Northern Groove

There was standing room only at Whole Wheat 'n Honey last night! Dayna Manning and Dave Tolley kicked off the show with some gorgeous music. Dayna's songs were passionately sung with a fantastic beat brought by Dave. She dedicated songs to friends in the crowd and even sang one inspired by her cat. 

Then Sean Ashby got up, backed by his awesome iPod band and wowed the crowd with his guitarist skills. It was so great to have him back in FSJ and he thanked everyone for showing such support. Sean fulfilled his promise to play every guitar he brought... about five of them! There were Tom Petty covers, surf guitar, and all around great music. 

Check out some of the photos from the show and stay tuned for more awesome music events coming up at Whole Wheat! 

Singer / Songwriter Dayna Manning will be joining Sean Ashby at Whole Wheat 'n Honey for an incredible evening of live music this Thursday, Aug 4th.  Dayna is one of Fort St. John (and Canada's) most treasured songwriters, musicians, and performers and it will be an honour to see her performing in such an intimate setting at Whole Wheat 'n Honey.

If you're hearing about Dayna for the first time -- here's a quick little background from her wonderful website - heartist.ca -  Canadian Singer Songwriter Dayna Manning was born to musical parents in the artistic community of Stratford Ontario. Her guitar stylings are not easily matched and her soaring voice is unmistakable. Her songwriting skills are very well known. She has built a career writing unique and accessible takes on everyday life, and delivering them with the utmost sincerity.

Joining Sean Ashby for the show on Thursday is a musical pairing not to be missed!  Sean has been successfully pursing a career as a solo touring artist after many years performing with artists such as Sarah Mclachlan and others.  His musicianship, sense of melody, and songwriting is breathtaking and something everyone should experienced live.

Come to Whole Wheat 'n Honey this Thursday, Aug 4th -- Tickets are $15 in advance (buy online below, or Whole Wheat 'n Honey) or at the door for $20.  Tickets are limited so please consider picking them up in advance.

Doors open at 6:30pm and the show begins at 7:30pm.  The kitchen will be open, so please consider coming down early to grab some great WWH appies and maybe a glass of wine! :)

Sean Ashby is back at Whole Wheat ‘n Honey on Thursday, August 4th -- one of Canada’s greatest guitarists live!

Ryan Sebastiano will be opening for Sean Ashby this Friday at Whole Wheat 'n Honey.  Ryan has been working hard on his music and it's been paying off!  Recently performing a full band show in front of 300 people for the Daniel Wesley Show at On The Rocks... There is no question that Ryan's music and performances keep getting better and better.

A little about Ryan - Originally born in Fernie BC, Ryan found a love for music and guitar at a very young age. But it wasn't until 2003, when he moved to Fort St. John, that he found his real love - writing songs. Ryan is known for his song "Cinderella", which was written in 2004 and was played regularly on the radio in Fort St. John, and for playing in local bands Side Effect and Minus Forty. More recently Ryan has taken a different approach to his writing and has established a style of his own. Singing about everything from love to politics, Ryan still has that pop rock feel that "Cinderella" possessed but with a lot more edge.

Sean Ashby Tickets are still available.  Advance tickets are $15, Door tickets are $20.  You can buy them at Whole Wheat 'n Honey or Online Here:

Get up close and personal with one of Canada's greatest guitarists, Sean Ashby, as he returns to Whole Wheat n' Honey on Thursday, April 22. Sean is another musician who is setting himself up to become an honorory citizen of Fort. St. John, and in fact I think this will be the fourth time he has paid us a visit in the past year. For those of you who didn't catch Sean one of the last three times he was here, he is one of Canada's best guitarists and chances are if you've had a radio on today you've heard him. He has played and recorded with Sarah McLachlan, Delerium, Wild Strawberries, Ginger (former Grapes Of Wrath) and many more. More than just a mind-blowing guitar player, Sean is a songwriter, producer, guitarist, singer, programmer, and engineer who has released two solo albums (Brass And Gold in 2008 and 24 Hours of Daylight in 2010) on his imprint Black Sparrow Records. 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".

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Advance tickets can be purchased online at www.northerngroove.com (see ticket purchase box below) or from Whole Wheat n' Honey.

www.seanashby.com

Tonight is the night many have been waiting for:

Sean Ashby, Dayna Manning, Dave Tolley, and Mat Savard (with band) will be performing at the Whole Wheat 'n Honey tonight starting at 7pm.

This is Sean's third time up, and for anyone who has seen him in the past, it is a night to remember.

Regarding the Open Mic, it will be starting late tonight after the show has ended at Whole Wheat 'n Honey.... so if you're planning on going to the Open Mic tonight and have time to checkout the Sean Ashby & friends show, come out!  If not, be advised the Open Mic will probably get started later than normally... expect 930ish.

Tickets are available at:

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/467043941/rss

or Whole Wheat 'n Honey

The Orphanage have self produced their debut CD, and after many months of waiting it is finally available.

Self described as Lo-fi basement acoustic folk rock, however you want to say it.  The Orphanage is made up of musicians Benjamin Williams and Lara Gibson.

Recent shows have been at Whole Wheat 'n Honey opening for Sean Ashby (the first time he was up).   Hopefully, there will be many more soon!

Their CD is available at CDPlus and The Rabbit Hole and on Amazon

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"

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!

 Sean Ashby performed a sold out show at WWH last month... With 2 great local opening acts, “The Orphanage” (top left) and Lindsay Ward, and Amber Banman. Sean will be playing again at WWH Thursday, July 9th.