Toronto Blues Society | » Loose Blues News – May 2019

Loose Blues News – May 2019

Published May 1, 2019 in Loose Blues News, News

Festival Season Kicks Off:  The Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival is the beginning of the summer blues festivals and kicks off on May 31 with their “Blues Cruise” with over 300 classic cars and 10 bands performing on Broadway including Al Lerman, Danny Marks, Alan Gerber, Gavin McLeod and more.  On Saturday, June 1, you can hear Miss Emily, Angelique Francis, Digging Roots, Erin McCallum, Jon Knight & Soulstack, and all the way from Australia, Harper & Midwest Kind. Larry Kurtz & The Lawbreakers play the Main Stage with special guest Heather Katz followed by an eleven-piece soul band from Ottawa, The Commotions. On Sunday, the Main Stage has Murray Kinsley & Wicked Grin, the TBS talent search winners Bywater Call, Steve Strongman, Sue Foley, Garrett Mason and Orangeville favourite, Hungarian bluesman Little G. The festival presents over 9O acts on 4 stages and in local pubs, restaurants and event venues with workshops on Songwriting, Saxophone and Boogie Woogie Piano and several pop-up bands performing on Broadway.  https://orangevillebluesandjazz.ca

The new Paisley Blues Festival in Paisley, Ontario has a great lineup including Miss Emily, Alfie Smith and Dylan Wickens on Friday, May 31, Cécile Doo Kingué and Wicked Grin on Saturday June 1 and Morgan Davis on Sunday, June 2. Complete schedule at www.paisleyrocks.com 

A “jambush” in Halifax: When Colin James’ cross-Canada tour ended in Halifax, band members Geoff Hicks,, Steve Pelletier, Steve Hilliam, Jesse O’Brien, Chris Caddell and Steve Marriner descended on Bearly’s House of Blues for an impromptu jam.  Steve writes, “By 10 pm, the club was packed and we were ready to rip. We had just got the sound set when the PA stopped working. Local blues piano man, Barry Cooke shouted at me to check the master volume on the soundboard. The faders were dirty he said. And so, the band was named for the night;  ‘The Dirty Faders.’ Local luminaries joined us on stage. Geoff Arsenault, and Gary Potts took turns on the drums.  Mike ’Shrimp Daddy’ Reid hopped up and blew some tasty blues harp.  The Mellotones rhythm section, Mike Farrington and Damien Moynihan made it funky for us as they warm up for Matt Andersen’s cross-country jaunt in May.  Chris Kirby bounced between Strat solos and organ grinding. Brad Conrad put on a clinic for swing guitar fans as he danced his way around the fretboard for Jimmie Rogers’ Rock This House.  A young man by the name of John Main sat in on the piano and clearly demonstrated that the future of Halifax’s blues tradition is in safe hands”….As far as blues jams go, this was about the best one I’ve ever been to.” 

Rita going back to Jail: Following up on her “Music from the Big House” film project, Rita Chiarelli has launched  the ‘Topeka Freedom Singers’.  “I’m going into a maximum security prison for women in Topeka, Kansas, USA and making another documentary,” Rita writes.  “Why am I doing this? I am going in to the prison to shed some light on the imprisoned women and their life stories through the healing power of music. Much like my first documentary “Music From the Big House”, this is an important story that also needs to be told.” A Kickstarter campaign has raised over $30,000. for the initial pre-production (the filming) of this documentary. ” More info at www.ritachiarelli.com

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The Toronto Blues Society acknowledges the annual support of the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council and the Department of Canadian Heritage, and project support from FACTOR< and the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage (Canada Music Fund) and of Canada’s Private Broadcasters, The Canada Council for the Arts, the SOCAN Foundation, SOCAN, the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.