Category: Folk

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Album Release Concert Event Folk Music Recording Launch Upcoming

Chicks and Docklings at Portland United Church

CHICKS & DOCLINGS HATCH NEW CD  SATURDAY AT PORTLAND UNITED CHURCH

13CoolChicksJustHatchCDcoverExuberant…that describes their CD Just Hatched…but not humour inspired exuberance as anyone who has seen The Cool Chicks & Ugly Doclings perform would expect. This disc is a recording, vocally and instrumentally, exuberant in its sheer beauty.

Their new…and first…CD Just Hatched, is being launched this Saturday, 7 p.m., at Portland United Church, 50 Newport Crescent, just off Adelaide Street in Saint John’s North End. Known for their humour and nonsense rearrangements and re-writing of old favourites, the only thing nonsensical about this, their first recording, is it’s packaging.

The eye-stopping cover is a Disney-esque cartoon: a duck doc with a finger pointing to the album title, Just Hatched and a cool 1930’s Chick in a ball gown and fur boa neck piece, a finger pointing to the unique act’s official monicker, The Cool Chicks & The Ugly Doclings. The most novel idea for a record cover ever to be hatched in any incubator. But it’s such a far cry from the songs of deep emotion and inspiration encrypted on its tracks.

“What a terrific recording of Hallelujah!,” my wife Carol exclaimed on first hearing the CD: she’d heard its composer, Leonard Cohen, sing this powerful song of his at Harbour Station, a month earlier. “It’s the first time I’ve been able to make out all the words.”

She was referring to Brenda Brooks phrasing in such lines as : “I heard there was a secret chord, that David played that pleased the Lord.”

If you’re one of the unfortunate few that have not seen or heard the Cool Chicks & The Ugly Doclings in concert, then, for your edification, they are seven local health care professions and one teacher, who have been doing charity performances in southern New Brunswick for over ten years, raising money for not-for-profit organizations.

The album opens with Andrew Clark, an anaesthetist, singing lead on Cannibals, written by Mark Knopfler. Then Blue Bayou, that Roy Orbison wrote the lyrics for, is given one of the most beautiful treatments, that I have heard, by respiratory therapist, Jennifer Rooney. Next a song, Drinking Black Rum (and eating Blueberry Pie) sung by retired orthopaedic surgeon, John Acker but made famous on CBC-TV’s Singalong Jubilee by it’s writer James Lawrence (or just plain Jim) Bennet. And Andrew Clark, an anaesthetist and guitarist, vocally interprets his own Servant To The Music (the only original song on the disc). Then Wendy Stewart, a pediatric neurologist and singing accordionist from Scotland renders I Only Want To Be With You, by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. And nurse Brenda Brooks does a grand recital of Gordon Sumner’s Fields Of Gold.

That’s a half dozen enchanting songs and there’s another seven just as beguilingly sung and played on the CD: family physician, Steve Willis along with the ensemble do a rousing interpretation of Those Were The Days (My Friend, We Thought They’d Never End) a song written by Gene Raskin and made famous by England’s Maryanne Faithful and in North America by the Limelighters (Stephen plays guitar and mandolin, too). And Jerry Jeff Walker’s ever popular Mr. Bojangles gets a rousing revival, by respiratory therapist Mike Willis, who plays bass, guitar, bodhran and sings. Next the only instrumental track, an Irish Jig Set, is performed by the eight musicians. And, Joni Mitchell’s River, is stunningly sung by Maggie Bockus ( Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on); Bob Dylan’s Wagon Wheel (that Jay Secor wrote the music for) is intriguingly performed by Mike Willis, (Rock Me Mama, like a wagon wheels.) Then Brenda Brooks wonderful interpretation of Hallelujah and the final track 13, with a slight re-writing (here and there) of the Sherman’s You’re Sixteen (And You’re lovely, you come on like a dream, all peaches and cream) with the new closing lines “We’re the Chicks (voiced by the four Chicks) and The Doclings ( voiced by the Doclings), and we’re here. If you’re digging the songs just sing along. We’re not famous, we’re not rich. It’s the end of the show and we’ve got to go.”

This wonderful CD, you’ll play over and over again, Just Hatched, is available Saturday at it’s Portland United Church launch or you can phone the office of Dr. Wendy Stewart, 848-4622 for a copy.

Categories
Column Archives Folk Music

Stompin’ Tom

Stompin' Tom 1936-2013
Stompin' Tom 1936-2013

from Gerry’s 2009 when Stompin’ Tom was last here.

STOMPIN TOM’S NEW CD A MILESTONE IN HIS NEVER ENDING STORY

Stompin' Tom 1936-2013
Stompin’ Tom 1936-2013

A perception once rooted is hard to disinter.

