BLUEGRASS CANADA The official magazine of the Bluegrass Music Association of Canada nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn n n D TOTTENHAM BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL CELEBRATING 30 YEARS 2013 D D FEATURE ARTICLE "ASK ANYBODY" PAGES 5 & 6 D n n nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn VOLUME 7 ISSUE 1 JANUARY2013 Page 1 WHAT"S INSIDE President'$ Message-Pg 3 Correction Notice-Pg 4 Ask Anybody-Feature Article- Pgs 5 & 6 2012 Central Canadian Bluegrass Awards - Pgs 7 to 13 On the Road with Winterline-pgs 18 & 19 Maritime News Pg. 21 Maritime Notes Pg. 24 2013 Festival Listings January to April-Pgs 23 & 24 Editor's Message-Pg 24 Music Biz Article Pg 27 Advertising Rates Pg 28 Organizational Memberships -Pgs 29 & 30 Tim's CD Reviews Pg 31 President-Denis Chadbourn 705-776-7754 Vice-president - Dave Porter 613-721-0535 Secretary-Leann Chadbourn Treasurer-Roland Aucoin 905-635-181 8 Directors at Large Gord De Vries-519-668-0418 Murray Hale- 705-472-2217 Wilson Moore-506-634-2221 Jerry Murphy Region 1 Rep-902-883-7189 Rick Ford-Region 4 Rep-604-873-3438 Editor's Message - Leann Chadbourn A new year brings new ideas and new prospects. Well, this year will be no exception. Many irons are in the fires across the country with new people joining BMAC. New members mean, new and additional bands to listen to, which invariably means more friends to meet. This year, we have decided to list festivals in two issues since the festivals are beginning earlier and earlier each year. This is something of course, that will be built along the way. Any festivals during this time period that have been missed please let me know so they can be added to the list next year. Looking forward to another great year of music and articles from all those interested in submitting. As always, BMAC welcomes any interesting articles or information relevant to Bluegrass and are hopeful to start receiving articles from Coast to Coast. With so many Bluegrass Associations and Clubs across Canada there truly is no shortage of news. Anyone will- ing to submit an article, please contact me at lschadbourn@gmail.com. If you have a special cause that is near and dear to your heart, send us in a photo; let us Page 2 know about it. And remember, you can have your event posted for free at WWW.BLUEGRASSCANADA.CA ·~ PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE ·~· ~~' t'flit; Hey all, what's new? Have I got a lot to tell you. Not on just one topic either, so please forgive me, if this seems to bounce a bit from topic to topic. But there are several things I want to talk to you about, hopefully you have no pro- blem following me. On behalf of the Bluegrass Music Association of Canada, I'd like to congratulate, not just the winners of the 2012 CCBMAs, but also all of the nominees. Personally speaking, it is an honour to just even be recognized as a contender, along side of all of the award recipients in this issue. Congrat's to all! Also, a special thanks to Tony D. of the Nor- thern Bluegrass Committee, who graciously pro- vided B.M.A.C. with a board room in which to hold its Annual General Meeting. Tony is the hardest working dude I know, in Canadian bluegrass! Thanks man. Among some of the fabulous ideas we discussed at our AGM, were prospects of a national blue- grass awards, and a venue locater for bands touring our vast country. These fledgling, yet entirely meritous ideas, require much futher discussion, planning, and hard work from the BMAC board, before they move from concept to reality. But rest assured bluegrass enthusiasts, you will see them come into fruition in the not- too-distant future . On another matter all together, it is noteworthy that this organization, is one that is entirely self -funded through your membership dollars. You, the members, have supported this umbrel- la organization for Canadian bluegrass, and we dearly thank you for your unmitigated support. You believe, (as we do), that Canadian bluegrass is world class! Because of you, we now have a solid foundation that will support future oppor- tunity for growth. Growth that is now sustai- nable, thanks to every BMAC member. And ..... , ...... because of the tireless efforts of guys like Gord Devries, who has spent much time and exper- tise building BMAC's brand new online bou- tique, where Canadian-only products such as your band eds, tee shirts and hats, etc. can be sold. So please send them in. All