|
1. Remembering Paul Norton.
Paul was not just our publicist for the past decade and more. He was our oracle of all things blues, bluegrass, jazz, country, and folk. Organizer of fundraising events, transporter of backline equipment, web consultant, writer, poster designer, ticket /web event / media database maintainer, and designer & deliverer of rack cards and composite posters to libraries and community centres, host of three radio shows at CFRO / Coop and one at CiTR. He retired from his Rogue post in July, and spent a few weeks training his successor. When she had to leave for personal health reasons, Paul came back, and then trained another successor. When she was unable to manage the weight of the position, Paul came back again, and then trained his third successor! We welcome Bronwyn Lewis to the publicist role. She is great! We no longer have Paul as backup, though. It's a strangely empty feeling after all this time. Only now are we starting to realise just how crucial he was to The Rogue.
|
|
2. Rogue Concert Calendar 2026
We have some incredible concerts coming up! You will probably recognize a lot of the performers' names. Maybe you have seen some of them before. Why did I book these artists, you may ask? Well, the main thing they have in common is that they have new music to share; music which just might be the best they have made to date.
|
|
|
Golden Shoals and The Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Friday February 20th, 8pm, at Mel Lehan Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Two bands from the milieu of Paul's radio shows, so I am subtitling this concert A Tribute to Paul Norton. There will be an official Celebration of Paul's Life at some time in the future. That is not up to me / us to plan. I do believe that Paul would have loved this concert, though!
Mark Kilianski is a brilliant guitarist and banjoist, and with Amy Alvey (guitar, fiddle, vocals) Golden Shoals make good songs with hot picking, and impressive subject matter delivered with panache and wit. The Tumbling Tumbleweeds follow on from their predecessors, the excellent Burying Ground, with hot 30s and 40s jazz now meeting Western Swing and old time country, with pedal steel added to the fiddle, musical saw, banjo and guitar. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
|
|
Daughters of Donbas, Sunday February 22nd, 8pm, at Mel Lehan Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
I was and continue to be appalled at Russia's invasion of Ukraine 4 years ago. Stealing 20,000 Ukrainian children is another of Putin's heinous war crimes. Marichka is so brave! She is also a member of the Lemon Bucket Orkestra, and has served on the front line in Ukraine both as a soldier and as a press correspondent. All these 7 women carry the stories of those stolen children and illustrate them with songs and inspiring tales. Canada is a stronger nation thanks to the many Ukrainians who have settled here over the past century or more. This band is coming to Vancouver on their way to major festivals in Australia. They have performed sold out shows in Ukraine, France, Germany, Scotland, and Ontario over the past few weeks. This will be a truly remarkable concert. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
|
|
Socks in the Frying Pan, Saturday February 28th, 8pm, at Mel Lehan Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
This concert kicks off our Driven Bow Fiddle Festival, and what a way to start! This impressive trio put on a fabulous concert of Irish trad tunes and songs at The Rogue last year, showcasing fabulous musicianship on melodeon, fiddle, and guitar, and adding 3-part harmony vocals. Great craic. Superb band! This show is selling out fast! Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
|
|
|
Daniel Lapp & Quinn Bachand, Sunday March 1st, at Mel Lehan Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Daniel Lapp is a mentor and has been an inspiration to so many young musicians across BC and beyond. He plays Celtic, blues, jazz, swing, you name it, and has written hundreds of tunes and collected hundreds more from BC down the years. Quinn Bachand is a brilliant guitarist, banjoist and fiddle player; a great accompanist, band leader, and amazing soloist. These two will also give workshops on Sunday afternoon at 1pm before their matinee concert at 4pm. Concert and workshop details can be found here.
|
|
Kristian Bugge & Ruthie Dornfeld plus Allison de Groot & Nic Gareiss, Sunday March 1st, 8pm, at Mel Lehan Hall (3214 West 10th Avenue)
Kristian Bugge is a superb Danish trad fiddler and here he teams up with Ruthie Dornfeld, a revered veteran American old time fiddle diva. They have both performed at The Rogue before, but not together. They will deliver stunning combinations of Danish / Celtic / Old Time / Swing tunes.
Allison de Groot & Nic Gareiss: She is a queen of the banjo, and moved to Vancouver recently. She is a member of Bruce Molsky's Mountain Drifters, and longtime accompanist of bluegrass fiddler Tatiana Hargreaves. She is joined by the exceptional dancer Nic Gareiss, who I saw first at Celtic Colours in Cape Breton a few years ago. Simply one of the finest dancers you will ever see! He was inspired to dance when he saw Sandy Silva (La Bottine Souriante) dancing to Ruthie Dornfeldover 20 years ago. He hasn't seen Ruthie since. I want these two duos to play together! Click here for tickets and information.
|
|
|
