Steve's Blog
Wednesday March 6, 2013

1. We have two amazing concerts this week in honour of International Women's Day on Friday

Two great bands make their Rogue debuts!

Both shows are at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue.

Tickets are available online and at the door.

What the press has to say about Joanna Chapman-Smith:

The Vancouver-based songstress makes it look effortless, but there's nothing simple at play. She sings cleanly, with a gentle confidence... she's the one with the quiet strength. - The Globe & Mail

Uniquely talented... She's got the whole package - The Toronto Star

Joanna Chapman-Smith's new album, 'Love Me Deeply' is the sort of love-and-loss album that can't but grab anyone who hears it by the gut... her fluid, folky voice literally dances through heart-wrenching lyrics of despair and spiritual blackening yet leaves you smiling knowingly all the way. A- - Stuart Derdeyn, The Province

2. CiTR's Annual Fundrive

There's still plenty of time to support my weekly radio show and CiTR!

I started The Saturday Edge On Folk on Saturday June 1st 1985. It was only 1.5 hours in those days, but 1.5 hours of vinyl weighed a lot more than the equivalent in CDs - or the iPad I now use to broadcast the vast majority of the show. Pretty much every Saturday since then, CiTR has broadcast Roots Music from all over the World. From 8am to noon we have brought you the very best in folk, blues, bluegrass, singer/songwriters, gypsy jazz, Celtic and African music - from next door, from across Canada, and from all around this great planet!

Next year CiTR will move into new premises in UBC's new Student Union Building - adjacent to the current one. We are all very excited about this, as the station will become a lot more visible on campus, and there will even be a performance space for live broadcasts. In order to meet the challenges posed by such a move, CiTR needs to upgrade our mixing consoles and provide a training platform that is consistent across the broadcast studio and the production studios. We need to upgrade our podcast server to keep our shows available on-demand. And we need to replace old equipment - especially CD players that receive much more wear and tear than domestic CD players. We also hope to upgrade our transmitter.

Each show / host has been challenged to increase the level of support from our listeners, so if you have enjoyed the music on The Saturday Edge On Folk for any of the past 28 years or so, please make a contribution to CiTR and The Saturday Edge On Folk. There are some great benefits, too! Not least of which is membership of CiTR with its attendant discounts at the coolest stores and venues in town. Plus special CD packages.

Here's three ways that you can support The Saturday Edge On Folk and CiTR:

[1] You can make a secure online donation anytime with your credit card by clicking on this link...

Online donations don't qualify for prizes, but you'll receive a full tax receipt. (If clicking on the link doesn't do the job, copy & paste the entire URL into the address bar of your browser.)

[2] During the week ending in the evening of Thursday, March 7th, we'll be asking people on the airwaves to support our radio station. You can donate by calling 604-822-8648 (UBC-UNIT) where volunteers are ready to answer the phones and fill out a pledge form. (Ask them about the special CD packages available from my show.)

[3] You can also send a cheque made payable to University of British Columbia to CiTR Radio, 233-6138 SUB Blvd., Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1.

However you donate, please make sure to mention that you are doing so in honour of THE SATURDAY EDGE ON FOLK, CiTR's longest-running Roots Music show!

For more information on the CiTR Fundrive, please visit www.citr.com/donate.

Thanks for your support!

Tune in on Saturday to hear heaps of new music from the recent Folk Alliance Conference, plus new releases by Battlefield Band, Bob Brozman, The SteelDrivers, and much more!

The Edge On Folk airs on CiTR fm 101.9 every Saturday from 8am to noon. Streamed live on www.citr.ca and also available on Telus TV Channel 3717