profits from the boutique shop, will be reinvested in BMAC, to help further achieve our mandate ... to pre- serve and promote bluegrass music in Canada, now and in the future. All of us know that, here in the real world, it takes money to go to music conferences, to promote Canadian bluegrass, to sponsor showcases, to put together our publica- tion, etc., etc ... and it is very gratifying to know, that we are not scrounging for crumbs at the public trough. It gives me confidence to know that we are not at the mercy of some govern- ment grant agency, or philanthropist, from whom funds could dry-up at any time. We are a true-blue-grassroots organization, operating for the people, by the people. Thank you for your faith and trust. I'd like to welcome also, our new board of direc- tors, who stepped-up to donate their time and effort, to foster the growth of bluegrass music across the country. I look forward to working with you, in new and exciting endeavors. BMAC is an organization we can all be proud of. Our collective efforts, have resulted in a solid foun- dation, on which we can continue to build the future of bluegrass in Canada. Please remem- ber to renew your membership. Best of 2013, from Bluegrass Central! Warm regards, Denis Chadbourn Page 3 Page 4 CORRECTION NOTICE APOLOGY TO BOTH RHYME N REASON & HARD RYDE UNFORTUNATELY, THE EDITOR (ME) ERRED IN THE INFORMATION AND OR PICTURE OF THESE TWO BANDS RHYME'n'REASON BLUEGRASS & GOSPEL BAND Doug Moerschfelder- Guitar, Lead Vocals Stefan Van Holten- Banjo, Vocals Bill KooP"' Mandolin, Vocals Joe Rohrer'"' Bass, Vocals For Bookings call Stefan/Diana 905 679-4049 Cell 905 517-7478 Website- rhym enreasonbluegrass.shutterfly.com HARD RYDE Doug deBoer-Guitar, Lead Vocals Rich Koop-Bass, Vocals Will Meadows-Mandolin Marc Roy-Guitar. Vocals Luke Pukrin-Banjo Shawn Kellett-Violin CONTACT: Melissa Sherman Cell- s19-496-0397 Home- 613-392-2412 Melissa@hardryde.ca OPEN MIKE "Ask Anybody" Peter looked me right in the eye and jabbed his fin- ger at the 'Fiddlin' Joe' logo on my bright blue com- mittee jacket, his face beaming, "You go down to those Bluegrass Festival in the south, down in the States. They see that picture on your coat. For sure they tell you that Tottenham is a great Bluegrass Festival. They have heard of The Tottenham Blue- grass Festival. "Ask anybody." Both hands in his jeans pockets, he rocks on his cowboy boots and nods, "Yeah ... ask anybody." He smiles with pride as he thinks back over the past 29 years. "It is a good festival... it is the best festival." I waved to him as he got in this truck and drove out of the Arena parking lot. We had just finished the final three-hour festival meeting in the Lion's room of the Tottenham Com- munity Centre. About twenty-five Committee mem- bers were down to the wire. Our twenty-ninth festi- val was only four weeks away. The next meeting would be onsite at the pond. One by one, the mem- bers reported to Chairman Jerry Switzer about port -a-potties, parking issues, missing signs, designer T- shirts, security, marketing, advance ticket sales, workshops. All the last minute fine-tuning was be- ing done for one of the most successful music festi- vals in Ontario. As I sat through that meeting and listened to each dedicated committee member put the pieces together for another year I noticed Peter Deveau. He was lis- tening carefully to each person, nodding his head as if watching a well-rehearsed play that he had sa- voured many times over the years. He was enjoying every minute. I determined to catch him after the meeting and ask him some questions. Jerry dis- missed us all and I nabbed him by the door. "Peter, I was thinking of doing a story for the BLUE- GRASS CANADA magazine, would you mind sitting down for a minute?" I asked, "It won't take long." I whipped out a pen and started jotting down ques- tions on the back of the committee minutes. Peter slowly sat down, caught by surprise. "When did you first get interested in Bluegrass, Pe- ter?" "Oh .... .let me see ..... it was four years before the festival.. .. 