Encouraging Arts & Music in Downtown FSJ
Music just may be the key to the long-awaited revitalization of downtown Fort St. John.
Two venues have made music a priority and those in the know are flocking to Whole Wheat & Honey and Cosmic Grounds whenever there’s music in the air.
Cosmic has been hosting hugely popular Open Mics on a monthly basis, while WW&H is continuing to hold fantastic ticketed shows including an upcoming encore performance of Sean Ashby, a reggae rock trio (The Brian MacMillan Trio), and a locally grown folk band called Miss Quincy and the Ramblers (See article on Page 30!)
Each facility draws music lovers from all over the region to the downtown core area, and neighbouring merchants have to love that.
The owners of both say the music will continue to rock on.
“It’s a tradition with Cosmic Grounds,” said Peter Schar, who has owned the 100th Street coffee shop for over a year and who plans to keep the Open Mic events going.
“It’s the spirit of local people playing traditional music and coming to a traditional coffee house,” he said. “I think it’s an asset to the downtown and we hope we can get first-timers out to play who might otherwise be intimidated at playing for larger crowds.”
Marie Mallis, who opened Wheat & Honey at the corner of 100th Street and 100th Avenue, calls the music shows “entrancing”.
“Of course we’ll continue, as often as anyone wants to play,” she said.
“The music is beautiful and it’s an obvious fit, with the candlelight and the good acoustics being very Whole Wheat & Honey.”
For a complete list of upcoming events at both Whole Wheat ‘n Honey and Cosmic Grounds, visit www.northerngroove.com
“it’s an asset to the downtown”
Brian Macmillan Trio at Whole Wheat 'n Honey
'..keyboard flourishes and bouncy bass, inject a little Bruce Cockburn-meets-Paul Simon reggae/dub into his wholesome sunniness. An easygoing, optimistic debut.' - Ian Nathanson, Metro News
The Brian Macmillan Trio is in Fort St. John at Whole Wheat 'n Honey this Saturday. Featuring Drums, Keyboard, and Bass this will be a unique style and performance Fort St. John is privileged to host.
If Brian Macmillan is a familiar name to you, he should be! Brian first came to Fort St. John touring with the Nine Mile Band back in Early winter 2008.
Opening the night off will be local singer / songwriter Jill Yendrys. Jill was frontwoman / singer / songwriter in the all girl punk rock band Last Chance Anna Pascal. This will be the first show for her in a while so please come out and support this super talented local musician!
The Brian Macmillan Trio with Jill Yendrys will be on Saturday June 20, 2009, at Whole Wheat 'n Honey. Doors will open at 6:30 with the full menu available for dinner. The show will proceed dinner at about 7:30. Tickets are available at Whole Wheat 'n Honey for $15.
Oh My Darlings at Whole Wheat ‘n Honey
The Winnipeg Band “Oh My Darling” performed along with an amazing all female lineup of local talent: including Thea, Emily Goodman, Lindsay Pratt, & Cynthia Hamar.
A great turnout, and an even better evening of local music!
Featured Event: Songwriters Circle at Whole Wheat 'n Honey
Some Mayfest Photos!
Saturday, Day 6 of MayFest! These photos were taken by the talented Jodie Ponto at Whole Wheat 'n Honey.
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Sean Ashby at Egan's & Whole Wheat and Honey
Toronto based singer songwriter Sean Ashby will be gracing our Egan's
stage as well as performing at the lovely Whole Wheat and Honey. Sean will play Egan's April 27th and will be also be playing Whole Wheat and Honey April 28th. Whether you're looking for a rousing pub show, an intimate coffee house experience, or both, it will be worth your time to attend Ashby's show. Here's Sean in his own words from his Myspace www.myspace.com/seanashbymusic:
The guitar playing part of the story begins ... when I was 14 -I was an aspiring artist -illustrator - avid music listener . As a young teenager I took over the basement as an art studio , I set an area up to make home made animated movies .. I made two short clips - took forever . Anyway , I used to sit in front of my drawing board with headphones on (40 foot cable wrapped through the basement over to my stereo - like a clothesline) . I thought I could draw more accurate guitar player pics if I took some lessons . Bam ! I was hooked on the guitar . Soon it took over and I let the drawing side go and pursued music .
I have a solo cd out Sean Ashby Brass And Gold -produced by myself - and now ....drum roll please - the name dropping section ! - this cd was mixed by Warne Livesy -Talk Talk , The The , Happy Mondays , Midnight Oil , Jets Overhead and recently completed working with Chris Walla from the "Death Cab For Cutie" camp his solo cd .
