February 21 – soundcheck photos

John Reischman

John Reischman

Greg Spatz

Greg Spatz

Trisha Gagnon

Trisha Gagnon

Nick Hornbuckle

Nick Hornbuckle



Jim Nunally

Jim Nunally

Karla Adolphe

Karla Adolphe

 

Next Nick Concert – John Reischman and the Jaybirds – February 21

Our next concert at the Nick will feature John Reischman and the Jaybirds with opening act Karla Adolphe.

All Nick concerts are held at the Crescent Heights Community Hall, 1101 2nd St. N.W. Doors open at 7:00 and showtime is 7:30.

Tickets for this concert are on sale at Brown Paper Tickets.

John Reischman and the Jaybirds

John Reischman and the Jaybirds

Led by mandolin master John Reischman, the Jaybirds hail from the variegated ranks of the contemporary West Coast acoustic music scene, with guitarist Jim Nunally, Greg Spatz on fiddle, Nick Hornbuckle on banjo and Trisha Gagnon on bass.  Years of European and North American tours, five critically acclaimed albums, two Juno nominations and two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations…little wonder, the buzz around John Reischman and The Jaybirds continues to grow. The group fashions a stylish, elegant take on bluegrass that is at once innovative and unadorned, sophisticated and stripped-down, happily old-fashioned, yet unselfconsciously new. A genial blend of story-telling and side-show humour provides the backdrop to a performance featuring hard driving instrumentals, lonesome singing and an excellent cross section of original songs, instrumentals, and newly arranged traditional material.  John Reischman and the Jaybirds deliver a truly fresh blend of old-time heritage, and bluegrass power.

Karla Adolphe

Karla Adolphe



Karla’s duo, Jacob and Lily, released The Cathedral, and earned a nomination for a 2007 Best New/Emerging Artist Canadian Folk Music Award. She was selected as one of 5 Co-Winners at the 2008 Mountain Stage NewSong Contest. Her CD Honeycomb Tombs is inspired by and devoted to the subject of grief.  Karla’s music is a tent revival in your heart, head and soul. Her folky guitar supports a HUGE voice and her pop hooks transition straight into old-timey gospel shouts. With a voice that straddles a delicate balance between strength and vulnerability, Karla treads treacherous topics with ease.

Tickets for the following 2015 Nick shows are also on sale at: Brown Paper Tickets.

Mar 7:   James Hill & Anne Janelle with opening act Amy Thiessen.

Mar 21:   Old Man Luedecke with opening act The Command Sisters.

Apr 18:   The Bills with opening act Lizzy Hoyt.

Apr 25:  Patrons’ Night.

Next Nick Concert – Dave Gunning – February 7

Our next concert at the Nick will feature Dave Gunning with opening act Steph Cameron.

All Nick concerts are held at the Crescent Heights Community Hall, 1101 2nd St. N.W. Doors open at 7:00 and showtime is 7:30.

Tickets for this concert are on sale at Brown Paper Tickets.

Dave Gunning

Dave Gunning

Dave Gunning finds stories that grab you by the heart, writing from a sonic menu that includes flavors of Irish, Scottish, folk and country musical styles. Dave’s 10th album No More Pennies is inarguably his finest collection of songs to date. These Hands, co-written with George Canyon, is a ‘call to action’ style song reminiscent of classic Pete Seeger, to inspire us to make good in this world. These Hands was awarded Song of the Year at the 2013 East Coast Music Awards and Dave picked up nominations for Folk Recording and Fans Choice Entertainer of the Year. His 2011 release, … a tribute to John Allan Cameron was honored with a Juno nomination and won two Canadian Folk Music Awards and two ECMA Awards. Engaging and charismatic, Dave has a magnetic gift of captivating audiences by creating a bond, through down-to-earth details, homespun humour and seasoned musicianship.

Steph Cameron

Steph Cameron

Steph Cameron is an engagingly communicative and energetic performer whose music seems to echo another time and place. Think of the beatniks in the ’50s, think Greenwich Village circa 1963. Steph Cameron and her like-minded friends share music around the campfire, or by candlelight within the rural cabins they have built themselves. That environment spawned Sad-Eyed Lonesome Lady, her astonishingly accomplished debut album. Steph explores a vast emotional terrain with convincing skill, thanks to her pure, strong and supple voice. Steph’s songs dig deep, drawing upon the experiences and lessons learned from a fascinatingly nomadic and sometimes turbulent lifestyle.

