Steve's Blog
Tuesday January 5, 2010

Happy New Year, everyone!

We kicked off 2010 with a great party for our volunteers - thanks to the Van Morris Men for their Molly dancing and singing! You can see some photos of this event - and a few concerts and festivals from last year as well - on my website gallery.me.com/steveedge3/100198.

We also had the first Contra Dance of the year last Saturday, with the Sybs in fine form and a packed dance floor. The next Sybs dance is on February 6th, but there is another Contra Dance at St. James Hall this Friday if you can't wait that long!

It was good to get back on the air at CiTR as well, after missing a week due to the closure of the Student Union Building on Boxing Day. I had been told that the building would be locked until 9am last Saturday, but I turned up at 8 just in case, and it was open! You can download the podcasts of the show on www.citr.ca - just follow the link to Shows and go to the Letter T and scroll down to The Saturday Edge. Right click your mouse to save the podcasts, or left click to play them.

Foghorn Trio, plus Anne Louise Genest / Annie Lou, Saturday January 9th 8pm at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Ave (Tickets $20 general, $15 members)

The Foghorn Trio is Caleb Klauder and Stephen "Sammy" Lind, the foundation of the internationally acclaimed Foghorn Stringband from Portland along with Nadine Landry of the band Hungry Hill. They play old-time and country fiddle tunes and songs, drawing on material from both Foghorn and The Caleb Klauder Country Band. The trio features Caleb and Sammy trading off on vocals, guitar, mandolin, fiddle and banjo with Nadine on vocals, guitar and upright bass. www.myspace.com/foghornduo

Anne Louise Genest from Yukon is the singer and songwriter who leads the fine stringband Annie Lou. They put on an amazing performance at the Rogue in September as part of Yukonfest, and we are delighted to bring Anne Louise back. She will be accompanied by the Foghorn Trio on this occasion. www.myspace.com/annieloumusic

This concert is a co-presentation of Pacific Bluegrass & Heritage Society and The Rogue.

Van Django Sextet - Swing Dance / Concert, Friday January 15th 8pm at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Ave (Tickets $20 general, $17 members)

Van Django, Vancouver's amazing gypsy jazz string quartet, tried a new format in November, with Evan Arntzen on clarinet and vocals and Nino Pasquale on drums. It was billed as a Swing Dance. Ticket sales were really slow. Then a woman arrived at the door hoping we could still squeeze her in cos she'd heard the show was sold out. When told there was plenty of room she stepped outside and made a phone call, For the next half hour or so streams of young dancers poured in. They were very good dancers! Some amazing jitterbugging ensued. It was a great night. Van Django have always sounded great, and always add some unexpected twists and mind-blowing virtuosity to their music. With drums and clarinet and vocals they have stepped up another notch or two. Get there early this time, maybe it WILL be sold out! www.vandjango.com

The Haints Old Time Stringband, Wednesday January 20th 8pm at St. James Hall, 3214 West 10th Ave (Tickets $20 general, $17 members)

The word "haint" is a southern expression for a spirit or ghost... and these Haints have gleaned inspiration and repertoire from a wealth of sources old and new. The Haints are an old-time band with a stellar line-up featuring Erynn Marshall (Galax, VA / Victoria, BC) - fiddle, vocals, banjo-uke, Pharis Romero (Cobble Hill, BC / Horsefly, BC)