Steve's Blog
Thursday April 4, 2013

N.B. tickets are available at the door for all shows and on our website for all except the two dances.

1. Savoy Cajun Band, Thursday April 4th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Great band from Louisiana! Marc Savoy (accordion) and Ann Savoy (vocals, guitar) with their sons Joel (fiddle) and Wilson (piano). Come to dance or to sit and watch. Tickets available at the door. www.savoyfamilycajunband.com

2. Pharis & Jason Romero with John Wort Hannam Trio opening, Friday April 5th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Sublime vocal harmonies and exquisite banjo and guitar picking from Horsefly BC couple, whose new CD, Long Gone Out West Blues, will make a lot of Top 10 Lists for 2013. Old time flavoured new songs and real, down home old time songs too. Absolutely gorgeous music! www.jasonandpharis.com

Alberta songwriter John Wort Hannam opens with his acoustic trio. He's won many awards and also has a great new CD, Brambles & Thorns. We think you're going to like him, too! www.johnworthannam.com

3. Contra Dance with The Sybaritic Stringband, Saturday April 6th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

The Sybs will play the fiddle and sax driven dance music and each dance will be taught on the spot. Come alone or bring a partner. Admission is $12 at the door, $8 students, half-price if you bring home-made goodies to share.

4. Rose Cousins & Del Barber, Sunday April 7th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Two wonderful Canadian songwriters share the stage: Nova Scotia's Rose Cousins was a big hit here last year opening for John Gorka. Her new CD, We Have Made A Spark, is by turns darkly wonderful and spiritually uplifting. www.rosecousins.com.

Manitoba's Del Barber is a road warrior and troubadour with a sharp turn of wit and an engaging lyrical style and heaps of personality. He was last seen here with Old Man Luedecke in June. www.delbarber.com

5. April Issue of Rogue Folk Review out now!

Inside: Full details of our 7th Annual April In Paris Festival of Gypsy Jazz!

Deanna Knight & The Hot Club Of Mars CD Release Cabaret, Friday April 12th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

Kiss Of Fire is the title of the new Hotties' CD, and it's a belter of an album. The band is in interstellar form and fiddler Tom Neville really shines. There are some hot guitar jams, and godlike winds and the sultry voice of Deanna Knight, too. www.deannaknight.ca/hotclub

The Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret will introduce the evening with some swing dance classes and demonstrations and other marvellous theatrics, and BC guitarist Paul Pigat will add a few Django tunes to the mixture!

Marc Atkinson Trio & Roma Swing Ensemble, Saturday April 13th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

BC's hottest guitar picker returns with his fine trio playing Django tunes and a lot of very tasty originals. www.marcatkinson.com

Lache Cercel, Romanian fiddler extraordinaire, brings his Roma magic to the evening. We never know what to expect from them, but it will be brilliant and spectacular! www.lachecercel.com

Van Django & Brishen, Sunday April 14th, 8pm, St. James Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)

The extremely creative and mind-blowingly talented quartet Van Django launched their 2nd CD at last year's event. Since then they've toured across Europe and starred at the prestigious Nanking Jazz Festival in China. www.vandjango.com

Victoria's Brishen is another quartet, featuring young guitar wizard Quinn Bachand and The Bills' fiddler Richard Moody. www.brishenmusic.com

6. Taj Mahal & Shemekia Copeland, Thursday April 25th, 8pm, The Chan Centre at UBC (6265 Crescent Road)

Blues Night Out with the legendary Taj Mahal, celebrating over 4 decades in the business, and with a stunning new double CD, The Hidden Treasures Of Taj Mahal, with previously unreleased tracks from 1969-73 and a concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. www.tajblues.com

Shemekia Copeland was recently "crowned" the new Queen of the Blues by the daughter of the late Koko Taylor. Shemekia is the daughter of another Blues legend, texas guitarist Johnny Copeland, and came very close to winning a Grammy this year. www.shemekiacopeland.com

This is the biggest show we have ever brought to town, and it's been many a long year since Taj was last here. He's an incredible showman, and his trio is one of the hottest, funkiest and eclectic Blues bands around! It's going to be an incredible night for Rogues, and all lovers of The Blues. Van City members save 10% on Taj Mahal tickets purchased at our events - or online on our website.

7. The Edge On Folk, Saturday 8am to noon, CiTR fm 101.9, Telus Ch. 3717, and streamed live on www.citr.ca

Please join me for four hours of the very best in World, Blues, Roots, Celtic and Folk Music. This week I'll be spinning new releases and old favourites and lots of surprises (even I expect to be surprised this week!!)

Have a great Rogue weekend!!