Haliburton Folkblog

Hear it First - Indigo Girls ~ "Beauty Queen Sister"

2011-09-27T09:17:00.001-07:00

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Hear it First - Indigo Girls ~ "Beauty Queen Sister"
Date:	Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:09:11 -0400 (EDT)
From:	Folk Alley <letters@folkalley.com>
Reply-To:	letters@folkalley.com
To:	elilius@halhinet.on.ca

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here

Hear It First! Listen to a preview stream of the new Indigo Girls CD, Beauty Queen Sister, in its entirety at Folk Alley!

The Indigo Girls release their latest album, Beauty Queen Sister (Vanguard Records) on October 4^th, and and you can hear it in its entirety on FolkAlley.com, before the release date!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN!

Decades into their career, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers are still doing what they do best: telling stories.

It’s interesting – most musicians include a few songs on each album that tell a story with well-developed characters and, at times, some kind of overarching moral or lesson learned. But very few musicians can release a 13-song collection of nothing BUT stories. And that’s what the Indigo Girls have done with their 14^th studio recording, Beauty Queen Sister.

You can stream each individual track or the complete album in its entirety until the release date, October 4th

CLICK HERE TO STREAM THE CD!


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Winter Folk Camp Video

2010-02-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

CBC Rewind: The McGarrigles from the CBC archives

2010-01-29T07:26:00.001-08:00

http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/rewind_20100129_26472.mp3

Yesterday, Rewind did an hour of McGarrigle material......songs and
interviews.
Fine listening.

Encore: Kirsty MacColl And John Martyn On Mountain Stage : NPR

2010-01-10T14:54:00.001-08:00

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122288704
John Martyn and his band are amazing. (1993 Mountain Stage)
RIP John.
Eric

Roots Music Canada » Blog Archive » Spare a prayer for the opening act!

2010-01-07T08:19:00.001-08:00

http://www.rootsmusic.ca/2009/12/08/opening-act/

Thanks to Sean Pennylegion for pointing this out.
The Rootsmusic website is worth checking out.

Dec

2009

Spare a prayer for the opening act!

Author: Richard Flohil

No introduction. A quarter of the lights. One third the sound. No place the park the van. Audiences that don’t give a hoot. No mention in the advertising. Don’t eat the headliner’s food. There are four beers and some KFC for you; say thank you. Oh, and don’t go any longer than 30 minutes.

Oh, I hear you say, that’s rock and roll. Doesn’t happen in the folk world.

Well, the law of supply and demand in the folk world says that opening acts play for nothing; if they want to sell CDs that’s okay, but count this as exposure, as a rite of passage on the way to the big-time. And just in case that depresses you, note that in the rock and roll world, the opening artist’s record company may even have to pay the headliner for the right to BE the opener…

Who the opening act is depends on the demands of the headliner. If you’re Guy Clark, say, you don’t want a nice young girl singing dear diary music to your audience before you go on, or if you’re Gillian Welch you don’t need another woman singing world-weary alt.country. A gender change is often necessary – er, let me re-phrase that: If the headliner’s a male, it’s often best to have a woman open, and vice-versa. The opening artist’s music has to be complementary, but not similar, to that of the headliner.

Okay, you’ve been hired: You’ll be opening for Guy Clark at Hugh’s Room in Toronto. What can you do to take advantage of this?

Ask the promoter to include you in the advertising.
When the promoter has announced the show, you then announce your participation to your mailing list. Do not announce your involvement before then.
Make sure that you “sell” as many tickets by word of mouth as you possibly can.
Ensure that your friends and relatives are there for support, even if you have to buy their tickets.
Be on time for the sound check, and be brave if there isn’t time for one.
Be friendly with the headliner, but don’t fawn over him or ask him to sign your guitar.
Be totally rehearsed (with your best songs, and some positive upbeat chat).
Do not go over your allotted time.
Say nice things about the sound, the wait staff, the bar tender, and the promoter.
Stay for the headliner’s set.

The prize for the classiest treatment of an opening act goes, without exception, to – of all people – Harry Belafonte. When he was the biggest star, and the most expensive ticket, on the concert circuit, he would always open the show himself. After half a dozen songs, he would bring out the “opening” artist with a fulsome, sincere introduction. The “opener” would finish the first half of the concert, and return for a finale with the headliner at the end of the second half.

In this way, back in the day, Belafonte introduced mainstream North American audiences toSonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Nana Mouskouri, Letta Mbulu, Miriam Makeba, Odetta and many others. He MADE their careers – and HE looked like the best guy, the least selfish guy, in the world for doing so.

The prize for the worst treatment of an opening artist? No contest: The Rolling Stones. Sure, they sometimes hired good people – among them, over the years, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Ike & Tina Turner and Lee Dorsey. (I once saw Chaka Kahn open for them at Maple Leaf Gardens; her wig came off in mid-song, and lay on the stage for the rest of the set looking a bit like a dead hedgehog).

At a Stones show, nobody announced the opening artist, and the sound and lights were the least they could get away with providing. The opener usually played to small audiences, since they were often not included in the advertising, and the Stones audience were only there for one act — they didn’t even arrive in time to hear the opening artist. And after the openers finished their allotted time-span, the Stones themselves waited for another hour before hitting the stage.

So, here’s a question or two for headliners everywhere, whatever kind of music you play:

Why can’t you go out and introduce the opening artist?
Why can’t you arrange for them to be paid at least one-fifth of what you’re getting?
Why not offer them their share of your food and drink rider?

Mike Plume, a wonderful songwriter from Alberta who now lives in Toronto, once opened, with his band, for a well-known Canadian singer who had a hit at the time. Mike later wrote a song about the bitter experience, and told how – so angered by their treatment – the band would wait til the lady in question was on stage, and then go and eat her food and drink her wine and beer.

