Music News

Independent Canadian reggae artist Fredlocks Asher has been creating cutting–edge reggae for a life time, performing the full spectrum of this art form including all the sub-genres of DANCEHALL, DUB, ELECTRONICA, LOVERS’ ROCK, JUNGLE, and ROOTS– ROCK REGGAE.

Fredlocks Asher spent his early years in Jamaica, before immigrating with his family to Toronto, Canada. “When I was born, Bob Marley was already a legend—the music was everywhere,” Reuben said. “I remember it being played loud. The people in Jamaica recognized the prophetic energy of him”. He studied many instruments including drums, bass, and even clarinet prior to specialising as a keyboard player. Fredlocks is a dynamic performer, but his heart is in composition and studio production.

Fredlocks Asher’s first full-length album, Wisdom, garnered nominations at the Canadian Reggae Music Awards in 2001. Toronto producer Jesse King, a.k.a. Dubmatix, tapped Fredlocks Asher in 2003 to contribute lyrics and vocals to his Champion Sound Clash album. This rich mix of dub and electronic reggae went to #3 on the national World Music charts and saw re-release in European and Japanese editions. One song in particular, “Journey to the Center of the Dub,” sent Fredlocks Asher’s voice soaring to the top of radio playlists including #1 Top 40 on CIUT Toronto.

Kat’s Meow means the voice of Katherine Ray, present owner of what seasoned PRites remember as “Wilshire’s” store, will soon be heard as a community builder. This new stage is a venue for people to express their art, music and passions to the accompaniment of good food and drink.

Katherine’s favorite job of all time was floor director for Celebrations Dinner Theatre and, armed with that experience and a degree in English and history, she wants to produce plays about Powell River and its environs in historical context. “Instead of ‘Crackberry’, let’s stimulate the rebirth of Cranberry as a healthy neighborhood, vibrant with new and old denizens involved in small-business development, proliferation of the arts, and green growth,” she says.

Starting about mid-March, stop in early in the morning for a delicious new breakfast menu and great coffee. Featured throughout the day will be exceptional homemade soups, Jeannie’s homemade chocolates, cereals, baking, and desserts.

March 20 promises “sexcitement” with the 3rd annual Erotica Show filling not only Cat’s Meow but Katherine’s place next door, Salon 6766. Very popular in its first two years, this year’s version will rock Cranberry with art, sculpture, and such whimsies as erotic baking.

Powell River Live Poets’ Guild will meet at the Kat’s Meow March 24 and 31 from five p.m. to seven. Bring your own or others’ poetry, or just a listening ear. This is a supportive rather than critical group--it meets to have fun!

April 8, poet Hilary Peach, the founder of the highly successful Poetry Gabriola event, brings her musical poetry show “Suitcase Local”, all about the adventures of a traveling woman boilermaker in the small towns of Canada and America. The following evening, April 9, Kat’s Meow will welcome a musical performance whose identity she cannot yet confirm, but will be well worth pencilling into your calendar.

One year ago, singer-songwriter Elke Robitaille and bass player JP Downer, kicked off day one of their eighteen week long tour with a full crowd at Local Loco’s.

Over 18,000 miles and 4 months later, the gypsy folk duo had graced venue stages in more than 60 cities across the US and Canada.

Traveling through mountain ranges, vast prairies, dry deserts, and along twisting coastlines, Robitaille was greatly inspired by her experiences and surroundings.

“There is so much to see on the road” Robitaille explains. “Every day you’re in a new place. Your surroundings are completely different, but certain things are exactly the same.

“Traveling has always been an amazing inspiration for my songwriting process. You meet a lot of new people, and there are experiences you share. There is so much to see and you draw from it all. You learn a lot about yourself and you grow as a person and an artist. I’ve always enjoyed writing songs under these circumstances.”

After completing the tour, Elke and JP decided to take a break and settle down for a while in Portland, Oregon.

With a plethora of inspiration from life on the road, Elke began writing many new songs, as well as finalising some un-finished works with a helpful new perspective. Elke and JP teamed up with engineer Adam Pike and began recording Flowers in the City in November, 2008, at Toadhouse in Portland.

Together the duo had the foundation of acoustic guitar, bass and vocals, but they wanted a fuller sounding album.

“We were very lucky to be able to collaborate with some amazingly talented musicians in Portland,” says Robitaille. “The album [Flowers in the City] includes drums, piano, cello, and banjo, among other instruments.”

