JEFF BIRD, multi-instrumentalist, Guelph
Plays all sorts of instruments: Electric and acoustic bass, electric and acoustic mandolin, fiddle, piano, keyboards, guitar, harmonica, percussion, various wind instruments and vocals.
1970 Became posessed with all things
musical and started buying musical instruments with a vengeance.
1974 Began work as a professional
musician.
1976 Moved to Guelph began a Bachelor
of Arts degree majoring in music at the University of Guelph while continuing
to perform music in a professional capacity.
1978 started Canadian folk music
group TAMARACK with James Gordon and Randy Sutherland. Toured extensively
with them until 1987. Produced three recordings and continue to work as
a session player with the group.
1979 as part of TAMARACK began performing
in the canadian folk revue MAPLE SUGAR with GRAHAM TOWNSEND, GILLES LOSIER,
PHILLIPE BRUNEAU and other masters of traditional Canadian music.
1980 Graduated from University of
Guelph with a BA in music.
1987 performed on the legendary recording
THE TRINITY SESSION with the Canadian band COWBOY JUNKIES. have continued
to work with them to this day, touring the world and recording. appearances
include such venerable venues as THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL, CARNEGIE HALL,
MASSEY HALL
He has appeared as a session player
and or producer on over 100 recordings to date including two JUNO winners.
HEARTSTRINGS by WILLIE P BENNETT and YELLOW JACKET by STEPHEN FEARING.
CHRIS QUINN - banjo, Toronto
“I was six years old. I remember standing beside my father in front of the Viking Hi-Fi. As he rested the needle on the record, he looked at me shrewdly and said, Listen to this. Electric crackles, a swelling audience and then the kick off to Salty Dog Blues. I was riveted! He handed me the water coloured album cover and pointed to a man in a dark suit, a string tie and a Stetson. Thats Earl Scruggs. I immediately adopted dads copy of Flatt and Scruggs at Carnegie Hall. In my room, with my own little suitcase record player, I played that album to death. I would sit on the floor, my dads stringless Harmony tenor banjo clutched in my hands, and listen over and over. My one constant thought was, How is he doin that?! I had no idea. I got my first five string banjo on Christmas Day when I was twelve.”
Banjo was a passion that has never
left Chris Quinn., In the early 90s he began playing with Chris Coiole
and Dan Whiteley as One Horse Town. Then he was involved with Heartbreak
Hill which was nominated for a Juno. He has played with Crazy Strings every
Wednesday at Toronto’s Silver Dollar for years and years and currently
plays with Chris Coole in The Foggy Hogtown Boys.
MAC BEATTIE
AWARD
This is
the Mac Beattie Award for musicians who are proud to be identifiably Canadian.
WASHBOARD HANK FISHER, Peterborough
Hank Fisher has been singing off-beat
country songs for years, first cutting into the open as one of Reverend
Ken's Lost Followers where he made the phelopian tuba a household name.
After spending a good five years playing washboard for Fred Eaglesmith
he decided to start a brand new band: Washboard Hank and the Country Squires.
Songs like "Donut Shops of Ontario", "Marmora Pig" and "Honky Tonk Donkey
from Coboconk". He did get the Porcupine citation for best political song
back in 1990 for his heart rendering composition "Stompin' Tom For Prime
Minister" as well as the Oliver Schroer Off-Beat award in 2003.
NEW DRAGON
MINE
The find
of the year Award!
CHRIS BARTOS, OTTAWA
A graduate of Boston’s Berklee College
of Music, Chris Bartos has performed with Lynn Miles, The Ennis Sisters,
John Geggie, Jeff Healey, Dan Whitely, Chris Whitely, Crazy Strings, La
Grande Bouche Swingtette and his own jazz project, The Resurrection Quartet,
and now with Toronto new grass band, Rubberneck. Chris Bartos was born
in Ottawa and has been playing the violin, piano and guitar since the age
of four. Chris has been a professional musician for fifteen years.
