Events

 

 

May
19
Fri
2017
James Hill & Anne Janelle @ Desboro Music Hall
May 19 @ 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Opening Act: Brontae Hunter

Desboro Music Hall 2017 Concert Series

All Ages Doors Open: 7pm, Music Starts: 7:30pm

Buy Tickets

Tickets: Advance: $20 ($17.70 +HST), Regular: $25 ($22.12 +HST)

*Advance tickets are only available up to the Box Office hours the weekend before the show or we run out (Note: there is a limit of 25 advance price tickets)


James Hill & Anne Janelle

Four strings and a favourite chocolate bar: that’s all James Hill  “possibly the best ukulele player in the world” (Waikato Times)  and Anne Janelle  “a cellist of true beauty” (Ottawa Citizen)  had in common when they first met. It was more than enough. Today, they’re an award-winning, “utterly world-class” singer-songwriter-ukulele-cello duo (Paul Symes, The Blacksheep Inn). It’s true: opposites attract. James grew up playing folk, jazz and blues on his ukulele while Anne was exclusively a classical cellist. But the pair’s differences quickly became their biggest asset. The uke is high, the cello is low; the uke plays short notes, the cello long bow strokes; the uke is all about strumming while the cello radiates melody. Like shadows and light in an old photograph, these contrasts are complementary. “We’re like a pair of dancers who can’t step on each other’s feet,” jokes James. Flash back to 2008. Anne was working on her Master’s degree in cello performance at the University of Ottawa while James was wowing crowds with his ukulele wizardry at festivals across North America, on a mission “to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that in the right hands the uke can be a formidable axe” (Ann Arbor News). And then, one email changed the course of their musical lives. James and Anne were selected to record a track for a compilation album called Classical Ukulele for release in Japan. “If it weren’t for that recording project,” confides Anne, “I don’t think we ever would have started playing together. It just wouldn’t have occurred to us.” Often the most obvious thing is the thing that’s most easily overlooked. “We chose Schubert’s Ave Maria and arranged it for ukulele and cello. We recorded it in a tiny practise cubicle at the university!” The result? “Absolutely brilliant” (The Folk Diary). Naturally the next step was to release a duo album and, so, True Love Don’t Weep was born. The album garnered a Canadian Folk Music Award for Best Traditional Album of the Year in 2009. A mixture of traditional tunes with “fresh vitality” (Country Music People) and, for the first time, original songs, True Love Don’t Weep showcased the duo’s ability “to capture the soul of a song.” (Folk World). By this time, Anne had completed her degree and the pair were performing regularly, bringing their “instinctive musical interaction and contagious enthusiasm” (Ottawa Citizen) to audiences across five continents. Since True Love Don’t Weep, James and Anne have each released two solo albums each (James’ Man with a Love Song and The Old Silo; Anne’s Beauty Remains and So Long at the Fair) and toured in over 15 countries, making their mark not only as accomplished instrumentalists but also as some of the finest songwriters of their generation. 2016 marks the return of the duo in full force. “We walked our separate musical paths for a while, but I think we both came to realize, each in our own way, that the duo is our strongest musical offering. There is passion, there is diversity, there are many levels with which an audience can engage with our music when it’s not one or the other but both of us.” reveals Anne. Together, James and Anne craft a sound that is intricate, enchanting and engaging: “a crystal clear sound filled with warmth” (Bob Mersereau, CBC). In concert, James is “a dazzling performer with a genial, low-key sense of humour” (Edmonton Journal) and Anne brings her “gorgeous syrupy voice” (Acoustic Magazine) to songs that are “inventive, entertaining, beautifully written and brilliantly performed” (R2 Magazine). In short, a night out with James Hill & Anne Janelle is “the perfect evening of tunes, stories and musical virtuosity” (Wellington Dominion-Post).


James & Anne Website
James & Anne Facebook
James & Anne Twitter
James and Anne Photos by Ed Boulter Photography


Brontae Hunter

Brontae Hunter is a performing artist who currently lives in Stratford, Ontario. Although she concentrates on acting, she is passionate about the live arts and what they bring to our quickly evolving culture. Previous projects she is most proud of include directing Innocence Lost: a play about Steven Truscott, producing and performing in The Women of Broadway and Beyond in Stratford’s factory 163, playing at Summerfolk along with the youth discoveries, and curating the performance collective For Our Stolen Sisters to raise funds and awareness for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman crisis. In the fall, she plans to attend a conservatory style acting program. She looks forward to pursuing a career, in hopes of enriching the lives of others and starting important conversations through the medium of the performing arts. Check out her video and an original song on Facebook

Brontae Hunter Facebook

Jul
13
Sat
2019
Safe as Houses with Nick Nace @ Desboro Music Hall
Jul 13 @ 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Opening Act: Nick Nace

Desboro Music Hall 2018 Concert Series

All Ages Doors Open: 7pm, Music Starts: 7:30pm

Tickets:Regular: $25


 

