Steve's Blog
Friday September 24, 2010

Hi everyone

We have two shows this weekend. Two quite different shows. Each with very strong roots in traditional music. Both will be fabulous, but of course, that is our speciality! Tickets are on sale online and at the door.

You are our best advertizers. Please help us out by telling your friends, workmates, neighbours. We can't afford to buy expensive ads and don't like the idea of printing hundreds of posters that will stay up for a few hours. Not enough people know about our concert series, our website, and our newsletter. We're heavily focused this week on a major grant application, so we need your help to spread the word and bring some people to these shows.

1. Cajun Honky Tonk with Caleb Klauder Country Band plus Joel Savoy & Jesse Lege, Saturday September 25th 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Ave.)

The first half of this show will be acoustic, traditional Cajun music played by Louisiana's Joel Savoy (fiddle) and Jesse Lege (Cajun accordion) joining Portland's Foghorn Trio (Caleb Klauder on mandolin and vocals, Sammy Lind on fiddle, and Nadine Landry on bass and vocals.) Joel Savoy is one of the sons of Marc and Ann Savoy, two of the most respected performers in Cajun music. He and his brother Wilson play in the Pine Leaf Boys. Jesse Lege is a fine accordion player and singer. Sammy and Nadine recently recorded a CD of traditional Cajun music in Louisiana. The Foghorn Trio were a big hit at The Rogue in January. This is a must for fans of real, deep down in the woods and the bayou Cajun music! In the second half, the Foghorns will be joined by pedal steel guitar and drums for some real down-home Country Honky Tonk music - mostly from Caleb Klauder's new CD, Western Country. Caleb brings the spirit of early Hank Williams to his songs. Excellent hurtin' songs! At the end, all 7 musicians will be on stage for some electrifying Cajun and Zydeco and Honky Tonk music. It's going to be amazing! Be prepared to dance your face off, but it's OK if you just want to sit back and listen and watch. However you choose to enjoy the show, come on down and bring a few friends. This is one of those shows we'll all be talking about for months! Don't miss it....

2. Martin Simpson, Sunday September 26th 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Ave.)

One of my very favourite guitar players returns. Martin Simpson is a natural story teller - not just in the songs he writes, but also in the tales he tells to set his music into context. Originally from Lincolnshire, he was introduced to folk music via the blues records in his older brother's collection. One of his songs, Never Any Good, tells of his father, who was born at the end of the 19th century. it's a fascinating story, and an utterly charming introduction to the Lincolnshire Simpsons. Martin latched onto the English folk scene at a young age, eagerly devouring the musical influences of the likes of Martin Carthy and Nic Jones. He became - and remains - June Tabor's guitarist of choice. The graceful English singer has never recorded with anyone else on guitar. That's well over 30 years and a dozen albums. Meanwhile, Martin has been extremely active and eclectic in his solo career. He moved to the States in the 1980s, living in Ithaca NY, Santa Cruz CA, and New Orleans LA - three veritable hotbeds of roots music. He has made instrumental CDs - and instructional DVDs - of Celtic ballads, has toured with Bob Brozman and Debashish Bhattacharya in the World Of Slide Guitar, recorded with his former partner Jessica Ruby Simpson and the remarkable Band of Angels, but is best known for his impeccable guitar picking and passionate vocals on a series of CDs which explore the fertile common ground between Celtic ballads, Appalachian songs and tunes, and African-American Blues. His versions of Spoonful, 61 Highway / Highway 61 Revisited, and I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes are stunning. In fact there are at least 30 of his songs which would come with me on my Desert Island iPod! He is a formidable guitarist, and also a very fine banjo player. His latest CD, True Stories, is another classic collection of blues standards like Stagolee and ancient ballads like Sir Patrick Spens and The Wind & The rain alongside original compositions both instrumental (Swooping Molly) and vocal (Will Atkinson, Home Again) His concerts are totally compelling. He doesn't hold back. Just plays and sings with passion and skill, and occasionally scales new heights - even for him - like his rendition of Dylan's Masters Of War, with which he brought the house down a few years back. If you're a fan of guitar music, traditional music, or the blues, you'll love this concert. Maybe you already know his work, maybe you don't. If you're not a fan yet you will be by the end of Sunday's show. See you there.

3. The Edge On Folk, Saturday 8am to noon on CiTR fm 101.9 and www.citr.ca

This week I'll have a phone interview with Caleb Klauder, plus new releases by Natacha Atlas, Canadian banjoist Jayme Stone (at CPAT on Oct 2nd), Irish singer Heidi Talbot, Northumbrian piper / concertina player Rob Say, Scots trio The Bevvy Sisters, Irish combo Caladh Nua, Senegalese singer Cheikh Lo, Brazilian singer Luisa Maita, and more from The SteelDrivers, Robert Plant's Band of Joy, Lunasa (playing CPAT on Sept 30th) and lots more!

4. Coming soon

Martin Simpson Guitar Seminar at Prussin Music on Monday September 27th www.prussinmusic.com

Lunasa at Capilano Performing Arts Theatre on Thursday September 30th 604-990-7810

Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart on Friday October 1st at St. James Hall

The Paperboys on Saturday & Sunday October 9th & 10th (Thanksgiving weekend) at St. James Hall

and lots more. Visit our concert calendar for full listings.