Chris is also a composer, producer and engineer of film and television
soundtracks with Robot Music. When not exploring “new ways of writing
about love and loss”, Chris Bartos leads The Cross Tuned Experience, an
old time American string band heavily influenced by bluegrass and Quebecois
fiddle. He was a guest at the Sugar Camp in April, 2010.
GREAT CANADIAN
SONG
This is for
a great, new, contemporary song which captures something unique about the
country.
RON HYNES, St. John’s: Sawchuk
Hynes was born in St. John's, NL in
December 1950, and raised in Ferryland. He was a founding member of The
Wonderful Grand Band, and has released seven solo albums. His debut album,
Discovery,
released in 1972, was the first album composed of totally original content
by a Newfoundland artist. Widely regarded as one of Canada's premiere singer-songwriters
with a career spanning over 30 years, Hynes' songs have become part of
the fabric of Newfoundland culture. Hynes' songs have been covered worldwide
by over 100 artists, including Emmylou Harris, Valdy and Christy Moore.
His song, Sonny’s Dream, first recorded by The Grand Band in 1978, is a
world-wide favourite.,
His song, Sawchuk comes from his
latest Borealis Records release, Stealing Genius. Terry Sawchuk was born
and raised in East Kildonan, a working-class, Ukrainian section of Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. He played professional hockey from 1949 – 1970, mostly
with the Detroit Red Wings. In 1967 he lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to
their last Stanley Cup victory.
CREEKING TREE STRING QUARTET, Toronto
Andrew Collins - mandolin
Brad Keller - guitar
Brian Kobayakawa - bass
John Showman – fiddle
String-band music has long been a staple of Americana. While the four members of Toronto's Creaking Tree String Quartet pay homage to that tradition, they refuse to be bound by it.
Instead, the technically dazzling
outfit uses fingerboards to leap stylistic boundaries and fuse intricate
styles. The result is a smartly intellectual and yet deeply moving sound
that's a true Canadian original: jazz forms sliding over a rootsy bluegrass,
with reverence and avant-garde experimentation.
MICHAEL JEROME BROWNE, Montreal
Born in South Bend, Indiana in 1960,
Michael is the son of English professors whose love of music and poetry
inspired them to take their nine year old son to the great jazz, blues
and folk clubs in their adopted home of Montreal. He was immediately taken
with the music and started learning several instruments: fiddle, guitar,
banjo, dobro, harmonica, washboard and several others. His element is old
timey music: cajun, Quebecois trad, folk blues and ballads. His public
performances can bring old music back to life.
Six String Nation, Joey Taylor, published by Douglas & McIntyre, 2009 - ISBN-978-1-55365-393-6
The Six String Nation guitar and related projects were originally conceived in 1995 by Jowi Taylor and luthier George Rizsanyi. After years of research and fundraising, the guitar made its official debut at the Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill on July 1st, 2006. Since then, it’s travelled many thousands of kilometers across Canada, been played by hundreds of different musicians and been held by thousands of. At a ceremony launching the 2008 Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg-St. Boniface, the guitar received the official nickname Voyageur.
Voyageur itself is made from 63 pieces of Canadian history and heritage representing many different cultures, communities and characters from all across the country.
The book, Six String Nation, not only
tells the story of this incredible instrument, but has dozens of photos
of famous and not-so-famous Canadians holding it. A great project and a
great book!
ROSEMARY PHELAN, Toronto
Originally from the state of Vermont, Rosemary Phelan came to Canada and became a nurse and studied at the royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto studying voice and piano. But her real love was songwriting. In the mid 2000s she began recording with her friend Jason Laprade, and although her recording output isn’t large, it’s filled with great songs. Awarded the Porcupine Song of the Year in 2008 for her song, Hummingbird, a startlingly beautiful song. She writes lyrics that have multiple meanings, songs about the basic human condition, integrating natural elements that she sings with the voice of a songbird.
