The Sean Ashby Show at Whole Wheat 'n Honey just got sweeter!  Dayna Manning has agreed to perform as the special guest for the Sean Ashby Show on the Thursday Night show on July 9th, 2009.

Dayna Manning is a Juno nominated singer-songwriter who has toured and shared the stage with a list of some of Canada's best musicians too long to list here...

The show is only $15 and tickets will go quickly so please pick them up early!  If you are unable to get down to Whole Wheat 'n Honey in person you can buy tickets online at http://tickets.npcc.bc.ca/

Doors open at around 6:30 for dinner, and the show will start at 7:30.

If I had a say in the matter... I would appoint "Miss Quincy and the Ramblers" official band of the Peace Country.  Maybe it's hard to explain, but if you have seen them perform before you know what I mean.  The energy and enthusiasm of the Peace, with songs about The Peace Country and stuff that I feel only Peace Country folks really understand!

It also helps that, Jody Peck, the lead singer and the face of "Miss Quincy" is a Peace Country local with well connected roots in the Peace...

Anyway, she is playing a string of shows here and so you must come out and see this band at at least one of them!

In her own words:

Hello everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that Miss Quincy & the Ramblers are back out on the road and will be travelling through the Peace Country next week! We have a brand new album and can't wait to share our music old and new.

We have a few shows in the area:

July 1 - Rolla Pub - come out for Canada Day to Rolla's historical pub, a good time is guaranteed.
July 3-5 - Jam at the Dam, Hudson's Hope - Come for the whole weekend there will be tons of great music, jamming, and sweet bands
July 7 - Groovin' at the Granaries, Dawson Creek - Advanced tix available at Olde Creek Store and Simple Pleasures. $10 in advance, $15 at the gate. Price includes a BBQ and proceeds go to the Hospital foundation and the Calvin Kruk Arts Centre
July 11 - Whole Wheat & Honey, FSJ - Advance tix at Whole Wheat & Honey, get them soon as they're going fast. Opening act by local musician and long time friend Lorissa Scriven (http://www.myspace.com/lorissascriven)

Please come out and support independent artists and your local Peace country musicians (as well as shake you ass and have a great time).

Cheers and see you all so soon,

Miss Quincy
www.missquincy.net

Ask anyone who was lucky enough to catch Sean the first time around... Sean Ashby and his band  is an incredible musical experience that you should NOT miss!

Before we list off some of his credentials here are some of the show details:

Whole Wheat 'n Honey Cafe, Thursday July 9th. Doors open at 6PM but the show itself starts at 7.

Tickets are $15, and available online as well as at the Whole Wheat 'n Honey Cafe. Tickets are limited as the last one sold out... this one will soon! Get tickets early!

https://tickets.npcc.bc.ca/TheatreManager/1/tmEvent/tmEvent673.html

Opening performers to be announced.

Sean is one of Canada's best guitar players (no exaggeration!) Please read his bio below (from http://www.seanashby.com):

Sean Ashby - Chances are, if you've had a radio on today you've heard him. As one of North America’s go-to guitar players, Sean has played and recorded with Sarah McLachlan, Delerium, Wild Strawberries, Ginger (former Grapes Of Wrath) and many more. Ashby, formerly of Vancouver and Hamilton, and now based in Toronto is a songwriter, producer, guitarist, singer, programmer and engineer who will release his new album “Brass And Gold” on his imprint Black Sparrow Records and a licensing deal with Bhurr Records with distribution through Fontana North / Universal Music Canada on April 29.

Sarah McLachlan’s guitarist since 1996, Ashby has appeared with her on "Just Like You (Cats In The Cradle)" for D from Run DMC's solo CD. Also with Sarah, he received two 4 x platinum US discs and one diamond Canadian disc for studio and live cd's. He has recorded and/or toured with Delerium, Front Line Assembly, Swollen Members, Conjure 1, Ginger (former Grapes of Wrath – 3 cd's, tours and 5 videos), Lava Hay, Lee Aaron, Holly McNarland, Sue Medley, Mike Trebilcock (of the Killjoys), Todd Fancey (The New Pornographers) and Wild Strawberries.

