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Live Folk, Roots & Celtic Music in Vancouver BC

Seasonal Season Finale

Steve's Blog
A Hot Weekend with Bluegrass and a Cajun Dance Party!
Friday May 15, 2015

 May 7, 2015May 21, 2015 

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Laurie Lewis & Kathy Kallick
Friday May 15th 8pm
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $24 ($20 Rogues and PBHS members)
 
Vancouver Acoustic Music blogger Garry Stevenson sends out a comprehensive weekly guide to the local acoustic music scene. He had this to say when he booked tickets to see Laurie & Kathy the other day: "I saw them at Grass Valley, CA last year. They were the highlight of a long weekend of great music." Garry knows his music, and especially his Bluegrass! 
 
Vern Williams & Ray Park grew up a few miles apart in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, playing Bluegrass. They didn't meet until they had both relocated to Stockton, CA in the 1950s. Their pioneering approach to Bluegrass inspired a generation of California musicians to play acoustic music and to explore Bluegrass. Amongst these musicians were Bay Area singers Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick. They formed The Good Ol' Persons, with Laurie on fiddle and Kathy on guitar, joined by the likes of  John Reischman (now a stalwart member of the Vancouver acoustic music scene.) Laurie later formed her own band, Grant Street, and both those bands have played Sold Out shows down the years all along the west coast - including The Rogue. They have also worked together periodically since those heady days in the 80s and 90s, and have now teamed up again to record a tribute album to Vern & Ray, who are no longer with us, but whose legacy and influence remain immense. We are delighted to present Laurie & Kathy again, leading a very fine band - with Tom Rozum on mandolin, Cary Black on bass, and Patrick Sauber on banjo. This is a top notch Bluegrass band, and the music - and singing - will fill St. James Hall from the floor to those glorious wooden arches with some of the sweetest sounds imaginable!  For more info, visit www.laurielewis.com
 
Tickets are still available online and at Highlife Records, Prussin Music, Red Cat Records, and Rufus' Guitar Shop. Tickets will also be available at the door from 7pm to show time (8pm)
 
 
The Revelers
Sunday May 17th 8pm
St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Tickets $26 ($22 Rogues and PBHS members)
 

The Georgia Straight says: "If you like Cajun food and flavours, you’re going to love the hot musical gumbo served up by the Revelers. The six-piece Louisiana band, which includes former members of the Pine Leaf Boys and Red Stick Ramblers, uses the finest local ingredients—accordion and fiddle-led Cajun music, bluesy zydeco, and swamp-pop, with a spoonful of country and a dash of folk. It’s a great recipe for dancing, so put on those new boots and head down to St. James Hall this Sunday (May 17) when the Revelers make their Vancouver debut."

Long-time fans of the Red Stick Ramblers may find themselves very familiar with the Revelers: the powerful singing and songwriting of Chas Justus and Eric Frey, a mix of traditional Cajun and zydeco dance music, some of the swing that was such a strong focus of early RSR, the magical rhythm section chemistry of Glenn Fields and Eric Frey, and impressive musical virtuosity across the board. Take what you know about the Red Sticks, add into the mix the crooning vocals of Glenn Fields, and the singing/songwriting of Blake Miller (founding member of the Pine Leaf Boys and unarguably the most prolific French songwriter coming out of Louisiana right now), the tightly arranged section of sax-fiddle-accordion, and you’ll start to get the Revelers picture.

The depth of this band has only developed from digging deeper into the dancehall traditions of Southwest Louisiana and emerging with an arsenal they call Louisiana Jukebox Music. Music critics are wont to categorize music into clear genre styles, but that’s not really the way folk traditions develop - things are passed around, the lines are blurred - and particularly in a culture as unique as that of SW Louisiana (we won’t use the old gumbo cliché, but you get the idea…) The Revelers have embraced that musical truth in a way few bands have - the lines between traditional and original, Cajun, country, zydeco, swamp pop, and the blues, are blurred, and wide-ranging styles are honed into an extremely cohesive performance.

The genre of swamp pop may bear some explanation. Little-known outside of Louisiana (but still quite popular in the region) it’s a music that’s nearly confined to the archives of the 50’s and 60’s save for a handful of bands today. In short, swamp pop is Southwest Louisiana’s answer to the R&B and Rock ’n Roll that came out of New Orleans, Memphis and Detroit in the 50s. When that unstoppable sound reached Cajun and zydeco musicians, they caught the bug and played their own versions the only way they knew how - sometimes in French, and traded in their fiddles and accordions for horns and electric guitars. It’s a perfect example of how everything that comes from Acadiana is dripping with it’s own unique culture.
 
Equally at home on a festival main stage, a late night dance party, or a performing arts hall, the Revelers have taken their mission coast to coast in the U.S. and around the world from Ireland to Denmark, to their own Black Pot Festival in Lafayette. The Black Pot festival is a celebration of the culture of food, music, and dance that’s still thriving in Acadiana, along with the Revelers’ ties to the wider roots music community. Attracting a who’s who of regional Louisiana dance bands along with folk, bluegrass, Tex-mex, gospel, songwriters, and old-time from across North America, it’s the annual culmination of the party that the band brings with them to every stage they play on. 
 
Tickets are still available online and at Highlife Records, Prussin Music, Red Cat Records, and Rufus' Guitar Shop. Tickets will also be available at the door from 7pm to show time (8pm) 
 
Special Deal on Early Bird Tickets to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival (July 17 - 19)

One of the benefits of membership of The Rogue is the ability to purchase discount tickets on weekend passes to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. This year's line up is incredible! Check it out on www.thefestival.bc.ca Rogues can purchase tickets from our website for $135 (the regular price is $149) up to Sunday June 14th, so don't delay! Please ignore any error messages or mentions of wheelchairs. The ticket provider is ironing out a couple of bugs for us. You can buy your weekend passes - as many as you like - provided that your own membership is up to date. The system will verify this at the end of your transaction, so if it fails you may need to renew first. 

 
B.B. King is gone
The legendary Blues guitarist and singer died yesterday at the age of 89. There is an obituary on the BBC website and countless tributes are pouring in. I'll spin some of his songs on The Edge On Folk this Saturday.
 
 
Radio Waves
As well as a B.B. King Tribute, I'll have new music by Della Mae, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni ba, Corinne West, Eilen Jewell, Jackie Oates, Eliza Carthy & Tim Eriksen, Trio Da Kali, The Young'uns, and a real 1980s classic from Vancouver's Natural Elements. Plus music by "upcoming" Rogues The Revelers, Chris Ronald, Deanna Knight, Ten Strings & A Goatskin, Tom Russell, and Maggie Bell. All this and so much more on The Edge On Folk on CiTR fm 101.9, Saturday from 8am to noon. It's streamed live on www.citr.ca too.
 
Radio Rogue has a new playlist, with new releases and lots of music by Rogue performers. You can tune in any time! 
 
 May 7, 2015May 21, 2015 

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