"I've lived and worked in the pristine
wilderness of nature and the human lost-and-found of the grittiest urban
core. There is still so much to learn, but what I have noticed is this:
the longer I walk this two-fold path that calls me, the more real my music
becomes, and the more certain my hands in their healing work." —Rosemary
Phelan
PORCUPINE
SONG OF THE YEAR
one that keeps coming back at
you
BRI-ANNE SWAN, Toronto: Stars Are Falling (and I'm Hungry)
Bri-anne’s love of music began even
before Bri-anne existed. “My mother listened to Willie Nelson’s ‘Stardust”
over and over again when she was pregnant. By the time I was born she had
grown tired of the album. Later on, when I was about two, she put the album
on again...and I knew all the words!”
She has performed with bands such
as Tanglefoot, Fathead and Dala. She has toured across much of Canada and
Ontario’s North.
DON KERR, Toronto
Don has a recording studio in his home called The Rooster where he works primarily as a music producer. He has also co-owned the renowned Gas Station Recording Studio with Dale Morningstar on Toronto Island.
Don produced the Sexsmith & Kerr's
cd Destination Unknown which was nominated for a Juno Award in 2005 (roots
and traditional album of the year). He has also produced The Backstabbers,
The Creeking Tree String Quartet, Michael Johnston, Sam Larkin, Hotcha!
and most recently, Michael Lake and Karyn Ellis.
David Celia, Toronto: I Tried
I didn’t know what to expect from
David Celia for his third album, I Tried, and maybe that’s a good thing.
I listened intently, wanted to hear it again, and then the songs just grew
on me: these are rally great pop songs. Bringing the spirit and power of
rock to life, sliding through folk roots and rhythms, and being inspired
by the likes of Harry Nilson, Oasis, The Beatles and Syd Barrett, it has
an organic tone. Awarded the New Dragon Mine award in 2008. The songs are
hummable and played in a classic yet current style. This self-produced
album features musicians Joan Besen, Mia Sheard, Burke Carrol and Don Kerr.
BILL HOUSTON, Sioux Lookout / THUNDER BAY, ON:
The King of White Otter Lake, Lone
Wolf Records 1975
Produced by Shelby M Gregory at Eastern
Sound, Toronto, and Creative Electronics Studios, London
The King of White Otter Lake is a
classic Canadian album with a classic Canadian song of the same name which
tells of Jimmy McQuat, a persistent and ingenious man who single-handedly
built a "log castle" on the shore of White Otter Lake between Atikokan
and Ignace, in Northern Ontario. Ojibway Country, another great track,
was originally recorded and used in one of the first IMAX films, North
of Superior, which opened up Toronto’s Cinesphere. Other songs on the album
include Open Spaces, Railroad Town, This is Canada, Workin’ on the Railway
and Northern Journey.
GEM OF CANADA
A Canadian
Album that should be in everyone's home
BOBBY HILL, Montreal:
Radio Days – Ground Breaking recordings
pf performances from the Golden Age of live radio: 1953 – 1968.
The combination of Bobby Hill and
Ronald Scott came together to form one of Canada’s first bluegrass configurations.
With the addition of virtuoso Montreal fiddler, Jean Carignan, they went
on to radio fame with The CFCF Hometown Jamboree and later, The Bobby Hill
Show. Live recordings of some of these programs were digitalized and released
last year by Bobby Hill, and include several long segments, including a
cameo by then suspended Montreal Canadiens captain, Maurice ‘The Rocket’
Richard in 1955, and fiddling great, Ned Landry. A great historical document
of the great radio days.
