Northern Groove

The Peace Region's Shannon Ingersoll will be joining Emma Cook and Chloe Albert on the Whole Wheat and Honey stage tomorrow, Wednesday November 18.

Some of you may remember Shannon from last week's Egan's Open Mic where she blew us away with her acappella performance.  She has been a performer for her whole life, but started training at the age of eight in voice. She completed her music degree through Capilano College in Vancouver, BC and later on continued her schooling to complete a degree in Music Therapy. She has performed for many different events, including Canada Day Celebrations and BC Winter Games and has recorded an album of original songs entitled Heart Songs.

This is going to be a fantastic night as 3 talented ladies warm our cold winter hearts with their songs, stories, and harmonies.

The show starts at 7pm, with doors opening at 6:30pm for dinner.  Tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance or at the door. 

Afterwards, make sure to bring your singing voices, guitar fingers, and listening ears down to our legendary Wednesday night Egan's Open Mic - it will most likely get rolling around 9pm.

Stay warm and see you all tomorrow night!

Flashback to this summer.  Do any of you remember the rollicking grass roots gypsy blues performances by Miss Quincy and the Ramblers?  You know, the band with the honey harmonies, mad crazy upright bassist, and tap-dancing percussionist?

Now flash forward to the present.  Have any of you had the eerie feeling that you've been seeing Miss Quincy herself around town?  Perhaps at Open Mic, the Rolla Pub, or at JD Fitzgerald's last night?

That's right folks, Miss Quincy is back in her hometown for the winter, and I have cold hard photo proof of it!  Last night she unleashed her wicked hip-swiveling presence on the newest stage in town - JD Fitzgerald's Pub.  With only her guitar, harmonica, and dynamite voice to accompany her (okay, and also a guest appearance by the beatboxing Emily Goodman!), Miss Quincy pulled off something not many solo ladies can do - she absolutely owned that stage!

For those of you who missed the impromptu show last night, Miss Quincy is officially set to take the JD Fitzgerald's stage again this coming Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (November 22, 23, and 24).  This time I hear she may even be accompanied by the mad bearded masters of mandolin and violin, Reno Fitch and Josh Giesbrecht.

If you're wondering what exactly Miss Quincy is up to in the Peace for the winter, take a look at a little something I found on her website:
 
Miss Quincy, after a full summer tour with the Ramblers, took a time out to spend two months in the wilderness writing and reconnecting with her roots.  After 60 days in a tent, with only a harmonica and without telephones, running water or internet she came away with a new and focussed vision. She recently traded in her tent for a very small cabin, still in the northern wilderness (and still no running water, but the outhouse has a fantastic view of the Peace hills...), where she plans on recording a whole new collection of songs this winter prior to touring in the UK in the spring. If you are kicking around the Peace country this winter you're welcome to drop by her cabin anytime.

Mike Lynch took his plunge down The Rabbit Hole yesterday in the third of Fort St. John's series of Home Routes House Concerts.

With his cowboy hat, guitar, harmonica, and Phil Bosley on bass, Mike channeled the legends of vintage country (think Hank Williams) and stomped and sweated out songs and stories straight from the life of a Canadiana Cowboy.  Throughout the night we learned about Sally, the sly mushroom pickin' thief who stole his heart and money in Dawson City, about what happens when you carve your initials on a bench next to "Lucy's a Whore", and what it's like to stay at the house of those mad dogs of bluegrass, the D-Rangers (remember Jaxon Haldane from the last house concert?).

As has become almost a custom with house concerts, after the show various instruments materialized and another late night jam session was born.

If you haven't had a chance to come out to a house concert yet you'd better get your priorities straight over the Home Routes winter break! House concerts are unlike any show experience you've had before - intimate, connected, and as I mentioned, quite often followed by impromptu jams. Our next Home Routes show is scheduled for Thursday, February 4, when Jory Nash will bring his songs (and hopefully his homemade banjo) to the city.  

A big fat thank you to Henry and Beau down at Retro Relics/The Rabbit Hole for being extraordinary hosts!

You may have been wondering over the past months: "What the @$%* happened to Cosmic Grounds Open Mic?"

Although I don't know the answer to that question, I do know that in conjunction with the City of Fort St. John's Spirit Week, Cosmic Grounds will be hosting one of their famed Open Mics this week!  Thursday, November 26 will see the coffee shop opening its doors to performers and patrons of all-ages.  Being one of the few all-ages venues in town, this is an important event in our local music scene so come out and support it ... there can be no Open Mic if no one shows up!

The Open Mics at Cosmic Grounds always prove to be especially open - I've listened to everything from bluegrass to hip hop to punk rock to poetry readings!  So don't be shy, this welcoming and diverse atmosphere makes a great place to try out new material or even to get on stage for the first time.  Open Mic will get rolling around 7pm and all you need to do is bring your instrument down and sign up!

I've heard through the musical grapevine that we're going to have a couple bluegrass bandits in town for tomorrow's (Wed Nov 25) Open Mic at Egan's Pub.