Sean has appeared with Sarah McLachlan on "Blackbird" recorded for the I Am Sam soundtrack starring Sean Penn, on the radio single “Just Like You', and on live DVDs Mirrorball live, Afterglow live and VH1's Storytellers-all featuring McLachlan.
Support live music in Fort St. John, it just keeps getting better!
Facebook Events Info @
Earth Hour in Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, and Chetwynd
Saturday March 28th marks the 3rd annual Earth Hour - an international event that encourages cities, towns, businesses, and households to switch off their lights for one hour. Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, and Chetwynd will be 3 of the over 930 cities and towns across the globe participating in this year's Earth Hour.
In partnership with BC Hydro Power Smart, NEAT will be hosting Earth Hour Concerts in all 3 cities. Each concert will feature local musicians performing acoustically by candlelight.
Fort St. John's Earth Hour Concert will be held at Whole Wheat and Honey with Ryan Hennessey, Cynthia Hamar, and Darcie Davies performing.
Dawson Creek's Earth Hour Concert will be held at Under the Willow with Linda Studley, A Name Unheard, and Jayme Knyx performing.
Chetwynd's Earth Hour Concert will be held at the Chetwynd Library and will be an open mic style performance.
All 3 candlelight concerts are all-ages and run from 8:00-10:00 pm on March 28th.
For more information on the events visit www.neat.ca. For more information on Earth Hour visit www.earthhour.org.
Facebook Event Info @ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142801620106
International Women's Day Celebration
The Fort St. John Women's Resource Society will be hosting a "co-ed event celebrating the talents of women!" The event is being held at the lovely Whole Wheat and Honey cafe at 100th avenue and 100th street on Saturday, March 7th. The evening will feature East Indian cuisine created by Amaljee Jhand and a wide array of entertainment including throat singing by Margaret Fenton, belly dancing by Suzon Tremblay, latin dance by Lisset Godoy and drumming. As well as performing at this event drumming instructor Kathryn Doherty will also be holding a three hour drumming workshop on Sunday March 8th at 4:00 p.m. at The Sacred Space Studio. Please join us at this fantastic event celebrating the women of our community and the world over. Tickets can be purchased at the Women's Resource Society at 10051-100th street, or at Whole Wheat and Honey.
Mystery Guitar at Whole Wheat and Honey
If you've been to Whole Wheat and Honey lately,( if you're like me you have and possibly live there) you may have noticed something musical near the fireplace. Bruce Lantz, our newly appointed mayor and music lover has loaned a guitar amp and mics to Whole Wheat and Honey. Lantz says, "The idea is to encourage and support local music by giving people the opportunity to play - whenever they want - in a very informal way. They can just go there and play a bit, sing too if they want. I think it adds character to the community to have things like this available.I hope people make use of it and enjoy it." He added that we may even see him play in the future although it's been a long time since he's played for a group. If you are a local musician, or aspire to be one, make good use of Bruce's loan. Who knows you may even find a few fans. Many thanks to Whole Wheat and Honey for supporting live music in Fort St. John.
Environment + Music: NEAT Night with Band Nine Mile
The Northern Environmental Action Team (NEAT) will be hosting another NEAT Night at Whole Wheat and Honey. This month's theme is the environment and music, so if you're interested in either of these be sure to come down!
Being a night of both discussion and music, NEAT has lined up the Toronto-based reggae/rock band Nine Mile. Not only is Nine Mile a great band, but they are also environmentally conscious.
This month's NEAT Night will be held on Wed. Feb 25 at 7pm. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door or in advance at Whole Wheat and Honey.
This will be an all ages event, so come young and old!
For more information about this event or NEAT visit www.neat.bc.ca. For more information about Nine Mile visit http://www.nine-mile.com/ or www.myspace.com/ninemile.
Facebook Event Info @
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=51161173347&ref=mf
Danya Manning With Kevin Fox at Whole Wheat and Honey
Don't forget to pick-up tickets for Danya Manning's Friday show, Saturday is already sold out! Tickets are $25.00 and the Friday show is sure to sell-out as well. Whole Wheat and Honey is a great venue to watch Danya's fantastic performance so don't miss out on your chance to see Danya Manning and Cellist Kevin Fox this Friday!
The doors for the show open at 6:00, with the show starting around 8:00. Nu's Thai food will also be available!
Facebook Events Info @
http://www.facebook.com/event.
http://www.facebook.com/event.