Steve's Blog
Thursday November 11, 2010

Hi everyone

Hot Off The Press

I'll be on CBC Radio North By Northwest this Saturday from 7am to 7:30am on 88.1 fm and 690 am

I've put some new Photos into my Photo Gallery (Kim Beggs, Bill Bourne, Ruth Moody, Open House. Plus some shots of eagles and rainbows.) gallery.me.com/steveedge3

The November issue of the Rogue Folk Review is now available for download from our website.

Since that was mailed we've added Canadian singer Tannis Slimmon to the Blame Sally concert on Saturday December 11th

New Ticket Server

We now have tickets for more concerts available online. If you choose Blame Sally or Joel Fafard from our Concert Calendar you will be directed to Ticket Turtle. This is still in the testing phase, so please check it out and report back to us if you have any difficulties.

The Edge On Folk

On The Edge On Folk this Saturday (8am to noon on CiTR fm 101.9) I'll be previewing our concerts, plus playing music from new releases by Corinne West & Kelly Joe Phelps, Railroad Earth, La Volee d'Castors, Elvis Costello, Afrocubism, Lissa Schneckenburger (who's performing at a House Concert in Vancouver on November 22nd), John Cowan, Shannon Whitworth, and more. Around 10am, Alan Reid and one or two other members of Scotland's Battlefield Band will call in for a wee chat about their new line-up and their concert in town next Thursday.

The following week, CiTR is holding its annual Fundrive, so if you value the contribution CiTR makes to the music scene in town - or if you're just a fan of my show - please call in on the 20th and make a pledge to help us keep going and to improve and update our equipment - so that the signal and the music sound even better! On the 20th I'm considering playing a couple of "tribute" CDs - The Waybacks & Friends performing Abbey Road at this year's Merlefest (great versions of the songs, with guest singers Sara Dugas of The Duhks, Shannon Whitworth, Jim Lauderdale, and Elvis Costello), and a wonderful bluegrass cover of Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon by California band Poor Man's Whiskey (retitled Dark Side Of The Moonshine.) We'll have some excellent premiums, too, including the CiTR Members Card which gets you discounts at a wonderful array of retail outlets around town.

Last week's Edge On Folk was affected by a couple of power surges which caused the internet feed - and the podcast recording - to die at around 11:15am. This was especially sad because I interviewed Kevin Burke at around noon (the show ran to 12:20pm) If you missed that, we're hoping to retrieve the feed from the station's logger tapes. I'll add the updated podcast just as soon as we get it. Podcasts and the live feed are available on www.citr.ca where you can also read about our Fundrive.

Concerts

We have three amazing concerts this weekend for your delectation:

1. Wise & Weathered, Friday November 12th, 8pm at CBC Studio 700 (700 Hamilton Street)

Three brilliant Canadian songwriters in the round: Kim Barlow (Yukon), Raghu Lokanathan (BC), and Catherine MacLellan (Nova Scotia) The first show on their tour was last night in Whitehorse. A sold out show. There's an article about Raghu in this week's Georgia Straight. Check it out. It's the lead article! www.straight.com/music [direct link – ed]

2. Jane Mortifee & The R&B Express, Saturday November 13th, 8pm at St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Scroll down from Raghu's article on The Straight website, and you'll find a short article about Jane Mortifee. She's also featured in the latest issue of The Courier, and was on the cover of the E section of The Province last week - along with her sister Ann, who launched a book and CD last weekend. Now it's Jane's turn to launch a CD - Get Ready, a collection of R&B classics and Bluesy songs - with her excellent band. Tickets are selling fast, so don't delay. This concert will appeal to fans of Motown and Stax as well as Jane's fans - and the musically curious and adventurous. It's worth coming just to hear the horn section! Jane's voice and the soaring guitar of Robbie Stenininger are also not to be missed. www.janemortifee.com

3. Jim Byrnes CD Launch, Sunday November 14th, 8pm at CBC Studio 40 (700 Hamilton Street)

There was a great review of Jim's new CD, Everywhere West, in last week's Georgia Straight. Today he was Pick of the Week for Sunday in the Vancouver Sun - make sure you get the correct venue, though: CBC Studio 40, 700 Hamilton Street. Jim will be joined by the band with whom he completes a short tour of Alberta on Saturday: Daniel Lapp on fiddle, trumpet and mandolin; Steve Dawson on guitars; Keith Lowe on bass; Geoff Hicks on drums; plus Bill Runge & Jerry Cook on saxophones. The show - which celebrates Jim's return to his Blues roots - will be recorded by CBC Canada Live and Saturday Night Blues, so come down and be a part of the show. www.jamestbyrnes.com

It's going to be an incredible weekend!!

Then don't forget that we have a treat for Celtic music fans next week:

4. Battlefield Band plus Jocelyn Pettit, Thursday November 18th, 8pm at St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Their latest CD - Zama Zama .. Try Your Luck - contains many fine examples of how to integrate the Highland bagpipes into Scottish dance music. They've been doing this for 40 years now. Scotland's Battlefield Band also write songs of Scotland's rich history and often combine them with stories in song about how modern Scotland - indeed much of the New World as well - has been shaped by Scotland's past. The last of the founding members, Alan Reid, steps down after this tour. His replacement, young fiddler and Gaelic singer Ewen Henderson, is also on this tour, so for the first time in Canada we present a five-piece Battlefield Band! Such is the versatility of these players, you might see fiddle duets and pipe trios at various times along the way. We guarantee an evening of excellent entertainment, superb musicianship, and fine singing and stories. battlefieldband.co.uk

Opening for The Batties is superb young BC fiddler Jocelyn Pettit, who will perform a short set with her excellent band. Jocelyn will blow your mind! A stunning musician and composer - and she's only 15!