A few years later, the band was playing at the Horseshoe in Toronto when the artist in question wandered in. She loved the band, and went directly to their dressing room to invite them to open for her on her next tour. Needless to say, Mike and the band, having been there and done that, were not impressed.

But here’s a story you can feel warm and fuzzy about. My friend Serena Ryder, on her first trip to Australia, got the opportunity to open for Steve Earle. Seriously jet-lagged, and suffering the cold she always gets when she goes anywhere in a plane, she stood in front of 5,000 rabid, screaming Steve Earle fans, already hollering for Copperhead Road.

Well, she survived, but Steve took her into his dressing room afterwards, and behaved like the classy man that he is. Henceforth of the tour, HE would go out and introduce her every night, and tell his audience to shut the f*** up and listen. Then he handed her three songs, and told her to learn them, and that she would be singing back-up with him during his show. Then he told her to return the rented van; she’d ride on the tour bus with him and his band. And finally, he said “Look, my contract says I have a two room suite in every hotel on this trip. If you want it, the second room is yours.”

Being the opening artist is a thankless job, nearly of the time. But do it right, make friends, and do well, and you won’t have the role in the future.

You’ll be the headliner instead.

And when you are, treat the opening artist with the respect you would have appreciated when you were starting out.

[Fwd: Oct 23rd: CD Release Concert by Jory Nash]

2009-08-24T10:36:00.001-07:00

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Oct 23rd: CD Release Concert by Jory Nash
Date:	Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:26:03 -0400
From:	Jory Nash <jorynash@primus.ca>
To:	Jory Nash <jorynash@primus.ca>

Hi Folks:
I hope this e-mail finds you well...

I am pleased to announce the impending release of my 6th solo album, titled "New Blue Day". Recorded & Mixed by Chris Stringer (Ohbijou, Timbre Timber, The D'Urbervilles) and Mastered by Joao Carvalho, this album features 12 original songs and 22 different musicians! It is an ambitous, textured, musically varied but still acoustically driven album that I am most proud to release. The beautiful art design was done by A Man Called Wrycraft. For a sneak peak at the cover art visit www.myspace.com/jorynash

I will be doing a CD release concert in Toronto at Hugh's Room on Friday October 23rd. Accompanying me that night will be bandmates Jason Fowler (various guitars), Michael Johnston (various piano/keys/accordion), Maury Lafoy (bass) and Lori Cullen (harmony vocals). There will be additional guest musicians TBA.

Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door. You can order your tickets by calling Hugh's Room @ 416-531-6604, or by visiting their website: www.hughsroom.com

PRE ORDERS!!!

You can pre-order your copy of "New Blue Day". All pre-ordered CDs will be shipped the first week of October. I am also waiving the cost of mailing for all pre-orders. To get yours please send a cheque for $20 made out to Jory Nash to:

Jory Nash

1104 - 77 Lombard St.

Toronto, ON

M5C 3E1

Song samples, additional tour dates (including a 3 week tour of western Canada in February), etc. will be added to my websites in the coming weeks and months. Feel free to visit! www.jorynash.com & www.myspace.com/jorynash

If you have any questions or comments please do send 'em my way!

Yours musically,

Jory Nash

PS. "New Blue Day" will be available for order from my online distributor upon its release. For all Jory Nash CDs and MP3s visit www.maplemusic.com

World Harmony Folk

2009-05-21T12:57:00.001-07:00

For those of you who
...sing in choirs.
...like to learn new styles of singing.
....want to improve your singing

http://www.worldharmonyfolk.org/May_June_2009/May_June_2009.html

May and June Flower

Hello singing friends,

'Tis May! A glorious month of buds, blooms and blossoms. Put those
dark dreary nights of trudging to choir rehearsal behind you. Show us
what you've got! May is the time for choirs to strut their stuff.
Spring concerts, yay!

This is the month to get out and support your local community choirs,
hear their concerts, and decide which choirs you will sing with next
season. There are whole worlds of song out there waiting to welcome your
voice.

We're celebrating too because World Harmony Folk just hosted the best
weekend of singing in Toronto ever. One inspiring message came from
Kathy Bullock, gospel songleader extraordinaire, who exhorted everyone
to let their voices ring out. She reminded us all how precious and
unique each voice is, how each one of us is the only person who can sing
our own song in our own voice. So go out and find a choir or songcircle
or course or workshop where you are comfortable and feel good about
singing with others. 'Tis the most glorious bloom of all.

This month's newsletter has lots of listings of community concerts, in
case you want to join these groups, as well as a huge number of music
summer camps and workshops all over the world, in case you need
inspiration for summer travels.

If you're in the southern hemisphere, as many of our readers are, tell
us about your Fall song harvest.

The World Harmony Folk newsletter is now being read by thousands in 28
different countries, in Europe, Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas,
which is pretty awesome for a volunteer non-commercial non-affiliated
network, just started last September. Every bit we all do to meet the
need for building community and for creating harmony in purpose, in
voice, and in the world, makes a difference.

Turn to our online site for all the news in Toronto, New York, Scotland,
Europe, New Zealand, England, New England, Ontario, Ireland and many
other places. Find out what is happening in your own area and be
inspired by what others are doing all over the planet to go out and
build community by making music with friends.

Keep sending us the information about your events. That's how the news
spreads and the singing community grows. Over the summer we will take a
break from the email newsletter but we will continue to update the
website as new listings arrive, so continue to send in announcements and
keep checking the website for all the latest news.

Listen and Be Heard,

Cindy Dymond
World Harmony Folk

On Songwriting

2009-05-06T08:08:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Rhonda

A wonderfuly concise blurb

On inspiration:

1. Be on the lookout for things to write about everyday.

There was a comedian on the Letterman show the other night who told the story of her college years. She was living in a garage, the kind with the roll up doors. Whenever she sat down to relax on her couch she was staring at the two motorcycles that were parked in her living room. She used to sit there and stare at them and wonder if there was anything funny she could write about.

