1. Thursday, January 12th. Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas, Mel Lehan Hall at St. James (3214 West 10th Avenue)
“One of Scotland's most valued tradition-bearers.” — BBC Radio Scotland
Alasdair Fraser is one of the greatest carriers of the Scottish fiddle music tradition, a fiddler whose warmly expressive playing, mastery of his instrument and deep understanding of his native music as a venerable and continually evolving art is an inspiration to generations of musicians on both sides of the Atlantic. Accompanied by the brilliant American cellist Natalie Haas, this will be their 10th Rogue show. Alasdair also played at The Savoy in 1987 with keyboardist Paul Machlis, and at The Wise Hall with pianist Barbara MacDonald Magone (NS) in 1990, and Skyedance in 1997. Together Alasdair and Natalie have recorded six fabulous CDs, dating back to Fire & Grace (2004) with their latest recording being Syzygy (2021). Syzygy is an astronomical term used to describe three celestial bodies in a straight line (curious title for a CD by a duo, methinks!)
Alasdair often describes the cello in 18th century Scottish music as the precursor of 20th century funk! The cello certainly drives the music along with often highly syncopated rhythmic propulsion, and one certainly gets to feel this drive in their shows! Don't miss this chance to get into the Robert Burns spirit and revel in the virtuosity and creative brilliance of this amazing Celtic duo!
For tickets and more information about this inspired Celtic duo click here
2. Thursday, January 19th. David Francey, Mel Lehan Hall at St. James (3214 West 10th Avenue). Sold Out.
The latest in a long line of brilliant Canadian singer songwriters - some of the very best in the world - David Francey came to be a professional musician quite late in life. A Scots-born carpenter by trade he was encouraged to opt for a singing career to give free expression to his prodigious writing skills and we are all the merrier for it!
This show sold out very fast, but you can still purchase a ticket to hear - and see - it on our live stream.
3. Friday, January 20th. Beppe Gambetta, Mel Lehan Hall at St. James (3214 West 10th Avenue)
The brilliant Italian flatpicking acoustic guitarist Beppe Gambetta first played a Rogue show back in 2000 with Dan Crary. He played a Cap show with Men of Steel (Dan Crary, Don Ross, and Tony McManus), before playing four times at The Rogue between 2004 and 2018.
In 2019 he was awarded the title of “Genoa Ambassador To The World” by the Genoa Mayor Marco Bucci for the following reason: “Beppe Gambetta has built countless bridges between Genoa and the Americas, combining the rich culture of his hometown with the beauty of the American roots and adding in his compositions - contemporary influences to the traditions he mastered. He has been a true Ambassador of the Genovese culture in all his studies, productions and performances”.
Beppe returns to The Rogue next month for the first time since releasing his 11th solo CD, Where The Wind Blows (Borealis Records, 2020). He is also an accomplished chef and has just produced a cook book of traditional Genovese recipes. We hope he will cook up a storm gastronomically as well as musically at The Rogue this evening!
Tickets are available right here, folks!
4. Thursday, January 26th. Cassie & Maggie, Mel Lehan Hall at St. James (3214 West 10th Avenue)
“Nova Scotian sisters Cassie & Maggie are among the top musical acts in demand on the Irish/American/Canadian scene” — Irish Music Magazine
We are delighted to present an evening of Celtic music par excellence with Nova Scotia duo Cassie & Maggie MacDonald. Cassie (fiddle, vocals) and Maggie (guitar, vocals, piano) will be making their 3rd appearance at The Rogue. They first played for us in 2015 and returned in 2017.
From the deepest roots of Canada and its very earliest musical traditions, Cassie and Maggie put their own 21st Century stamp on the Celtic soundtrack of this nation. Exciting and innovative, their talent is surpassed only by the sheer joy they exude in performance. Alternating between Gaelic and English, traditional and contemporary, haunting and electrifying, the duo is nothing short of mesmerizing.
Tickets and more information here.
5. February at The Rogue
We have just added these three concerts featuring some of Canada's finest folk and roots musicians at the height of their creative powers:
We are also working on shows by the likes of De Temps Antan, Calvin Vollrath & Mark Sullivan, and Medusa String Quartet in February, and lots more shows to come! On top of that, Cap University's Global Roots Series is co-presenting a couple of concerts at the Hall with us: Rahim Al Haj Trio from Iraq / USA (February 17th), Joachim Cooder (March 11th), and South African guitarist Derek Gripper(March 19th)
6. Canadian Folk Music Awards (March 30th - April 2nd), Mel Lehan Hall at St. James (3214 West 10th Avenue)
The annual awards show and showcase extravaganza comes west of Calgary for the very first time and it will be an incredible experience which will occupy the entire building for 4 days and evenings! There will be tickets available to the general public, so don't miss this rare opportunity! More details will be posted on our website next month.
7. Live Streams. Please support us if you can't make it to a live show.
The Rogue has been streaming our shows live from the Hall since September 2021. Hubcast Media use four cameras and their TV studio in Surrey to send out these fabulous shows across the web and into the homes of dozens of people who cannot make it to the show in person. We don't think anyone else offers such a service, and we don't think anyone else presents such a wide range of fabulous roots music either! So, if for some reason you cannot make it to the hall, please consider buying a ticket to watch at home. For a mere $15 you get to share the experience from the comfort of your own home.
8. We have a winner in our 50/50 Draw
Thanks to everyone who purchased tickets for our inaugural 50/50 draw. Congratulations to the winner: Sandi Cleary. She is a long-time Rogue concert attendee, and she pocketed $4,052.50 just before Christmas!
Watch for details of another 50/50 draw in the Spring! We really appreciate your support. Much needed it is, too!
9. Radio Waves. Xmas Special. RIP Terry Hall. Radio Rogue
On tomorrow's edition of The Saturday Edge On Folk (8am to noon on www.citr.ca) I'll be paying my respects to Terry Hall, lead singer with The Specials, Fun Boy Three, etc., who died suddenly this week. His passing really knocked me for a six (as did the change in the weather from Kauai to Vancouver this week!) I'll have a few new releases from around the world in the first hour as well.
From 9am to noon it's my annual Christmas Special, with music and songs on a seasonal theme - but not the sort of thing you will have heard in the shops for the past two months! I hope you will tune me in and turn me on.
Between episodes of my show you might like to check out Radio Rogue on our website. Commercial free, and pretty darn cool it is too!
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