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Calgary Folk Club
Newsletter




Highlights in this edition:
■ Season Passes and Tickets on Sale Now
■ Our Next Shows: October and November
■ COMING ON NOVEMBER 12: Vocal Harmony Workshop with The Once!
■ CJSW Radio Needs Your Support!
■ Now Performing with Dave Gunning on January 27th: J.P. Cormier!
■ Backstage with the Bombadils

A Spooktacular Show
Join us for some scarily good music!

It's that time of year again - the weather is chilly, the skies are grey, and the trees are  bare skeletons, their bony fingers clawing toward the darkness of night skies that chill the heart and fog the breath. Rest assured that despite the looming threat of ghoulish and grisly visitors from beyond the grave, this weekend at the Calgary Folk Club promises to be a scream! 

Halloween may be bad for the teeth, but it can be great for the soul!  If you're feeling festive (or perhaps fiendish), you're encouraged to join us in your most ghastly costume. Our doors are open to everyone - living or undead - as long as you're over 14 years of age, and you're in the mood for some rollicking-good music! So sharpen your fangs and dust off your good cape, and as always -

See you at the club!


Season Passes and Individual Show Tickets:


Passes for our stellar 45th season are now available! These passes are a great deal for music-lovers and bargain-lovers alike. Prorated for the number of shows remaining in the season, these passes work out to a significant discount, per show, compared to individual tickets. Only a few of these coveted passes remain for this season!

Of course, not everyone's schedule accommodates alternating Friday nights until April. For those of you who prefer to pick and choose, advance tickets for individual shows are now on sale for $27.50 apiece, and are also available for $30 at the door on show nights. 

Don't miss out on this season's incredible lineup! Order your Season Passes and individual tickets at our website, or call 1-888-655-9090.


Our Next Shows:

Coming on  October 28th:

Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys
  From that endless source of great music known as Prince Edward Island comes Gordie MacKeeman (fiddle/cello/guitar/feet percussion) and his Rhythm Boys: Peter Cann (guitar/banjo), Thomas Webb (guitar/bass/banjo/steel guitar) and Jason Burbine (guitar/bass/percussion). Hot on the heels of their new album, Laugh, Dance and Sing, the boys crank it way up to serve you electrifying, bluegrass and vibrant, old-timey roots music; so get set for a heapin' helpin' of toe-tappin', foot-stompin', jaw-droppin' bliss guaranteed to bring you to your feet.



First Up: Rebecca Lappa
One of the brightest, fastest rising stars on the scene and recipient of the 2015 CFMA Young Performer of the Year Award, Rebecca's songs effortlessly merge history, mythology, poetry, genres, and her pure, classically-trained mezzo-soprano. With her latest album, Reckless Heart, Edmonton native Lappa bravely dives into the complicated sea of emotions that define modern romance, and emerges with a collection of songs sure to add her name to the roll call of Canada's brightest new folk-rock voices.




And on November 11th:

THIS SHOW IS SOLD OUT!

The Once
An indie folk trio, the Once (Geraldine Hollett, Andrew Dale and Phil Churchill) has blossomed since recording their first album in 2009 into one of Newfoundland's finestmusical exports with the release of their latest CD,Departures. Gorgeous, three-part harmonies, versatile acoustic instrumentation and mature song-writing rooted in Newfoundland's Celtic-inspired musical heritage have already earned them a JUNO nomination and three Canadian Folk Music Awards. Treat yourself to an evening of the enchanting and entrancing signature sounds of the Once.



First Up: Roger Roger
There are sibling harmonies and there are the harmonies of Winnipeg twins Lucas and Madeleine Roger, who come by their diverse talents honestly, having grown up in the recording studio of their producer/engineer/musician father, Lloyd Peterson. Their latest album,  Fairweather, awesomely juxtaposes the songs and voices of the Roger twins. Together, they bring a balance of folk, roots, and rock inspired songs in a beautifully produced album by  "two superbly talented and highly original singer-songwriters," according to Greg Leskiw of The Guess Who.



The Once: Vocal Harmony Workshop: Nov 12!
A unique opportunity for Calgary Folk Club patrons!

Whether you sing in the shower, belong to a choir, or are honing your skills as a singer-songwriter, don't miss this rare opportunity to learn the secrets of divine harmony from The Once, an award-winning trio whose success has been built on a foundation of exquisite vocals. Praise for The Once is pouring in from all quarters, including from Amelia Curran, who said that The Once have  " Perfect vocal harmonies thick enough to stand on. Think of the heavenly mix of Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch, back them up with The Chieftans, and let Daniel Lanois swim around in it, and you're still only halfway there. " Equally enchanting whether singing acapella or with instrumentation, no one knows harmony quite like The Once.  This hands-on, small-group experience will be limited to 30 participants, and these spots are likely to fill up quickly - be sure to get your tickets soon!