Okay, so you are living in a garage and your front door rolls up instead of swinging open and the centerpieces of your living room are two motorcycles. Wait a minute - that is funny.

Don’t overlook what’s right in front of you. There are things all around you every day that would make great songs. Go and find them.

2. Take a notepad or micro-recorder with you everywhere.

I have a friend who has been playing and writing for many years now. She tells me she has forgotten 10 times as many great lines as she has written down. If you don’t have a notepad or recorder, write them in your own blood. Just write them down.

For those of you who are Nirvana fans, if you take a look at Cobain’s writing, it’s in a spiral notebook like you’d get for school.

Many a great song has been written on a McDonald’s napkin.

Inspiration is a precious gift. Don’t waste it.

On writing lyrics:

3. If you can say it in fewer words, why don’t you?

You can pause while singing. You can hold notes out. Don’t feel the need to fill every space with a word. This is a danger most often experienced by lyric first songwriters.

Let the listener’s ears rest. Use empty space to develop contrast.

This one ties in with the next:

4. Try not to use phrases like “I feel”, “it’s like”, “because”. Tell me how it is, not what it’s like.

These words are often used to make lines fit the meter. But the effect they have is dilution.

Is she the most beautiful woman ever, or is she like the most beautiful woman ever?

Are you crushed and thrown in the gutter, or do you just feel that way?

5. Be direct, don’t give the listener too many choices.

Although you do want to allow for individual interpretation, you want to make sure the listener is getting the point. Write like a salesman. Ask questions that get you where you want to go. Don’t ask “Would you like to buy this car?” Ask “Wouldn’t it be great to be out on the coastal highway, top down, radio playing?”

6. Content dictates form, not the other way around. You aren’t writing haiku.

Don’t limit your initial creative output by imposing form limits. Maybe you have 4 lines and a chorus, maybe 8. Maybe you’ll have two verses then chorus, maybe 1. Just get that initial burst of creativity out. Create the form of the song around the content you have.

I doubt Stephen King decides beforehand, “Hmm, 637 pages, and I want every other chapter to be 42 pages.” You don’t need to either.

7. If you have to explain a line to me, you need to re-write it.

If I have to explain that line to you, I need to re-write it.

8. Do not confuse profound with vague.

This one ties in well with number 7.

This is one of the biggest errors I see and it manifests itself in a couple of ways.

First, even the lyricist doesn’t know what they are writing about. Overly impressed by their own ability to use flowery imagery, the writer will get stuck for an ending or chorus and ask for help. Heck, if you don’t know what you are writing about, how should anyone else know?

Second, the message is so lost in flowery writing that the natural progression of the song gets lost. The obvious symptom of this is overly long, formless writing usually followed by a request for help formatting the song into singable lyric.

No one needs to write in “Dick-and-Jane” style, but you don’t want to sound like a dot com company earnings call either.

9. Write about what you know.

I guarantee these will be your best songs. Go ahead and write about something you know nothing about and compare.

One day you cut your hand badly and require stitches, do you go to the auto mechanic? Nope, you go to the doctor. You want someone whose life experience includes stitching up cuts. Songwriting is no different.

9a. When you want to write about something outside your realm of experience, use what you do know to write about what you don’t know.

If you have to write about something, someone, someplace that you have no personal experience with, find something, a feeling, a belief, that you do have in common. Start from someplace that is authentic.

10. As you get better and better at writing, you’ll write simpler and simpler lyrics. Why not start now?

This one I stole from David Hodge. It’s true. There is power in brevity.

Don’t mistake “simple” for lack of meaningful content. One well chosen single word can have many more connotations and power than an awkward phrase.

10a. Even if you want to write about a passive condition, write it actively.

Speaking of stealing from David…

I wrote a song about a guy sitting in the dark, losing it ’cause he is suddenly alone. He’s sitting and thinking, then lying down and thinking, and then in the last verse he’s suddenly smashing things. It just didn’t flow right, it didn’t build.

Here is the first verse before and after:

Before:

Alone in the dark at the kitchen table
I wonder whatever became of you?
Didn’t I tell you often enough?
Can you tell me what I didn’t do?

After:

Talk to the empty chair in the darkness
I wonder whatever became of you?
Didn’t I tell her often enough?
Can you tell me what I didn’t do?

It’s a minor change, but combine that change with the new second verse you can see an active progression into losing his marbles.

11. Even if your lyric doesn’t tell a story, it takes the form of a story. It has a beginning, middle and end.

Number 11 is the subject of much confusion. There is a big difference between a story song, like old folk songs, and a story line. I think we decided to call this the “Song Agenda” or “Song Progression”, but the more I think of it, the more I like plain old “Story”. You may write a silly story with no point, a clever story, fable, parable, that it obvious fiction, a review or description of some thing, or an old fashioned folk tale, or even a true story, but they all have a timeline or agenda or progression from start to finish.

Even if a lyric has no story, it has a beginning, middle and end. Heck, even if a song is an instrumental it develops from beginning to middle to end.

Make sure you know what your story/agenda/progression is.

If you get lost while writing, take a couple of minutes to write a paragraph describing how your song develops from beginning to end. Best of all, go to number 12.

12. Write down the story you want to tell in a couple of sentences before you start the lyric. You can revisit this later if you get stuck.

Usually I do this after the initial burst of writing subsides. Then I organize my thoughts into a progression.

13. Make sure your lyric pulls the listener through from beginning to end.

Number 13 is the reason for 11 and 12. The listener should want to hear what comes next. They should be waiting for the exciting, (or not) conclusion. If you give it all away in the first verse, what is the reason the listener won’t just tune out?