SAFE AS HOUSES

Fresh off the release of their critically acclaimed 3rd studio album, Lucky Lucky, Safe As Houses continues to push boundaries in the folk world with their genre-splicing alternative-folk sound, infused with flecks of pop and rock. Armed with a collection of youth-driven anthems, this kinetic quintet has amassed a cult following, spiraling out from their hometown of Kitchener, ON, where bandmates Elliot Anton (guitar, vocals) and Bensen Carter (cello, bass, vocals), along with brothers Andrew Laughton (guitar, vocals) and Thomas Laughton (drums, vocals), laid the band’s monumental foundation.  Chasing a more expansive sound, Safe As Houses enlisted Lauren Taylor (violin, vocals) to round out their signature string-centric arrangements and soften the edges of their soul-stirring harmonies.

Since their debut on the music scene in 2014 with their freshman album, The Fall of a Sparrow, and further fuelled by their follow-up releases, Hurricane (2016), and Lucky Lucky (2018), audiences and critics alike have celebrated their undeniable musical aptitude, praising their tight performances and likening them to legendary artists: “Their music follows in the footsteps of Mumford & Sons with orchestral arrangements and big builds…will leave you with goosebumps”-BAM Productions.

On the heels of their most recent release, Safe As Houses inspires a new generation of listeners with their fresh, energetic take on the genre, while dabbling in whimsy and nostalgia to satisfy even the most seasoned of folk enthusiasts – “If ever there was a record that could reach several generations of roots fans all at once, this might be it”-Roots Music Canada.

With the world at their feet, 2019 promises to be a definitive year for the young band with the release of their upcoming album, Lucky Lucky Deluxe.

 

Safe as Houses Website
Safe as Houses Facebook
Safe as Houses Twitter
Safe as Houses Instagram


NICK NACE

 

The Canadian born Nick Nace is a “highly-respected wordsmith among East Nashville’s Americana scene” (-American Songwriter). He was one half of the NYC based folk duo A Brief View of the Hudson (Best Folk Duo – NY Press) for over a decade, recording two albums and composing the soundtrack for Tell Your Friends! The Concert Film! which premiered at SXSW.

In 2015 he moved to Nashville and has since toured Ireland (Whelans, The Ruby Sessions), the U.S. and Canada, was selected to perform at the Mississippi Songwriter Festival, The Druid City Songwriter Festival, The Dripping Springs Songwriter Festival, Panama City Songwriter Festival and is a winner of the gulf coast’s biggest songwriting competition The Gulf Coast Songwriter Shootout (judged by Travis Meadows).

Last summer he toured the Southeast with Nashville songwriters Jon Latham & Darrin Bradbury and opened for Texas troubadour Hayes Carll. He will be releasing his debut solo album in 2019.

 

Nick Nace Website
Nick Nace Facebook
Nick Nace Instagram

Aug
10
Sat
2019
Jack Pine and the Fire with Will Melville @ Desboro Music Hall
Aug 10 @ 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
Opening Act: Will Melville

Desboro Music Hall 2018 Concert Series

All Ages Doors Open: 7pm, Music Starts: 7:30pm

Tickets:Regular: $25


 

JACK PINE AND THE FIRE

Jack Pine and The Fire is “driving”, “masterful”, “dynamic”, and all acoustic – upright bass, Dobro, Mandolin, and Drums – A gritty alt-folk-Canadiana string band with 5 heavy right hands, haunting harmonies, and all the feels.  Nominated at the 2019 JUNOs  and the 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards, their newest album Left To Our Own Devices explores all our relationships – with ourselves, with each other, and with the earth. Jack hollers and howls like a lone wolf, spitting wry words and tall tales, while strumming his mandolin furiously, then softly. His sings songs of lost souls and forgotten truths, with lyricism that blends vivid and powerful imagery with quirky wordplay, dark humour, and biting social commentary.

 

Jack Pine and the Fire Website
Jack Pine and the Fire Facebook
Jack Pine and the Fire Twitter
Jack Pine and the Fire Instagram


WILL MELVILLE

Will Melville is Toronto-based singer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and music teacher. Will started learning classical violin at the age of 10, and went on to play in the McMaster University Chamber Orchestra. He’s been writing songs, singing, and playing guitar since he was a teenager in his band Dr. Love and the Love Brigade.Over the years he has had the privilege to work with and learn from esteemed Canadian musicians including Dave Clark (Rheostatics), and Lewis Melville (Skydiggers, Banjo Mechanics). His songs are lyric and melody-driven in the world of roots, folk and country. You can catch will performing as solo act, singing with Toronto group Moonlight Flood, yodelling and playing anything with strings with the eclectic & enthusiastic Cilantro Collective, and performing with various other acts around Toronto. Also check out his work with the experimental Andy Krangus Collaborative.