Tag Archives: Rob Elder
Rockin’ For The Food Bank 2017
There is going to be a huge benefit for the Food Bank tonight Thursday, Dec. 28th at Heartwood Hall in Owen Sound. Starting early, with the doors opening at 5 pm and the music starting at 5:30, it will present several hours of live music with an all-star lineup.
Trevor McKenzie has put together a special band for this show. Maple Blues winner, leader of the hot jam band most Wednesdays at Ted’s Range Road Diner, guitarist on everybody’s record and sales and rental guy at Long & McQuade, you can bet Trevor can put together a crack band.
All of the money raised by this concert goes to the Owen Sound Salvation Army Food Bank which serves more than 500 clients every month.
Come early to catch vocalist and coach Kelda Mikalson with Ryan Gable. Check out the Silent Auction with donations from thirty local businesses. Get a caricature drawn by Sam Gorrie and she’ll donate fifty percent to the Food Bank.
Rob Elder has been working on an album. For this benefit he’s getting together with Mike Weir, Sylvie Annette Kindree, and Josi Elder to perform as The Shoeshoopers. Sylvie Annette Kindree, and Josi Elder, with Lauren Jewell, form the vocal trio that is featured on the great Kreuger Motel CD. Sylvie was swept out of town last year by My Son The Hurricane and she’s been deposited back home after a long trip down the yellow brick road.
Don Buchanan recently sold out the Marsh Street Centre in Clarksburg with his band backing jazz singer Mary-Catherine Pazzano.
“Don Buchanan lives in Owen Sound,” says Tony Bauer, who organizes many of the Thornbury and Clarksburg jazz events, “He’s the most underrated musician in my opinion. He’s a composer, arranger. He plays clarinet, he plays tenor, piano; he’s a wonderful musician.”
In the past five years or so, Don has been doing duets with Jamie Smith, a Scottish tenor originally from Oban, Scotland. They’ve agreed to be part of the show for the Food Bank.
The Thursday Outlook – Sept 7 to 11, 2017
The Red Door Pub in Meaford is the place to be on Friday night when John Brownlow will be previewing and selling advance copies (at a discount) of his new double CD called “The Summertime”. He’s planning an official release party soon with a full band but on Friday he’ll be sharing the evening with a couple of our area’s coolest young performers, Greg Smith and Max Breadner.
“Iris” – 5 song EP from Greg Smith
Greg Smith’s EP “Lily” was produced by John at his Epping Studio. “He’s a really unique songwriter,” John says, “He’s got an old head on young shoulders.” Greg Smith writes songs that, taken collectively, tell a long form story and he delivers them with a complex rhythmic guitar and dramatic vocals. The Red Door will be an ideal setting to be able to follow the tale he weaves.
Max Breadner has impressed local audiences since he was quite young and now that he is a teenager he is getting around more to open stages and is writing his own songs. He is part of the upcoming youth talent wave in Meaford that includes performers like Emma Wright and John’s son Ted who has his own Ted Brownlow Band. This small room is also a perfect setting for Max’s talents.
John Brownlow is highly regarded by local musicians not only for his writing and producing skills but for a series of videos he created called The Epping Sessions.
Rob Elder, the subject of one of those videos will be playing this Saturday at Massie Hall, another great little venue to be able to really enjoy the music. It took just a single Sunday afternoon for Rob to create a multi-track recording of a song for his Epping Session, playing every instrument. On Saturday night at Massie Hall he promises to bring “smooth acoustic ballads about girls and things, to his ‘jump out of your seats and dance’ multi-layered, live-looping.”
Meaford Hall is Brimming With Live Music This Fall
On Friday night, the last of the Meaford Summer Concert Series ended with a big Tom Barlow concert in the parking lot outside Meaford Hall. But in the Opera House upstairs a full slate of great music is packed into the next few months.
The biggest show of the fall season, Jann Arden at Meaford Hall in October is already sold out, to no one’s surprise. Already catching on with advance sales is the next big show from Chris Scerri, this time a tribute to The Last Waltz, a favourite concert movie from the seventies in which The Band featured an array of stars and friends. For the Meaford Hall show, Chris has assembled the very best local talents to reproduce the excitement of the original, in a band comprised of Drew McIvor, Jayden Grahlman, Jon Zaslow, Beaker Granger, Jared Koop and John Hume .
While The Last Waltz uses local talent to reproduce the sixties, country music shows off our local country stars early in September at Meaford Hall in the Bruce Grey Country Jamboree Meaford Style. Produced by Bognor Jam, the show is hosted by the True Country Show Band, who hosted last year’s Grand Ol’ Opry at the Music Hall of Fame Auditorium in Hepworth. In addition to the True Heart Trio, this band of great country players will be backing up local Meaford talent. Amanda Dorey and Scott Almond will both get a chance to perform in The Opera House with a great band.
Ben Kunder and Sarah Macdougall at Desboro Music Hall
Once again, this Saturday night, The Desboro Music Hall is bringing a pair of musicians with international reputations to entertain local fans. Again, as with the first two concerts in this year’s series, it is a man and a woman, except that this time they are not a couple. In fact Ben Kunder and Sarah MacDougall are songwriters who have separate careers and their collaboration is enhanced by their individual creativity.
They originally met at The Cameron House in Toronto, when Sarah came to Ben’s gig because he was being accompanied by the bass player they shared, Anna Ruddick of Ladies of The Canyon. Each of them was an established solo performer but interested in collaborating with someone, particularly in songwriting. With Ben living in Toronto and Sarah in Whitehorse they wrote their first song by email.
“We realized we had many, many things in common,” says Ben, while Sarah has commented, “He’s like a long lost brother.” Their collaboration led to touring together in Europe and the U.K earlier this year. It was a great success, particularly satisfying for Ben who found that he was well known, enjoying “a great response from the people” and “a few sold out shows.” He echoed many Canadian artists who have found success in Europe, noting that there is “a strong support for the arts there.” This was his first tour of Europe, “but it won’t be my last. I’ll be going back when I finish this new record.”
His first record, “Golden” was very well received, with Exclaim! saying , “Kunder’s extra special voice, along with gorgeous production, lends the record an almost velvety quality,”and NewCanadianMusic said the album: “features strong and warm vocals, nicely-crafted folk-rock songs, and top-notch production and playing.”
Sarah MacDougall, originally from Sweden, now living in Canada, was praised by the Swedish magazine Nöjesguiden as “One of Sweden’s best singer/songwriters”. Her record, “Grand Canyon”, was called by CBC “as vast and as varied as its namesake” while Greyowlpoint said, “Grand Canyon is a refreshing addition to Canada’s singer-songwriter genre, but it’s also so much more. The album is filled with Sarah MacDougall doing what she does best: taking indie-pop expectations and shooting them full of fresh turns and honest lyrics.”
Together the two artists collaborated on a song called “Better Days”. In concert they share the stage, “kind of like a song circle”, taking turns with their individual songs and singing together on some.
The Desboro Music Hall, a converted church, is developing a reputation among performers that has artists coming to them. Ben was directed to them by Suzie Ungerleider, who performs as Oh Suzanna, and played the venue last year.
“Suzie is a good friend of mine,” he says, “She said I should play there. Then I discovered that Josie [Phil’s wife] and I actually went to the same college together. So it’s a double connection.”
In addition to a great booking policy guided by the love of original music, the Klages brothers at The Desboro Hall always give great value, adding an opening act. This time around it is celebrated multi-instrumentalist Rob Elder, a highly respected local musician who opened last year’s series.
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