Many stories lie scattered along Canada’s roads, hugging the highway like ghosts in the breeze. They fold themselves into countless voices and engrave their shadows on an endless landscape, waiting to be written further into the void...

From Dawson City to the Baja Peninsula, from Haida Gwaii to the Cape Breton Highlands, Jeff Andrew and shayne avec i grec have trekked tens of thousands of miles by thumb, rail, bus & foot, chasing minstrels, miscreants and mysteries along the way. In spring 2008 these ragged wanderers are joining forces as Ghosts of the Highway. The plan is to hitchhike from Vancouver, BC to St. John’s, NFLD, bringing instruments, voices, a video camera and epic stories of adventure on the open road.

In the past year Jeff has played at the ArtsWells Festival and the Robson Valley Music Festival, has released a self-produced EP called Truck Stop Wall and a book of stories and poems called Shade Tree Philosopher. Last spring he toured eastern Canada as part of the Shade Tree Revue and has shared stages with artists such as C.R. Avery, Rae Spoon and Geoff Berner. In 2005 Jeff co-wrote the song “Dark, Now” with Sarah Noni Metzner and sang on her album Daybreak Mourning. Jeff is currently at work on his first full-length album with producer Corwin Fox.

by Michael Abrenski

It felt like a popular Vancouver venue. Packed with people, excellent music—but I had to shake my head because I was in Powell River.

Everybody’s talking about how McKinney’s seems to be doing it right. Saturday night with Rasta Reuben and the Selassie I Power Band kept me out until 1:30 a.m.—another rarity in Powell River.

Such a broad spectrum of people attended—quite surprising. The band was nothing less than exceptional, so tight the sound might have come straight off a CD.

McKinney’s was at full capacity for the Rasta Reuben & Selassie I Power Band

by John Silver

High-definition broadcasts of live opera from the stage of New York’s Metropolitan Opera have come to Powell River in the outstanding facilities of Max Cameron Theatre at Brooks School. Approximately 120 opera fans saw the first broadcast, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, on Saturday, December 15 at 10:00 am.

Anna Netrebko (Juliette) and Roberto Alagna (Roméo) were in fine voice as they headed a uniformly strong cast. Renowned tenor Plácido Domingo was the conductor. Sets and costumes were stunning.

Watching a live performance on screen is a different experience from being in the opera house itself. You see only what the video director shows you but, with an expert such as Brian Large at the helm, there is a superb balance of close-ups of the singers and overall stage action.

Adding to the experience are views of backstage while sets are changed between scenes and performers chat to each other or quietly ponder their next appearance.

During the intermissions, the broadcast continues by interviewing the stars just as they have come off-stage and others involved in the technicalities of the production.

For those in need of refreshments at intermission, coffee and goodies are served by students of Brooks School, with proceeds going to school projects.

Since the broadcasts are live matinees in New York, this means morning in Powell River. Even if you normally like to stay in bed on a Saturday morning, I recommend breaking that habit to give the Metropolitan Opera a try.

Future performances are Macbeth (February 9), Manon Lescaut (February 16), Peter Grimes (March 15), Tristan und Isolde (March 22), La fille du régiment (April 26) and La Bohème (May 3).

www.judybrunet.com

Bruce and Judy have been performing together since 2005 and have since impressed their listeners with their original material and intuitive playing style that naturally compliments the other. The debut of their newly released CD “Saying Hello Feeling Goodbye” was just in time for their performances at the Vancouver Island Music Festival. It’s understated production testifies of the power of simplicity and captures the endearing quality of their acoustic performances. Whether the genre is contemporary folk, rock, gospel or jazz, the lyrics are heartfelt expressions and the music is a stirring collaboration of composition and arrangement.

Judy’s warm vocals and expressive nuances have made her a memorable acoustic performer. Born in Southern Alberta, and raised in Calgary, she has been making up songs for as long as she can remember, and gradually learned to articulate the more complicated landscapes of life, love and ambivalence. Her musical influences include teen favorites Carole King, and Christine McVie, however her inspirations are always found closer to home in fellow musicians, songwriters and performers.

Judy Brunet and Bruce Wing perform at Local Loco’s on Friday February 15th at 8pm ($8 cover)

by Corey Matsumoto

Just over a year ago, Mondays in Powell River were slow and uneventful. Then one cold, rainy day Ray Cushing (local musician and recent transplant from Vancouver) asked Local Loco’s co-owner Craig Nokes about starting up a Blues Night on Mondays at the cafe. “We’ll call it Blue Monday and the place will be packed”. The idea was good indeed, except for one small detail: Powell River didn’t have a blues band.

