It's not at St. James, but at the rather cosy Studio 700 downtown at the CBC. We'll have a bar and coffee and snacks as well. And the gig is open to folks of all ages - just like a regular Rogue show, in fact, and PBHS members get the same discount as Rogues. For more info on this fine band go to www.thejaybirds.com

6. Other Shows Around Town This Week

Paul McCartney was sold out weeks ago, The Boss plays Monday night - but who needs a 4 hour rock show in a horribly cavernous sports arena on a work night? Not us. If your appetite for great music is suitably whetted by this weekend's Celtic and Quebecois shows, may we recommend something like Blackie & The Rodeo Kings at The Vogue on Tuesday? Or Kelly Joe Phelps at Capilano University's NSCUCPA Theatre on Thursday night? We'll be there. With our usual membership table and raffle at Cap, too. And next Saturday at St. James Hall the final Sybs Contra Dance of the year will have a festive theme - and a bar!

Want music? Go Rogue!

P.S. we'll have extra raffle prizes this weekend: Blackie tickets!!! You have to be there to enter to win ....