Tag Archives: The Last Waltz
My Sweet Patootie and Emma Wright Join Cast of The Last Waltz
Chris Scerri is lifting the veil on more local performers who will be guests at The Last Waltz. Along with the band that plays The Band, there are many other performers to reference as part of that concert. In this tribute, all of the performers will be local stars. This week Chris announces that Emma Wright, Sandra Swannell and Terry Young will be on the program.
Canadian Folk Music Award winners Sandra Swannell and Terry Young, who live in Woodford when they’re not on the road, are currently preparing their annual Harp and Holly Concert Series. They will joining one of the world’s foremost Celtic harpists, Sharlene Wallace for a series of concerts featuring baroque Christmas songs. This is a side project from their main gig as My Sweet Patootie, the roots and ragtime band that’s attracting attention in the U.K. from their regular touring there. Their annual Harp and Holly concert was born out of a love for timeless music that evokes something about the Christmas season that live in the hearts of all of us. They’ll be playing concerts during the Christmas season at three local venues in Owen Sound, Colpoy’s Bay and Sauble Beach, as well as in Guelph and Oakville.
Being part of The Last Waltz, Meaford Style, gives Sandra and Terry a chance to share music with their community here at home.
“A sense of community,” says Sandra, “That’s what Martin Scorsese captured between the musicians, both on stage and off in the epic film The Last Waltz.”
Some of the Special Guests at The Last Waltz
Meaford’s version of The Last Waltz, slated for Meaford Hall on Sat, Nov. 25th, is fast approaching a sellout, as promoter Chris Scerri is announcing some of the special guests that will fill out the bill.
The Band itself will be well represented by local rock stars but one of the great aspects of the original performance was that it included a wide variety of influential artists from the time, and these will also be reproduced by local artists. Two of the artists just announced to represent some of these friends of The Band are Fran Bouwman and Tom Thwaits.
Tom Thwaits is well known as keyboard and accordion player for Bored of Education. He’s recently added a sideline with a Bring Your Own Vinyl night the third Saturday of every month. This popular gathering at The Red Door encourages people to bring along their favourite vinyl records, introduce them to the audience, and Tom spins them on his turntable. For him The Last Waltz was not only a document of an era but an inspiration to the generations of musicians who have followed.
“The Last Waltz is, for me, the epitome of a particular time and place in the history of North American music,” he says, “so many disparate threads coalesced for one night in 1978, thankfully captured on film by none other than Martin Scorsese, that for generations to come it will serve as a starting point for hungry ears to understand a bygone era.”
Fran Bouwman has been making waves locally performing as Frannie Wisp, accompanying herself on washboard. As the Frannie Wisp persona she explores, with her own humorous take on it, the trials of being a single middle-aged woman, part monologue, part songs. Her frank approach to some taboo subjects adds spice to her act. Fran is also an accomplished sculptor whose works are as thought-provoking in their own way as is her washboard act. For The Last Waltz, she’ll be taking on a new persona as one of the stars featured in the movie.
“I first heard about The Last Waltz when I worked in the criminal ward at the Queen Street Mental Health Centre, now known as CAMH,” she says, “Robert, who had been in and out of the Don Jail since he was a teen talked incessantly about The Band. It was The Band that got him through his most difficult times. He begged for me to take him to Sam the Record Man to buy The Last Waltz album. I agreed to sneak him off the property. Although he had been wheelchair bound for months, he stood up, threw his cigarette to the curb and stepped onto the Queen Street streetcar. Although we got caught for our petty crime, he said it was one of the best days of his life. So that’s how I was introduced to The Last Waltz. An incredible album with an incredible memory.”
If you review the list of performers included in The Last Waltz movie you’ll see that there are many other roles to fill. Chris says they are lined up and rehearsals are “amazing”, but he will wait to feed us the details in the coming weeks.
Local Players Excited To Be Doing The Last Waltz
The latest production at Meaford Hall by Chris Scerri, a tribute to The Last Waltz scheduled for November 25th, is a bit of a departure from his previous productions. Up to this point he has put together variety shows that combined local and imported talent, built mainly around the talents of musical director Tyler Yarema and others from the Port Credit area that Chris has introduced to Meaford. This time around it will be all local talent, some of the best that our area offers, under the musical direction of keyboard player John Hume.
For each member of this tribute band, The Band and their iconic farewell concert both hold special significance.
“It was a magic moment in music history,” says Chris Scerri, “that allowed for some of the most influential modern day artists to get together for the ultimate Jam.” He adds that the DVD of the concert movie is one which, “I can watch time and time again, and continue to be inspired by both the musical talents and the show itself.”
The Last Waltz was the name Robbie Robertson gave to the farewell concert of The Band, performed on American Thanksgiving Day in 1976 at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. A film of the concert by Martin Scorcese was released in 1978 and was hailed by film critic Michael Wilmington as “the greatest rock concert movie ever made – and maybe the best rock movie, period” Time bears that out, with the influence of the movie being felt almost forty years later.
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.
