Opening Act: Brontae Hunter
Desboro Music Hall 2017 Concert Series
All Ages Doors Open: 7pm, Music Starts: 7:30pm
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
Opening Act: Rob Elder
Desboro Music Hall 2017 Concert Series
All Ages
Doors Open: 7pm, Music Starts: 7:30pm
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)
Ben Kunder
Part carpenter; Part actor; Canadian singer-songwriter Ben Kunder has spent years honing his craft to become a full time musician. On May 26, 2015, Ben ventured closer to making this a reality with the release of his DEBUT solo LP, Golden.With a voice that truly fills your heart and keeps you warm, Ben writes songs that everyone can relate to. His powerful voice is a driving force in his music, guiding his songs by creating impressive and tactful melodies and dynamics.
Exclaim! declared, “Kunder’s extra special voice, along with gorgeous production, lends the record an almost velvety quality.” While NewCanadianMusic said the album: “features strong and warm vocals, nicely-crafted folk-rock songs, and top-notch production and playing,” and the Toronto Star had this to say about Ben – “he’s got the kind of mellow sincerity in his voice to take it beyond generic country-pop.”
No stranger to the Canadian music community, Ben has been writing and producing his music independently for over 7 years. Through a chance meeting with John Dinsmore (NQ Arbuckle), the pair hunkered down at John’s, Lincoln County Social Club studio to co-produce Golden. The album features 9 stunning original songs by Ben, including the first single and title track, Golden. Ben (guitar, vox, and piano) is joined by a group of Canada’s finest musicians for the studio recording, featuring Brian Murphy (Alvvays) on guitar/piano/Wurlitzer, Rich Knox (Dustin Bentall, Danko Jones) on drums/vox, Anna Ruddick (Ladies of the Canyon, Randy Bachman) on bass/vox, and Aaron Goldstein (Cowboy Junkies, Daniel Romano) on pedal steel. Also John Connolly lends his voice, along with Kirty, Maia Davies (Ladies of the Canyon) and Jasmine Bleile (Ladies of the Canyon) for select tracks.
Ben has lived all across the beautiful country of Canada, from his solar powered cabin on Salt Spring Island, BC, where he spent his days chopping wood and chasing deer from the garden, to Charlottetown, PEI, working at the Confederation Centre for the Arts. Now, Ben is back to where he started his journey in his hometown of Toronto. Golden is an album that pushed Ben to new levels, and will surely see him reach new heights in his career.
Sarah MacDougall
Described by the magazine Rootstime in Belgium as ‘One of the greatest talents of our era”, and listed as the “2nd best gig” by the major UK newspaper The Independent, becoming the #1 most played artist on Canadian Galaxie Folk/Roots radio, Western Canadian Music Award winning artist Sarah MacDougall is getting known for her honest and poetic songs, passionate performances, and unique voice. Born in Sweden, Swedish magazine Nöjesguiden declared her “One of Sweden’s best singer/songwriters”.
Since the release of award-winning The Greatest Ones Alive in 2011, Sarah has been touring Canada and Europe endlessly, taking time to work on songs and record between tours. Last winter, she hunkered down under the Northern Lights in Whitehorse and put the final touches on the sonically rich album which was to become Grand Canyon. The album, co-produced by Sarah and Caleb Stull (Field Study, Dominique Fricot, Language Arts), which was recorded in Toronto and Vancouver, features 8 songs and guest appearances from Erika Angell (Thus:Owls), Rose Cousins, Jesse Zubot (Tanya Tagaq, Dan Mangan), Peggy Lee, and Leah Abramson (Abramson Singers). Stepping outside of traditional folk and flirting with sounds that could have come from The Postal Service or Kate Bush, Grand Canyon keeps the acoustic guitar but infuses the sound with heavier drums and richly textured strings and synths.
The songs are about identity, love, fear, hope, growing up, rootlessness, forgiveness. They are written from the point of view of the hopeful outsider, trying to figure out their place and make sense of the world. Grand Canyon sees Sarah challenging herself and pushing new boundaries musically and sonically, and it is an album that will surely see Sarah reach new levels in her career.
Ben Kunder Website
Ben Kunder Facebook
Ben Kunder Twitter
Sarah MacDougall Website
Sarah MacDougall Facebook
Ben and Sarah’s Photos by Scarlet O’Neill
Rob Elder
Rob’s music is real-life-inspired. His energy and stage presence draw people in and keep them like dinner guests at a Muskoka cottage, while his song writing has simmered and aged to a vintage that takes an audience on a vivid trip along his unique perspective of life and love. From smooth acoustic ballads about girls and things, to his ‘jump out of your seats and dance’ multi-layered, live-looping … the music keeps coming and you can’t turn away.
Rob Elder Website
Rob’s Photos by Amber Vee Photography
We welcome the Harmony B’s for our Canada Day Celebration at Desboro Music Hall. It all happens between the Strawberry Supper and the Fireworks. PWYC (Pay What You Can). We’ll have lots happening:
~ Join us for a little Open Mic between sets from 7 – 8pm, 8:30 – 9:00pm-ish, 9:30 – 10pm-ish. We’ll have a guitar and piano. You bring your singing voice and songs or whatever you want to perform. Please sign up when you arrive.
~ The Harmony B’s play at 8pm & 9pm and the dance floor will be open.
~ Our Concession Stand will be open for snacks and drinks.
HAPPY 150th CANADA!
Opening Act: Benjamin Dakota Rogers
Desboro Music Hall 2017 Concert Series
All Ages Doors Open: 7pm, Music Starts: 7:30pm
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)
Honey Brothers
Drew McIvor
If music be romance, then Drew McIvor’s music just might be the first date: playful, chatty, honestly yearning to connect. With his trusty six-string, this charismatic crooner performs with a masterful simplicity inviting audiences not only to listen, but truly share the musical experience. His deep affection for his craft is apparent at every turn; you can feel his heart is in the music, and it is contagious.
Jayden Grahlman
Being around Jayden when he has a guitar in his hand and a song on his lips is being around a good thing. There’s nothing to figure out, it’s just musical joy. Combining effervescent, capable song writing with truly staggering guitar chops, he delivers performances that not only say “man can this guy play” but more over, “isn’t music wonderful!”
On their own these two Georgian Bay gems shine. Combined, they sparkle, offering up a beautifully melodic palette of folk, americana, gypsy swing, and acoustic soul in sweet skillful harmony.
Drew McIvor Website
Drew McIvor Facebook
Jayden Grahlman Facebook
Jayden Grahlman Soundcloud
Benjamin Dakota Rogers
Benjamin Dakota Rogers is a multi-instrumentalist, singer songwriter and composer. Using his captivating voice, explosive fiddle and guitar he is creating music that draws you in with stories and poetry. His fiddle work has been described as hard driving, powerful folk with a contemporary edge. Benjamin has brought his love of music to audiences of all ages with his musicality and engaging performance. He is accompanied by Chris Rait on stand-up bass, guitar and warm harmonies. Accolades include Two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations, three Hamilton music award nominations and winner of two International Songwriting competitions. He is quickly becoming a fan favorite. Benjamin was excited to learn Folk Roots Radio placed his third CD Whisky and Pine at #6 in the top 10 albums of 2016!
Benjamin Dakota Rogers Website
Benjamin Dakota Rogers Facebook
Benjamin Dakota Rogers Twitter