THE CUCKOO'S NEST FOLK CLUB

(a non-profit organization promoting traditional & roots folk music in association with The Home County Folk League)

2016 - 2017 Concert Season

Our 23^rd Season at Chaucer's
Map to Chaucer's (click here)

UPCOMING CONCERTS

American Harmony Trio

BROTHER SUN

Joe Jencks, Greg Greenway, and Pat Wictor

Sunday, September 25, 7:30 pm

Chaucers's, 122 Carling St., London

$20 Advance / $25 Door

To order tickets online, click the button

Advance tickets are available now at
Centennial Hall Box Office, Long & McQuade North (725 Fanshawe Park W.), The Village Idiot (Wortley Village), and Chaucer's/Marienbad Restaurant (122 Carling St).

International touring artists Greg Greenway, Pat Wictor, and Joe Jencks have made their mark as veteran touring singer-songwriters, but Brother Sun is no songwriter's round. The trio's harmonies, as much as their lyrics, tell what they are about: warm as a campfire, stirring as a gospel church, rousing as a call to arms. Fusing folk, Americana, blues, pop, jazz, rock, and a cappella singing, Brother Sun is an explosion of musical diversity and harmony, in the finest of male singing traditions. Click for Video

“Greg Greenway, Joe Jencks and Pat Wictor fuse voices of primary colors, creating a white light illuminating the heart and the darker corners of our world.” - Rich Warren, The Midnight Special & Folkstage, WFMT, Chicago, IL

For Information call 519-473-2099 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

Direct from England

RED DIRT SKINNERS

“This duo is awesome and need to be seen. It just doesn't get better than this!!!” - Hugh’s Room, Toronto

Thursday, October 6, 7:30 pm

Chaucers's (upstairs), 122 Carling St., London

$20 Advance / $25 Door

To order tickets online, click the button

Widely regarded as one of the most innovative acts to come out of the UK in recent years, the sublime genre-defying sound of the Red Dirt Skinners is created by husband and wife team, Rob and Sarah Skinner. Drawing on influences from folk, country, blues, Americana, jazz and everything between, the Red Dirt Skinners’ sound is instantly recognisable. Comfortably blending exceptional, almost telepathic, harmonies with the unique instrumentation of soprano saxophone and acoustic guitar, audiences fall in love with the Skinners sound.

"Musically set apart from the mass of bands who are just copying what has gone before." - Music News 4/5. Click for Video

For Information call 519-473-2099 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

Direct from Scotland

ARCHIE FISHER

“A true legend of Scottish folk music!”

Thursday, November 3, 7:30 pm

Chaucers's (upstairs), 122 Carling St., London

$20 Advance / $25 Door

To order tickets online, click the button

Master guitarist, Archie Fisher is one of Scotland’s foremost folksinger/ songwriters. He is known throughout the country as the host of BBC Radio Scotland’s award-winning 'Travelling Folk' programme, which he presented for over 25 years. Recognized for his contributions to Scottish folk music, in 2007 he was inducted into the Scots Traditional Music Hall of Fame and in 2006 was awarded an MBE for services to traditional music. The most recent recognition of his art came in 2008 when he was granted the Tradition Bearers Award from the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival in Canada.

Archie was born in Glasgow into a large singing family, which yielded three professional singers, Archie and his sisters Ray and Cilla Fisher. Constant music, combined with his father’s appreciation of many musical styles (opera, music hall, traditional ballads) had a strong impact on Archie’s musical development, while his mother, a native Gaelic speaker from the Outer Hebrides, was a strong influence on the lyrical quality of his singing and songwriting.

He recently released a new album titled "A Silent Song" on Red House Records. Click for Video

For Information call 519-473-2099 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

Direct from Ireland & England

MÁIRE NÍ CHATHASAIGH & CHRIS NEWMAN

“Music of fire and brilliance from the high-wire act in traditional music” - The Irish Times

Wednesday, November 9, 7:30 pm

Chaucers's (upstairs), 122 Carling St., London

$20 Advance / $25 Door

To order tickets online, click the button

Máire Ní Chathasaigh (pronounced Moira Nee Ha-ha-sig) is "the doyenne of Irish harp players" (The Scotsman) and one of Ireland’s most important and influential traditional musicians, described by the late Derek Bell as “the most interesting and original player of the Irish harp today.” Her duo partner is Chris Newman described as “one of the UK’s most staggering and influential acoustic guitarists” (fROOTS). Click for Video