Where: Dalhousie Community Centre
When: 9:30AM - 2:30PM,  Saturday November 12, 2016
How Much: $100 plus ticket service fees (Lunch Provided)

CLICK HERE to order tickets to this singular event!


CJSW Radio Needs Your Support!

Promoting new and daring artists, playing deep into the back-catalogue of familiar names, and exposing listeners to new and intriguing sounds - these are just a few of the things that make CJSW 90.9FM such a valuable part of Calgary's music scene. B ased at the University of Calgary, CJSW is a non-profit society maintained and operated by a group of  seven staff members  and more than 200 volunteers drawn from both the University of Calgary student body and the wider city of Calgary population.

This week, CJSW is hosting its annual funding drive, and they need our help to meet their goal! As of this mailout, the funding drive will continue until 6:00PM TOMORROW. The Calgary Folk Club is a proud supporter of CJSW, and we would love you to be as well. For a contribution of $30, you will receive the Friends of CJSW card - a pass to discounts and special offers at 175 local businesses. More generous donations come with more generous rewards - check out the entire list at CJSW's funding drive website!

To contribute, please call 403-220-5000,
or visit  fundingdrive.ca !



Now Performing with Dave Gunning on January 27th: J.P. Cormier!
A special treat for our friends and patrons!

Thanks to a fortunate happenstance, our January 27th show, featuring Dave Gunning, is now a stellar double-bill! J.P Cormier, multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire, will be taking the stage with Dave in what promises to be a spectacular show - even better than we thought it'd be when we booked it!

Be sure to get your tickets now via our website, or pick up one of of our very few remaining Season Passes, prorated for the remainder of the season!


Backstage with the Bombadils

As the club wound down, and equipment was packed away, Luke Fraser and Sarah Frank of the newly-condensed Bombadils took a little time to answer our questions about the night, their creative process, and what it's like to write for a big ensemble, but play for two.

Calgary Folk Club: First of all, since this is your second appearance at the Club, could you tell us what sticks out in your mind about those experiences?

Luke Fraser: It's a large listening audience which is pretty amazing.

Sarah Fraser: Seems like a tight-knit community.

LF: All the volunteers work really well together, and they really host the musicians well. I feel treated really well.

SF: People are really happy to be here for the music - three sets is long for a lot of places, but people stayed the whole night. I find that impressive.

CFC: You've recently made a transition with the Bombadils from a larger ensemble to a duo - is that permanent?

LF: The core of the group is the two of us, although we've been playing with a cellist for a lot of our shows recently, so I guess the full band is three, currently, but we're going to be playing a lot of duo, in the next coming while.

SF: I think it's permanent in the sense that Luke and I will keep being the leaders of whatever our band is, but not permanent in the sense of [not working with other artists]. Right now we're curious to just explore playing a duo a bit more, because we haven't done it a lot, actually, but I'm sure we'll want to play with other musicians again at some point.

CFC: Tell us a bit about what you have to do to adapt your songs from that original group to playing with just two voices and two instruments.

SF: It stretches us. I find that we tend to experiment more with vocal harmonies, I try to see what I can do on the violin a bit more to try to fill out the sound, in the same way Luke will play more melodies on the guitar than he might have before. I think it's a nice stretch, though. Challenging.

LF: Especially when we play with a cellist - for example, we played with a cellist for the last month and a half, and just going from that to the two-piece, and missing that low-end sound, it's something to adjust to.

SF: On the other hand, there's a kind of intimacy when it's just the two of us, our energy is more focused, so that's kind of cool too.

CFC: So we've heard about adapting songs, but what about writing them in the first place? Could you tell us a bit about your process?

LF: We don't have a set way that we do it every time - it varies - but I think overall, it starts with one person having an idea, fleshing it out for a while, possibly showing it to the other person to see what they think as a first draft sort of thing. It can start with a piece of a lyric thing, it can start with a melody or chord... Sometimes it comes from a poem we set to music. Sometimes we take public domain poetry and see if it works with music. It starts that way, and once it's got some structure and some skeleton, it might come to the table, so to speak.

SF: I've been trying to pay attention lately to what we want to take pictures of, like for Instagram. I try to think, "Why do I want to take a picture of that? Is there actually something more to express there?" I've been trying to challenge myself to not stop at the picture, and maybe let it be just a prompt, and come back to it.

CFC: Any final thoughts to share with our members?

SF: We really enjoyed the evening, very inspired by the Cultural Heritage Choir.

LF: Yeah, it was a really great night, I felt really good about the show. Our second duo show in a while, and it felt like it went really well.


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403-286-5651