David
Bradstreet
One
of the sweetest songs I’ve ever encountered is David’s “Renaissance”.
It’s probably best known to most folk through Valdy’s recording
of it, and he did do (methinks) a fine job. Since winning the Juno Award
for “Most Promising Newcomer” many years ago, David has
been active as a performer, but even more so behind the scenes a as
producer and composer (winning another Juno – and still more nominations
- for his contributions to the “Solitudes” series). In the
last couple of years David has discovered the joys of performing at
folk festivals and I do recommend you catch him.
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Shawn
Brush
AKA "The Krooked Cowboy", Shawn is a 'little person' (Morquio
Syndrome) with a helluva big heart and voice. Bluegrass, folk, and
country plus excellent original work are his areas of focus; and one
damn fine guitar picker to boot. He was voted Composer of the Year
1993 for his song "Seasons" by the Canadian Bluegrass
Association. I
have the privilege of playing bass with Shawn as one of his "Rockin'
Trolls" when he's not playing solo gigs and have learned first-hand
just how fine an instrumentalist he is.
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Nonie
Crete
There
were 5 great acts for the Feb 27/99 CFMU fundraiser. "Jane Street" was
excellent; and Don McGeoch, Tamarack and John Prince all delivered the
excellence we've come to expect of them. The biggest surprise of the
evening, since she was probably the one least known to this particular
audience, was Fergus resident Nonie Crete. Original songwriting and
a powerhouse voice that just wouldn't quit; she simply smoked the room!
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Mike
Daley
an
excellent singer/songwriter who’s been doing the bar scene for
many years; Mike has recently discovered these things called “folk
clubs” where people actually go to listen to music. What a radical
concept! We are much the richer for it. (A friend of mine bought Mike’s
CD and loves it, but has only listened to it once. That’s because
her 14-year-old has it in his room and won’t give it back! Consider
that a strong recommendation!)
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Ezeduzit
my own group, a trio with Jim Hodges and Stewart
McPhail. A bit of old time, some trad & contemporary folk and
original material as well. And we are having so much fun! |
Aengus Finnan
Aengus is a young singer/songwriter
from the Coburg, Ontario area, now residing in Guelph. Currently working
hard to establish himself as full-time performer, Aengus has recently
released his debut CD entitled "Fool's Gold". It is produced by Paul
Mills and features some of the folk scene's finest musicians supporting
Aengus' extremely well-written songs. I can't recommend it highly enough:
it's a truly fine debut effort. |
Eve Goldberg
info to come. Meanwhilst,
the link works.
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Terry Golletz
Terry dwells in fabled
Elora, Ontario. He writes songs, performs, operates a studio and is
a considerably accomplished artist.
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Cam Kemp
a dignified English gent whose heart is in the legends
of the old west and the blues of the deep south. Other than at festivals,
he may most often be found at folk clubs, particularly the Black Walnut
Folk Club in Kitchener, Ontario where he is more often than not your
kindly emcee and host. |
| Rob Lamothe
Now Dunnville-based singer/songwriter; traveler
to far-famed realms
(California, Europe & such).
Oftimes seen (& of course heard) as a duet with Lisa Winn.
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Paul Langille (lan-gel
)
My first encounter with this extraordinary performer
was when he showed up at the White Oak Folk Club, and asked if he
could do a few songs in the hope of selling a couple of his CDs.
With an audience of about 60 people, he sold 20 CDs. In short, he
just smoked us!
He has a commanding presence, gravelly voice, irreverent
attitude and blindingly fluid guitar work,. (And I'm wondering how
it's possible I haven't heard of him before. "Blindingly" fast guitar
work, I said? I've gone to see him at a couple of pub gigs since,
and tried to follow his guitar work, particularly his right hand technique.
It took me two days to uncross my eyes !) |
Jed Marum
Okay, so there
I am, driving to Austin (yeah, Texas). It's only 1500 miles. Before
going, I post an inquiry on the Mudcat
Café Forum, to see if there are any Mudcat people down
that way. Darn few, it turns out. One that replied was Jed, who's
from Dallas, and was gonna be in Austin while I was there. We arranged
to meet at a Mexican restaurant (Serrano's) and brought instruments
to compare (Jed has a Martin Backpacker guitar that he's reworked
somewhat and has a unique sound - try to imagine a mandola if it had
single strings instead of doubles - & I'd brought my Glen Reid
acoustic bass guitar). After a darn fine dinner, Jed suggested we
break out the instruments and try to quietly try some stuff at our
wee corner table. Somewhere along the line, management turned down
the overhead music and we ended up jamming for an hour or so. Absolutely
the musical high point of this vacation!
Jed is a self-described
American folk and Celtic performer who works solo as well with the
group Eammon's Kitchen. His solo CD, "The Streets of Fall River",
deals largely with his transplanted Irish heritage. It also saved
my life on a very, very long and tiring drive back to Canada. That
and Mike Daley's CD got the heaviest workout on my CD player. |
Donald McGeoch
Geez, where do I start? Don is one of the finest
interpreters of traditional Scottish folk music you're gonna find anywhere.
His original material ranges from soulful ("Homeland", "All You Ever
Wanted") to hilarious ("The Porcelain Waltz"). He can be heard quite
often on the CBC. He (& wife Brenda) operate the Brantford
Folk Club (15 years now, I believe) as well as the excellent autumn
festival known as Octoberfolk.
