Steve's Blog
Wednesday November 28, 2012

Hi everyone

2012 is The Rogue's 25th Anniversary year, and our concert series comes to an end this weekend in one glorious final flourish before Margaret & I fly south to New Zealand to spend Christmas and New Year with my brother and his family.

1. Kelly Joe Phelps, Thursday November 29th, 8pm, North Shore Credit Union Centre for the Performing Arts at Capilano University. Tickets $30/$27

Kelly Joe Phelps is an uncommonly original artist. While there are shades of many formative folk and blues artists, such as Reverend Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt and John Fahey in his music, his singular guitar style and vocals are uniquely and unmistakably his own. His music has plenty of gristle and bone, also glory, salvation and grace. His latest recording, Brother Sinner and the Whale (2012), hearkens back to his earlier recordings featuring Phelps on bottleneck slide guitar. With all his talents ablaze, Kelly Joe Phelps is set to tear it up and bring it all back home. This is a Cap Global Roots concert, and we'll be there with our membership and ticket table and raffle, so come and say "Hi" and check out our wares - including the new Rogue calendar for 2013. If you want to purchase tickets to see Kelly Joe, you'll have to call the Cap Box Office on 604-990-7810. Please don't try to contact us for tickets.

2. John Reischman & The Jaybirds, Friday November 30th, 8pm, CBC Studio 700 (700 Hamilton Street) Tickets $24 ($20 members)

Good news for all fans of bluegrass, traditional and original acoustic music - John Reischman & The Jaybirds are heading back to Vancouver! John Reischman (mandolin), Jim Nunally (guitar), Trisha Gagnon (bass, vocals), Greg Spatz (fiddle) and Nick Hornbuckle (banjo) make some of the finest Bluegrass and acoustic folk on the scene - and they all sing and they all write and they are all extremely creative - both musically and beyond!

With five critically acclaimed albums and two Juno nominations, the Jaybirds have established themselves as one of the freshest, most tasteful bands on the acoustic music scene today. The group fashions a stylish, elegant take on bluegrass that is at once innovative and unadorned, sophisticated and stripped-down, happily old-fashioned, yet unselfconsciously new. Their live shows feature their studied performance of original songs, instrumentals, and newly arranged traditional material mixed with the fun of watching the Jaybirds skillfully weave around one centre microphone, and topped off with the band's genial and often humorous MC work.

The Jaybirds have had a busy year in 2012, touring throughout Canada and the US, playing concerts, appearing at festivals and teaching at workshops. Also this fall, John Reischman has completed his third solo recording, called Walk Along John. This fine album features Reischman's signature original instrumental tunes mixed with traditional pieces chosen by this discerning mandolin master. Joining Reischman on this recording are guests like wunderkind Chris Thile, old-time virtuoso Bruce Molsky, acclaimed banjo player Tony Trischka and of course, The Jaybirds. With this album fresh off the presses, Reischman fans are sure to get a sneak preview of a couple of the songs from the new recording at this concert.

So, come on down and see John Reischman and The Jaybirds on Friday, November 30th. This is bluegrass done right, true to the roots but not afraid to look forward to new ideas. If you're a fan of acoustic music, you know - it doesn't get much better than this. www.thejaybirds.com

I can't think of a better-balanced bluegrass band working today. While there are more frenetic and more notes-per-second bluegrass music out there, I can't think of a more polished, subtle, and thoughtful approach to bluegrass than "Vintage & Unique." This one gets my highest recommendation. - Hermon Joyner, Audiophile Audition

We've had some calls this week wondering if this is a Rogue show or a CBC show. It is most definitely a Rogue show, and yes, you can use Parcel O'Rogues tickets for it. PBHS members get the Rogue member discount price. And there will also be Trisha Gagnon's amazing home-made jam for sale alongside the CDs and Greg Spatz's mystery novels. The Rogue at CBC: your one-stop Christmas Shop!!

3. Contra Dance & Party with The Sybaritic Stringband, Saturday December 1st, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue), Admission $12 ($8 Students)

The Sybaritic Stringband continues its series of first-Saturday dances at The Rogue with guest caller / instructor Rich Goss, from Portland. The music is Celtic / Quebecois / Old Time Swing, played by Rich Sobel (fiddle,) Claire McCague (saxophones,) Barry Cole (mandolin,) and Leith Davis (piano.) Come alone or bring a partner. All dances are taught on the spot. Bring a plate of home-baked goodies to share, and receive a 50% discount on admission! www.clairemccague.com/sybaritic/

For this dance there will be a party atmosphere, with a bar and much general merriment to celebrate the continuation of the series into 2013 and well, to celebrate anything you feel like celebrating!

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

I'll be joined by Heather McCain for the first half of the show. Heather will be hosting the show while I'm away. This week I'll feature my favourite songs of the year - and I'll throw in a few of my favourite concert & festival memories as well. If you have a favourite song from 2012 that you'd like me to play, please let me know before Saturday and I'll see if I can squeeze it in. I'll also have tickets to give away to the David Wax Museum concert - presented by the Vancouver Folk Music Festival at St. James Hall this coming Monday night (see next item!)

So please join me for a bit of nostalgia and some fond memories of a marvellous year for music - and help me welcome Heather to CiTR! That's Saturday from 8am to noon on CiTR fm 101.9 and Telus TV channel 3717. I'm not sure if we've been reinstated onto Shaw Cable yet. I'm hearing conflicting rumours. We're also streamed live on www.citr.ca and there will be podcasts available on that site later in the day (aha! I just realised I hadn't set up last week's podcasts! They should be available now....)

5. David Wax Museum, Monday December 3rd, doors 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue), Tickets $20+ service charges

It's no wonder the David Wax Museum's current tour has been kicking up a cloud of excitement with its high-energy border-crossing music that is one part Appalachian-folk, one part Mexican traditional and one part indie rock. The Boston-based band was a standout hit and one of the major new "discoveries" of the 2011 Vancouver Folk Music Festival. The David Wax Museum core members, David Wax and Suz Slezak, have been tracking Americana music tradition from the plains of Missouri all the way down to Mexico and beyond. The pair met while he was attending Harvard and she Wellesley. David's Mexican history studies at Harvard landed him a yearlong fellowship to study in son music in Mexico where he also learned the jarana, a Mexican instrument similar to a guitar. There he combined the songs he was learning in Spanish with English, which became the starting grounds for the David Wax Museum. The music David has made since then with his band draws on the roots music he grew up with - blues, folk-rock, bluegrass - but he mixes it with Mexican rhythms, folk instruments and vocal phrasings. Suz is well-versed in Appalachian and Irish fiddle music and sometimes plays the quijado, a percussion instrument made from a donkey's jawbone. Jordan Wax (David's cousin), Greg Glassman, Mike Roberts, and Jiro Kokubu round out the rest of the band.

Tickets are on sale on the Folk Festival website www.thefestival.bc.ca

Please don't try to contact us for tickets.

I'll try to stay in touch while I'm away. Meanwhile, check out our website which will soon be replete with details of some incredible concerts coming to you courtesy of The Rogue in the first 4 months of 2013 (Taj Mahal, Alasdair Fraser, Tom Russell, Karla Mundy, Savoy Cajun Band, Battlefield Band, and lots more!)