On page seven of Tom Connors’ own biography Stompin’ Tom Before The Fame he writes: I had been born Charles Thomas Connors at the stroke of midnight on February 9, 1936, in the General Hospital in Saint John, New Brunswick. My birth certificate shows my mother’s name as Isabel Connors.
Tom was in high school at Saint John Vocational (now Harbour View High) in 1950 when I was in the commercial art course there. He posed for several of the murals painted by Fred Ross that distinguished the corridors of that institution of learning for many decades. And long time RCA fiddling legend Ned Landry is Tom’s cousin on the Sullivan side of their families.

Yet even such an authority on the unique personalities that embroider the pages of Canadian history as Wayne Rostad was amazed a couple of months ago to learn that Tom hadn’t been born on our Garden of the Gulf. And a favourite recording artist of mine Stew Clayton begins his Tribute To Stompin’ Tom with “From Skinner’s Pond in PEI”.

Part of the myth, of course, derives from Tom himself who for many years opened every concert and TV telecast with “Hello, I’m Stompin Tom from PEI” and, of course, his was the voice of PEI’s TV commercials in those years, as well. Tom in a letter to me, 15 years ago, explained the paradox this way:
“When interviewers ask what they believe to be a simple question they don’t want you to go into a long speech about your entire historical background. I therefore use the following rule of thumb.

“When asked “Where were you born?”, I say Saint John, NB, because that is where I first saw the light of day. When asked “Where are you from”, I say Skinner’s Pond, PEI because that is the first place I could ever call home. When asked where is your home? I presume the question means right now, so I say, just outside Georgetown, Ontario.”

I was amazed a couple of years ago, giving a talk on New Brunswick songs at the Saint John Art Centre, how few of the audience realized Tom was from this city or that he had written songs about the province and Saint John.

In fact the first song he wrote, My Reversing Falls Darling was composed when he was attending Vocational. He, also, wrote and recorded Saint John Blues, The Don Messer Story, Tribute To Wilf Carter (with the line ‘Til the wood camps of New Brunswick hired Wilf for a better wage) and a great radio air-play hit New Brunswick and Mary.

And, now, on his new Ballad of Stompin Tom CD, there’s a very haunting song Rose of Silver Falls, perhaps inspired by a gypsy caravan he saw during his two years at the St. Patrick’s Orphanage near the Falls.The most hilarious song on it is an NB inspired one too, (Working In The) Bush of Bouctouche (because of a gal in Tatamagouche). And the title song Ballad of Stompin’ Tom affirms in its opening line the place of his birth, “I was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, by the sea.”

I think this is Tom’s most impressive and enjoyable album since his release of Fiddle & Song in 1988, an LP/cassette that included such powerful folk ballads as Return Of The Sea Queen, Entry Island Home, Wreck of the Tammy Anne, I Am The Wind and Lady k. d. Lang.
This new CD album of his resonates with the same powerful folk feel! He even includes a real Irish folk song, of IRA origin, Kevin Barry and Wilf Carter’s six decade old Take Me Back To Old Alberta.

Others with a definite folk gene include Birth of The Texas Gulf Mine, My British Columbia Home, Lady Slipper and Ottawa Lures.
And only Tom could take a bawdy song popular during the Second World War, Chase Me Charlie, change the lyrics, but keep its lilting racy rhythm, while transforming it into such a beautiful country love song, one you’ll be humming for days after hearing it. It’s omething he did with a song of similar origin The North Atlantic Squadron 33 years ago.

Another selection so hilarious it should have you laughing from beginning to end (it did me) on this new CD is Chickee Pooh (curly eyes and laughing toes, and where did you get those?). And there is a variant of an English folk song that Hank Snow gave new life to in the 1940’s The Cowboy’s Broken Ring. Tom’s mother Isabel died last year, that her favourite song. And there’s another beautiful new song from Tom’s pen, the Bride And Groom Waltz.
The others are updated re-recordings of three of Tom’s greatest hits, The Olympic Song (with a verse about the 2009 Games in BC added), The Hockey Song and the Hockey Mom Tribute.

In his early recording years before details of Tom’s troubled childhood surfaced I wondered why neither he nor Donald Sutherland, who even then had appeared in an amazing number of Hollywood feature movies never mentioned Saint John, their birthplace, in interviews. Unhappy childhoods or, in Donald’s case, I understand, school years, aside, it seemed to me an apathy exist toward entertainers in NB giving Cape Breton and PEI a decided edge. Various international music authorities, in conversations over the years have accessed our province as having more gifted musicians and singers than either of those, The difference, they felt, was we just don’t merchandise tour talent nearly as well.

I had one dismaying example of that myself! When Tom came out of his 1980s decade long hiatus from entertaining and was planning an 80 concert 1990 Ontario to British Columbia and back across to the Atlantic tour his road manager Brian Edwards asked me to inquire if should their first Atlantic provinces concert be in Saint John would his birth city acknowledge the fact with some fanfare?

