Slocan Ramblers – Saturday August 6, 2016 at 8:00pm

The Slocan Ramblers are Canada’s young bluegrass band to watch. Rooted in the tradition, fearlessly creative, and possessing a bold, dynamic sound, The Slocans (2015 Edmonton Folk Fest Emerging Artist Award recipients), have quickly become a leading light of Canada’s roots music scene, built on their reputation for energetic live shows, impeccable musicianship and their uncanny ability to convert anyone within earshot into a lifelong fan.

On their new album, Coffee Creek (2015) The Slocan Ramblers blend lightning fast and devilishly intricate instrumentals with the sawdust-thick vocals of singer Frank Evans, who takes lead on songs ranging from rowdy old-time numbers like “Groundhog,” to a Dustbowl classic like Woody Guthrie’s “Pastures of Plenty.” “Toronto audiences don’t respond to a clean, polished Nashville sound,” tune composer and mandolinist Adrian Gross explains. “They dig a lot of energy in their music, a rowdy bar vibe. They’re hard to win over.” But The Slocan Ramblers have won them over, moving from a young ensemble of bluegrass pickers to one of the best known Canadian roots bands. They’ve done this by staying true to the roots of the music, not seeking to revive anything but rather to tap the rough and rowdy heart of the music.

This is roots music without pretension, music intended to make you feel something, music to get you moving in a crowded bar. The Slocan Ramblers recorded Coffee Creek the same way they perform on stage: standing up, leaning into the music, and pushing harder and harder for that edge just beyond.

“What really impressed me while we were working on this album, was that, while they can pull off the precision and virtuosity that is at the backbone of bluegrass, they understand the power of the fragile moment in music. The fragile moment used to be a big part of what made an album cool–Monroe singing just beyond the edge of his voice, the moment right before you realize Vassar isn’t lost–the moment on and beyond the edge.” – Chris Coole (Foggy Hogtown Boys) friend of the band and mentor

www.SlocanRamblers.com
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Gideon Freudmann – Saturday July 23, 2016 at 8:00pm

Gideon Freudmann, cellist and composer, has been on the forefront of that instrument’s modern creative expansion for more than 30 years.

In the early 1980s, Gideon’s formal education at the University of Connecticut laid a solid classical foundation for what has become a diverse soundscape encompassing a wide range of musical genres.

Gideon first came to the public’s attention as one half of ‘Holiday Clocks’, a raucous cello, guitar and vocal duo playing original and traditional folk tunes. After establishing a fan base in its home town of Storrs, CT, the duo made its way first to Boston, then to the Pioneer Valley, where they soon became local favorites at the Iron Horse Music Hall, among other local venues.

After debuting their first LP, ‘Holiday Clocks’, and recording a follow up (More Batteries), the act disbanded, and Gideon moved on to release a series of cassette albums. He also recorded his first solo CD, “Fellini’s Martini with a four-piece band (The Frog Project). “. At the same time, Gideon became a mentor and tutor, helping to train other cellists and introducing children to the instrument as a touring member of the Young Audiences network.

During the early 1990s Gideon continued developing his repertoire through both, solo and collaborative work (including co-founding the duo BROQUE, providing live accompaniment to dance troups, and many other engagements. Among the many innovative musical avenues he followed was to adopt the electric cello to craft the sound for which he is most known today. Using foot-operated effect pedals, he took his live performances into new territories of looping, soaring, multi-layered compositions and improvisations.

His East Coast success established, Gideon moved to Portland, Oregon in the mid-2000s where he is a founding member of the Portland Cello Project and the band Caravan Gogh. He has also branched into live soundtrack accompaniment to silent films.

“Taking a modern artist’s approach to the four-stringed instrument, Gideon Freudmann has brought the cello to a new realm. His latest album is a dreamy, cinematic tour-de-force!”- The Boston Globe

“Freudmann sounds like nothing less than a cutting-edge, avant-garde musician, whose genre-bending exploits combine aspects of performance art, new-classical, psychedelia and comedy, a sort of cross between Kronos Quartet and Leo Kottke.” – Berkshire Eagle

“Gideon is sharp, witty, prolific, talented… A cross between Woody Allen, Frank Zappa, and a touch of Peter Schikele” – Maine Public Radio

“From first note to (deep breath) last, this CD is a treasure. Chock full of beautiful, infectious melodies and jaw-dropping musicianship, it never grows tiresome. If I had to choose just one CD to listen to for the rest of my life, it would be this one.A Masterpiece” – Margaret Nelson on BROQUE: Ghost in the Attic