1979 I think. Yes .. .it was 1979. I was road manager for Cross Country Grass. You re- member Eddie and Amon Leblanc?" I nodded. How could I forget those guys. They were the 'house band' for our festival in the early years, and I still had their record albums in my vinyl collection. Al Benner and I had studied their every move when we were begin- ning our own band Hometown Bluegrass. They were our blueprint. What heady days those perfor- mances were for us! And Grassworks with a young Doug Deboer. Another amazing Canadian band. I snapped back to Peter and another question. "How did you become involved with the Tottenham Bluegrass Festival?" "Dennis." "Dennis .... Dennis who?" "Dennis Richie. He was Al's neighbour. Al asked him if he knew any- body who knew something about Bluegrass. He worked with me at Labatt's and he told Al about me. He said there was a guy at work named Peter who talked about Bluegrass all day long." Peter laughed as he remembered the familiar story. A ~· 0 1'tenham, 0 Page 5 "You see the Lion's Club wanted to put on a Blue- grass Festival, but they didn't know what Blue- grass was." His eyes danced as he chuckled, nod- ding his head to me for emphasis and shrugging his shoulders. Then he raised his voice and looked mis- chievously towards Al Benner. "Al Benner phoned me and asked me to come to a Lion's meeting and tell them what Bluegrass music was." He gestured to- wards Al, who was going over some flyers for the fes- tival at a table to his left. Al glanced over ... deciding whether to take the bait. "So I brought Eddie and Amon Leblanc. They sure showed them what it was. They sang a Bluegrass version of Paradise ... by John Prine. . .... . Daddy won't you take me back to Mulen- berg County' .... after that they decided to pass the motion and got me to hire the bands." Al Benner took two steps, and corrected Peter in his strong baritone.... It wasn't that song that convinced me, Peter. ... No." He waited until Peter looked up and leaned over him for emphasis. "Don't you re- member? You keep saying that. It was Rebel Sol- dier. That song did it for me." Peter nodded to his co- founder. ... a huge smile on his face. "Okay ... you're right Al." As I watched these two friends teasing each other, I thought up another question. "What was the highlight festival for you Peter?", I asked. "Doyle Lawson, J.D. Crowe and the New South .... in 1995.", he quipped with no hesitation. "What are some of the problems now?" He stopped and thought for a minute. "Well .... the low dollar was a problem a few years ago ..... .it's not so much anymore .... The new problem now is the price of gas. People with big rigs and fifth wheels are feeling it. They are getting more choosey about where they go. And some of them come from far away." He looked serious for a minute. Then his eyes lit up. "But we are special. We treat our fans and bands bet- ter than any festival around. And this is a family fes- tival. .. all ages come to see it. It's going great. Ask anybody!" "We went from a thirteen thousand budget to a twen- Mike Kirley, ty-eight thousand budget in one year. And we never looked back. People started coming. Slowjam co-ordinator, And now we fill the park. No other Festival fills the Waterloo Wellington Bluegrass Music Association park." He nodded for emphasis .... driving home his point. As Peter was enjoying answering this question, I thought up a negative one. Page 6 2012 Recipients of the Central Canadian Bluegrass Awards Category Recipient Female Vocalist Jan Purcell (Pine Road) Male Vocalist Jim McNulty (Traditionally Wound) Disc Jockey David Blakney Banjo Player Sherry Philip (Concession 23) Fiddle Player Randy Morrison (Flatt River) Bass Richard Koop (Hard Ryde) Guitar Steve Pitico (Pine Road) Mandolin Will Meadows (Hard Ryde) Dobro Doug Van den Kieboom (Bluegrass Edition) Vocal Group Rhyme'N'Reason Instrumental Group Traditionally Wound Gospel Group Rhyme'N'Reason Promising Group Winterline Overall Group Traditionally Wound Composer Melissa Sherman (Hard Ryde) Recording Composed - Hard Ryde Entertainer Bill White (White Pine) Sponsor Bill White - White Pine Essex Kent Bluegrass & Old Tyme Music Association The Valley Bluegrass Festival (Renfrew) Palmer Rapids Festival Thames Valley Bluegrass Association Waterloo Wellington Bluegrass Music Association Gene Gouthro Athlone Studio Ottawa Valley Bluegrass Music Association The Stringman Quinte Isle Bluegrass Celebration Tottenham Bluegrass Festival Brother Brian's Bluegrass Show Queens Bush Bluegrass Club Bluegrass Music Association of Canada The Skyway Bluegrass Club Campbell's Corner Music Sales Pine Ridge Bluegrass Club 2012 Five Year Honour Roll Recipients Female Vocalist Guitar Sherry Philip (Concession 23) Marc Roy (Hard Ryde) Pictures on Preceding Pages Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Next >