I took the proposal to the city’s much beloved mayor, a lady I had known since we were children. She thought it was a great idea and that she would present it to council..A week later I had a phone call from a city hall secretary saying council had turned it down..Summerside and Charlottetown, however, grabbed it up quickly, staging a parade, elaborate publicity and banner draped streets.

The new Ballad Of Stompin’ Tom CD should be available at music stores everywhere, or you can visit visit www.StompinTom.com

Categories
Album Release Column Archives Country and Western Folk Memories Music

Stompin’ Tom’s Never Ending Story

Stompin' Tom Connors and Ned Landry
Stompin' Tom Connors and Ned Landry

Stompin’ Tom’s New CD – a Milestone in His Never Ending Story

Stompin' Tom 1936-2013
Stompin’ Tom 1936-2013

A perception once rooted is hard to disinter.

On page seven of Tom Connors own biography Stompin’ Tom Before The Fame he writes: I had been born Charles Thomas Connors at the stroke of midnight on February 9, 1936, in the General Hospital in Saint John, New Brunswick. My birth certificate shows my mother’s name as Isabel Connors.

Tom was in high school at Saint John Vocational (now Harbour View High) in 1950 when I was in the commercial art course there. He posed for several of the murals painted by Fred Ross that distinguished the corridors of that institution of learning for many decades. And long time RCA fiddling legend Ned Landry is Tom’s cousin on the Sullivan side of their families.

Yet even such an authority on the unique personalities that embroider the pages of Canadian history as Wayne Ronstad was amazed a couple of months ago to learn that Tom hadn’t been born on our Garden of the Gulf. And a favourite recording artist of mine Stew Clayton begins his Tribute To Stompin’ Tom with “From Skinner’s Pond in PEI”.

Part of the myth, of course, derives from Tom himself who for many years opened every concert and TV telecast with “Hello, I’m Stompin Tom from PEI” and, of course, his was the voice of PEI’s TV commercials in those years, as well. Tom in a letter to me, 15 years ago, explained the paradox this way:

“When interviewers ask what they believe to be a simple question they don’t want you to go into a long speech about your entire historical background. I therefor use the following rule of thumb.

Stompin' Tom Connors and Ned Landry
Stompin’ Tom Connors and Ned Landry

“When asked “Where were you born?”, I say Saint John, NB, because that is where I first saw the light of day. When asked “Where are you from”, I say Skinner’s Pond, PEI because that is the first place I could ever call home. When asked where is your home? I presume the question means right now, so I say, just outside Georgetown, Ontario.”

I was amazed a couple of years ago, giving a talk on New Brunswick songs at the Saint John Art Centre, how few of the audience realized Tom was from this city or that he had written songs about the province and Saint John.

In fact the first song he wrote, My Reversing Falls Darling was composed when he was attending Vocational. He, also, wrote and recorded Saint John Blues, The Don Messer Story, Tribute To Wilf Carter (with the line ‘Til the wood camps of New Brunswick hired Wilf for a better wage) and a great radio air-play hit New Brunswick and Mary.

And, now, on his new Ballad of Stompin Tom CD, there’s a very haunting song Rose of Silver Falls, perhaps inspired by a gypsy caravan he saw during his two years at the St. Patrick’s Orphanage near the Falls.The most hilarious song on it is an NB inspired one too, (Working In The) Bush of Bouctouche (because of a gal in Tatamagouche). And the title song Ballad of Stompin’ Tom affirms in its opening line the place of his birth, “I was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, by the sea.”
I think this is Tom’s most impressive and enjoyable album since his release of Fiddle & Song in 1988, an LP/cassette that included such powerful folk ballads as Return Of The Sea Queen, Entry Island Home, Wreck of the Tammy Anne, I Am The Wind and Lady k. d. Lang.

This new CD album of his resonates with the same powerful folk feel! He even includes a real Irish folk song, of IRA origin, Kevin Barry and Wilf Carter’s six decade old Take Me Back To Old Alberta.

Others with a definite folk gene include Birth of The Texas Gulf Mine, My British Columbia Home, Lady Slipper and Ottawa Lures.

And only Tom could take a bawdy song popular during the Second World War, Chase Me Charlie, change the lyrics, but keep its lilting racy rhythm, while transforming it into such a beautiful country love song, one you’ll be humming for days after hearing it. It’s something he did with a song of similar origin The North Atlantic Squadron 33 years ago.

Another selection so hilarious it should have you laughing from beginning to end (it did me) on this new CD is Chickee Pooh (curly eyes and laughing toes, and where did you get those?). And there is a variant of an English folk song that Hank Snow gave new life to in the 1940’s The Cowboy’s Broken Ring. Tom’s mother Isabel died last year, that her favourite song. And there’s another beautiful new song from Tom’s pen, the Bride And Groom Waltz.

The others are updated re-recordings of three of Tom’s greatest hits, The Olympic Song (with a verse about the 2009 Games in BC added), The Hockey Song and the Hockey Mom Tribute.