Brass and Gold is a solo venture, however, and if you include his award winning side project Jack Tripper, it is actually Ashby's third album. He is assisted on this effort by Warne Livesy (Midnight Oil, Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla, Matthew Good Band) who mixed the album, while Ashby did most everything else. The CD focuses on his songwriting/ singing/ guitar/ producing and he also mixed one song. Many of the songs are inspired by Ashby's battles with his own dark side and his journey out. "Eyes are Closed" is a more uplifting song that came to him in a beach hut in Costa Rica on a surf trip. "I am no Jack Johnson, but I have been doing an impression of surfing for about ten years," jokes Ashby.

"Dance Upon My Grave" was inspired by a book on Gypsy singing, "it talked about being a Gypsy singer and how a singer should be completely drained after one song - wrenching out all their emotion into every line, left voiceless and exhausted at the end of the "telling" of the song," Ashby explains. "I was also thinking about a scene in Kill Bill Part 2 where the protagonist is buried alive and trying to escape. The claustrophobia of that idea as an emotional metaphor was the catalyst for this song. That, coupled with my own relationship destructions, inevitably at my own hands. The songs on this record were all crafted with great attention to the lyrics,"

Ashby was able to recruit an impressive line up of musicians to perform on Brass and Gold including Todd Fancey (The New Pornographers), Ray Garraway (K-OS) and Sean Drabbit (Branford & Wynton Marsalis). Kevin Fox did two wonderful string arrangements. "Recording the string section was a very emotional experience - so beautiful sounding I had a hard time keeping it together in order to produce/direct the session," says Ashby.

As a musician, Ashby has appeared on the Grammy Awards twice, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno five times, SNL and David Letterman three times, along with other major TV shows and four motion pictures. Sean's guitar playing has appeared on cd's with sales in excess of 10 million copies worldwide... so far. As a solo Artist his goals are not quite so lofty.

When asked about his hopes for this album and his solo future Sean says " I am working at building an audience for my music , playing shows and improving as a songwriter and performer"

I just wanted to update you on Fort St. John Canada Day Celebrations this year and invite you to come join in the excitement!

• Live Entertainment
• Food
• Inflatable Bouncy Toys
• Cultural Demonstrations
• Petting Zoo
• Art in the Park
• Artist Show and Sale
• And Much More

...bad news. Due to scheduling conflicts with one of the members of the Daniel Wesley band, I've just received news that the Egan's Pub show, (along with 4 others) have been postponed to a later date.  The Acency has promised that they will be coming through sometime later this year, maybe September.

Again sorry for the bad news... I was really looking forward to this show!

Getting tickets just got easier!  Daniel Wesley, Sean Ashby, Miss Quincy and the Ramblers are now available online at the North Peace Cultural Centre online box office!

I'm expecting all three of these shows to sell out!  Get your tickets first, and save the worry.

Daniel Wesley - Thursday July 9th @ Egan's Pub
Sean Ashby - Thursday July 9th @ Whole Wheat 'n Honey
Miss Quincy and the Ramblers - Saturday July 11th @ Whole Wheat 'n Honey

Thanks to the Cultural Centre for making online tickets possible.  Tickets will be available additionally at the Cultural Centre box office, as well as (soon to be) at the Whole Wheat 'n Honey Cafe and Egan's Pub for their respected shows.

July is shaping up to be a busy busy month for live music!  Keep posted for more show announcements coming soon!

Thank you to everyone who wrote a comment about the importance of live music in our community!  The draw for the two tickets to see Bif Naked on Wednesday was just selected by random and the winner was: "andrew",

His comment about the importance of local music was:

By supporting local musicians you are actually giving yourself more opportunities to see great shows more often. It can create a snowball effect with continued support.

To those who didn't win the tickets, thanks for your answers!  There was some great ones!  Checkout the article here.

Also, there will be another similar contest for the upcoming Daniel Wesley!  More info is coming shortly on both the new contest and the show as we're still confirming details, so come back shortly!  For more info about the Daniel Wesley checkout these links:

http://www.northerngroove.com/daniel-wesley-at-egans-pub-july-9th.html
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=91479739863
http://www.myspace.com/danielwesleyband