Steve's Blog
Wednesday October 7, 2009

Hi everyone

If you've ever doubted the efficacy of this egroup list, 92 of us went to see Tony Bennett last night! Not a bad response to an offer that we only received 24 hours before the show! OK, it was hardly folk music, but what a great band, and what an amazing voice the man has. How old is he? Would you believe he's 83? Well, he is! Anyhow, huge thanks to Keystone Music for the tickets and to Paul Norton (Coop Radio and CiTR DJ) who first offered tickets to me on Monday night. And thanks to all those who thanked us for the tickets - and to Elinor for the cookies! So, if you are really grateful, we'd love to see you at one or more of our shows in the next few days ....

This week we have two concerts featuring some of the most creative emerging talent around. Tickets for all shows are available online, also at Highlife Records, Rufus' Guitar Shop, and at the door.

Rattle The Boards with Lissa Schneckenburger on Thursday, October 8th, 8pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue

With three former members of the Knocknagow Ceilidh Band, Tipperary's Rattle The Boards will live up to their name tomorrow night. Led by Danu's accordion wizard Benny McCarthy, this quartet plays Irish music in the old style, yet with exhilarating freshness and vitality. Rattle the Boards have built quite a reputation in Ireland, playing what The Irish Times describes as "tunes familiar to many parishes, but with a bit of fire." Band members include Pat Ryan (fiddle, mandolin, banjo), John Nugent (guitar) and John T. Egan (vocals) all of County Tipperary, and Benny McCarthy (button box, melodeon) of County Waterford. McCarthy is also leader of the International supergroup "Danu" and has toured all over the world, including a number of sold-out shows in BC. Ryan, Nugent and McCarthy all came from different backgrounds and musical experiences including rock music. In the late 1980s and early 90s, they were all members of the Knocknagow Ceili Band, based in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. They spent many years playing for dancers throughout Ireland. In 1992, the group came together with the addition of vocalist and Gaelic sportsman John T. Egan in 1992. Egan's love of Irish traditions made him an obvious choice for the band.

"Playing mainly old traditional Irish tunes, Rattle the Boards are one of those few Irish bands who have managed to capture the fun, enjoyment and atmosphere of traditional Irish music on CD. There is enough variation on the CD, and the combination of instruments works really well. Rattle the Boards are another strong proof that the scene in Ireland produces currently a lot of new highest quality trad bands. This is a recording that anybody interested in lively Irish trad music simply must have in his/her collection." (Folkworld CD Review) www.rattletheboards.com

Opening for them is Vermont fiddler Lissa Schneckenburger, a protegee of Alasdair Fraser. Her latest work seeks to bring the traditional music of the N.E. States to the fore. Old ballads and fiddle tunes from Scotland and Ireland have been adopted and localized over the past 300 years and Lissa will sing and play some of them, accompanied by Bethany Waickman on guitar. www.lissafiddle.com

The concert will be followed by a session in the hall - for those who don't mind a late night!

Corinne West with Doug Cox on Friday, October 9th, 8pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue

The following night, Corinne West, a California troubadour with a growing reputation in Europe as well as North America as one of the most expressive new voices and trad-based songwriting on the folk scene returns to the Rogue after a two year absence. Corinne has just released her 3rd CD, The Promise, produced by legendary BC dobro / guitar master Doug Cox, who will accompany her on Friday night. As a songwriter Corinne brings a subtle and sophisticated pen to her own hybrid of acoustic music ~ roots, rock, folk, and progressive country with a sprinkle of blues. From soulful ballads to hard driving road tales, laments to liberations, she evokes artists as wide ranging as Natalie Merchant and Johnny Cash, while crafting a sound and vision uniquely her own. Her dynamism on stage is gripping. Daniel Lapp plays fiddle and trumpet on the record, and John Reischman is another BC musician prominently featured on Corinne's new CD. Perhaps they will step in and join her as well. www.corinnewest.com and www.dougcox.org

Garnet Rogers on Friday, October 16th, 8pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue

Garnet Rogers, brother of the late Stan Rogers, is one of Canada's most popular singer. His rich baritone voice and impressive guitar style, coupled with his hilarious road stories and powerful songs about the extraordinary lives of ordinary folks, make his concerts very special occasions. His music is heavily influenced by Celtic traditions, and his family comes from Irish and Nova Scotia stock. www.garnetrogers.com

Lee Harvey Osmond on Sunday, October 25th, 8pm, at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Avenue

This is a late addition to our calendar, and marks the first in a new series of concerts co-presented with the great new Vancouver radio station Shore fm 104. www.shore104.com

Lee Harvey Osmond is a new project teaming Hamilton's Tom Wilson (Blackie & The Rodeo Kings) with 60s/70s/80s folk/rock icon Brent Titcomb in an all-star, 5 piece band. They released a CD earlier this year, A Quiet Evil, songs of lost love and pain, for the most part! Cheery stuff! The original group featured members of the Cowboy Junkies and The Skydiggers as well. www.tomwilson.net

More Concerts Online, and an update on our FUNdraiser

There are lots more concerts now listed including plenty of new additions (and we've postponed our FUNdraiser to November 21st as the past few weeks have seen us way too busy with grants and financial reports to be able to plan anything else. We are looking for ideas and items to sell / auction as well as musicians to perform on that Saturday night. Please contact me if you have any ideas, and please visit us online. Often.

The Edge On Folk, Saturday 8am to noon, on CiTR fm 101.9

On this week's show there will be the usual mix of new releases, songs by upcoming Rogue performers, and this week I'll also have two pairs of tickets to next Monday's Federico Aubele show to give away. Please join me for four hours of the very best in Roots, World and Folk Music every Saturday from 8am to noon on CiTR fm 101.9 in Vancouver and streamed live on www.citr.ca (podcasts are available later in the day, and playlists are archived on this website. The studio number is 604-822-2487.