Máire Ní Chathasaigh (Irish harp) & Chris Newman (acoustic guitar) have performed at most of the major folk and Celtic festivals in Europe, the USA and Australasia; at countless arts festivals; and have given almost two thousand concerts in venues large and small. Their performances - described by The Irish Times as “music of fire and brilliance from the high-wire act in traditional music” - are rooted but eclectic, emotional but adventurous: a breathtaking blend of traditional Irish music, hot jazz, bluegrass and baroque, coupled with striking new compositions and Chris’s delightfully subversive wit. As one reviewer put it, "Fine work by this celebrated duo: Newman led us on death-defying sprints while Máire confirmed her status as one of the world's greatest harpists." Click here for a detailed media release in PDF.

For Information call 519-473-2099 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

SCANTILY PLAID

Sunday, November 13, 7:30 pm

Chaucers's, 122 Carling St., London

$20 Advance / $25 Door

To order tickets online, click the button

Scantily Plaid is a remarkable fusion of Celtic and roots music - traditional and original, old and new - a hundred years of musical experience, played now, with joy, with respect, and from the heart.

The Celtic harp with the pure, beautiful vocals of Ruth Sutherland, the robust vocals, and myriad of other instruments (drums, guitar, harmonica, djembe, banjo and sitar) played to perfection by Doug Feaver, the authentic, inspiring piping styles of Alan Eaton and the Celtic fiddle of Cape Bretoner Dan MacDonald all add to create this varied and magical music. Hamilton-based Scantily Plaid has been playing festivals, highland games, Celtic festivals, concerts and clubs for more than 15 years, with their travels taking them across Canada, the USA, and to Britain, France, and Uruguay. Click for Video

For Information call 519-473-2099 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

BOREAL

(L to R - Jude Vadala, Tannis Slimmon, Katherine Wheatley)

Songs for the Snowy Season

Sunday, November 27, 7:30 pm

Chaucers's, 122 Carling St., London

$20 Advance / $25 Door

To order tickets online, click the button

Boreal are Tannis Slimmon, Katherine Wheatley, and Jude Vadala. Each December they team up to present a very special concert of Christmas and other seasonal music titled "Songs for the Snowy Season." These three Guelph songstresses have dug up old and new songs written about the snowy season. Their ability to pick a great song, their love of beautiful lyrics, melodies and harmonies, their combined songwriting skills, their tour de force voices and the joy they feel singing with each other all make for an unforgettable event. Join them in welcoming winter. Click for Video

Boreal's show has become a Christmas tradition in many communities, and this will be the second performance of this special concert at the Cuckoo’s Nest. It all started in Jude's kitchen. Katherine, Tannis and Jude, all with music careers of their own, decided to join forces and do a show of winter songs. The rehearsal space was Jude's kitchen table. After a few weeks of meticulously working out harmonies, singing a cappella on some songs and adding guitar on others, Boreal did its first show. That was over nine years ago.

Individual Bios:

Katherine Wheatley plays over 100 shows a year. In addition to touring as a solo singer-songwriter, she is a member of "Betty and The Bobs" and plays guitar in Wendell Ferguson's band. She writes and records songs with kids through her Youthsongs program and has produced 20 CDs with schools across North America. This geologist-turned-musician has been singer/zodiac driver on board Gadventure's ship, The MS Expedition as it plies the seas of Antarctica and the Norwegian Arctic. Landscape and character inform her songs. "She turns pebbles of everyday life into dreamy mountains of song." - (The Toronto Star)

Tannis Slimmon delivers performances that are uplifting, engaging, participatory, and reflective. As Canadian Folk Music Awards' 2008 Contemporary Vocalist of the Year, Tannis brings over 30 years of performance experience to the stage with memorable songs from her three critically acclaimed albums, Oak Lake, Lucky Blue and In and Out of Harmony. She has actually appeared on over 80 albums, including those by Willie P. Bennett, Valdy, David Francey and Rheostatics, and has been a guest artist with a number of choirs including Kingston's Open Voices Community Choir and the Guelph Chamber Choir. Recognized as one of the best roots music singers in the country, she is "a breathtaking vocalist with a bright and angelic disposition." (Exclaim!? magazine)

Jude Vadala has been a tenacious member of the Guelph music scene for the past 30 years. Her musical adventures have taken her across Canada and the U.S. with the critically acclaimed group The Bird Sisters where she honed her skills as a songwriter and recording artist. She has produced four albums (Flo, Different Stories, She and She and She and Angel Songs) and has worked on 50 musical projects with artists such as James Gordon, Lynn Miles and Suzi Vinnick. Jude released her fifth album "Do You Ever" in 2010.