Tickets for the following 2015 Nick shows are also on sale at: Brown Paper Tickets.

Feb 21:   John Reischman and the Jaybirds with opening act Karla Adolphe.

Mar 7:   James Hill & Anne Janelle with opening act Amy Thiessen.

Mar 21:   Old Man Luedecke with opening act The Command Sisters.

Apr 18:   The Bills with opening act Lizzy Hoyt.

Apr 25:  Patrons’ Night.

January 24 – soundcheck photos

Wendell Ferguson

Wendell Ferguson

Katherine Wheatley

Katherine Wheatley

Wendell and Wheat

Wendell and Wheat



Matt Patershuk

Matt Patershuk

Scott Duncan

Scott Duncan

Next Nick Concert – Wendell and Wheat – January 24

Our next concert at the Nick will feature Wendell and Wheat with opening act Matt Patershuk.

All Nick concerts are held at the Crescent Heights Community Hall, 1101 2nd St. N.W. Doors open at 7:00 and showtime is 7:30.

Tickets for this concert are on sale at Brown Paper Tickets.

Wendell and Wheat

Wendell and Wheat

When Wendell Ferguson and Katherine Wheatley come together on stage, they create that magic that occurs when two musicians really connect, and engage effortlessly in the banter that only good friends produce. Audience members are left feeling like they’ve been drawn into an intimate gathering of friends. Wendell and Wheat balance each other perfectly. While he may be the comedic force in this duo, Wendell Ferguson’s guitar playing is serious business. He won the Canadian Country Music Association’s Guitar Player of the Year six times. In 2014 Wendell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. For her part, Katherine balances Wendell’s mean axe playing and sharp comic wit with graceful elegance and eloquent lyrics. She is able to take minor observations in life and find their soul. Katherine Wheatley’s heartfelt lyrical vision and poignant voice and Wendell Ferguson’s honest yet irreverent humour make for both a moving and hilarious show.

Matt Patershuk

Matt Patershuk

Matt, a genuine and open performer who loves to share a song, lives just outside the tiny hamlet of LaGlace, Alberta. His songs were finalists in the 2013 and 2014 Calgary Folk Music Festival songwriting competitions and Outside the Lights of Town, his first album, was nominated for Country Album of the Year at the 2014 Western Canadian Music Awards. Matt sketches the lives of working men and women in rural Canada; an aging small town hero who is still a legend in his own mind, an oilfield widow, and a farmer with his own take on the divine.

Tickets for the following 2015 Nick shows are also on sale at: Brown Paper Tickets.

Feb 7:   Dave Gunning with opening act Steph Cameron.

Feb 21:   John Reischman and the Jaybirds with opening act Karla Adolphe.

Mar 7:   James Hill & Anne Janelle with opening act Amy Thiessen.

Mar 21:   Old Man Luedecke with opening act The Command Sisters.

Apr 18:   The Bills with opening act Lizzy Hoyt.

Apr 25:  Patrons’ Night.

First 2015 Concert – Alberta 3-in-1 Night – January 10

Our first concert of the new year will feature three great Alberta acts,  100 mile houseJoe Nolan, and The Travelling Mabels.

All Nick concerts are held at the Crescent Heights Community Hall, 1101 2nd St. N.W. Doors open at 7:00 and showtime is 7:30.

Tickets for this concert are on sale at Brown Paper Tickets.

100 mile house

100 mile house

The new 100 mile house release, Wait With Me, is their third full-length album, packed with the lyrically driven roots tunes that gained a WCMA for Roots Duo/Group Recording of the Year, The song London won the coveted Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting Contest, the second time the band has walked away with the prize. Better, Still won the contest Grand Prize in 2011. Husband and wife duo Peter Stone and Denise MacKay, plus multi-instrumentalist Scott Zubot, share their unique brand of original transatlantic folk. Their beautiful harmonies, rich arrangements and captivating lyrics make their sound truly distinctive.