OVERVIEW of 11 - 13:

Think of a song like any other form of communication for entertainment purposes. Songs are like miniature books, films or plays, a 3 minute diversion to transport the listener to another world.

14. When you have “finished” your lyric, read it OUT LOUD. Let your ears do the final edit.

The single most valuable editing tool is listening. After you read it out loud to yourself, subject someone else to it. Some words that fit when written will break oddly across rhythm.

15. If it sounds forced when you read it, it will sound forced when you sing it.

16. If you would never, ever say it that way, double check that you can sing it that way.

Probably tied for number one on the most often seen problem list, is the forced rhyme. Don’t do it. Forced rhyme pegs you as an amateur right away. Not even great lyrics will pass the “would you say it that way” test all of the time, but it is a good test. The most often seen example of this is the reversed sentence:

“..and so to you I will not go.”

or something similar. Wouldn’t you just say “I will not go to you?”

17. Write often. Practice writing just like you would practice a guitar riff.

One of the early controversies about the Sunday Songwriter forum was that you can’t force inspiration. This is true, but you can learn technique so that when inspiration pops up, you have nothing standing in your way.

If you want to improvise guitar, you go and learn riff after riff until they flow effortlessly. When the time comes to improvise, you don’t want to spend a bunch of time saying: “uhh, that would be at the fifth fret and…. I think I’ll do that Led Zeppelin thing”. By the time you get that thought out, the rest of the band will be on to the next verse.

I have a place to write with a guitar on a stand nearby, computer, rhyming dictionary, pencils, paper. When I’m inspired to sit down to write, I’ve practiced it so many times before that it just flows.

On receiving critiques:

18. If someone points out something that bugs them, I guarantee it will bug 100 others. Listen to them.

You may not agree. They may be wrong. You may not be willing to change, but you must consider what they are saying. If not, why bother to post the lyric in the first place.

When I started posting songs, I had to force myself to get over my defensive reaction. But I did it and now I probably incorporate 75% of all suggestions into my work. Hey someone wants to do work for you for free, take them up on it.

19. If someone takes the time to critique your lyric, listen to them.

20. Don’t get defensive. Listen.

21. If the critique starts with “This sucks”, you have my permission to ignore #20.

22. Turn about is fair play. If someone critiques yours, return the favor.

Besides making a habit of writing, this is probably the most powerful songwriting tool available. No kidding. By reading other writers lyrics and styles you learn volumes. You learn what works and what doesn’t, you get “what if” ideas, you expand your own lyrical horizons and you gain an ability to see things in your own work through others. Sometimes things are so close to you, you can’t see them.

23. Listen, listen, listen.

Did anyone pick up on my subtle message in this section?

On writing critiques:

24. Do unto others.

A critique of “This sucks” is about as useful as one that says “this is perfect”. Well, unless you really mean it. I haven’t seen one yet. I haven’t written one yet, the perfect one I mean.

25. Find at least one positive thing to say, there is always at least one.

The fact that someone was brave enough to put pencil to paper is one. Is there a story line? Are the feelings out there and exposed? Did one of the verses not have a forced rhyme or cliché? Come on now, you are supposed to be creative.

26. Do not start reviews with “This sucks”. I told them not to listen to you in #21.

27. Don’t get offensive.

This is not a battle zone. No tit for tat, “he really let me have it in his last critique, I’ll show him, (or her)”. Try to help no matter what.

28. Writing critiques is probably the single best way to improve your own writing.

By learning how to articulate your own thoughts about someone else’s work, you can appreciate the thought that went into someone else’s critique of yours and also develop a mindset of looking for problems in your own before you start. See number 22.

On cliché:

29. Never use the words “stairway” and “heaven” in the same line.
30. Make that the same verse.
31. Did I say verse? I meant song.
32. What the heck, just never use them…never.

Don’t make me think of someone else’s song while I’m listening to yours.

33. I would rather hear about your personal experiences than generalizations.

Take a gourmet dinner:

Fresh caught Jumbo Shrimp cocktail
Fresh made bread
Filet mignon medium rare
Baked potato with fresh butter and chives
Vintage red wine
Tiramisu

Now put the whole thing in a blender until it has the consistency of baby food and eat it. Somehow the generalization of the meal just isn’t the same. Give me the experience first hand.

34. Using cliche is the equivalent of saying, “Yada, yada, yada”.

The biggest problem with cliché is that it is shorthand for your experiences. I don’t want the Coles Notes version, I want to do the interpretation myself thank you.

35. If you twist a cliche into something new, it is by definition no longer cliche.

It’s a pretty good technique really. You get a sense of the familiar combined with a sense of originality.

36. Back by popular demand, here is my famous cliché analogy.

If you ask 100 people to draw a tree, 99 of them are going to:

draw two parallel lines to represent the trunk
1 perpendicular line beneath to represent the ground
-and a series of scalloped lines above to represent the leaves.

But they haven’t drawn a tree. They have drawn a representation of a tree.

If you tell them that, they won’t get it. But if you show them the picture that the 1 out of a 100 drew, the one that actually looks like a tree, they’ll say, “oh yeah, now that’s a tree.”

That artist didn’t draw a representation of a tree. The artist drew one that is based on that artist’s actual interaction with a specific tree. It’s the tree climbed long ago. It’s the tree of a summer nap in its shade. It’s the tree the artist raked the leaves from under.

When you look at that picture, you can see the artist’s song about that tree.

Be the 1 in 100.

Seeger on Letterman

2008-10-04T11:12:00.001-07:00

Pete Seeger just released a new album called "At 89".
His performance on Letterman a few days back is now on their website.

http://lateshow.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/live/index/php/966231.phtml?play=1
or
http://tinyurl.com/469hqr

If it can't be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production.