In his early recording years before details of Tom’s troubled childhood surfaced I wondered why neither he nor Donald Sutherland, who even then had appeared in an amazing number of Hollywood feature movies never mentioned Saint John, their birthplace, in interviews. Unhappy childhoods or, in Donald’s case, I understand, school years, aside, it seemed to me an apathy exist toward entertainers in NB giving Cape Breton and PEI a decided edge. Various international music authorities, in conversations over the years have accessed our province as having more gifted musicians and singers than either of those, The difference, they felt, was we just don’t merchandise tour talent nearly as well.

I had one dismaying example of that myself! When Tom came out of his 1980s decade long hiatus from entertaining and was planning an 80 concert 1990 Ontario to British Columbia and back across to the Atlantic tour his road manager Brian Edwards asked me to inquire if should their first Atlantic provinces concert be in Saint John would his birth city acknowledge the fact with some fanfare?

I took the proposal to the city’s much beloved mayor, a lady I had known since we were children. She thought it was a great idea and that she would present it to council..A week later I had a phone call from a city hall secretary saying council had turned it down. Summerside and Charlottetown, however, grabbed it up quickly, staging a parade, elaborate publicity and banner draped streets.

The new Ballad Of Stompin’ Tom CD should be available at music stores everywhere, or you can visit visit www.StompinTom.com

Categories
Album Release Folk Music Recording Launch

Christmas Folk Music Sale

With Jim Stewart of Saint John NB of Marco Polo Suite Fame
With Jim Stewart of Saint John NB of Marco Polo Suite Fame

Some of the World’s Greatest Folk CDs at Sale Prices

By today’s reckoning, Timberhead Music CD’s are unbelievably bargain priced at their regular catalog price of $16. But now slashed $3-only $12.99 a disc-during their Annual Christmas Holiday Sale, Nov. 22 to Dec. 22, they’re an incredible bargain. That’s considering that this Camden, Maine mail order service stocks some of the most excitingly beautiful folk music anywhere and Canadian and U.S. currencies now at par.

Moncton folk singer and traditional music garu Bernie Houlahan three decades ago expressed the feeling of many devotees of real folk music, when he said he’d ‘almost entirely given up interest in anything new called folk music.’ So many inept young songwriters releasing navel-gazing two month wonders and calling them them folk. Songs that would never be sung by anyone else of their own generation let alone survive decades of others singing them to meet the folksong designation. “ Then I discovered Folk Legacy Records,” he said, “ and realized there were still singers writing songs he could envision standing the test of time. The recordings Folk-Legacy were releasing restored my faith.”

And Gordon Bok, their most popular artist, had a lot to do with that. A folk song by original definition is one still sung after who wrote it is forgotten by the masses. It’s a song that has been enhanced by many singers and polished over time .

Gordon Bok’s first album, self-titled, on Verve Folkways album featured a song Fundy that became a favourite of mine. Another debut album The Magic of Mayo Muirby a goldenvoiced singer Anne Mayo Muir on 20th Century Fox Records soon filled a like niche. They’re still among our most played 40 years later. So when I read about an album Bay of Fundy by Gordon Bok with Anne Mayo Muir on Folk-Legacy I lost no time in acquiring it. That album opened the door to a whole new world of folk music and communication with the label for me.

Started by two great traditional singers Sandy and Caroline Paton with a friend Lee B. Haggerty, their studio was in Sharon, Connecticut. Their recordings were only available in Canada by mail-order or at import specialty stores. Gordon Bok after his first solo recording in 1971 Peter Kaggan And The Wind become their most recorded artist.

When Folk Legacy, due to the failing health of its founders, cut back recording operations, Gordon purchased his masters along with others from them and established his own distributing retailing company Timberhead Music. That label’s catalog now includes over 50 of his CDs. Those include solo albums, those of the trio of Bok, Ann Mayo Muir and Ed Trickett, with whom he toured and recorded for three decades and various other duo and chorus alliances.

And over those years Gordon Bok has been a frequent visitor to the Port City and Hampton. Because of a Saint John Folk Club concert here he forged a chain between the club and the New England folk community which still exists 30 years later. And for travelling expenses he came up from Camden in the late 80’s to do a Bi-Capitol concert to raise funds used in purchasing the building that became Saint John’s Imperial Theatre.

And he took part in the original Marco Polo Folk Opera written by Rothesay’s Jim Stewart in that theatre, a presentation of towering stage sets and audio visual effects that which took $100,000 to mount in the fall of 2002. As well, many of his recordings feature songs of enduring beauty written by Stewart and other local songwriting musicians.

Gordon Bok in Concert

His recent Gordon Bok In Concert is Bok’s only live album except for the Bok, Trickett, Muir trio’s, Minneapolis Concert recorded in 1987. This solo In Concert CD will open your ears to the warmer, more humourous side of Bok, and the repore he shares with audiences. I was amazed by the reaction of a couple of friends we took to a trio concert at Harvard University years ago . Not aware of traditional balladry even as it turned out, they were amazed at the capacity audience singing along with the trio on songs those two had never heard of, much less heard. Sadly such songs are not on commercial radio or even CBC now.

