Steve's Blog
Wednesday November 7, 2007

Hi everyone

Ah, November. Dark afternoons, rainy nights, the time for digging out sweaters and cranking up the heat. Meanwhile, at the Rogue Folk Club, we are diving headlong into the busiest month of the year, with a selection of music to tempt every taste. We have heavy wood guitars, deeply soulful gospel, scintillating fiddles, legendary songwriters, glorious harmony vocals, political music that you can dance to, and even a taste of Africa.

Workshops Coming Soon

On top of all this, we have a couple of hands-on workshops, where musicians and singers can learn some tricks of the trade from two of the most accomplished and experienced touring musicians and teachers on the folk circuit (Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart, on Monday, November 26th at 7pm at St. James Community Square - downstairs.) Workshop Details

Last Week

Last weekend's concerts were exceptional! Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas brought special guests Genticorum from Quebec, and taught the near-capacity crowd a Hip-Hop Strathspey at the end. Everyone stayed on their feet and sang "Loch Lomond", before we heard "Moneymusk" in Scots style and then in Quebecois fashion. What a night!

Next evening, Tri Continental treated us to their delectable guitar music at the St. James Hall. The groove got progressively more intense and it ended up being one of our most enjoyable shows of the year. Messrs Bourne, Quitzau and "Slim" were all in top form, and they played a few new songs that haven't been recorded yet.

So, here's what's coming up next. We don't expect you to come to all our shows, but if you are a fan of real, live, acoustic roots music, we urge you to check out at least one of them. We really need - and appreciate - your support.

STrung - Tony McManus, April Verch & Doug Cox - Saturday, November 10th, 8pm (St. James Hall)

The incredible Scots guitarist, Tony McManus, now makes his home in Toronto. Widely regarded as the finest guitarist in Celtic music, Tony is always a popular draw at the Rogue. This time he has teamed up with the prodigiously gifted fiddler, singer and step-dancer, April Verch, and Canada's master of the dobro, Doug Cox. The band is rounded out by April's bass player, and it promises to be a scintillating evening of Celtic, swing, and world music. Definitely a must-see for the musically adventurous. You can find more information about the performers on www.tonymcmanus.com, www.aprilverch.com, and www.dougcox.org

The concert takes place on Saturday, November 10th at 8pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue. Tickets are available at Highlife Records, Rufus' Guitar Shop, and on-line You may also reserve tickets on the Rogue Hotline 604-736-3022. Concert Details

Tom Russell with Ramblin' Jack Elliott - Tuesday, November 13th, 8pm (St. James Hall)

The train which took Alasdair Fraser, Natalie Haas, Genticorum, and a host of fiddle fanatics across Canada this week returns next week with a payload of Cowboy Folk and Singer-Songwriter aficionados. The musicians on board include Tom Russell, a prolific and impressive writer of songs about the "wounded heart of America", and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, a veritable renaissance man of American folk music - and transportation!

Tom Russell has proved to be one of the most popular performers in the 20 year history of the Rogue Folk Club, and with good reason. Rolling Stone magazine calls him "one of America's greatest songwriters... as close to a Homeric treatment of American history as we're ever likely to see." His latest CDs include "Love & Fear", the EP "Who's Gonna Build Your Wall", and the brand new "Wounded Heart Of America", which features his songs performed by a host of singers including Eliza Gilkyson, Joe Ely, Dave Alvin, and Iris Dement. Tom also sings two new songs on the CD, plus a duet with Ramblin' Jack.

Ramblin' Jack Elliott is a true American original. Since the early 50s he has personified the footloose, carefree, hitchhiking, sing for your supper troubadour. He is Woody Guthrie's spiritual heir and an early inspiration to two generations of fledgling folkies, including his pal from Greenwich Village days, Bob Dylan - who shows his enormous respect for Jack in a moving homage to him in his recently-published autobiography. Jack is a singing cowboy who numbers rodeo stars, range hands, buckaroos, and cowboy poets among his friends and admirers, as well as fellow freethinkers as various as Tom Waits, Robert Duvall, Sam Shepard, and the late Jack Kerouac. Jack is an airplane pilot, a diesel mechanic, and a salt water sailor. He's rambled to every corner of the United States and most of Europe, and he may just now be coming into his prime. He continues to collect and pass on stories, to hone his repertoire, and to gain new fans. Don't miss this rare chance to see a true legend in concert.

More information on these artists can be found on www.tomrussell.com and www.ramblinjack.com

The concert takes place on Tuesday, November 13th at 8pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue. Tickets are available at Highlife Records, Rufus' Guitar Shop, and on-line. You may also reserve tickets on the Rogue Hotline 604-736-3022. Concert Details

Umoja Band & Kutapira - Sunday, November 11th, 9pm (WISE Hall)

This evening of South African dance music, spiced with Vancouver's hot young marimba band Kutapira, is brought to you by Festival Baobab and Alliance Francaise. The festival takes place every February, and this show is both a chance to showcase the event and its ideals a few weeks early, and to present the brilliant backing band from the hit South African musical, Umoja, which is currently running at The Vogue Theatre (until December 30th.) The Rogue Folk Club will be a co-sponsor of Festival Baobab next February.

Tickets are on sale at Highlife Records and also on-line. There will be a raffle, which will include a pair of tickets to see the musical. Come down to the WISE Hall, 1882 Adanac Street in Vancouver's east end, for a late evening of dance music. You have the whole day to recover on Monday. It's Remembrance Day. Concert Details

The BIG Weekend - November 16th, 17th & 18th at St. James Hall

Headwater and Australia's Colcannon will serve up some tasty harmonies on Friday November 16th at 8pm Concert Details. The following night it's the wonderfully danceable peace activism of Sonia & Disappear Fear from NYC, also at 8pm Concert Details, and on Sunday, a concert that no self-respecting Irish fiddler (or Irish music fan) would dare to miss: the return of Chicago fiddle diva Liz Carroll and the brilliant guitarist and singer John Doyle, from Dublin. That's also an 8pm start Concert Details.

A fantastic weekend, n'est-ce pas?

I'll be playing music from all these performers - plus a heap of great new releases - on The Edge On Folk, Saturdays, 8am to noon, on CiTR fm 101.9 and www.citr.ca (streamed live on the internet.)

Have a great week. See you at the Rogue!!