Pete Seeger

'Red' Shea, 70: Influential folk guitarist

2008-06-17T08:15:00.001-07:00

A recent Toronto Star had an obituary for Red Shea.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/441921

Those amazing early Lighfoot recordings featured Red Shea and John
Stockfish.

"Shea is universally credited with having been Lightfoot's most
distinctive and original supporting player, adding his lucid filigree
lead runs seamlessly into the famed singer's trademark finger-picking
patterns to produce fluid, layered textures and crystal overtones that
enhanced Lightfoot's recordings from 1966 through 1975. "

Red had an impact on a lot of today's performers. I have included a few
remberances that have been posted on Maplepost.

Hello to all Canadian folk musicians on Maplepost.

As a student and fan of (in my opinion) the best years of the Lightfoot
sound and recordings, it is with great regret, and personal sense of
immense loss, that I have to announce that Red Shea died this morning. I
wish I could add more at this time, but I am overcome by the loss of a
wonderful musician, teacher and humble, loving man who is, to me, the
essential quality of what makes Canadians wonderful.

Red and I last spoke a couple of weeks ago, and I thought there might be
time to do a benefit concert to celebrate his amazing contribution to
Canadian music, recording and broadcasting. Sadly, this was not be.

Here is the letter I sent to him on May 10, 2008, to which he replied:

Dear Mr. Shea,

I bumped into an extremely lovely young lady at Massey Hall last night.
She was standing beside Gord Lightfoot at the after-concert party with a
copy of one of his CD compilations in her hand. I didn't know the album
and asked her about it. As we chatted, I said to her that my hero in
Gord's band had always been Red Shea, the guitarist whose playing taught
me that there were chords above the third fret, and that known shapes in
new positions up there could be used to create solos and harmony passages.
"I learned Red's licks nearly note for note when I was in high school,"
I said.
"That's my dad," she replied.
I was thrilled. I told her about the Saturday afternoon back in 1968
when my friend Tom and I drove all the way up to Aurora from Toronto to
timidly knock on the door of our inspiration and guitar hero, Red Shea.
"We dropped in out of nowhere," I said, "and you father was very
gracious and kind to us."
I don't remember what you said to us, and it wouldn't have made any
difference in our state of delirium. We had met the man and he had
shaken our hands. That was as good as it could get.
Earlier in that same year, I had finally put together enough paper route
money to put a deposit on Martin D-18 at Long and McQuade's. Bob Abbott
took my Echo Ranger 12 and a Shure 664 in partial trade and I arranged
to pay the balance on time.
I worked lots of Gord's tunes out on that guitar, as well as many of
your licks. I took it to Trent University where my sister's friend of
the time, Stan Rogers, allowed me to sit in and play with him and Nigel
Russell. Stan turned to me (doesn't everyone have a Stan story?), eyed
up my new aquisition and asked if he could borrow the guitar and
fingerpicks.
Not yet knowing Stan's so-called sense of humour, I handed my instrument
and picks over. He played it for a while, then, satisfied, seemingly, he
returned the guitar to me. But not before taking off my fingerpicks and
dropping them, one by one, into the D-18.
That Martin is still with me after 40 years of playing. Under lifetime
warranty, it had a neck reset about 9 years ago. Time wore on and soon
the bridge plate began to bust out of the top. The action just kept
rising, and old Alice was better for slide work than finger style. Or
maybe for cutting cheese...
After some deliberation I decided to get Alice spruced up, so to speak,
and on my way down to Guitar Week at Swanannoa Gathering last summer, I
dropped her in at the factory in Nazareth. They agreed to put a new top
on her under warranty.
Alice wintered in Nazareth and the wizards in the restoration department
put on a new sitka top and installed some forward shifted, vintage
styled scalloped bracing I requested. Martin refused to ship during the
winter weather and when I got confirmation three weeks ago that she was
soon to be heading home, I dug out some of the old books of tunes I used
to play on her.
Among the books, I found a worn, coverless copy of the sheet music for
"The Way I Feel" album, and there, on the front page, were the famous
crossed legs of Gord's ever-dapper lead guitar player, Red Shea, showing
chord shapes in black and white on a D-35. I thought about you in that
moment three weeks ago, and was quietly reflective and thankful for the
many gifts your playing gave me and how your playing has informed my own
style. Thank you, sir, from the bottom of my heart.
After you left Gord's band, his music lost its lustre for me and his
direction wasn't one that carried me along with it. Pages fell from the
calendar on the wall like leaves in fall. Then, two nights ago I got a
call. My good friend David's father, Dr. Bill Goodman, is in hospital
with renal failure and would I like two of the comps that Bernie and
Gord had given to the family for Friday's show? Of course.
So there I was last night, listening to Gord, remembering parties at the
Goodman household after the Mariposa Festival and praying for Bill's
health to return as Gord's had. Then I learned from Colleen that you are
having a rough patch and have been hospitalized too. Somehow, I have
this idea in my mind and hope in my heart that like old Alice and Gord,
you and Dr. Bill will both weather this patch and like them, get back to
making the world a happier and more musical place.
Good health and good wishes, my prayers are with you,

Ian Gray

I have been informed by the family that there will be a visitation at
the Thompson Funeral Home in Aurora on Thursday, June 12 at 7 until 9
p.m., and a service at the Kingdom Hall on Bloomington Rd. Aurora on
Friday morning at 10 a.m.

Please check my accuracy, as I may have misheard or misunderstood. I
spoke with the family this evening, learned of the news, and I may have
not got the information right.

Red was a hero and musical friend to me, as well as a guiding light to
me and many of my musical friends. He was patient and welcoming, gentle,
energetic, grounded, spiritual, skilled and creative. All the thing one
could hope for in a teacher and musician. His contribution to Canadian
music was huge, unique, Canadian, inspirational and to be missed. There
is bound to be a prairie wind that will moan in a particular, sad manner
this summer......