In Concert begins with an introduction and the comedic ballad Queer Bungo Rye for instance; a salute to Nova Scotia’s Canso Strait; The Angelius; a nostalgic While The Cane Fires Burn, an inspired rendering of Let The Lower Lights Be Burning, the rare Oysterbed Road and boisterousScottish Hie Awa with it’s introduction make this a ‘live’ music experience you’ll want to relive often, 16 songs interspersed with humour and stories.

With Jim Stewart of Saint John NB of Marco Polo Suite Fame
With Jim Stewart of Saint John NB of Marco Polo Suite Fame

There is also the Bok Trio’s 1994 Languages of The Heart CD, it’s incredibly beautiful title song written by Rothesay’s Jim Stewart and Moncton’s Bernie Houlahan. Jim’s Marco Polo song is included as well and such rarities as Blue Mountain, Stephen Foster, Merlin’s Waltz and Ballinderry: 15 exquisite songs all beautifully sung.

And, also, 15 rare, lovely songs on Harbours Of Home by Gordon, Ed and Ann, such gems as: Australian Henry Lawson’s The Outside Track; Scotsman Dave Goulder’s Pigs Can See The Wind; a lyrical treasure The Great Valley’s Harvest; Jim Stewart and Gordon’s We Built This Old Ship; John Austin Martin’s entrancing Dancing At Whitsum; J.B. Goodenough’s Turning Of The Year and the title song by a favourite songwriter of mine, Joan Sprung.

Also in the Timberland catalog is the trio’s Turning Toward The Morning which includes two masterpieces of Gordon’s own, Isle Au Haut Lullaby and the title song plus the emotional Three Score And Ten, I Drew My Ship, Gentle Annie, How Can I Keep from Singing and six others.

These and many others including Jim Stewart’s Narco Polo Suite, are available for only $12.99 U.S.-some cassettes $5, by phoning (207) 236-2707, or visiting www.timberheadmusic.com

Categories
Album Release Column Archives Concert Event Folk Music

Gordon Bok’s New Release

Other Eyes Released by Timberhead Music

The hook-up of our local folk music community with that of central Maine began with a wild drive from Saint John to Wolfville, N.S. one cool, clear October night in the late 1970’s.

The tale of that trip is still told now and then at the twice yearly gatherings of performers from those areas 32 years later. That trip became an all night odyssey. I was the driver.

Our Saint John folk Club had its first sing-around in September 1975. Its founder, the late John Murphy, whose death last September is still painfully lamented, Bob Wallace, our then club president and Moncton folk authority and performer Bernie Houlahan were among those who went with me.

Gordon Bok was appearing in Wolfville at Acadia University that night. We hoped to hire Gordon to perform a Saint John concert for our club. And despite a late start and holdups we got there for the concert’s entirety, talk to him afterwards and he put us on his spring tour schedule.

 That event at the New Brunswick Museum began a cross border coalition. Since then Gordon has returned many times for the gatherings, to perform a Bi-Capital fundraising concert (Bi-Imperial by its end) and take part in Jim Stewart’s Marco Polo Suite in 2002 at the Imperial.

 

Gordon Bok "Peter Kagan And The Wind"
Gordon Bok “Peter Kagan And The Wind”

I first encountered the name Gordon Bok on a Verve Folkway LP in the 1960’s. That CD became a much played favourite at our house, especially the song Fundy (our Fundy Bay) about those who navigate its thick fogs and treacherous tides. Then in 1972 I discovered Connecticut’s Folk Legacy label just after they’d released their first Gordon Bok record, Seal Djiril’s Hymn ‘sang and told with Ann Mayo Muir,’ another extraordinary talent.

In the next three decades, Gordon would gain international fame as a star on Folk-Legacy, accounting for a major part of the label’s revenues. He released numerous LP’s as a solo artist and as the pivot of a beloved trio he formed with Ann Mayo Muir and Ed Trickett as well as with other collaborations.

Some years ago, however, with the label’s founder Sandy Patton’s health failing, his wife Caroline suffering vision loss and their partner Lee Haggerty dying, Gordon acquired his masters back. So they are now all available, more impressive sounding than ever on pristine re-mastered Timberhead label CD discs.

