HFA supports HHS’s Got Talent show

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Oct. 22, 2008.)

Tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 23, Huntsville High School will prove it’s not only America and Canada that have got talent, when they present their very own Huntsville High’s Got Talent show at 7 p.m.

The evening will showcase a variety of talents from singing to dancing and even a little magic. There will be cash prizes in four categories as determined by a panel of judges.

The top prize of $300 and sponsored by the Huntsville Festival of the Arts will go to the star performer. The other prizes worth $100 each will go to the performer who is Most Entertaining (sponsored by Rockscape Designs), Most Creative (MBRP), and Most Likely to Make it Big (The Finds).

The variety show will be held at the school and is open to the general public. Everyone is invited to attend what promises to be a very entertaining evening.

Tickets are $5 at the door.

Spirit of the West concert won’t disappoint

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Oct. 22, 2008.)

Celebrating 25 years as one of Canada’s perennial favourites, Spirit of the West is coming to the Algonquin Theatre on Wednesday, Oct. 29, for what promises to be a great evening of music.

Popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s, before evolving into a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences, the group became one of Canada’s most successful alternative rock acts in the 1990s.

The band started in 1983 as a Vancouver-based folk trio called Evesdropper, consisting of John Mann, Geoffrey Kelly and J. Knutson, playing neighbourhood pubs for very small amounts of money. Armed only with a love of music, the three recorded their first album the next year. They soon changed their name to Spirit of the West and independently released a self-titled album in 1984 before signing to Stony Plain Records, an Edmonton, Alberta, roots music label.

PARTY TIME: Spirit of the West, the ultimate feel-good party band, and alternative rock group, with hits such as Home for a Rest, stops in Huntsville for one concert on Oct. 29.

Stony Plain released Tripping Up the Stairs in 1986. Following that album, Knutson left the band and was replaced by Hugh McMillan.

Twenty-five years later the group continues to make records and has developed a following across the country.

There have been some personnel changes through the years, but Mann and Kelly have been there from the start. Over the years McMillan, Vince Ditrich and Tobin Frank joined on to form the band as it appears today.

Along the way, the group has recorded 12 CDs and has toured throughout Canada, the U.S., U.K. and Europe. They have four gold and two platinum albums to their credit, and are responsible for such songs as Home For a Rest, And if Venice is Sinking, Five Free Minutes, Save This House, and The Crawl. The band’s newest album Star Trails is the first studio recording in several years.

This month, Spirit of the West will be inducted into the West Coast Music Awards Hall of Fame, and drummer Ditrich, who produces House of Doc and Quinzy, has been nominated for Producer of the Year.

In addition to the release of the 25th anniversary anthology, Spirit also taped a live show on St. Patrick’s Day weekend in March this year at one of their favourite venues, the Commodore ballroom in Vancouver. The taping is meant for a Bravo! Network television special to be broadcast in 2009. As well, the band is planning to remount its live symphonic show Open Heart Symphony, recording sessions toward an album of brand new songs and a live, in-concert DVD.

At the very least, Spirit of the West has earned a reputation as Canada’s favourite party band. Their unique blend of pop, rock and Celtic music has been imitated, but rarely equaled.

Concert tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for youth under 18 and can be obtained from the Algonquin Theatre box office, by calling 789-4975, or online at www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca.

Festival presents fiddling supergroup Leahy

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Oct. 8, 2008.)

The siblings have been playing together their whole lives and remain one of Canada's top musical groups

On Friday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m., the Algonquin Theatre stage will resound with the toe-tapping, Celtic sounds of fiddling supergroup Leahy, as part of the Huntsville Festival of the Arts' fall line-up.

Leahy’s eight musical brothers and sisters bring their whole being to each and every performance. When they opened for Shania Twain on her inaugural world tour, Leahy brought 175 audiences to their feet.

GREAT EIGHT: The Canadian powerhouse Leahy, comprised of eight musical brothers and sisters, takes the stage Oct. 10 at the Algonquin Theatre, thanks to the Huntsville Festival of the Arts.

Their life story reads like a Hollywood movie: a large family raised without a television on a farm in the small town of Lakefield, Ontario. In fact, their story was so compelling that it became the subject of an Oscar- winning documentary titled The Leahys: Music Most of All.

When Irishman Michael Leahy came to Canada in 1825, he brought his fiddle with him. Five generations later, Leahy has become an eight-piece whirlwind of Celtic music, dance, and song.

The 11 children of Frank and Julie Leahy were raised just a few miles from the farm that Michael established near Lakefield. Each of them learned fiddle music from their father and received classical violin and piano lessons as well.

Their mother, a champion dancer from Cape Breton, taught them their first routines, and in the evenings the old farmhouse shook with music and dancing. Soon the Leahy family was performing throughout rural Ontario, and the house filled with ribbons and trophies won at festivals and competitions.