Ian Tamblyn, Chelsea, Quebec
Born December 2, 1947 in Fort William, Ontario, He graduated from Trent University in Peterborough in 1971 and released his first album, Moose Tracks, the same year. In 1976 he released his official debut album, Ian Tamblyn, which won a Juno Award for Best Folk Music Recording that year. In 1980 formed North Track Records with Thunder Bay friends Ken Hamm and Rodney Brown, which he still operates. He has completed over 25 recording projects, his latest being Gyre in 2009. He plays guitar, piano, hammered dulcimer, and synthesizer, as well as singing. His music can be divided into singer-songwriter material and soundscapes. His most impressive soundscape album was Antactica, 1994, written mostly on location. Not only has he released a vast quantity of works, but he has also been an excellent record producer (2004 Porcupine award) and was inducted into the Porcupine Awards Hall of Fame in 2004. He received The Jackie Washington Award presented at the Northern Lights Festival in 1990, an Honorary Doctorate from Lakehead University in 1994, as well as the Estelle Klein Award at the 2002 OCFF Fall Conference in Ottawa.
Partial discographyMoose Tracks (1971)
Ian Tamblyn (1976) - Juno Award, Best Folk Music Recording
Closer to Home (1978)
When Will I See You Again (1980)
Dance Me Outside (1983)
Over My Head (1986)
Ghost Parade (1988)
Magnetic North (1990)
Through the Years ('76-'92) (1992, compilation)
Days of Sun and Wind
Antarctica (1994)
The Middle Distance (1995)
Lost Visions, Forgotten Dreams (1996)
The Body Needs to Travel (1997)
Voice in the Wilderness (2001)
Like the Way You're Tinkin (2002)
Angel's Share (2004)
Machine Works (2005)
Superior: Spirit and Light - The Four Coast Project: Vol.1 (2007)
Raincoast - The Four Coast Project: Vol.2 (2008)
Gyre (2009)
Tom Coxworth, Calgary AB
Tom Coxworth has been living in Alberta
and broadcasting since he was a student at Calgary’s University of Alberta.
He began his career at the campus radio station CJSR in 1986 after taking
over a Celtic music program. Eventually he graduated to the all-Alberta
network, CKUA where, since 1998, he has been producing his current program,
Folk Routes. Tom is one of the only programmers at CKUA who produce their
programs from home. His dedication to his program is self-evident as he
puts so much of himself into it.
Shirley Field, Armstrong BC
Born in Armstrong, BC and raised on
a cattle ranch, Shirley Field claims to have started singing before she
could walk. A proficient rider, she joined her father’s cattle drives and
fell in love with the cowboy way of life. She began composing songs from
the age of nine after listening to Jimmie Rodgers 78s. From the early
1950s she began her career as a singer / yodeler, befriending Loretta Lynn.
She became a local star of the Kamloops radio show, "The Cowboy's Sweetheart”
which lead her to a guest appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in 1962. She
began recording for Rodeo records in the early 60s and has continued to
record and perform ever since. She has won many awards over the years and
was inducted into the BC Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
Ken Hamm, Thunder Bay ON/ Vancouver BC
From Thunder Bay, Ontario, Ken Hamm
set out to learn the roots of country and blues. His quest took him out
to British Columbia in 1982 where he has lived ever since. While in Thunder
Bay he joined Ian Tamblyn and Rodney Brown in forming North Track Records,
which he still co-owns. His album, Ken Hamm and Friends (featuring Lauri
Conger) was the first album released on the fledgling label (NT001 – from
1978). Since then Ken Hamm has developed into a master guitarist with several
albums to his credit. Over the years he has won a Juno Award and several
others: Best Acoustic Act of the Year by the Toronto Blues Society, and
was also nominated three years running as Best Acoustic Blues Guitarist
by North America's "Guitar Player" magazine
Andrew Hermant, Toronto ON
Andy took up 5-string banjo after
hearing Pete Seeger and “The Weavers” at about 14 years of age. From there,
Earl Scruggs became a major influence, only to be overtaken by “The Greenbriar
Boys”. Along with David Wilcox and Rick Fielding, the infamous “The
Gangreen Boys” were formed, one of Toronto’s first bluegrass groups. The
group enjoyed great, if not brief success, opening for the likes of Gordon
Lightfoot and Anne Murray at Mariposa – notwithstanding the name (it was
David’s idea!). Since those heady days at the peak of the folk movement,
Andy has played 5-string banjo on numerous jingles and albums, the most
famous of which is “Cousin Mary” by Fludd, interspersed with a career as
one of Canada’s top Recording Engineer/Producers, record label owner and
studio operator (Manta Sound Company). He founded Duke St. Records in 1984
which stayed active for a decade, devoted exclusively to Canadian musicians.