A small Camden, Maine publishing company, Timberhead Music is centered around the preservation, promotion and proliferation of Gordon Bok’s written and recorded music. But they do publish work by other lyric poets and musicians as well, Jim Stewart’s Marco Polo Suite included in those. Gordon, himself, as he says “now unbelievably 70′ continues to record, his voice still virtually as rich a bass baritone as when I first heard him and he has the same uniquely sensitive interpretative instrumental skills that combined have made him the definitive voice of the US east coast. In April of this year Gordon released a new album of 15 very focused songs Other Eyes, in some cases poems like The Beaches of Lukannon, by Rudyard Kipling (an intimate of Gordon’s grandfather, Edward Bok) set to music. All are songs that view man with conceivable believability through non-human eyes. The eyes of animals like Bold Reynolds, a fox who outruns hunters and hounds into old age, the eyes of feathered observers as in The Bird Rock,Heron Croon, Gulls of Morning, and those whodwell in waters both deep and shallow:The Seals and even the fishes from The Net.

 

With Jim Stewart of Saint John NB of Marco Polo Suite Fame
With Jim Stewart of Saint John NB of Marco Polo Suite Fame

A long time mutual acquaintance, Scott Alarik, a performer and folk music reviewer for The Boston Globe wrote of this CD that: ‘Gordon Bok has a special genius for showing us the world through other eyes. In this beautifully conceived album he explores how the natural world sees us…offering visions at once earthly and ethereal, stunningly fresh and as old as tradition. Among the finest folk ballad singers this country has produced, Bok’s glorious bass voice has softened and warmed with age, like a fine old cello, drawing us closer into the spells he casts.’

Other selections on this CD include Captive Water, Sarabande’s Story, The Maiden Hind, Spell To bring Lost Creatures Home, Ocean Station Bravo, The Brandy Tree, The Shepherd’s Call and Sherry’s Song.

His most recent release before Other Eyes was a terrific, Gordon Bok In Concert, his only live album except for the trio’s, Minneapolis Concert in 1987. This solo CD will open your eyes, however, through your ears to Gordon’s warmer, more humorous side. Also to the deep connection he shares with his audiences. I was amazed a few years ago by the reaction of a couple of friends we took to a Bok Muir Trickett concert at Payne Hall on the Harvard University campus. Not even aware of traditional balladry as it turned out, they were incredulous at such a large capacity audience singing along unhesitatingly with the trio on songs they had never heard of let alone heard. Not commercial radio or even CBC fare now!

The introduction to the comedic Irish ballad Queer Bungo Rye for instance, a salute to Nova Scotia’s Canso Strait, The Angellus, the nostalgic Where The Cane Fires Burn, and an inspired rendering of Let The Lower Lights Be Burninjg, the rare Oystershell Road and boisterous Scottish Hie Awa with it’s introduction make this a music experience you’ll want to relive often, all 16 songs interspersed with humour and stories.

There is also the Bok Trio’s 1994 Language Of The Heart CD,its incredibly beautiful title song written by Rothesay’s Jim Stewart and Moncton’s Bernie Houlahan. Jim’s Marco Polo song is included as well and such beauties as Blue Mountain, Stephen Foster, Merlin’s Waltz and Ballinderry. The 15 tracks on it are all so beautiful.

 

Bok Trio Minneapolis Concert
Bok Trio Minneapolis Concert

And 15 also on Harbours Of Home by Gordon, Ed and Ann, including such exquisite jems as Australian Henry Lawson’s The Outside Track, Scotsman Dave Goulder’s Pigs Can See The Wind, TheGreat Valley’s Harvest, a lyrical treasure Jim Stewart and Gordon joined talents to write We Built This Old Ship, John Austin Martin’s entrancing Dancing At Whitsum, J.B. Goodenough’s Turning Of The Year and the title song by another favoured singer songwriter Joan Sprung.

Also in the Timberhead catalogue is the trio’s Turning Toward The Morning which includes two masterpieces of Gordon’s own, Isle Au Haut Lullaby and the title song plus such stirring emotional gems as Three Score And Ten, I Drew My Ship, Gentle Annie,How Can I Keep From Singing and six others.

These and many more of this world’s most thrilling folk CDs are available for only $16 US…some cassettes for only $5…by visiting www.timberheadmusic.com/

ST. ANDREWS TONIGHT, SUSSEX SATURDAY

St. Andrews area singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Olmstead made quite a stir in the media three years ago with his first CD, A. G. Olmstead. Media icons heard in that album of original songs glimmers of the songwriting talents of the Mississippi blue yodeller Jimmie Rodgers and the late 40’s Hank Williams. Local CBCs and even Saturday Mornings’ Stan Carew interviewed and sang his praises.

But, although Adam has slipped out of sight of the media since then he has continued to perform regularly at the Red Herring Pub in St. Andrews. In fact, he is playing there tonight 6 to 9 p.m. And through the summer he’ll be playing there weekly at that time slot, singing old favourites, songs he’s written accompanying himself on any of the ten instruments he plays, often joined by Al Brisley, a gifted local musician. He also has a new CD recorded, ready to be mastered for release in late summer.

This Saturday night at 7 p.m. Adam will also be the featured entertainer at Sussex’s popular Broadway Cafe, performing old timey favourites, bluegrass and classic country, along with many of his own songs.