RIP Red.

With respect, reverence, fondness and thanks,

Ian

Hello Posters,

I think about the passing of Red Shea, and am reflecting a great deal on
how he was a seminal influence on me, and my becoming a
songwriter...this story needs a slight pre-amble so please bear with me.

I was producing a folk concert series at the Hotel Isabella called
"Acoustic Espionage" in '82 and '83, back in the days when publicists
here in Toronto were crapping on folk music daily it seemed, and to be
part of what was left of the folk scene was about the uncoolest thing a
body could be. One of my guest artists in the series was Ramblin' Jack
Elliot, who called me and requested that I get in touch with Gordon
Lightfoot's sister and convince her that Mr. Lightfoot should come to
his show that night. It turns out Mr. Lightfoot showed up, and, as I
always did the opening set, he stopped me on the stairs (the shows were
in the basement, not in the Cameo Lounge) before Jack went on, and said
how much he enjoyed my music. It was my first encounter with him, and I
managed to place my foot squarely in my mouth as I said "I have enjoyed
your music for years, and especially when you were playing with Red Shea
and John Stockfish." He turned and muttered, "Yeah, well everybody moves
on."

Years later I was playing one of the Lightfoot tributes at Hugh's Room,
and Mr. Lightfoot was in the audience. I finally had the opportunity to
make things right after all the years, because what I had wanted to say
at the Isabella was that I enjoyed that era of his music because I had
had the opportunity to see him at the Riverboat with Red Shea and John
Stockfish when I was fifteen. It was the moment when I first knew for
sure I would be following a musical path for the rest of my life. My
vision of that night in the Riverboat, in reality a dark and narrow
space, was that it seemed to sparkle like a diamond with reflections
from the finish of guitars in the spotlights bouncing off the
walls...and the music was heaven-sent...the shimmer of the 12 string
supported on the bottom end with patterns never heard before on a bass,
and the honeyed stream of riffs from Red Shea's guitar.

Now, back to the point, which was that I had a couple of guitar-playing
buddies in my hometown of Owen Sound, and whenever we got together, the
talk was of the beauty of the sound of Mr. Lightfoot's trio. As we were
all guitar players, we worshipped the work of Red Shea, and talked
incessantly about his licks and how they fit the lyrics and tried to
emulate him as we struggled to learn our instruments.

Someone said earlier that Red Shea did not have "fame"....but I tell you
he was famous in the hearts of those three young guitar players in Owen
Sound, and I know in the hearts of guitar players all across this country.

God bless Red Shea,

Tim Harrison
www.timharrison.ca

Thanks, Tim. Your reflections on Mr. Shea are similar to mine and, I dare
say, just about any acoustic finger-picker of my generation. I was just
starting university when I began hearing the magical sounds produced by
Lightfoot, Stockfish and Shea. I had been working on my finger-picking style
and starting to play a lot with other guitarists and singers. What Red was
doing was like a magic bullet for me; the answer! Capo up, keep it simple,
stay out of the way of the song, sparkle! No other player was a stronger
influence on the way I play and, in particular, the way I accompany singers.

Thank you, Red Shea, for your gift to the music of this country.

Paul Mills

TheStar.com | entertainment | 'Red' Shea, 70: Influential folk guitarist

2008-06-12T09:36:00.001-07:00

Today's Star has an obituary for Red Shea.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/441921

Those amazing early Lighfoot recordings featured Red Shea and John
Stockfish.
"Shea is universally credited with having been Lightfoot's most
distinctive and original supporting player, adding his lucid filigree
lead runs seamlessly into the famed singer's trademark finger-picking
patterns to produce fluid, layered textures and crystal overtones that
enhanced Lightfoot's recordings from 1966 through 1975. "

Red had an impact on a lot of today's performers. I have included a few
rembrances that have been posted on Maplepost.

Hello to all Canadian folk musicians on Maplepost.

Here is the letter I sent to him on May 10, 2008, to which he replied:

Dear Mr. Shea,

Ian Gray

Please check my accuracy, as I may have misheard or misunderstood. I
spoke with the family this evening, learned of the news, and I may have
not got the information right.

RIP Red.

With respect, reverence, fondness and thanks,

Ian

Hello Posters,

God bless Red Shea,

Tim Harrison
www.timharrison.ca

Thank you, Red Shea, for your gift to the music of this country.

Paul Mills

http://www.haliburtonfolk.com
http://www.environmenthaliburton.ca
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Eric Lilius
Box 27
(1563 Eagle Lake Road)
Eagle Lake, ON K0M 1M0
CANADA W78.34.12/N45.07.09
705-754-9873
705-754-9860 (fax)
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Of course we can do this without chemical fertilizers.
Study after study has suggested it. We pee out enough
nitrogen to fertilize half an acre annually.
Sharon Astyk

Haliburton County Folk CD

2008-03-06T21:13:00.000-08:00

THE HALIBURTON COUNTY FOLK SOCIETY
presents
HALIBURTON FOLK
A new CD that celebrates the fine musical talent of the Haliburton Highlands.
Tap your toes to tunes performed by Haliburton County musicians and friends. The likes of Albert Saxby, Zoe Chilco, Thom Lambert, Gord Kidd, Kris Kadwell, Cass Marie, Bethany Houghton, Laurel Mc Cauley, Stan Russell, Dave Fougere and others play both original and cover songs. With 17 tracks, this CD is a must have for your music collection. Order yours today!

Mike Jaycock, President, Canoe FM observes “We have some amazing musical talent in the Highlands and that was emphasized to all of us when we featured many of these artists on the Highlands Radio Almanac. This is a CD that we’ve been looking forward to, and you should too. It’s a small investment for some wonderfully entertaining music and to support this unique initiative of the Folk Society. Congratulations to everyone involved”.

