Steve's Blog
Friday September 13, 2013

Hi everyone

Friday 13th, eh? No worries! Get through this day and party all weekend long at The Rogue, I say!!

We just mailed out The September issue of The Rogue Folk Review and many of you will have received a copy in the mail. If not, you can download it on our website.

You will see that we have an awesome series of concerts line up for the Fall! We have just added a couple more show, too: The Sojourners CD Launch on Saturday November 9th, and C.R. Avery with Sarah MacDougall on Sunday November 17th. Tickets for most of our shows are on sale at Highlife Records (I'm taking some more tickets there later today) and Rufus' Guitar Shop. Tickets are also on sale on our website for all but the most recently-added concerts.

The Rogue is The Happening Place for folk & roots music in Vancouver. Has been for over 26 years. For sure there are other shows elsewhere, but they don't have anything like the same ambience, nor the same brand of friendly volunteer-run facilities, and none of them come close to having sound as good as ours. And I firmly believe that our musical choices are better, too!

1. Joel Savoy-Jesse Lege Cajun Dance Band, Saturday September 14th, 8pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue

Back in April we hosted a Cajun Dance with the Savoy Family Cajun Band. Joel Savoy was the fiddle player that night. A couple of years back we brought him in with Cajun accordionist Jesse Lege from Breau Bridge, Louisiana. They have recorded two CDs together. This time Joel also brings his wife Kelli-Jones-Savoy on guitar and vocals (she is a member of the excellent young Cajun band Feufollet) and the band is rounded out by the newly-wed couple from the Foghorn Stringband: Nadine Landry on bass and vocals and Sammy Lind on mandolin, guitar, accordion and fiddle. It's been a long, hot Summer in Vancouver, and it might be a little toasty in the hall tomorrow night - but at least that will add even more authenticity to the occasion! Come on down to The Rogue; it's Saturday night, and there's a great dance band in town! Come and waltz and two-step to some of the best Cajun music you'll ever hear. For more information about the band, visit www.valcourrecords.com

2. Ruth Moody, Sunday September 15th, 8pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue

Ruth Moody is best known as a founding-member of the Juno-winning band The Wailin' Jennys. She returns to Vancouver with a great new CD, These Wilder Things, and a superb backing band featuring The Bills' Adrian Dolan on fiddle, accordion, mandola, keyboards and anything else he feels like mastering! Also in the band are the stunning guitarist Adam Dobres, who plays in Dustin Bentall-Kendel Carson's band, and has also played with Blue Rodeo and many others. He was last seen at The Rogue with the wonderful young White Rock fiddler Kierah in May. Sam Howard rounds out this ace band on acoustic bass. Ruth is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and songwriter and possesses one of the very finest voices in Roots music. She was a featured guest singer on Mark Knopfler's latest CD, Privateering, and he reciprocated on her new album. Ruth will phone me on The Edge On Folk tomorrow morning around 11:30am to talk about the new CD and the tour, and we'll probably mention Mr. Knopfler at some point in the conversation! You can read more about Ruth on www.ruthmoody.com but the best way to experience her magical voice is in person, so you know the drill! See you there ....

3. Ralph Shaw's Ukulele (Roguelele) Night, Tuesday September 17th, 7:30pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue

The second instalment of our new series of Ukulele nights sees Vancouver's "King of the Ukulele" - Ralph Shaw - leading the longest-running Ukulele Club in North America under the auspices of The Rogue. Whether you’re a ukulele novice or a seasoned strummer the Vancouver Ukulele Circle is for you! You say you can’t sing and can barely play? NO PROBLEM! Quality is not an issue. We do this for fun. Sing as loud and free as you like because everyone else (over 100 people) is doing the same. We play from a 230 page book of classic songs. Want to perform? Our open-mic time is your chance to shine no matter what level you’re at. In fact the applause is all the louder for brave beginners. Admission is only $7, so come early. Doors open at 6:30pm - maybe even earlier. Bring a uke if you have one. Or buy one for under $20 at Prussin Music, for instance. Or just come and watch and sing.

4. John Doyle, Wednesday September 18th, 8pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue

This phenomenal Irish guitarist and singer first played at The Rogue with the Irish-American Celtic supergroup Solas. Since then he's played here with ace fiddler Liz Carroll, and with singer Karan Casey. He has also performed in Joan Baez' band at The Vogue. Last year you may have seen him driving the beat for the other two Teetotallers: Martin Hayes and Kevin Crawford at The Mission Folk Festival. His father Sean is a renowned traditional singer and John has now released three solo CDs, including the latest, Shadow & Light (Compass Records, 2011) These recordings demonstrate his dexterity as one of the most impressive guitar pickers in Celtic music - in this or any other era. It also demonstrates his fine singing voice and his increasingly incisive songwriting abilities. For me, there is no finer soloist or accompanist in Celtic music, and there are very few who are also such great singers and songwriters! Don't miss this rare chance to see John Doyle up close and personal in a solo concert in the cosy confines of The Rogue at St. James Hall. www.johndoylemusic.com

How's that for starters? All this and loads more besides. Coming to The Rogue this Fall. For the best entertainment deal in town buy a Parcel O'Rogues ticket bundle. Any 10 shows for $149, 20 shows for $269, or 30 shows for $329!

5. The Edge On Folk, Saturday 8am to noon, on CiTR fm 101.9 in Vancouver and www.citr.ca everywhere

I hope you can join me for 4 hours of the best in World, Roots, Celtic, Folk and much more! Every Saturday since June 1985 there's been an episode of The Edge On Folk on CiTR. Hosted by yours truly. On this week's show listen to brand new sounds from The Sojourners, Kelli Jones-Savoy, Elephant Revival, David Bromberg, Little Miss Higgins, Jaron Freeman-Fox, disappear fear, Rachelle van Zanten, Rayna Gellert, Thereafter, Del McCoury and many more. Plus recent releases from Linda Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir, Martha Scanlan, Vasen, and so much more! Plus an interview with Ruth Moody at 11:30am. Maybe earlier. I have a lot of fun putting the songs together and even more fun getting your feedback on Facebook while we're all listening to the show. There is a lot of fabulous music out there, there's also a lot of very ordinary music - which is what you're likely to hear on other radio stations or other shows. Folk DJs like me spend hours separating the musical wheat from the chaff. Tune in and turn on to The Edge On Folk every Saturday for the cream of the wheat - gluten free!

6. Steve's Photo Gallery

I am trying out a new Photo display site. Check it out and let me know what you think so far. I've got photos from this Summer's Island Musicfest, Vancouver Folk Music Festival, Mission Folk Festival, Shorefest, and Edmonton Folk Music Festival so far. Still working on adding captions and better functionality. You can take a look right here Steve Edge Photo Gallery.