GARY BURGESS BENEFIT CONCERT

Gary Burgess’ many fans will be saddened to learn he has been diagnosed with cancer and is to begin treatments. Gary has hosted many fundraisers for others in the years he has headed Sussex Corner Jamborees. Now the Friends of Gary Burgess are hosting one for him on June 27 at the Canadian Legion Branch #20, Sussex on June 27. It will feature Art Boyd, Tom Burgess, Mike McQuarrie, Raymond Thebeau and guests. Mike Whalen will emcee. Dave Stewart and Jim McDermott are handling sound. Admission is a donation at the door.

Categories
Concert Country and Western Event Festival Folk Music Uncategorized Visitors

Eve Goldberg and Cori Brewster

SAINT JOHN MENS CHOIR June13th, 7:30pm at Portland United Church, 50 Newport.  Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for children/students and can be purchased from chorus members or at the door.

It sounds like  such an interesting and varied song list to be grouped together in one program. Especially interesting (to me) is She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways which  I can’t recall ever having heard of or heard and sounds so intriguing.

TEEN IRISH MUSIC PRODIGY JOINS VALLEY JAMBOREE SATURDAY

Gary Morris is back filled more with the spirit of the Celt     than ever!

He, with wife and music partner Tammy Morris, survived   a five week tour of Europe and the UK, the last days spent in Ireland. Now that land of the shamrock, hedgerows, ancient standing stones and music so impressed him evidently, that even before leaving its green shores he had booked this province’s most exciting Irish ancestry fiddling teen,15 year old Kathleen Gorey-McSorley to appear on his Valley Jamboree, this Saturday,7 p.m. at Sussex Regional High.

But since that jet-setting pair of singing multi-talented musicians didn’t touch back down on Canada’s terra firma until last Wednesday Gary’s guest list was far from complete by my deadline. So, as well as Kathleen, the only other acts confirmed were: the Bonny Kilburn Dancers, Port City Jamboree multi-instrumentalist Reg Gallant, and everybody’s favourite country fiddler Allison Inch whom Gary invariably introduces as ‘the nicest man on earth.”

Gary, however, is on record as saying there will be several more guests and all the show’s regulars will appear: Tammy, Jeannie Clark and Cheryl Ellis, who are three of NB”s finest vocalists; comedian Eunice P. Doolittle; singing bassist Dale Butland; lead guitarist Art Boyd and the rest of the great Valley Jamboree band.

Now Kathleen is a celebrated master of Celtic, Appalachian, Old Time, Country, Cajun and French Canadian fiddling styles. But she also plays piano, mandolin and tin-whistles, is an award-winning Irish dancer and acclaimed Cape Breton step dancer. And, now, as a member of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, she also has a growing classical violin repertoire.

And, although only 15, she already has had considerable international exposure of her talents, having performed in Ireland, Scotland, the US and many parts of Canada. A couple of the highlights of her travels have been: competing, by invitation, in the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann at County Offlaly, Ireland and the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championships in Ottawa.

Tickets for Saturday’s Jamboree are now for sale at Hampton Pharmasave; Kennebecasis Drugs (Rothesay) Grand Bay Pharmacy, Colpitts (Petticodiac) and Morris Music (Sussex, Rothesay and Saint John).

SUSSEX CORNER SATURDAY

Gary Burgess & Friends host a Sussex Corner Country Jamboree Fund raiser, this Saturday 7 p.m. at St. John’s United Church Hall., Sussex Corner. This is their last show until fall so don’t miss it!Featured entertainers include Debbie Connell, Justin Bannister, Gordon Brown, Paul and Francine Hebert and in his first stage appearance in a while, George Horton. The band includes: Denny James, Tom Burgess, Mike McQuarrie and Raymond Thebeau. Tickets are $7.50 at Backstage Music Sussex (433-2122) or at door. Most shows are sell-outs so get your tickets early. The sound is by Dave Stewart and Jim McDermott of Backstage.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTRY SATURDAY

A Country Music Jamboree, Saturday 7 p.m. at the Kiwanis Center, Hillborough, hosted by Carolyn Steeves, features the Blue Side of Lonesome band with guests Mort Mills, Al Gauvin, Cecil Beck, Melissa Corey and Mike Kenny. Admission is $6 at door. For info phone 756-8303.

FREDERICTON RAY PRICE TONIGHT

Your last chance, perhaps ever in NB, to see and hear one of Nashville’s great legends Ray Price and his superb world renowned voice, his son Cliff and band The Cherokee Cowboys, is tonight at 7 p.m. at the Playhouse, Fredericton. Tickets will be available at door if any left. To check, call 458-8344 or 1-866-884-5800.

