Morrisburg is happy to see the return of Lynn Miles to the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage. Lynn is one of Canada's most accomplished singer/songwriters. With seven albums to her credit, she is the winner of multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards, and a 2003 Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Solo Album of the Year. Her latest album Fall For Beauty was nominated for the 2011 Juno Roots Album of the year, "Fall for Beauty is not only one of the best albums of the year, but one of the best recordings of any year. She may be Canada's troubadour, but she belongs to all of us. Her talent is a shining light on a dark day; a beacon of timeless beauty." Visit Lynn Miles' website.
Tickets are $15 in advance or $18 at the door. All tickets are general admission. Tickets available in advance at Strung Out Guitars Cornwall, Basket Case in Morrisburg, Compact Music in Ottawa, by calling 613.543.2514 to reserve tickets or via this link (service charges apply for paypal and phone orders; online or phone orders available only up to day prior to show).
Lynn will be offering a songwriting workshop on Saturday February 25 from 2-4 pm. Advanced registration is required and will be capped at no more than 20 participants. Workshop tickets are $25 and you can reserve a place by emailing workshops@st-lawrencestage.com. Once registered, please mail your cheque for the workshop, payable to the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage, to PO Box 3009, Morrisburg ON K0C 1X0. Or scroll to bottom of this page for online workshop orders.
Intimate AcousticsWe've got a terrific lineup of artists booked for this show: Andrew Aguiar is an Ottawa-based artist known for his powerful vocals and guitar rhythms, he’s an emotionally driven and charismatic songwriter who has just released his debut EP entitled Ghosts. We have a sizzling fiddle player coming in from Perth, Ontario - Japhy Sullivan has been playing and performing with his family since he was a young lad, he was awarded one of the coveted youth mentor showcase spots at this past year's OCFF meetings and he is going to wow our audience with music that is inspired by an eclectic mix of traditions, including bluegrass, Celtic, folk and even funk. Bruce (Liam) Ciccarelli is a Cornwall native who played the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage in our early years, he's a regular and popular performer in our region and is back at our Stage for this show with his newest CD, Beyond the Illusion. One of our own will also be playing at this show, board member Sandra Whitworth will play a few tunes from her new CD Water On the Moon, she'll be accompanied by two favourites at the Stage, Marc Muir and Noureddine Ismag and we may even see fellow board member Jeanne Ward join them onstage for a number or two. We also have 'Simply Skyline', Brockville-based Brandon Roderick who will be accompanied by some musical friends, Brandon and his crew play regularly in the Brockville area, this is their debut with us and they'll be sharing their stunning vocals and songwriting skills. And then to round out the show we have Andrea Simms-Karp from Ottawa - Andrea is a veteran performer who won the Beth Ferguson Songwriting award at the Ottawa Folk Festival in 2004, she played Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe in 2009 and has just released her much-anticipated second CD, 'Hibernation Nation'. It's a powerhouse of a show and we're sure everyone will be as excited as we are to be offering such a wonderful lineup of artists!
Tickets are $10. All tickets are general admission. Tickets available in advance at Strung Out Guitars Cornwall, Basket Case in Morrisburg, or via this link (service charges apply for paypal orders; online orders available only up to day prior to show).
Who says you can't choose your family? The Crooked Brothers are kindred, no question. Their blend of timeless country classic sounds, back porch blues and stomping scrap yard funk has gained the attention of many folk festival and roots music fans both live and on their carefully crafted albums. A good dance, a good cry, it's all here. Music full of hips and heart. Slinky throbbing bass lines and growling melodies, or a heartache stripped and unadorned. The diversity in instrumentation and vocal arrangements are the vanguard of The Crooked Brothers' art. Jesse Matas, Darwin Baker and Matt Foster - all three are songwriters and multi-instrumentalists. Banjos, mandolins, dobro, guitar and harmonicas all take turns being juggled from brother to brother. 
Each having their own style and touch, the arrangements seem limitless, and there is a refreshing sense that they will never write the same song twice. They ring scraps of railway iron like bells. They whistle through their teeth. They sing and shout. Whatever they're up to, they mean it and it shows. Visit the Crooked Brothers Website.
Manitoba Hal will open this show and brings his passion for the blues and the ukulele to the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage. He blends traditional sounds with looping effects to create a one-man-band performance that is unique. Traditional blues songs are arranged in fresh and inventive ways and his witty stage banter entertains even the most jaded audiences. People often wonder at the sound he creates with the little Hawaiian guitar. Visit Manitoba Hal's Website.
Tickets are $15 in advance or $18 at the door. All tickets are general admission. Tickets available in advance at Strung Out Guitars Cornwall, Basket Case in Morrisburg, Compact Music in Ottawa, or via this link (service charges apply for paypal orders; online orders available only up to day prior to show).