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Angela McKay
Angela is a
Hamilton-based singer/songwriter with a powerhouse country-tinged
voice. A regular at the Hamilton Folk Club, she may also be found
performing at service clubs, churches, hospitals, folk clubs
and coffee houses, often on behalf of the CNIB and the Canadian Diabetes
Association. Angela has also founded her own recording facility, called:
Angel
Cave Studios
Angela has one CD to her credit: "Lessons", produced
by Rob Lamothe and also books and hosts frequent "coffee house" concerts
at the studio
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John
Prince &
a Piece of the RocK
John and his crew have been a delight each
time they've performed. "Down home" music, original works, superb
musicianship and toe-tappin' rhythms; many concerts (including being
regulars at CFMU's annual fundraising concerts), tons o' pub gigs,
numerous appearances at festivals, a couple of CDs to their credit
- and they still manage to be the one of the best-kept secrets in
folk music. You do owe it to yourselves to check 'em out!
Late Note: June 2001
- Sad to say, word has just been given that the John Prince
group has disbanded, including a cancellation of all future dates
that had already been skedded. Damn! To me it feels like the breaking
up of a family. And I still say, check 'em out. Their CDs are
still out there 1994's "Take Me Back" and 1997's "From Bristol to
Bonavista";
get 'em!
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Glen
Reid
Glen's been toiling in the folk mines for
a long time. From being a regular on the legendary CBC program "Singalong
Jubilee" to session musician to music director for Harry Hibbs and George
Hamilton IV to songwriter to luthier to artistic director of the Heritage
River Music Festival ... good grief, I'm getting tired just listing
this stuff ! Glen built my wonderful acoustic bass guitar, and has recently
built an instrument for Emmy Lou Harris (a baritone guitar). Glen also
builds "normal" guitars, mandolas and various other mando-thingies.
As a songwriter, Glen has an impressive repertoire of original work,
focussing on our land and our heritage. His song, "My Green Valleys"
has been recorded some 23 times. I'm working on adding a couple of his
songs for my own repertoire. Very fine stuff. Glen is also the founder
of the Heritage River Festival in far off and exotic Burks Falls, Ontario;
which has (as of 2003) evolved into the Almaguin Festival & relocated
to Sundridge (just a wee bit north of Burks Falls). |
Stan Rogers
Well, c'mon . . . you didn't think I was going to
leave out one of the world's best songwriters, didja? |
Alfie Smith
Alfie is a young man with a commanding baritone
voice. His material ranges from his own compositions to the blues
to swing (and how many performers do you know got the nerve to do
"Minnie the Moocher" with just a banjo accompaniment? and can pull
it off?). Catch him - he just keeps getting better.
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Scott's
been a friend for quite a few years. He's an excellent performer and
a prolific songwriter; and we've all been nagging him to get off his
butt and record. Well, it's finally happened, and his CD, "Poets &
Painters" is just fine. I may be a bit biased here, being as I sometimes
get to do bass backup on Scott's live gigs, but I do believe he's
produced one of the most enjoyably listenable albums I know. A 2nd
CD, "Easy Street", is also available and number 3 is in production.
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Tanglefoot
Canadian history comes
alive. And it's fun! I first encountered these folk several years
back at a literacy festival in Jackson's Point (south shore of Lake
Simcoe). Although they often write and sing about major events from
our past, some of their most affecting work sheds light on the lesser
known events and people than have shaped this land. Their presentation
is high-energy and dynamic - something about that step-dancing Viking
on the bass fiddle perhaps!
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Tater
Vox
What we got here is an 8 person group, of whom 3
or 4 have been regular attendees and supporters of the White Oak Folk
Club in Oakville. The group performs primarily original material written
by various members. In the short time since they formed (late '99,
I believe), they've been incredibly energetic in seeking opportunities
to play - Oakville's Waterfront Festival, Milton's fall fair, a high-profile
appearance at The Hudson in Hamilton - including numerous fundraisers
to benefit cancer research. Their website is excellent; I do recommend
a visit to explore and sample some clips from their just-released
(Sept 2001) CD "Evolution".
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Terry Tufts
Now, the basic idea of
this ‘link-to-performer’ section is to promote performers
I know, and the fact is, I’ve never encountered Terry. Last summer
(2000) though, Tom Leighton had the bunch of us at the Woods Music Camp
doing a fine arrangement of one of Terry’s songs, “Never
No More”. Howsomever, we’ve corresponded so often, and missed
each other so often, that I’m beginning to feel downright guilty.
Each time Terry is performing where I can easily catch up with him,
I’ve had other commitments. One of these days, Terry! Meanwhilst,
fer th’ rest of ya, check out his site. |
Ed
Vandendool
Ed used to help organize
the (late & lamented) Caledonia Folk Club along with Bill &
Linda Crawford. He and Bill were also a performing duo under the name
"Cravan Spirit", and they produced one superb CD entitled "Singing
the Spirit Home". Whether he's adding sweet countermelodies to other
performers or doing his own solo material, he's well worth catching
live. Currently living in Stratford, Ontario, he's involved in theatre
work, is one very fine sound tech, and we see him too darn seldom
down this way.
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Bobby Watt
(no web site available)
There
is so!
A lengthier blurb will surely follow.
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| Caroline Wiles
How could I have forgotten my friend Caroline this
long? Particularly since I'm so pleased with myself for bringing her
into the "folk circuit". No big deal - it's just that seeing
one of the posters I put up in downtown Oakville when I was one of
the organizers of the White Oak Folk Club is what caused her to first
attend - okay, so I take my validation where I can find it. Point
is, we had this unknown (to us, at least) & very impressive singer/songwriter.
Her material runs from deeply emotional to wickedly funny. Enjoy.
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Jake Willis
Guelph-based songwriter/performer/
photographer/videographer with a rather interesting story to tell! |
Lisa Winn
An excellent solo performer;
I've seen her most often doing duets with Rob Lamothe. She is also one
fourth of Ladybird Sideshow. I don't know how
to say this without sounding "gushy", but I can't recall ever seen anyone
look so serenely angelic when she's in 'harmony-mode'.
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