HAMPTON VINTAGE TONIGHT

One of the greatest singer songwriters, I think, in North America is appearing at Vintage Bistro, Hampton tonight at 8 p.m. Eve Goldberg for over a decade has been associated with Canada’s leading

folk music label Borealis Records in Toronto. It is an opinion I was recently pleased to learn is shared by a world renowned authority, legendary singer songwriter Peggy Seeger who said recently “I love Eve’s singing…and I’m hard to please.”

(Peggy, a US citizen and her husband Ian MacColl a Scot lived for many years prior to his death in the UK unwelcome in the US because of their perceived Communistic leanings, anti-Vietnam war activities and music which reflected the same. They released dozens of recordings, many heralded even in the USA as of outstanding historical significance. Among songs they wrote is The Ballad of Springhill about Nova Scotia’s disastrous 1958 mine disaster. I had the pleasure of talking with Peggy in Springhill at the 50th Anniversary of that tragedy two years ago. I had spoken briefly with her before at Harvard University on the eve of Ronald Reagan’s first presidential election).

Eve Goldberg will share the Vintage Bistro stage tonight with Cori Brewster, another Canadian singer songwriter described ‘as fresh as a breath of mountain air.’ She has just released her fourth CD album Buffalo Street, a collection of song stories about the Canadian Rockies and it’s people, historical portraits rich in atmospheric imagery and entertaining details.

Eve was born in the Boston area of Massachusetts but has called Toronto, Ontario, home for three decades, since 1981. During those early years in Boston she was greatly influenced by countless concerts she attended by such legends as Pete Seeger and The Weavers, Arlo Guthrie, England’s Watersons, Doc Watson and others with her parents. That exposure to many folk genres has influenced her own many sided songwriting and added to her performing repertoire.

Eve’s three CD albums have a place of high regard in our extensive music library. Her first titled Ever Brightening Day was released to widespread acclaim in 1998 on her own Sweet Patootie label. Although noted for her clear pure voice and dynamic guitar picking it was an original instrumental on it, Watermelon Sorbet, that brought her the most fame. It was used by CBC Radio’s Richardson’s Roundup as an opening theme for many years,. Among other standouts on the disc were Backwater Blues (by Bessie Smith), Waiting For A Train (Eve’s not Jimmie Rodgers’), John McHutcheon’s Know When To Move and Shelley Posen’s Having A Drink With Jane.

Her second CD album Crossing The Water was a highlight of 2003 on the Borealis label. It included not only the most beautiful rendering of the Bill Staines title song I’ve heard, but the most stirring recording of Second World War women’s protest song Rosie The Riveter I’ve heard as well. And her version of Iris De Ment’s Mama’s Opry was among our most played tracks that year.

Her third release, second on Borealis, in 2007, A Kinder Season was tempered by her mother’s death just months before. All 12 songs are originals written by Eve. They include Leaving Nova Scotia, One In A Million and Been In The Storm.

A little bit of a tie-in: early in her Toronto residency Eve was a member of the Acoustic Harvest Folk Club whose numbers included former Saint John Folk Club performer Lillian Wauthier. Lillian still posts the monthly events on the Harvest website.

By the way, Ron Hynes is at Vintage Bistro, June 23 and Garnett Rogers is there June 25-26. Call 832-1212 for details. The Bistro now seats 100 in dining comfort.

.RED HEAD GOSPEL SUNDAY

A terrific Country Gospel Concert this Sunday, 7 p.m. at the Red Head United Church, Red Head Road, Saint John East features Hazel Marie Robertson, Allison Inch, Living Water Trio, Garth Jones, Shirley McFee, Greg Stevens, The Villageaires, Deek McClusky, Elizabeth Trecartin, Ed ( The Glue) Trecartin and Murray Shiels. Tickets are $10 at Lotte Convenience, Mike’s Jewelery, and from Vince Galbraith 672-8819.

HAMPTON PORT CITY SUNDAY

A Hampton Senior Resource Center Benefit Concert featuring Reg Gallant’s Port City Jamboree cast, takes place Sunday 2 to 4 p.m at the Center, Demille Court, Hampton. The cast includes the Port Jamboree band of: Reg, lead guitar and vocals; Walter Prosser, bass guitar; Tim Wallace,drums; C.J. Gallant, guitar and vocals; Allison Inch, fiddle. As well as backing two of NB’s greatest gospel singers, Hazel Marie Robertson and Norma Currie, they will each make solo spotlights. And many door prizes donated by sponsors of this show, will be given away. Tickets are $10 at Kennebecasis Drugs (Rothesay), Grand Bay Pharmacy, Beats & Bytes (Saint John East), Hampton Pharmasave, Len Tonge 832-5009 or Backstage Music, Sussex.

GROVE DECK OPENS SATURDAY

Saint John’s only strictly country music club, the Grove Lounge on Golden Grove Road opens their deck this Saturday, 1 p.m. There will be music by Joyce Boone, Delbert Worden, Matthew O’Connor, and proprietor Gene O’Connor. There’ll be two barbeques, open mikes, many prizes. Everyone invited, no cover charge.