Special thanks to Ian Pay of Quantum Entertainment for initiating, leading, and managing this project.

By ordering your CD now, you are making the entire production possible and supporting the work of the Haliburton County Folk Society in their efforts to foster appreciation of and participation in folk music in Haliburton County.

For only $20 you can receive this entertaining collection of songs that takes you to the heart of Haliburton. The CD is expected to be available by the end of April 08.
Thank you for your support.

Pre Order the CD

Jeff Healey

2008-03-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

Sent to the Maplepost by Carolyn McInroy

Jeff Healey managed to do more in his lifetime than most "healthy" people. His musical talents weren't limited to just the guitar, and his tastes weren't limited just to one style of music.

I didn't realize until I heard the news item on CBC this morning that Jeff lived with cancer in one form or another from a very early age, and that it had led to his blindness.

When I met him, the thing about him that impressed me most (even more than his effortlessly brilliant acoustic guitar-picking!) was his good-natured charm. And what a smile!

In 1997 and1998, I went to a lot the of Monday-night pub gigs Mark Haines and Tom Leighton used to host at The Bishop and Belcher on Queen West. Many good local players showed up for these weekly jams, but a few of the most memorable for me were the ones Jeff attended.

Sometimes he was accompanied by the two other guys from his band, sometimes not. He was living nearby, and I seem to recall that he never even brought his guitar, just borrowed someone else's. And when he walked down from his place with his white cane, he usually gathered about five or six young well-wishers and fans who would come and spend the evening and buy him a few drinks.

The informal setting allowed Jeff to relax, have fun with the other players, and indulge in his favourite country songs, like "Amanda", "A Satisfied Mind", and "The Long Black Veil". There would be maybe eight or ten local musicians up there wailing away with him, and the attendees like myself threw back their heads and wailed along on the chorus.

Oh, and once he brought along a young up-and-coming jazz vocalist called Alex Pangman. We were treated to a sassy set of acoustic jazz that evening. The overwhelming impression I got from Jeff's wide-ranging musical interests was of his impeccable taste and style .

It's so sad that he had to leave his friends and family this soon, and my heart goes out to them. But thank you, Jeff, for all you did for Canadian music while you were here.

Above all, thanks for the memories of the Bishop and Belcher! (And of course, thanks to Mark and Tom as well for those good times, and all the great music.

I'll never forget Mark and Jeff playing and singing together on "Dixie Chicken" ...) Safe journey, Jeff!

Carolyn McInroy

Eve Goldberg Concert March 7

2008-03-03T21:52:00.000-08:00

March 7th Concert

Eve Goldberg
Opening: Cass Marie and the Black Feather Band

Friday, March 7, 8:00pm
The Haliburton Highlands Museum, see map
Museum Road, Haliburton ON.

Tickets: $15
The 100% guarantee is in effect.

Imagine a kitchen party where Mother Maybelle Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Mississippi John Hurt, Bessie Smith, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Patsy Cline show up, and you begin to get a sense of what it feels like inside songwriter Eve Goldberg's head.

Never one to restrict herself to one genre of music, Eve has performed her trademark mixture of folk, blues, country, bluegrass, old time, and jazz in venues ranging from small house concerts to the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington DC since 1990.

Eve was born in the Boston area but has called Toronto, Ontario home since 1981. As a child, she was dragged to folk concerts by the likes of The Weavers, Doc Watson, Arlo Guthrie, the Watersons, and countless others. Eventually it sank in, and as a teenager she began to devour all kinds of contemporary and traditional roots music. She began performing in 1990, and hasn't looked back since. Along the way she's earned the respect of legendary musicians like Peggy Seeger, Geoff Muldaur, and Penny Lang.

Her watercolour voice and solid guitar style has become a favourite at festivals, folk clubs, and concert series across Canada and the US. With an equal passion for traditional music, and for the art of songwriting and interpretation, Eve's performances are intimate and relaxed, moving effortlessly from folk classics to original gems, all wrapped up in her clear, pure voice and dynamic guitar playing.

She has released two albums to widespread acclaim -- 1998's "Ever Brightening Day" released on her own Sweet Patootie Music label, and 2003's "Crossing the Water," released by The Borealis Recording Company. Her instrumental tune "Watermelon Sorbet" was used for years as the opening theme to the popular CBC national radio show "Richardson's Roundup."

Her new album "A Kinder Season"was released in September on Borealis Records (US Release: Jan 9, 2007). Recorded in the months after her mother's death, the album is a remarkable personal testament to the joy and hope that lurks somewhere beyond the heartache, and the sweetness that can be found even in the bitterest seasons of life.

Produced by Ken Whiteley, "A Kinder Season" features twelve new originals that firmly establish Eve as a compelling and thoughtful writer whose songs draw honey from the rock of human experience.

As legendary blues musician Geoff Muldaur put it, "As far as I'm concerned, Eve Goldberg is on the verge of riches. Big name folks would want to get hold of this stuff."

You can listen to some of her songs and find out more about Eve at:
http://www.evegoldberg.com/
http://www.myspace.com/evegoldberg

About Cass Marie and the Black Feather Band

"This fine-feathered quartet combines a relaxed, comfortable folk sound with anything from rock 'n roll to country to jazz and soft pop, and even dips a toe in a gospel-inspired song. Their tunes are as unique as they are individuals and their talent is just as diverse.

Songwriter/vocalist Cass Marie explores issues of dependence, independence, self-actualization, body image, the trials of love and the search for happiness in the band's first full-length independent album entitled Love's Uncertain (release date to be announced.) The music combines dynamic vocals and gritty, honest lyrics with haunting cello lines, upbeat fiddle reels, grounding guitar rhythms and jazzy bass lines. There is something for everyone in this poetic, non-traditional "feather-folk."