“Truly a musical innovator, cellist Gideon Freudmann is a musician with a tremendously creative, genre-bending outlook toward his compositions… Part classical, part Beatle-esque pop, part pickin’ and grinnin’.” – The Valley Advocate

www.CelloBop.com
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3 Leg Torso – Saturday June 25, 2016 at 8:00pm

Three Leg Torso formed in 1996 as a violin, cello and accordion trio that came together with the humble goals of creating a passionate and new sound for their instrumental trio and having fun. Fun was had early on with a number of street performances that the trio termed “Meestering”. Over the following years the band expanded, the principal composers, founding members Béla Balogh (on violin and trumpet) and Courtney Von Drehle (on accordion) were joined by veteran percussionist-mallet player Gary Irvine, the fastidious mallets-percussion of Kyle MacLowry and the fiery upright bass player Michael Papillo. Their original repertoire evolved into a combination of Modern Chamber music, Tango, high energy Middle Eastern and Eastern European folk music, that, coupled with a cinematic sense of musical storytelling, bridged the worlds of serious art and popular culture. The group has been profiled on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “Artbeat.”

“3 Leg Torso is just about as creative as a group can get… music that is evocative, varied, non cliché” Joe Natoli, Jan Press

“Daring, intelligent music!” Lauren Ruth Wiener, Mongrel Music

www.3LegTorso.com
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Sally Barris – Saturday May 14, 2016 at 8:00pm

Sally Barris is an A-list Nashville songwriter who has had songs covered by such top-level artists as Kathy Mattea, Martina McBride, and Lee Ann Womack. Her song “Let The Wind Chase You”, recorded by Trisha Yearwood and Keith Urban, received a Grammy nomination for vocal collaboration in 2009.

While her writing credits mightily impress, fans and peers are most captivated by her bright spirit and expressive mountain soprano. Dirty Linen says “Barris knows how to write lyrics that are as forthright as a stream of clear water and how to support them with melodies that share that quality”.

When Sally is not touring solo, she is known as “Sister Waymore” in the power trio; The Waymores with Tom Kimmel and Don Henry.

In the last 3 years, the Minnesota native has performed Mountain Stage, New Bedford Summer Fest, The Wildflower Festival and The Kerrville Folk Festival. Sally is currently touring with her new cd “Wilder Girl”.

“Sally Barris has a voice like sparkling crystal. You could have knocked me over with a feather the first time I heard her. Her writing is from a deep, yet innocent, place and her point of view is just a bit off center. I am excited for her, she is standing at the beginning of her journey in this town, with all of it ahead of her. It reminds me of the first time I heard Beth Nielson-Chapman or Nanci Griffith. It’s going to be fun to watch.” – Kathy Mattea

www.SallyBarris.com
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John Reischman and the Jaybirds – Saturday April 16, 2016 at 8:00pm

Years of European and North American tours, five critically acclaimed albums, two Juno nominations and two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations…little wonder, the buzz around John Reischman and The Jaybirds continues to grow. Like the mandolinist at its helm, the group fashions a stylish, elegant take on bluegrass that is at once innovative and unadorned, sophisticated and stripped-down, happily old-fashioned, yet unselfconsciously new. To see their live show is to believe it. A genial blend of story-telling and side-show humor provides the backdrop to their studied performance of original songs, instrumentals, and newly arranged traditional material.

Hailing from the variegated ranks of the contemporary West Coast acoustic music scene, each of these ‘birds has certainly earned his wings: the list of projects they have contributed to over the years is nothing less than a short list of acoustic power houses. Together, their seamless ensemble work makes for one of the freshest, most tasteful band-sounds on the folk and bluegrass circuit today.

As FolkWax says, John Reischman and the Jaybirds offer “clarity, energy, good ensemble work, classy originals, and an adventurous approach” to the world of bluegrass and folk music — along with engaging stage humour in powerful live shows. They are what SingOut! calls “ thoroughly professional ensemble with a rare ability to produce music that is simultaneously traditional and contemporary . . . the Jaybirds are a band that continues to hit on all cylinders.”

“On the evidence of Stellar Jays, John Reischman and the Jaybirds are in their prime as contemporary bluegrass musicians capable of maintaining and extending the music’s legacy,” says Billboard.com. Bluegrass Unlimited magazine describes tone-master and composer John as “one of the world’s undisputed masters” of the mandolin, a frequent accolade since his days with the Tony Rice Unit and California’s Good Ol’ Persons. John went on to record two outstanding solo albums and numerous sessions before forming the Jaybirds in 2001 to release a self-titled debut album, followed by the Canadian Juno-nominated Field Guide, and in 2005, The Road West.

www.TheJayBirds.com
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