For Information call 519-473-2099 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

AILIE ROBERTSON & MAIRI RANKIN

(of The Outside Track)

Sunday, December 11, 7:30 pm

Chaucers's, 122 Carling St., London

$20 Advance / $25 Door

To order tickets online, click the button

Ailie Robertson is a musician in the broadest sense: composer, arranger, teacher, improviser and harp virtuoso. Reknowned Irish flautist Niall Keegan wrote: “Her synthesis of Irish, Scottish and contemporary harping technique into an individual style represents the realization of otherwise unimagined possibilities for the Celtic harp.” Ailie grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was immersed in the harp world from an early age. She began playing the clarsach (Scottish harp) when she was eleven years old and through her piano and clarsach lessons she developed a love for both classical and traditional music. Ailie has some of the most impressive credentials in the Scottish harp world. A 5-time National Mod Gold Medalist, she was also 1st prizewinner at the inaugural London Harp Competition, and best overall musician at the Edinburgh Competition Festival. She has represented Commun na Clarsach for Scotland at the Pan Celtic Festival in Ireland, and in 2005 she was awarded a scholarship from the ESU in recognition of her ‘virtuosic clarsach playing’, and was a winner of the St Albans New Roots award. She was the winner of the Live Ireland award for ‘Instrumental Cut of the Year’ for her debut album ‘First Things First’. In 2009 she was nominated for ‘Up and Coming Artist of the Year’ in the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards. Ailie is in great demand as a teacher around the world, and has published six books of harp music. She has performed all around globe, and is recognised for her unique fusion of Scottish, Irish and contemporary styles. She performs regularly as a member of the pan-Celtic group The Outside Track. Click for Video

Mairi Rankin is one of the hugely influential Rankin Family – legends on the Canadian music scene – she plays fiddle, sings and also step-dances up a storm. Born in Mabou, Nova Scotia, Mairi has been influenced by some of the best Cape Breton traditional musicians and instructors on the island. She has developed her own unique style by being immersed in such a rich musical culture. She has toured nationally and internationally as a solo artist, a sideman and is a member of the Cape Breton Celtic super group Beolach. She has performed with the Rankin Sisters, Unusual Suspects and Bruce Guthro to name but a few. Mairi has recorded one solo album, two CDs with Beolach and has been featured on numerous compilations and recordings. She also performs regularly as a member of the pan-Celtic group The Outside Track.

Click for Video

For Information call 519-473-2099 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

All concerts at begin at 7:30 pm and most are held at Chaucer's, 122 Carling Street, London, ON
(unless otherwise indicated)

Please note: The Village Idiot accepts CASH ONLY

For more information call 519-473-2099 or e-mail folk@iandavies.com

Special Advance $80 Multi-Ticket Available only at the Concerts = 5 Concerts for the Price of 4
(pay for 4 concerts and get the 5^th one free)

To all fans and friends of the Cuckoo’s Nest. After much thought, we can no longer offer concerts at an advance price of $15. The new pricing starting with the 2016-17 Season will be $20 advance and $25 at the door. The 5-for-4 ticket will be $80 which will give you 5 admissions for the average price of $16. All previously purchased 5-for-4 tickets will be honoured.

The new pricing allows us to provide the artists fees that are certainly in line with the quality of the performances, and will at the same time will assist us with the costs associated with presenting these wonderful concerts. We continue to be a completely volunteer run organization. We thank you greatly for your support of live music and look forward to seeing you at the concerts. – Ian Davies, Artistic Director.

What has happened so far in the 2016-2017 Season

Sun. Sept. 11 – Friends of Fiddler’s Green

Fri. Sept. 16 – 2 Worlds United Trio

(Pierre Schryer, Dermot Byrne, Adam Dobres)

Cuckoo's Nest History

Rogue's Gallery

2015/2016 Season

Acoustic Muse Concerts

Area Concert Calendar

Links of Interest

This site is administered by Ian Davies (last update September 18, 2016)

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