He recorded Fraser & Debolt, Jane Siberry, FM, Rik Emmett, Willie P.
Bennett, Rob McConnell, Scott Merritt, Chalk Circle, Valdy, Manteca &
Don Ross.
Bobby Hill, Montreal QC
When he was 13 he invested $25 in
a Stella guitar and began learning cowboys songs. Around 1950 he began
calling square dances and putting together bands and was asked to host
his first radio show over Montreal’s CJAD in 1952: The Alouette Square
Dance show. Then over the years he got radio programs over CFCF, off and
on until 1968. During this time he partnered up with Nova Scotian bluegrass
king, Ronald D Scott and fiddle sensation Jean Carignan. His most famous
recording was The Saga of Rocket Richard.
Connie Kaldor, Regina SK / Montreal QC
It was the month of May in 1953, during
a Regina blizzard, that Connie Kaldor was born. And she’s been singing
ever since. She originally went to school hoping for a career in the performing
arts which took her from Newfoundland to Toronto. But the call of music
was thick in her blood so in 1979 she left the theatre and became a fledgling
singer-songwriter. Her live performances were charged with humour: ”breaking
down the wall that often separates spectator from performer.” She’s toured
from North America to India, China and Europe, bringing Canada and Canadian
music to the world. She was asked to perform on Peter Gzowsk’s very last
Morningside program, live. Connie received the Order of Canada in 2007.
Ritchie Knight & The Midnights, Toronto ON
Rich Hubbard (Richie Knight) - vocals
George Semkiw - guitar
Barry Lloyd - piano, then organ
Mike Brough - sax
Doug Chappell - bass
Barry Stein - drums
Formed in 1961 in Toronto as The Mid-Nights,
the band played the teen circuit throughout Southern Ontario – just another
band on the run. But in 1963 they were signed to Arc Records who wished
to call them Ritchie Knight & The Midnights. They first heard the song
Charlena (by the Sevilles) at a dance and fell in love with it. They learned
it and recorded it as their first Arc single. The song was initially played
on Toronto radio station CKEY and became such as success that flagship
station CHUM 1050 decided to give it a go – a rarity for a Toronto band
at that time. The song reached number 1 on the CHUM Chart and held on to
that position for two weeks – the first time a Toronto band had ever done
that. The song went on to sell an incredible 100,000 copies. They were
featured on Dick Clark’s Cavalcade of Stars show on July 19, 1963 at Maple
Leaf Gardens. It was to be their only hit song. The band would languish
on the Toronto club scene for the next few years, changing it’s name to
the Midnights Blues Band in 1966 and eventually just The Mid-Knights Revue.
They broke up in 1969
Hank LaRiviere, Hawkesbury
ON
(1917-1996)
Henri Lariviere, aka Hank LaRiviere
and Hank Rivers, was born in Hawkesbury, Ontario, a French town on the
Quebec border. He began entertaining in the 1930s during the recession
but really got into it after joining the Canadian forces during WW2 where
he took on the moniker, The Singing Soldier. He began recording in the
late ‘40s with such songs as “Harrah for Camp Borden” and “Oh, but I’m
Happy in the Army” and “The Northern Cannonball.” His musical heyday was
during the 1950s and early 60s, performing on package tours that included
Wilf Carter, Hank Snow and Grandpa Jones. His most proud recording is the
1967 Centennial Travels album for which he wrote a song about every province.
Ray Legere, Amherst NS
Ray Legere is one of those solid multi-purpose
musicians that can lead or follow. An incredibly busy person, always in
demand, he has backed up acts like Rita McNeil, Stevedore Steve, Michelle
Shocked, Tony Rice, and even substituted for bluegrass legend Bill Monroe.
