By John Allen
Carol Fergus, the producer and treat baker, had once again excelled herself in bringing eight very fine acts, each with 3 pieces of music, to the Centre 64 stage. Maybe the artists agreed to come because they love the treats and of course the always generous applause?
First up was Janice Fleming on keyboard and her pleasant voice, with Send Me a Song by the Poozies, a British all female band started in the 90s. Next was I Miss You by Kacie Musgraves which was followed by Connie Kaldor with Wood River (The heart is bigger than trouble…), “one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite singer-songwriters”; the Wood River is in Saskatchewan.
Jeannie MacDonald and Bodi Kirkby (one of Jeannie’s many students) played flutes on Two Into Five by Christopher Norton (a Kiwi living in Britain), Sonata #6, Opus 5 by Johann Jochim Quantz ( “a dead white guy”) and Hayride, also by Christopher Norton.
Next up and first time on stage was Connor Hynes, who has been playing guitar for four years. He began with an old folk favorite, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s (a California Group) Have You Ever Seen The Rain. Then he played and sang Let It Be, by you-guessed-it The Beatles and the country song Wreckage by Nate Smith. He got lots of applause.
The Leftovers, who are Chris (with a beautiful red guitar) and Paulette Dodson on electric bass and Jonny MacSporran on guitar, gave us John Prine’s Speed of the Sound of Loneliness (You’re out on the run just to be on the run…), the R&B 1946 song Route 66 (Get your kicks…) and They Kicked Me Out of the Band by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.
Evangeline Branchaud sang (with accompaniment by good soundtracks) Dolly Parton’s Jolene, Jack Bryan’s There’s Something in the Orange (which gained number one position on the Billboard Top Songwriters chart in mid-2022) and Radiohead’s Creep (I don’t belong here…). She has a very pleasant voice; hope she comes back.
Jason and Rachael Cleland on guitar and upright bass followed. Their three songs were Lullaby by Jack Johnson, Montana by Dave Stamey, and Travellin’ Soldier (first recorded in 2002) by The Dixie Chicks. “Father and Daughter, part of a much larger family band. We love to make music together and are grateful to be playing tonight!” Confidently and capably played and sung by both.
Jim Marshal very clearly guitar picked three of his own compositions. First was “an instrumental jam”, nameless, then the Silent Anticipation and The Cycling Path (to the rhythm of a bicycle ride). Notably he used the entire fretboard.
The music came to a close with James Neve on 12 string guitar and Craig Hillman on his lovely red electric bass; both are excellent players and singers. First was Moonshadow by Cat Stevens, then Shambala by Three Dog Night and the evening’s final song, in memory of Struan Robertson Shakey Graves’ The Dearly Departed, ending in Yeah, you and I both know … Oooh, Oooh….”
Another very fine evening of song and instrumentals. A very special Thank You to the artists who gave us Canadian tunes. One thing that struck me was how very dependant we are on American music. Pierre Trudeau was correct that “living next to America is like sleeping with an elephant”, at least as far as music goes. The CRTC in 1971 brought in Canadian content radio rules; 30 %. Maybe one evening we can enjoy 30% of the pieces from some of the many very pleasant tunes by Canadian composers?