Joe Nolan

Joe Nolan

Joe Nolan’s debut CD, Goodbye Cinderella, produced by Colin Linden in 2011, earned a nomination for a Canadian Folk Music Award for New Emerging Artist of the Year. Tornado was released by Six Shooter Records in January 2014. Joe Nolan’s distinctive and intimate vocals stack the deck. From theremin tremors to raw howls, his range of expression reaches extremes. He delivers bandaged fragility and raw rage with equal impact. The songs are fervent, pressing and intense, attuned at once to the world of youthful melodramas and an older, deeper level of human experience. His insight into the latter has nothing to do with his age.

 

The Travelling Mabels

The Travelling Mabels



The Travelling Mabels, voted 2011 Association of Country Music in Alberta Group of the Year, are a folk/country female trio full of spirit, spunk and laughter. Eva Levesque formed the Levesque family band including 12 year old daughter Suzanne. Lana Floen won a “Sing with Shania” contest, to sing lead, with Shania back-up, to a sold out crowd at the Saddledome. Keith Floen was nominated 2012 Canadian Country Music Association Keyboard Player of the Year. Singularily, each woman can vocally stand alone, but once you hear the combined harmony blend, you will know why these three women came together.

Tickets for the following 2015 Nick shows are also on sale at: Brown Paper Tickets.

Jan 24:   Wendell and Wheat with opening act Matt Patershuk.

Feb 7:   Dave Gunning with opening act Steph Cameron.

Feb 21:   John Reischman and the Jaybirds with opening act t.b.a.

Mar 7:   James Hill & Anne Janelle with opening act Amy Thiessen.

Mar 21:   Old Man Luedecke with opening act The Command Sisters.

Apr 18:   The Bills with opening act Lizzy Hoyt.

Apr 25:  Patrons’ Night.

Final 2014 Concert – Richard Shindell – November 22

Our next concert at the Nick will feature Richard Shindell with opening act Kevin John Cook.

Richard Shindell

Richard Shindell

All Nick concerts are held at the Crescent Heights Community Hall, 1101 2nd St. N.W. Doors open at 7:00 and showtime is 7:30.

Tickets for this concert are on sale at Brown Paper Tickets.

Richard Shindell is a meticulous craftsman of song whose albums have been revered by critics and fans alike. Innovative, original and occasionally spiritual, Shindell’s songs weave tales that interchangeably champion the downtrodden, exalt the disaffected or wax empathetic to those lost to society’s fringes. He has a unique ability to morph into the soul of the varied personalities he casts as narrators; songs that are veritable novellas framed in haunting acoustic melodies, sometimes including cryptic, revelations through the eyes of a woman. In 1997, he was invited to join Joan Baez on tour, opening the ears of new folk music enthusiasts to his talents as a songwriter and performer. In 1998, Shindell joined the acoustic trio, Cry Cry Cry, with Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky. Shindell’s songwriting is truly eclectic; ranging from lighthearted ballads and adulterous love songs, to dirges and diatribes that skillfully skewer politics, prejudice, war and religion.

Here’s a live concert video of Richard singing his haunting song “Fishing”.

Kevin John Cook

Kevin John Cook

From greasy blues to country soul, Kevin John Cook is an accomplished guitarist with a signature dusty voice delivers the real gold in his lyrics. Hard to pigeon-hole, his influences range from Hank Williams to J.J. Cale and everything in between. He cut his musical teeth in Alberta’s rough and tumble honky-tonks and blues bars playing for cowboys, lumberjacks and bikers. This somewhat reclusive writer likes the quiet life and lives in a cabin in the woods. His latest CD, Shake Your Faith was released this summer. Cook’s tales of dark beauty tempered with an offbeat sense of humor will captivate you.

Tickets for the following 2015 Nick shows will go on sale at: Brown Paper Tickets on December 12.

Jan 10:  Three in One Alberta Night:  100 mile houseJoe NolanThe Travelling Mabels.

Jan 24:   Wendell and Wheat with opening act Matt Patershuk.

Feb 7:   Dave Gunning with opening act Steph Cameron.

Feb 21:   John Reischman and the Jaybirds with opening act t.b.a.

Mar 7:   James Hill & Anne Janelle with opening act Amy Thiessen.

Mar 21:   Old Man Luedecke with opening act The Command Sisters.

Apr 18:   The Bills with opening act Lizzy Hoyt.

Apr 25:  Patrons’ Night.