He has been the recipient of the 2003 ECMA (East Coast Music Award)
for "Bluegrass Artist Of The Year" which he also won in 1996. His prowess
on the fiddle and the mandolin have won him many other awards in Canada
and the US. He has played on literally hundreds of recordings. "I am proud
and thankful to be making music my profession and I hope that in striving
to be the best I can be, you will enjoy my music for years to come. Thank
you."
Zeke Mazurek, Wellington
ON
(1951-2010)
Zeke Mazurek was an incredible violinist
from Wellington, Ontario who played fiddle and mandolin with String Band,
Sylvia Tyson's Great Speckled Bird, Prairie Oyster, Sneezy Waters and others.
His sense of humour and ability to ad-lib made him a special session player
and back-up musician. He loved folk music and folk melodies, and released
two CDs of his own works: I Ain’t Dead Yet…. And I Ain’t Dead Yet 2.. Zeke
passed away on Saturday, October 30th, 2010 at the age of 59.
Mike Regenstreif, Montreal QC / Ottawa ON
Mike became involved in the Montreal
folk music scene since the early 1970s, contributing articles in the US
based Sing Out! Magazine and producing concerts. He ran The Golem folk
club and book tours for many Canadian and American artists. In 1994 he
began broadcasting at CKUT, the McGill University radio station. Folk Roots/Folk
Branches was heard on CKUT in Montreal from 1994-2007. He now writes a
folk music blog and spends his time between Ottawa and Montreal.
Cedric Smith, Stratford ON
Now known primarily for his acting (Alec King on Road to Avonlea), Cedric Smith began his artistic journey as a singer-songwriter in Stratford ON. He was one of the prime ingredients that went into the popular folk rock band, Perth County Conspiracy*. A fiery performer who gives it his all, incorporating monologues into songs, songs into monologues, he has continued dabbling in music and currently performs as a frontman for David Woodhead’s Confabulation.
* in the Hall since 2008 and 2000
Classic Canadian Album award for Alive!
Jan Vanderhorst, Brantford ON
Since 1981 Jan Vanderhorst has been
producing 1 hour radio programs of folk music on his program Just Us Folk
over CKPC AM1380 in Brantford. Unlike most folk music broadcasters who
operate out of university radio stations, Jan’s programs on aired on commercial
radio. After nearly 30 years of broadcasting, Jan still feels the energy,
learning and adapting to the changing world of folk music. He is often
spotted at folk festivals and folk related conferences.
Wonderful Grand Band, St. John's NL
Ron Hynes – lead vocal
Sandy Morris – guitars and dobro
Ian Perry – bass
Kelly Russell – fiddle
Jaymie Snyder – fiddle
Paul "Boomer" Stamp – drums
Rocky Wiseman – drums
Glenn Simmons – guitars
The Wonderful Grand Band was a music
and comedy group from Newfoundland and Labrador that recorded two LPs:
The Wonderful Grand Band (featuring Sonny’s Dream) in 1978 and Into A Fog
in 1981. The group had a short-lived eponymous television musical variety
show on CBC, airing from between 1980 and 1983. The show starred Hynes,
Morris, Perry, Simmons, Snyder, and Wiseman (later replaced by Stamp),
as well as CODCO comedians Greg Malone and Tommy Sexton. The show combined
original and traditional music with topical comedy sketches and satire,
some of which was directed at the CBC itself. The sold-out reunion tour
in 2009 featured Greg Malone, Ron Hynes, Sandy Morris Glenn Simmons Jamie
Snider, Ian Perry Paul "Boomer" Stamp.