Courtesy: Mike Goad on Flickr (via Library of Congress)
There is indeed a session this coming Sunday, as usual from noon to 2:45 pm at the Tranzac Club. See you all there!
That said, this is a busy time for lovers of Quebecois music! Hope some of you made it to the Pierre Schryer concert on July 9th. We certainly enjoyed De temps antan at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia that same weekend! Mark your calendars for one or two of these:
- Friday, July 21, free concert with Le vent du nord (thank you, Elizabeth!). The show starts at 9:30, but get there early to find seats.
- From July 23 to 28, the 14th annual Camp violon trad Québec will be held in St-Côme.
- While you are there (Nancy & Elizabeth!) check out le Festival mémoire et racines in jolie Joliette (parc Bosco, St-Charles-de-Borromée, actually), always the last full weekend in July, which is July 28 to 30 this year.
- Closer to home, the Millrace Folk Festival in downtown Cambridge, Ontario, is a free traditional music festival. Celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, they have invited perennial favourites Yann Falquet & Pascal Gemme, as well as our good friends from England, Richard and Jess Arrowsmith, playing in a trio with Ottawa musician Ian Robb.
- August 11-13 is the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival, as always preceded by the week-long Celtic College. Yann, Pascal, Richard & Jess will all be there, as well.
- You can head straight from Goderich to the AlgomaTrad Family Music and Dance Camp, up near Sault Ste. Marie (on St. Joseph’s Island). Julie Schryer and Pat O’Gorman, together wit a legion of volunteers, host one of the nicest camps around. As usual, there is a slew of Ontario-style musicians, including James Stephens, Denis Fréchette, as well as Louis, Benoît and Julie Schryer. The food is stupendous, the dancing never ends, and tunes go on all night! A little bit of heaven.
- August 17-20 (the weekend of the next TOqueTrad session) is the weekend of Pascal’s festival, Les violons de Sutton, a traditional fiddle festival in the Eastern Townships. Very small, very friendly, lots of support from the town. Lovely beer, a square dance, many sessions, a parade, concerts, a donkey… this one has it all!
So, while far from impartial, this will give you something to be getting on with. If you hear of anything interesting, drop us a line and we’ll put it out there.
Thanks, and enjoy your summer.
Rob & Donna