This Saturday, May 24th at 8 pm I will be giving a performance at The Westboro Masonic Hall, 430 Churchill Avenue N in Ottawa, as part of the Spirit of Rasputin's concert series.
The series is dedicated to preserving the essence of Rasputin's folk club in Ottawa , which closed in 2008 after decades of being the only real listening room in Ottawa for small folk shows. It was a wonderful thing to be able to hear great music in an intimate and cozy venue, and I had the pleasure of putting on some shows there when it was still open.
The Westboro Masonic hall is a wonderful room with great acoustics and the perfect place to carry on this tradition of listening shows. As an audience every subtlety of a performance is accessible and becoming immersed in the music is effortless. This is a rare opportunity to catch me doing a set in this type of environment, and I am looking forward to giving my best that evening.
For the occasion I have enlisted some truly talented and skilled players. On upright bass I will be featuring Phil Charbonneau , who has been a regular member of my band for the last six years. Phil has played on dozens of local albums and with dozens of local bands, currently including The Hilotrons, Jim Bryson, Her Harbour, and his own project Scattered Clouds. He is an extremely inspired, adept and conscientious player, an all around great musician.
Gilles Leclerc (of the Dusty Drifters, Lynne Hanson) will be aiding and abetting the evenings proceedings on Mandolin, He is a rare combination of high technical fluidity married with impeccable taste, and as we've been rehearsing the material I have gotten the kind of goosebumps you get when magic happens on more than one occasion when he starts playing.
Birdie Whyte , my significant other and musical partner when I play as my alter ego Frank Western, will be joining in on Banjo and vocals for a few tunes, her stage presence alone is enough to bring a smile to your face, but as it happens she is also a delightful singer and player. She has been doing shows lately with The Noisy Locomotive, as well as her own weekly show on Sundays at the Chateau Lafayette.
Last but not least , i will be bringing up Catriona Sturton to play Harmonica on a few numbers as well. A student of Harmonica virtuosos Carlos Del Junco and Jason Ricchi , and a teacher herself, this won't be her first rodeo, Catriona toured Canada and the States playing bass with her band Plumtree in the 90s , full time, and in the 2000's she has kept busy diligently honing her Harp chops. You hear the richness in her tone and you say to yourself" that's how it's done"
We will be performing material from all three of my albums and some newer material as well. Tickets are available at the Ottawa Folklore Centre, 1111 Bank St .(just south of the Glebe) Online at rasputins.ca , or at the door.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to seeing you there!
Regards,
John
The series is dedicated to preserving the essence of Rasputin's folk club in Ottawa , which closed in 2008 after decades of being the only real listening room in Ottawa for small folk shows. It was a wonderful thing to be able to hear great music in an intimate and cozy venue, and I had the pleasure of putting on some shows there when it was still open.
The Westboro Masonic hall is a wonderful room with great acoustics and the perfect place to carry on this tradition of listening shows. As an audience every subtlety of a performance is accessible and becoming immersed in the music is effortless. This is a rare opportunity to catch me doing a set in this type of environment, and I am looking forward to giving my best that evening.
For the occasion I have enlisted some truly talented and skilled players. On upright bass I will be featuring Phil Charbonneau , who has been a regular member of my band for the last six years. Phil has played on dozens of local albums and with dozens of local bands, currently including The Hilotrons, Jim Bryson, Her Harbour, and his own project Scattered Clouds. He is an extremely inspired, adept and conscientious player, an all around great musician.
Gilles Leclerc (of the Dusty Drifters, Lynne Hanson) will be aiding and abetting the evenings proceedings on Mandolin, He is a rare combination of high technical fluidity married with impeccable taste, and as we've been rehearsing the material I have gotten the kind of goosebumps you get when magic happens on more than one occasion when he starts playing.
Birdie Whyte , my significant other and musical partner when I play as my alter ego Frank Western, will be joining in on Banjo and vocals for a few tunes, her stage presence alone is enough to bring a smile to your face, but as it happens she is also a delightful singer and player. She has been doing shows lately with The Noisy Locomotive, as well as her own weekly show on Sundays at the Chateau Lafayette.
Last but not least , i will be bringing up Catriona Sturton to play Harmonica on a few numbers as well. A student of Harmonica virtuosos Carlos Del Junco and Jason Ricchi , and a teacher herself, this won't be her first rodeo, Catriona toured Canada and the States playing bass with her band Plumtree in the 90s , full time, and in the 2000's she has kept busy diligently honing her Harp chops. You hear the richness in her tone and you say to yourself" that's how it's done"
We will be performing material from all three of my albums and some newer material as well. Tickets are available at the Ottawa Folklore Centre, 1111 Bank St .(just south of the Glebe) Online at rasputins.ca , or at the door.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to seeing you there!
Regards,
John