Four musicians from the region will be showcased at Winterfolk, the roots/folk/blues fest in downtown TO, on Sunday, 20 February, at 1 p.m. at the Black Swan pub, 154 Danforth. Details here. It’s a FREE, not-for-profit festival, happening all week long in various venues on the Danforth, though donations are certainly welcome to help pay the musicians.
The Performers
And yes, I’m one of the four performers showcasing, so as a typically modest, self-effacing Canadian (other than Don Cherry, that is), I sincerely apologize for what may seem like shameless self-promotion, something we really just don’t approve of, do we?!
So forget about me (though I should mention I’ll be accompanied by D’Arcy Wickham, a great singer and guitarist; and we do sound great together, and I’ll be doing five original songs) and just consider the other three: terrific guitarist Erwin Shack from Stouffville, singer-songwriter-instrumentalist Glenn Marais from Newmarket and composer/fingerstyle-guitar-champion Ewan Dobson from Markham. And we have music-aficionado Jim Priebe of Stouffville, who’ll be hosting the showcase, to thank for making this happen.
Lots More Great Music
We’ll each play for about 25 minutes each – but there’s lots more music happening after us at five other venues, and it goes on till late at night. A real musical feast, ranging from blues to gospel to original songs to fingerstyle guitar and more, featuring Canadian notables such as James Gordon, Michael Jerome Brown, Eve Goldberg, Mose Scarlett, and many others.
So, all you York-Region music lovers, jump on the GO bus and head to the Danforth this Sunday for a free day/evening of great music. Get there for 1 p.m. and support your local representatives – let’s show those Torontonians that there is indeed life and culture in the 905!
Take a peek at the great acts from last year’s Winterfolk:
Marie-Lynn Hammond is a co-founder of Stringband, a seminal Canadian folk group, and a critically acclaimed songwriter living in York Region. In past lives she’s written plays and magazine articles and hosted national CBC radio shows. In between working on two new CDs, she freelances as an editor of both fiction and nonfiction. www.marielynnhammond.com
Leave a Reply