FOLK SONGS LIVE: June 2019

Thursday, 20 June 2019

(2 Day Before) First Day of Summer Show!

Although two days before the official start of Summer, it sure felt like Summer in the city. In honour of the season, we dusted off the Wade Hemsworth classic 'Black Fly', his itch inspiring account of being tormented by the pests "up in the woods in north Ontar-i-o". That song was a hit for The Travellers during the 60's Folk Revival.

We also dove deep into our songlist and played some songs that don't make it into the setlists as often as we'd like. With so many, it's difficult choosing which ones to leave out. This is a good opportunity to remind everyone that if you know you are coming to a show and want to hear a certain song from our SONG LIST, please let us know a little in advance and we will do our best to include it for you. Here's what we played last night.

There were some great voices in the audience, some of them diving into beautiful harmonies throughout the evening. It was a treat for us on stage to hear them.

It was wonderful to welcome several first-timers, including some from our hometown of Winnipeg and from Pennsylvania who stumbled upon the club after touring in Kensington Market.

Thanks to Dan at the Free Times Cafe for capturing this post show photo of the band.

Dwight, Sue, and Tony

Have a look at our Upcoming Shows. We have some fun stuff ahead.
Hope to see you soon!

Monday, 3 June 2019

May Dayze!

After our Hootenanny in April at the Eton House turned out so well, it was hard to imagine that anything could top it for awhile. And then came May!

31 days and 13 shows later...including two double headers...May will go down as a musical chapter all of it’s own. That 11 of the shows happened in the first 13 days made it seem like a bit of a blur, or a tour.

It was such a rewarding month musically. We got to play in almost all our musical identities; ‘Where Have All The Folk Songs Gone?’, ‘The Greatest Hits of Peter Paul and Mary’, ‘Sue & Dwight’, and somewhat everything in between. We played as a duo, trio, and quartet with Michelle, Tony and or Henry depending on the gig. And if we add the last week of April to the mix we can include our ‘Music of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen’ show with Shelley Coopersmith.

The month took us across southern Ontario to Hamilton, Mississauga, Brampton, and as far as Guelph. We even managed to sneak in a few Toronto shows and an impromptu gig later in the month in Winnipeg where we supposed to be on vacation.

The variety of venues was also invigorating. We played at intimate dinner and birthday parties, our regular clubs, and annual big hall events right up to the Women’s College Hospital Nurses Alumni’s 100th anniversary celebration at the Chelsea. We even witnessed a conga line, not so often seen on the folk scene although surprisingly our second in ‘Where Have All The Folk Songs Gone?’ history!

Overall, we performed for about 1200 people, with audience sizes ranging from 10 to 325. And thanks to each and every one of them for sharing the experiences with us!

May was one of those special months, the kind you wish would go on and on. Next time, we’ll make sure to take along a roadie or two to help carry the speakers, though.

Here are some fun photo memories...