Manitoba Hal will also be offering a ukulele workshop from 2-4 pm on April 14. Cost for the workshop is $25 per person, payable in advance. Please email workshops@st-lawrencestage.com to register. Once registered, please mail your cheque for the workshop, payable to the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage, to PO Box 3009, Morrisburg ON K0C 1X0. Or scroll to bottom of this page for online workshop orders.
Our final show of the 2011/12 season brings together three musicians for an ‘in the round’ performance where these three accomplished artists will trade songs and stories and are certain to thrill our audience. Fraser Anderson is a Scotland-born singer-songwriter who learned his trade amongst the Scottish Folk scene, performing with Dougie MacLean as a vocalist and supporting Joan Armatrading, The Low Anthem and Chuck Berry in concerts around Britain and France, where he now lives. In January 2010, he did a live BBC set alongside Natalie Merchant and her band for Celtic Connections. He recently released his third CD, Little Glass Box, a retro folk-soul exploration recorded with world class musicians which was named album of the week in April 2011 on North Fork Sound - The Radio Station - by New York based DJ and music veteran Howard Thompson. Fraser performed a live radio session in New York in May for WFUV and DJ John Platt described his live performance as 'breathtaking’. Visit Fraser’s website.
Ambre McLean can seem impossibly small on stage, but it doesn’t take long for her talent to make her seem larger than life, a giant filling the room with the kind of songs that make you remember lost loves and abandoned dreams. She comes by her musical gifts honestly, both her parents were professional musicians when she was a child, and they commenced her formal musical training at the age of three. As the years progressed, her musical education included piano, guitar and vocal training, but it has only been recently that McLean decided to step into the limelight full time. Ambre is the winner of numerous awards, including the 2010 OCFF/Galaxie Rising Star Award and this past October she won a songwriting challenge hosted by the CBC’s Alan Neal as part of the International Writer’s Festival for her song ‘So Over’. Her fifth CD, Murder at the Smokehouse, was released in 2010. Visit Ambre’s website.
Tara Holloway was born in Ottawa, spent her formative years growing up in Vancouver and was always, always singing. As a teenager she began performing publicly, playing guitar and writing her own songs. Since then she has toured across Canada and the United States playing, writing and recording with artists like Jon Tiven , Lyle Workman, Ben Lee, Dony Wynn, China Doll and more. She has graced the stage at Ottawa Bluesfest and recently played in the breast cancer fundraiser Babes4Breasts. Tara has been described by Nashville’s Billy Block as ‘Canadian Americana’ and as Ottawa Xpress writes of her debut Sins to Confess : “East Side Story draws on '70s low-end funk/blues traditions and the staccato trem pop of Boyfriend hints at The Ronettes. But whether Holloway belts or bawls, rocks or ruminates, the blues is ever present.” Visit Tara’s website.
Tickets are $15 in advance or $18 at the door. All tickets are general admission. Tickets available in advance at Strung Out Guitars Cornwall, Basket Case in Morrisburg, Compact Music in Ottawa, or via this link (service charges apply for paypal orders; online orders available only up to day prior to show).
January 21, 2012, 2-4 pm, Don Ross Fingerstyle Workshop, $25. Intermediate and advanced guitar players will have an opportunity to work with Don Ross when he offers a workshop on fingerstyle guitar techniques that explores altered tunings, percussive techniques, slap harmonics and harmonic ripple effects (service charges apply for paypal orders; online orders available only up to the week prior to show).
February 25, 2012, 2-4 pm Lynn Miles Songwriting Workshop, $25. Canadian Juno award winning singer songwriter Lynn Miles will be offering a workshop on Songwriting, she'll talk about song structure, verses, choruses, rhyming schemes and more (service charges apply for paypal orders; online orders available only up to the week prior to show).
April 14, 2012, 2-4 pm Manitoba Hal Ukulele Blues Workshop, $25. Manitoba Hal will offer a workshop that shows us how you really can play the blues on the ukulele - this workshop is for beginner to intermediate players who want to learn how to get more out of the uke than they might have imagined! (service charges apply for paypal orders; online orders available only up to the week prior to show).
The St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage has welcomed some great artists to Morrisburg, including Don Ross, Graham Greer, Ben Henriques, Del Barber, Serena Ryder, Matt Longo, Nancy Beaudette, Chris MacLean, Annabelle Chvostek, Layah Jane, Suzie Vinnick, J.D. Edwards, Twilight Hotel, Madison Violet, Jason Fowler, Po’ Girl, Girlyman, Lynn Miles, Easy Pickins', Trio Bruxo, Jim Tidman with special guest Paul Langlois, Daniel Bolshoy, Melissa Ferrick, Roland Hunter, Stephanie Coleman, the Derek Jones Band, The General Electryk, Sara Murphy, Callie Piticco, Matt MacDonald, Jill Zmud, Shawna Caspi, Mallory Krock and many more.
