Tag Archives: The Red Door
Three Songwriters Back For More In Meaford
Three local songwriters who have been putting on concerts together are enjoying it so much and getting such positive feedback that they are back for more. Dave Hawkins, Bill Dickson and Bill Monahan will be playing a special evening concert at The Barn Coop in Meaford on Thursday, Nov. 16th at 7:30.
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.
The Thursday Outlook – Oct. 5 to 9, 2017
Fraser Melvin will be playing at The Leeky Canoe on Saturday. If you were lucky enough to catch the performance from Jenie Thai as part of the Summer Concert Series this year, you saw Fraser as part of her crack band. He is a busy and talented blues guitarist, arranger and singer who, in addition to playing with Jenie Thai, has two other bands that he calls his own: The Fraser Melvin Band, a quartet that countrifies Jimi Hendrix tunes and plays funk versions of Dylan; and The Melvin-Colacino Band, an 8-piece outfit with a horn section that plays Funk and R & B. He will be on his own at The Leeky but, if you saw his solo turn during Jenie Thai’s set, you already know that’s something to see.
If you want to make an evening of Meaford live music on Saturday, you can catch Owen Sound duo Anyway Susan, featuring Kevin Ross and Mark Moloney, from 7 to 10 at The Red Door, and then walk up the street to enjoy Fraser Melvin.
Tonight is the big show at The Gayety Theatre in Collingwood, where Tyler Yarema and Chuck Jackson will be recording a live CD. It’s a full night with a reception beforehand that will feature Jenie Thai and a second set (after the live recording of the duo) that will be a jam with musical friends that include the evening’s Master of Ceremonies, Virgil Scott.
Whitehorse-based singer-songwriter Kim Beggs will be at Heartwood tonight. This is a stop on a long winter tour that will take her across Canada in support of her new album, “Said Little Sparrow”. New Canadian Music calls her “one of the most respected artists on the Canadian roots scene,” adding “Beggs’ eloquent songs or her strong, supple voice that occasionally suggests Lucinda Williams”. For this date she will be supported by Corin Raymond, JUNO-nominated Toronto singer-songwriter whose songs have been covered by, among others, The Good Lovelies, The Strumbellas, and The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer. The Globe and Mail has said, “Corin Raymond is a storyteller who by the end of the night you’ll have known your whole life.” This double bill is a must-see for fans of Roots/Americana music.
The Thursday Outlook – Sept. 14 to 18, 2017
It’s the third Bring Your Own Vinyl night at The Red Door, hosted by Tom Thwaits Saturday starting at eight. This is a fun night. Bring your favourite LP, tell the room why you want them to hear it, and Tom plays a cut on the turntable. It makes for a great night of oral history as everyone has a tale about their favourite cut, and the music ranges through everybody’s personal taste.
The first night, Tom even brought along an LP by Sons of Ishmael, a high school band from Meaford that established an international cult following in the eighties with their “seriously intense” hardcore punk. So you never know what you’ll hear.
On Saturday afternoon, Sept. 17th, James Keelaghan will be hosting the final in Summerfolk’s Music Biz Tune Up Workshop from one to three at the Suite Spots in Owen Sound. This series, which has run through the spring and summer, has provided aspiring musicians with career guidance ranging from how to book gigs to the many ways to earn income from your music. For this final workshop the focus will be on how to use jamming to expand your contacts within the industry. By connecting with other musicians on a musical level, at festivals or conferences, valuable contacts and alliances can be formed. “Learn songs by different people so you can go in a number of directions and that increases your ability to connect with people”, James suggests. For those unable to make it this Saturday, James will be offering a shortened version of the workshop next Saturday as well.