Leahy’s eight musical brothers and sisters have been playing together their entire lives. The band’s three acclaimed CDs – Leahy, Lakefield, and In All Things – have world-wide sales of over half a million copies.

Onstage leader Donnell Leahy turned out to be the musical prodigy. By 16, he was an oft-decorated veteran of the fiddle-contest circuit, with a firm command of Celtic as well as jazz, bluegrass and classical styles. In 2005, he married Nova Scotia fiddle favourite Natalie MacMaster.

The family continues to move forward as musicians and performers. The winter of 2007 saw them release their first live DVD and CD. They are also in the midst of working on their second DVD and live CD, which are to be released this year.

On their recent American tour, new audiences learned that the family of instrumentalists, singers and dancers brings a rare level of originality and musicianship to the stage. This originality includes music that Leahy writes, arranges and produces. Known for their unique blend of musical styles and genres, their repertoire is more distinct than ever.

Leahy is the recipient of many awards, including Junos for Best New Group, Best Country Group, and Best Instrumental Album. Their self-titled album rose to number four on the Billboard world music charts and found its way onto the soundtrack of the award-winning movie The Hanging Garden.

Pure and authentic, the band continues to be one of Canada’s most sought after exports.

Tickets for Leahy are $40 for adults and $20 for youth under 18 and are available through the Algonquin Theatre box office, by calling 789-4975, or online at www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca.

Volunteers, patrons, sponsors, all add to the success of Huntsville's arts festival

(An abridged version of the following column originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on Oct. 1, 2008.)

By Kareen Burns,
HFA president

Comme le temps passe vite! My second season as president is winding down. My passion for the arts and our eclectic festival exceeds my expectations. Roll on, year three!

Our dynamic festival board, the Algonquin Theatre personnel, volunteers, sponsors and our wonderful audiences have made our 16th season challenging and incredibly exciting.

I have a dream that the Huntsville Festival of the Arts will evolve into Canada’s foremost eclectic arts festival. Imagine the 2009 season. We will continue to expand our vision, raise the bar in excellence, diversity, education, avant garde fringe projects, and foster community partnerships. I am immensely proud!

Allow me to count the global ways to say thank you. Merci, takk, arigato, spasibo, toa chie, danke, gracias, obrigado! There are never enough ways to say thanks, thank you, and many thanks. Thanks to the very special recipients of our newly minted FBEA award (Festival Builders Excellence Award), who have made a profound contribution to our success and growth over the past 16 years. Thanks to our creative team who developed our new Edge of the Woods Theatre Festival, the Festival Image Makers Art Show, and our beautiful festival brochure image.

Thanks to the front-of-house Algonquin Theatre team, wearing the friendly smiles and funky festival ties while directing you to your seat with a little flashlight when running late, and the efficiency of intermission cocktails or selling performers' CDs. They are a positive and knowledgeable band of Huntsville hospitality promoters. Thanks to the back-of-house Algonquin Theatre volunteers. Led by the stage manager and dressed in black, they are a highly energetic and strong team. They welcome star performers at the theatre's back door, assist with their equipment set up and rehearsal in readiness for an 8 p.m. show. New volunteers, full of curiosity and excitement, are mentored and trained by the team.

Huge attention is paid to detail – electrical cables are taped down, there must be no fingerprints on the beautiful piano, the lighting and sets are arranged to complement the mood. Even the microphone on stage is set at the right height for my introduction. When the word comes from the front-of-house manager, “The house is yours,” the pre-show screen goes up, the lights go down, the audience hushes with anticipation and the magic begins.

Thanks to our hospitality team, who set up snacks and dinner for our performers in the green room, with tablecloths, candles, china, fresh flowers and a delicious meal. Huntsville TLC at its best!

Thanks to the performers’ magical moments: John McDermott’s Danny Boy, Les Stroud’s multi-media show, premiered in his home town, Stephen Lewis’s overwhelming passion, Jesse Cook’s unplugged song at the end of his show and many, many more memories. Thanks to our dear and loyal sponsors, patrons and supporters. You make it possible to be incredibly creative, bold and unafraid to showcase new performers and events.

Thanks to a dynamic festival board of directors. You create our festival season, meeting in October to plan the main stage shows and exciting fringe events for the following year. The board is a hands-on team, who put up tents and banners, took tickets, put on kids’ tattoos, introduced shows, built a beautiful art gallery in a church hall, created our marvellous Marche excitement and so much more.

Our amazing education outreach committee continues to deliver new ideas and directions with public and high school students. These include a spoken-word poetry workshop, painting 20 Group of Seven murals, which are now proudly displayed on the exterior of Huntsville High School. The students are our future audiences and we strongly believe in giving back to our community. Merci mes amis.

Finally, without an audience we would not exist. Thank you with all my heart. A full Algonquin Theatre festival audience is a joy indeed.

In Scottish, thenk ye.