Some performances of note include an opening act for Canadian folk legend, Willie P. Bennett, and for PEI's up-and-coming folk sweetheart, Rose Cousins. "

You would never know that this brash singer has any stage fright as she exudes confidence...Cass Marie is an exceptional example of the home grown talent that is flourishing in the Highlands." -Erin Lynch, The Highlands Communicator

"To quote one of her songs, there is "Nothin' Sweeter" than the sound of her voice..." -Kris Kadwell, 100.9 CANOE FM

http://www.myspace.com/cassmarieandtheblackfeatherband

This Weekend at The Hair Lounge]

2008-02-21T07:50:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone!!!

***Just wanted to let you know that the OPEN STAGE is CANCELLED this Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for any inconvenience!

See you Saturday at the Ian Tamblyn concert!!!

Upcoming Concerts

Sat. Feb. 23/08.....Ian Tamblyn (almost sold out!)
Sat. Mar. 29/08.....Barry Canning
Sat. April 26/08.....Rick Fines

If you need more info on any of the upcoming Concerts or Open Stages, just click on the link!!! www.thehairlounge.ca

R.I.P. Willie P.

2008-02-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

Willie P. Bennett
October 26, 1951 - February 15, 2008
http://www.williepbennett.com

Willie P Bennett fondly remembered

2008-02-20T19:17:00.001-08:00

http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/PrintArticle.aspx?e=907000

The late Willie P. Bennett will be remembered by the large body of work he leaves behind, said long-time friend Washboard Hank Fisher.

"He's got some great, great songs," said Fisher, in an interview yesterday afternoon."Willie had poetic sentiments and feelings which ran very deep, deeper than the Moon and June sort of stuff," said Fisher.

"I always loved Caney Fork River," said Fisher of Mr. Bennett's songs.

"The Caney Fork River
the Caney Fork River
like water everywhere
it's a taker and a giver
she touched it to her body
she touched it to her lips
oh I wish I was the Caney Fork River," he quoted the song.

Music in You is another heartfelt love song that is a favourite of Fishers. Fisher said he meet Mr. Bennett in the early years, 1977, and they've been friends since. That included a four-year stint together as part of Fred Eaglesmith's band, sharing a room on the road.

Local songwriter Dennis O'Toole said in an email he stood with Clayton Yates and sang for Willie P. Bennett at the Rusty Snail Saturday night....Billy Joe Shaver's 'I'm Gonna Live Forever'; Willies' 'For the Sake of a Dollar' and 'Willies' Diamond Joe'...it felt good and right (and wrong) and I woke with these lines in my head this morning...

"if you're going to pray for me
pray in good old gospel harmony
send off my spirit with a song..."

"I'm sure we all assumed that Willie had dodged the bullet on his health issues and was going to be with us a long time yet...he sure seemed to be giving it a troupers' try...and he has left us a remarkable body of work to listen to and to share with others," stated o'Toole.

Local folk music promoter Mike Barker, Folk Under the Clock, said he's been a fan of Mr. Bennett's since the beginning when he still lived in Alberta and followed Mr. Bennett's career. But wasn't able to get Mr. Bennett to perform at a concert until April 2007 when he came with the Eaglesmith Band.

"Willie opened the show and then played the rest of the concert with the band," said Barker. "The crowd loved it."

Barker said he emailed Stephen Fearing of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, a band with Colin Linden and Tom Wilson that was formed originally to perform Mr. Bennett's music.

"He said he was devastated," said Barker.

Eaglesmith is touring and somewhere in the desert in Califormia out of reach, said his record company. Eaglesmith is aware of Mr. Bennett's passing, said a spokesperson.

Mr. Bennett was honoured with a fundraising concert in July following his heart attack last spring.

The concert featured Eaglesmith, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings and many of his Peterborough fellow musicians and friends. Mr. Bennett was unable to ply his trade for a few months after the springtime heart attack. Like most musicians, Mr. Bennett was self-employed and didn't have extended health coverage.

"Willie has been an icon in Canada for a long, long time," said Eaglesmith, in an Examiner interview in July. "He helped change the face of music in Canada. He was the songwriter that set songwriting in Canada on its ear for a long time, even when I was a kid."

"I was just a little younger than Willie but the difference between 16 and 20 is a lot. I heard him and I just wanted to write songs. He's been with me for 25 years. He's been on my right every night for 25 so it's like getting a leg cut off," Eaglesmith said of life on the road without Mr. Bennett this summer.

In 1996, a tribute album of 14 of Mr. Bennett's songs called "High or Hurtin" was released by Blackie and The Rodeo Kings.

"Willie is my main man, in other words he helps me with the touring endlessly.

"He helps set up every night, he helps tear down. We toured together when we had to split the money, in otherwords when there wasn't enough money; we had to sleep in the bus because there was no hotel rooms - we couldn't afford them."

The memory when he first met Bennett is still vivid for Eaglesmith.

"We were at a festival one time and he said 'hey can I play harmonica with you today?' And I said 'really, you want to play harmonica with me?' and he said 'yeah,' and he never left.

"He just never left he just sort of slowly...," Eaglesmith lets the sentence end. "Eventually he said, 'you know what, you're getting pretty darn successful and I'm just going to stick around'."

Looking back over all those years on the road and on stage, Mr. Bennett, said in an Examiner interview in 2005 he hopes it (the music) never stops. "I like it out there."

Songwriting, for him, is more about expression and observation than it is writing big-money songs for others, in any case. He describes songwriting as an attempt to get through a lot of things that were mucking up his life.

"Somewhere in the middle I got caught up in thinking I could have a 'hit' song and live happily ever after. Truth be told, as soon as I forgot about writing the hit song, that's when I started living happily ever after.

"That's when I quit chasing the carrot. I quit chasing the brass ring and I'm living life on my own terms. And that's when I started to get happy."