This one never really made it past our living room… words/music by Andy Flinn, Vocals by Ariana Nasr.

mp3 file: People from the Valley (WhoCares)

Grapevine » PRETTY DITTIES – Album Review: Seeking Commotion – Andy & Ariana. CD review for “Seeking Commotion” in the Grapevine…

Seeking Commotion CD Release! | t@b Music.

Yes! Our first studio-album in years! check it out!

Here’s a link to a show review from Dunville Ontario, from the Dunville Chronicle…

http://dunnvillechronicle.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2677611

It’s been an other fine year for music in Wolfville. In 2009 I was lucky enough to ad a whole bunch of CD’s to my collection, which includes mostly local stuff and music by people who have performed in Wolfville. Most of these CD’s are available at the Box of Delights, by the way.

On January 10, 2009, Sarah Pound released “It’s About Time“, with a smashing concert at the Baptist Church. That disc is loaded with beautiful songs. These days, you can catch her with Matthew Magee under the name “Casual Show”.

Heather Kelday released her lastest work “Hitchin’ Post“. This album features contributions from a host of local musicians, including John and Andy Kavanagh, Ariana Nasr, Megan Lickley and many others local favourites.

Mike Aubé put out a second disc, “Cluster Folk“, a great collection of new songs. This one includes his band mates Rocket d’Eon and Terry

The Hupman Brothers released their second disc, “Countin’ Quarters“. This one with smokin’ R’n'B and great songwriting, featuring a pile of hot local instrumentalists like Bob Federer, Ian Sherwood, Caleb Miles, Ariana Nasr, Ryan and Scott (Hupman), of course, and Mike Carroll.

John Kavanagh’s second disc, “Small Rooms (Rags, Jazz and Encores for Uke)” appeared a few months after his passing: “To honour his memory and to celebrate his life, John’s friends and family pitched in to complete Small Rooms using the tracks that John had already recorded. The result is a beautiful, intimate portrait of a man and his music.”

That’s not all. There were brand new CD’s by Darren Arsenault, Thugs at Bay, Jamie Junger, Ryan Roberts, and many, many more. Added to the records from previous years I end up with quite a stunning collection which also includes: Band of Owls, Barefoot, Dungaree Brothers, Cuckoo Moon, Sean Peori, Don Osburn, Jack McDonald, Lustre Brothers, Hughie McDonnel.

The amazing thing is: I don’t know about most locally produced CD’s, but I still have enough local music in my house to last me for several days, without repeat! And my collection will get better in 2010. Several artists like Jack McDonald are gearing up to release a new disc this year! Yippee!

This here has been shown on Eastlink Magazine during 2 separate weeks in 2009

ELMAG – Feature – TAB.mov

Dale Leckie produced a little Folk-u-mentary for East Link Magazine….

New CD “Look at them Apples” Launch on Nov. 28 | t@b Music.

On the day that this Grapevine hits the streets, there’s a grand “We Love Lovis” benefit concert taking place at the Festival Theatre. Heather Kelday will arrive just in time to participate…

Arrive from where? Well, well, well. It appears that Heather, over the last few years, has accumulated quite a following in Ontario. She plays shows in Toronto and other hot spots several times a year. With her latest release, “Hitchin’ Post” she’ll appear in many festivals this summer, including, but not limited to, the Deep Roots Music Festival and the Folk Harbour Festival in Lunenburg.

The Hupman Brothers, who just released a brand new, smoking CD titled “Countin’ Quarters”, toured with Matt Andersen earlier this year. That trip brought them as far as the murky waters of the Pacific Ocean, dishin’ out blues, Valley style, in the west-most provinces. Of course you’ll be able to catch them at the Dutch Mason Blues Festival in Truro and many other great events this year. Check their calendar.

I also saw John Tetrault performing at the Jazz Festival in Toronto, where I also saw Coco Love Alcorn, Ian Sherwood. Around the end of June, Thugs at Bay, another Wolfville ensemble, played a string of 15 shows in New Brunswick, Ontario and Quebec. Bluegrass guitarist Darrin Beaton was seen performing in Ontario this summer, including shows in Collingwood, St. Catherines, Toronto as well as the Cicadafest on the Niagara Peninsula.

It appears that the rest of Canada is slowly noticing and appreciating the musical talent from Wolfville and the Annapolis Valley. It’s sort of funny when you hang out in Ontario and run into people and Festival organizers who know very well who the Hupman Brothers are.  And folks are coming to Wolfville to hear music, to wine and dine, and to enjoy stylings like nowhere else on the planet. No wonder I have so much fun around here!

Yes, we (t@b) left the ville of the wolf on Friday late afternoon and went to Antigonish, where we played a short set on Saturday morning for a women’s solstice celebration. Jan McKay, Shauntay Grant, Emmy Alcorn, Molly Thomason, Jess and Greg and many others were performing as well. Note: I was one of only three men in a great hall filled with women only. I had dressed my left arm in drag, hoping that all those woman wouldn’t notice. The other two daring male specimens were Fred, the sound guy and Greg, accompanist for his partner Jess. The show went great. We sold a bunch of CD’s, made a bunch of new contacts and many new friends.

We hung about town until early afternoon with our trumpeteer friend Caleb Hamilton, before leaving for our evening gig at the sessions cafe in Rothesay, NB. Now that’s a place! or maybe I should say, was, a place. Sobey’s who seems to own the place where the venue is located, is tearing down the building and the future of the venue is unknown. Jason Myers and his beautiful voice (accompanied by Ariana‘s violin) opened for us to a fairly small crowd composed mostly of his friends, staff, and their friends. It was strange playing the second show on June 20 in a different province, (our first ever NB show btw,) but the show went over great. We sold four or five CD’s to about 16 people, met most of them, in fact, and had a great time at a famous venue…

It’s been a good nap at Jason’s Cabin and mostly eating clicks ever since. Yesterday we gave Quebec about six and a half hours of our lives before landing in Cornwall for sleep, shower, stocktaking etc…. Today (Monday, June 22) we’ll be divin’ into the big ugly, to meet our niece Bianca from Switzerland, Jazzmin, Sara, Hanspeter, Amin and lots of friends. Family day! Yay!

John Kavanagh, 1960 - 2009

Who around here wasn’t touched by his music? The first time I saw him play was at the CD release concert for Jack McDonald’s “Domestic Acoustic”. John Kavanagh was a band leader at the Flower Cart’s  jam dance events. On the ukulele he played jazz, Mozart and everything in between. Being a popular session musician, he played bass for John Tetrault and viola da gamba for Hope Gillis. On  countless CD’s he can be heard playing guitar, ukulele and other instruments. He recently toured the New England States with an international ukulele caravan and was part of Heather Kelday’s Mud Creek Symphonic. Together with his son Andy he performed in the Deep Roots Jam Dance and other prominent ensembles. With his life partner Mary he founded the hugely successful Valley Ukulele Group, an ensemble of ukulele players and students. This is barely the tip of the iceberg. Google for “Kavanagh Ukulele”.

On Saturday, June 13, in the early afternoon, friends of John Kavanagh will gather at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts for a memorial concert. Many valley artists will perform. We will hear music composed in celebration of John’s life and music which we associate with John’s memory. Check the event listings for details or contact Maurice Gave.