Not unaccustomed to overcoming obstacles in his life, Ray phoned up bass player Brian Liddle (Anything Grows) who was eager for a new project. He then approached me to become the drummer for the band, and although the blues was never my style of playing, I agreed to try it out.

Luckily for us, the first few Mondays were slow, and we sucked–hard. However, week after week more people started showing up even though Blues Night was more like a live band practice than a polished gig. Two months later Blue Monday was taking off –and we could play a proper ending on at least 2 or 3 songs.

Other players of the likes of Dan Erickson, Dan Minard, Saxman Ron Keller, Da Collector, Roland van Nus, and Ron Campbell lent their talents to Blue Monday, creating a dynamic, ever-changing sound each night.

Now, a year after beginning Blue Monday, the band has started playing other gigs outside Local Loco’s, under the new moniker “The Avatar Blues Band”, including many original tunes written by Brian and Ray. The band is trading in its weekly residency as Local Loco’s Monday-night blues band in favour of a monthly gig on the last Friday of every month. Blues Night will live on every Monday in the form of a Blues Jam (sign-up at 7 pm), but without the house band that started it all.

The Pacific Northwest may not be the first place you would expect to hear rollicking Celtic, folk or world music, but The Town Pants are determined to change that. The Vancouver, Canada–based band combine aspects of Irish traditional, acoustic pop, roots Americana, even Australian and Mexican influences, to create their own unique brand of “West Coast Celtic.” Armed with a pawnshop’s worth of musical instruments, The Town Pants play songs that appeal to young and old alike, remaining in the heart and head long after the music stops.

The Keogh brothers, Dave and Duane, lead the band in vocals and instrumentation with banjo and acoustic guitar, teamed with Aaron Chapman on tin whistle, harmonica and vocals, and fiddle maven Virginia Schwartz, who weaves a fiery thread through the songs. Together they generate a rare blend of passion, energy, animation and spirit. With the added musical touch of a hand percussionist and bass player, the Town Pants are unsurpassed for their fast-paced West Coast Celtic style.

Feverish, stampeding, The Town Pants’ lively renditions of traditional and contemporary Celtic-influenced tunes, combined with the group’s original compositions, create a distinctive sound that has attracted fans around the world. At home, Vancouver fans selected The Town Pants as one of their favourite National Celtic/Traditional Acts in Vancouver’s Georgia Straight entertainment- weekly annual “Best of Vancouver” readers’ poll, where they were shortlisted with such groups as Great Big Sea and Natalie MacMaster.

The Town Pants are a busy band, wrapping up a 3-month, 43-show North American tour in September. They’ve already booked spring gigs in Texas and New York that far into 2008.

www.danawylieband.net

Dana Wylie’s songwriting is an international affair. Her band’s debut album includes songs written in such diverse locations as a gambling boat in the South China Sea, the windswept clifftops of Cornwall and the depths of a Winnipeg winter, to name but a few. The band’s music ranges from blues and cabaret through soulful pop to folk and roots, embracing both rural and urban sounds. Although Dana and her bandmates hail from rural areas on opposite sides of the Atlantic, it was in a bustling Asian metropolis where the band had its first incarnation.

After several years of singing “other people’s words” as a music theatre actress, Dana turned her focus to writing and performing original material, moving to Asia for a quiet respite from Canada’s theatrical scene. In Taiwan, she was instead plunged into a lively music scene, playing solo at corporate functions, with David Chen’s Muddy Basin Ramblers, leading her own bluegrass outfit The Wylie Brothers, and forming the Dana Wylie Duo with Englishman Jeremy Hellard.

A singer/guitarist, drummer and virtuosic harmonica player, Jez had been performing both solo and with a number of bands all over Taiwan when he met Dana in a Taipei music shop. After a year of performing both as a duo and with the Wylie Brothers, Dana and Jez decided to move to England to concentrate on their music full time.

This they did. Over the next two years they played nearly two hundred gigs in pubs, clubs, barns, fields and festivals, village halls and community centres, even people’s backyards and living rooms. From the Applecross Peninsula in North-Western Scotland to London’s legendary Jazz Café. They also self produced their debut album, ‘Almost There…’, released in the U.K. in 2006, and found the perfect bandmate in double-bass player Nye Parsons.