Saturday, March 7, 2020 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with The Young Novelists and Piper & Carson
The Young Novelists create contemporary folk songs that marry their effortless harmonies with darkly poetic lyrics and exquisitely crafted hooks. Their third album In City & Country features songs about 10 small towns in Ontario, and has been described as “a lush-sounding feast” (Penguin Eggs) and “emotional, melodic music that variously reminds me of the Jayhawks and Richard and Linda Thompson.” (No Depression) Their previous album landed them a Canadian Folk Music Award for New/Emerging Artist, a nomination for Vocal Group of the Year, and multiple songwriting awards. They have toured across Canada, the United States, and in Europe, often with their young son in tow. Their signature show features confessional storytelling about their songs and travels, singalongs, and the unique sound of bowed glockenspiel.
Born in New York, raised in Toronto, and now residing in Hamilton since 2015, critically acclaimed folk/roots singer, songwriter and social activist Piper Hayes is truly authentic. Hayes released her debut full-length album ‘Piper & Carson.’ in December 2017. Nowadays, Hayes (who is a two-time nominee for the Colleen Peterson Songwriting Award, 2017 and 2018) performs and writes closely with her partner Carson Ritcey-Thorpe and, after a 2017 western Canada tour, many prime showcases at Folk Music Ontario, and Folk Alliance International. Hayes got her start in some of the legendary venues in Toronto. She has toured all over Canada and the USA, headlined three international tours, performed many times on VIA Rail’s national ‘Artists on Board’ program. Piper also teams up with the Canadian Mental Health Association (going into schools and outreach programs to dispel stigma around mental illness), she established a music-therapy-based class for Hamilton Adult Community Support Program and gives workshops on mental health, well-being, music and songwriting.
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Sunday, March 22, 2020 – 7:00 pm
An Evening with Joe Robinson
Joe Robinson was born into a musical family in the bush country of Australia. Robinson began playing guitar at age 9, won a national songwriting competition at 13, released his first solo album of original material at 15, and won Australia’s Got Talent at 16. Soon after he was invited to move to Nashville by is mentor and inspirational savant Tommy Emmanuel. In addition to his solo career, he also is a member of the Rodney Crowell Acoustic Trio.
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Saturday, April 4, 2020 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with Eric Brace, Peter Cooper, & Thomm Jutz
This show currently has a waiting list.
Eric Brace and Peter Cooper have recorded and toured together for over a decade. Their last two duo albums were recorded with Thomm Jutz in the role as recording engineer, producer, guitarist, and harmony singer. Whenever they could, they took Thomm on the road, a sideman extraordinaire whose sublime flatpicking guitar style elevates anything he plays. But Eric and Peter knew that Thomm was also a world class songwriter, and they kept twisting his arm to take front-and-center during their shows and sing a few of his own compositions. It was only a matter of time before the duo-into-trio transformation became official with the 2017 release of Profiles in Courage, Frailty, and Discomfort, fourteen songs by all three members, tackling such weighty topics as moonwalks, steamboat captaining, dollar-slots, Johnny Cash’s gravesite, Jerry Lee Lewis’s birthplace, Willie Nelson’s notions of eternity, the downside of Parkersburg, West Virginia, and a Tennessee town flooded for the sake of electricity. Eric, Peter, and Thomm each has something distinct and slightly skewed to say about the world, and when they bring their singular perspectives to the trio table, it’s a perfect example of a whole being much greater than the sum of its parts.
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Saturday, April 18, 2020 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with Don Stiffe
Don Stiffe is one of the greatest singer/songwriters to have emerged on the Irish Folk Scene in recent years, receiving critical acclaim and awards both at home and abroad. Don is a passionate and talented singer whose beautiful voice has moved audiences all over the world. In 2011 he was a finalist in one of Ireland’s most watched TV shows, “The All Ireland Talent Show” which raised his profile significantly. His song “Somebody Special” was crowned Song of the Year from the Live Ireland Awards later that year. Since then Don has toured the world both as a solo performer as well as guest performer with Joanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies on their Irish Music cruises and US holiday tours.
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Sunday, May 10, 2020 – 7:00 pm
Celebrate Mothers Day by spending
An Evening with Dave Gunning
Dave Gunning is best defined as a master craftsman. Over the course of 23 years and 12 albums, the singer/songwriter from Nova Scotia has diligently sharpened his skills, developing into a poetic storyteller and emotionally convincing singer with few equals. Along with richly deserved peer respect, he has earned a shelf’s worth of music industry honors including eight East Coast Music Awards, two Canadian Folk Music awards, and a JUNO nomination for Roots & Traditional Music Album of the Year.
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Friday, July 24, 2020 – 8:00 pm
An Evening with Grace Morrison
In a world where we are urged to limit descriptions to hashtags and sound bites it is tempting to describe Grace Morrison as simply: singer-songwriter. But she is so much more. She is pop; she is folk; she is roots; she is country. Hear her music and you’ll be hooked. See her live and you’ll be left wanting more. It has been said that her storytelling “can make you cry; it can make you sing.” With a career that began as a backup singer for rock icons like Eddie Money and Joey Molland (of the band Badfinger), Grace Morrison has become a regular on the national festival and touring circuit. She has won a number of prestigious awards including the Grand Prize of the New England Songwriting Competition and the Big Break contest where her music video was played on the season finale of American Idol.
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Saturday, September 12, 2020 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with Madeleine Roger
Madeleine Roger is a singer/songwriter and producer from Winnipeg, Canada. While skillfully accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, it is her artistry as a songwriter and storyteller that can silence a room, uniting her magnetic voice with mature lyrics beyond her years. She’s been nominated as Songwriter of the Year (English) at the 2020 Canadian Folk Music Awards.
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Friday, October 16, 2020 – 8:00 pm
An Evening with Johnsmith & Tom Kimmel