Our regular Open Mic daddio Nick Baccante (along with who knows who else!) will be joined by Don Gothard (dobro) and Karl Moser (banjo).  You may better recognize Don and Karl as part of the bluegrass collective, The Sweetwater Ramblers.  They performed at Egan's earlier this year with Oh My Darling during MayFest 2009. 

Individually, these three fellows have been playing music for a number of years, and they often meet at weekend pickin’ parties, coffeehouses, and concerts. Occasionally they meet at the Rolla Pub with other musicians to jam the night away. Don, from near Bonanza, Alberta, was the driving force behind the short-lived, but very fun Dawson Creek Bluegrass Festival, he’ll also occasionally play some old time tunes on the fiddle or clawhammer banjo. Karl, from near Rolla, BC, loves playing his banjo, or guitar, as long as it’s high energy bluegrass. Nick played guitar in a bluegrass band for a number of years back in Thunder Bay, Ontario, but in the past few years has enjoyed learning and playing the mandolin.

Since these two fellows are making the trek all the way to Fort St. John we figured we'd best give them free reign over the stage for more than the usual 3 songs.  With that said, The Sweetwater Ramblers will kick off the night with a mini-set of rip-roaring bluegrass.  This is one tasty music treat so make sure to come down a little early to get your grass on.  If you're itching to play yourself, there will be plently of time for that too. 

The night will probably get going around 8:30 and will be hosted one more time by Jody & Jodie. See you there!

Photo: Some of The Sweetwater Ramblers at one of the Rolla Pub's epic jam nights.

This Friday, November 27, Egan's Pub will play host to one of the newest bands in town - Naughtlia - as they take to the stage for this month's Rock n' Roll House Party.

Fresh from the womb and still licking off afterbirth, Naughtlia isn't a group that takes timid first steps.  Formed with the intention of creating extended sonic journeys, they flawlessly blend elements of melodic heavy rock with a progressive soundscapes and artful lyrics.  The members, Jakob Hebesien, Derek Skauge, and Ben Marsh are all local boys with a long history of creating and performing music in a variety of groups and styles of music.  Their latest offering will asault your senses without insulting your sensibilities of what a fine performance should be.  Always energetic and never lacking in the grace required to actually move somebody, Naughtlia is going to molest your ears.

Visit their MySpace page to have a listen and click here to check out a Q&A with the boys.

www.myspace.com/naughtlia

This month's Rock n' Roll House Party has something special for all you punk rockers.  That's right, Fort St. John's resident punk rock band, Fallen Idols, is one of the 3 bands set to rock the house.

You may recognize the band from their performance at the FSJ Music Capital Celebration that was held at Egan's this past August, or from when they played the opening slot at the mad crazy Protest The Hero show.

Fallen Idols features Chad Corno on vocals, Rhyan Kelly on guitar, Conor Okrainec on bass, and Chad Schraeder on drums. The band was born in the fall of 2006 and quickly acquired a fan following in the predominantly country music ridden north.  They released their first EP in 2007, the four song Cobra Kai, and in the summer of 2008 followed it up with the six song album Get Awesome. With a couple of tours around British Columbia and Alberta under their belts, Fallen Idols have been extremely hard at work helping to keep the music scene of the north alive.

Visit their MySpace page to have a listen and come down to Egan's Pub this Friday, November 27 and help us take the roof off!

www.myspace.com/fallenidols

Photo: Fallen Idols opening for Protest The Hero at Egan's Pub in September.

Last night we had some special guests at Egan's Open Mic and let me tell you, it was one hell of a ramble! Don Gothard (dobro) and Karl Moser (banjo) of The Sweetwater Ramblers bluegrassed up the stage with their friends from The Egan's Ramblers, Nick Baccante (guitar, mandolin) and Todd Koponyas (bass, percussion). The dualing Ramblers opened the night with a mini-set of firey old-time bluegrass and even stuck around to accompany some smokin' songbirds (Lindsay & Melissa). Amy Gothard documented the musical magic and was nice enough to let us take a peak into her sketchbook - check out her fantastic drawing above!

The time has come for November to get its House Party on! Tomorrow, Friday November 27, we have three local bands slotted to get loud, proud, down, dirty ... and really whatever else they might want to do on the Egan's Pub stage.

To say this is going to be a diverse night would be an understatement ... we have everything from bluegrass to progressive rock to punk rock to old time rock and roll on the roster:

Here are the set times.

9pm - Naughtlia

10pm - Egan's Ramblers with Lindsay Pratt

11pm - Fallen Idols

Click on the links for more info about each of the bands.  Don't just read about them though, put your rock n' roll pants on and come see them live!

Not that any of you would forget, but tomorrow, Saturday November 28, is Ryan Hennessey's CD Release Bash down at Egan's Pub.

Ryan has been on the road with Rob Szabo for the past 2 weeks promoting the release of his new album, and the show at Egan's is the tour's grand finale.

Szabo will also be making a special guest appearance at the show and this is his 13th (or is it 14th? I can't keep track anymore!) time playing FSJ.   

So come down, help the boys celebrate, and pick up one of Fort St. John's first copies of Ryan Hennessey's Every Word You Say.

For more R & R info visit:

www.myspace.com/fairwage

www.robszabo.com