On Monday evening, Toronto-based songwriter Peter Verity makes an appearance at The Vat.
A multi-instrumentalist, Verity works within the folk genre to share stories, examining and exposing behaviour within relationship and societal contexts.
Making an appearance at the Memorial Centre on Sept. 18 is singer Sarah Harmer. Tickets re available at the Black Knight Inn.
A weekend of folk-based Canadian roots music is coming our way on Sept. 20 and 21 as Rodney Decroo and Carolyn Mark have a residence at The Vat.
The Waskasoo Bluegrass Music Society launches their concert season on Oct. 3 with Jerry Butler and the Blu-Js travelling from East Tennessee to The Elks Lodge. Tickets for this terrific evening of bluegrass are available at the usual outlets including 53rd Street Music, Red Deer Box Exchange, The Key Hole, Parkland Mall Service Desk, Innisfail’s Jackson’s Pharmasave, Lacombe’s Popow’s Auto Body, Old’s Dee J’s, and Rocky Mountain House’s Novel Ideas.
Also appearing this season will be John Reischman and the Jaybirds (Nov. 14), Chris Jones and the Nightdrivers (Jan. 29), and The Special Consensus (March 26).
The Matchbox Theatre has a number of roots shows planned beginning Oct. 29 with Slaid Cleaves travelling from Texas. One of those amazing singers you don’t know you’ve been waiting to hear, if you ‘get’ Sam Baker, John Hiatt and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, you’ll want to hear Cleaves.
The Good Lovelies return on Nov. 28.
Tickets are on sale for all shows, including The Front Porch Roots Review — featuring Ron Rault, Crawdad, Stuart McDougall, Bobby Cameron and Tim Williams — Mark Sterling and Alpha Yaya Diallo in the new year.
This week’s disc review:
Ruth Moody
The Garden
Red House Records
A founding and continuing member of The Wailin’ Jennys, Ruth Moody is one of the significant forces on the Canadian roots landscape. Her recently released album is more than impressive and should please those who appreciate her work with the Jennys.
Moody is a talented multi-instrumentalist and demonstrates her abilities on guitar, accordion, banjo, piano and ukulele throughout the dozen tracks contained on her debut, full-length effort.
With strong, insightful songwriting, Moody, a full-voiced soprano, carries this album well above the deluge of confessional diary writing that comprises much of nu-folk.
The gentle, lonesome eroticism of Cold Outside is instantly attractive. The contributions of Crooked Still to the title track are apparent and set the tone for an album of refreshing music.
Simultaneously intimate and welcoming, The Garden is a sparkling collection of songs and sounds that is immediately appealing and which holds up to thoughtful analysis.
Also in rotation: Will White — Rise Above; D.B. Rielly — Love Potions and Snake Oil; The Mountains and The Trees — I Made This For You; Jay Clark — Live at Hippie Jack’s; and Alejandro Escovedo — Street Songs of Love.
Donald Teplyske is a local freelance writer who contributes a twice-monthly column on roots music; visit fervorcoulee.wordpress.com for additional reviews. If you know a roots music event of which he should be aware, contact him at fervorcoulee@shaw.ca