@ WOOD RIVER HALL
"Connie Kaldor @ Wood River Hall" is an entertaining musical program featuring the best of Canada's veteran and
up-and-coming folk and acoustical talent. It is a joint production of
Westwind Pictures and Vision TV.
Each episode opens with a greeting and song from Connie herself, followed by a 'mini-concert' by her special guest, a jam session with Connie, and a traditional sing-along song for the audience to join in for the finale.
Connie and her guests are in good
company with the
house band, aka "CKO" (the Connie Kaldor Orchestra).
It features Paul Campagne on guitar, Bill Gossage on bass and fiddler
extraordinaire April Verch.
The programs were recorded at the Regina Soundstage over the course of eight days in August 2003. I was fortunate to be an audience member for some of the tapings, and had the time of my life watching essentially a musical recording session develop before my eyes.
The program had aired previously across Canada on Vision TV, as well as Saskatchewan's SCN and British Colubia's The Knowledge Network. Today, the thirteen installments are available for home viewing on VHS or DVD. Check out the ordering info page for the details.
Here are some brief capsules of each episode, from a viewing standpoint as well as my personal experience as an audience member (you can click on an installment below to jump right to it):
1. Scarlett, Washington & Whiteley 8. Roy Forbes
2. James Keelaghan 9. Blackie & The Rodeo Kings
3. The Wailin' Jennys 10. April Verch
4. Bruce Cockburn 11. Shari Ulrich
5. Eileen Laverty 12. Bob Evans
6. The Duhks 13. Sylvia & Clay Tyson
1. SCARLETT, WASHINGTON & WHITELEY
Mose Scarlett,
Jackie Washington and Ken Whiteley have all
enjoyed solo careers. Their association began in the late 80's and led to
the Juno-nominated album "Where Old Friends Meet" and the 1995 3-CD
set "Three by Three", in which each artist is predominately featured
on 1 of the 3 CD's! They have been performing together off and on ever
since.
To have had Jackie Washington, at 84 years young on stage was to have a living legend in our presence. He began performing in 1924 with The Four Washington Brothers, and has worked with Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot, just to name a few, ever since.
Connie kicks off her series appropiately with one of her earliest hits that she rarely plays live.
SW&W perform among other songs, the 1940's standard "I Ain't Got Nobody", "Oh Mary, Don't You Weep", and Jackie and Connie collaborate on "Summertime". (TAPED ON AUGUST 18, 2003)
This second installment
features longtime Canadian favorite and
friend of Connie's, James Keelaghan. One could call him the historian's
folk singer, as his repertoire of songs includes many tales of Canadian history.
He has had the honor of winning a Juno, as well as first place in the U.S.A.
Songwriting Competition for "Cold Missouri Waters".
Incidentally, this show was taped on the day of the Northeast blackout. If we just could have tapped in to the energy provided by and Connie and James from their performances... (TAPED ON AUGUST 14, 2003)
This collaboration is
the first of two WRH guests to
feature a member of the now defunct Celtic band Scruj Macduhk. Looking for
a new outlet to sing through, and on a promise by a friend who owned a music
store, former SM lead singer Ruth Moody joined up with fellow Winnipeg musicians
Cara Luft and Nicky Mehta to form the Wailin' Jennys in early 2002. In two
years, their spectacular harmony vocals and musical training from their previous
projects have vaulted them into the spotlight through headlining folk festivals
and cutting a 6-song EP disc that got noticed quickly by CBC and college radio
stations. Their follow-up album, "40 Days", won the 2004 Juno
for Roots & Traditional Album Of The Year (group), and their 2006 effort,
"Firecracker" was also a nominee. They have also appeared
frequently on NPR's A Prairie Home Companion. Ruth, Nicky and
newest member Heather Masse are still touring and going strong.
At the Hall, the Jennys played traditional tunes, selections from their EP album including "Sun's Gonna Rise" and "Row Him Home".
We apologize for the goofy-looking guy in the green shirt on Connie's right during her intro of the Jennys. Pay no mind to him... (TAPED ON AUGUST 20, 2003)
Well, I wasn't
present for this taping, but from what I understand,
the Bruce Cockburn show was the hottest 'ticket'. And no wonder!
This legendary performer who was recently inducted as an Officer in the
Order of Canada, and into the Juno Awards Hall of Fame, has performed through
five decades and is still going strong. His music has had a sense of
environmental, political and humanitarian responsibility, and Cockburn has been
active in aiding war torn and poverty-stricken parts of the world, including his
contribution to Northern Lights, the Canadian all-star band that recorded
"Tears Are Not Enough" in 1985 to provide famine relief in Africa.
Cockburn has also been a prominent figure in the American Country Music scene, collaborating with artists such as Roseanne Cash, Emmylou Harris and Jackson Browne, just to name a few. (TAPED ON AUGUST 13, 2003)
These
shows were taped back in August, so due to travel problems
caused by the big blackout, this particular evening three shows were put
together (with Connie taping her numbers and intros two days prior.) But
by the time we were treated to the soothing sounds of Eileen Laverty, it
provided the perfect outlet to wind down from quite a night of perfromances!
Born in Ireland, Laverty grew up in Saskatchewan with prairie hospitality and a love for Celtic music. Having been formerly of the band Siamsa, she brought her solo efforts to the WRH and made her fellow prairie dwellers proud. Included in her set was the beautiful "Caledonia", presented as the sing-along finale. She felt bad about keeping us late -- being the third act, taping wrapped up around 1 a.m. -- but we could have stayed all night!
Be sure to catch a cameo appearance by the one and only Shaker Girl! (TAPED ON AUGUST 15 & 17, 2003)
Ruth
Moody, of previous WRH guests The Wailin' Jennys, wasn't
the only previous member of a certain band to land on her "webbed"
feet...
The Duhks are an offshoot of the now defunct Scruj Macduhk, which has nothing to do with Huey, Dewey and Louie, and everything to do with great Celtic music. Original band member Leonard Podolak formed the new Duhks with fiddler Tania Elizabeth, guitarist Jordan McConnell, singer Jessica Harvey and later, percussionist Rodrigo Munoz.
The new collaboration was an instant success, illustrated by the Juno nomination for their first album, "Your Daughters and Your Sons". (TAPED ON AUGUST 14, 2003)
This
was the first time that Stringband's founding members, Bob
Bossin and Marie-Lynn Hammond had performed in Regina and recorded music as
Stringband since it was dis-"Band"-ed in 1986. In the 15 years
that the band existed with various members, their claim to fame besides their
downhome string-based folk sound was the extent of their travels. They
have played every corner of Canada -- including extensive tours of the northern
provinces. This is how they learned of all the cultures and languages of
their homeland -- including Mic Mac...
Which leads us to the highlight of their performance, Connie's and CKO's jamming with Stringband on "Vichten", the 'first nation' (or native Canadian) Mic Mac song that Stringband recorded for their 1975 album "National Melodies". After Marie-Lynn and Connie began the song , the rest of the band joined in, including Paul Campagne, who recorded the same song with Hart Rouge 20 years later. (TAPED ON AUGUST 15 & 17, 2003)
If
you're a regular to this website, then you don't need an
introduction to Roy Forbes. He has played on, produced for, and sang with
Connie on many of her albums, as he done so for many other artists. We
haven't even touched upon his own albums and his albums with UHF. Fans
will also be pleased to hear that he's working on a compilation album called
"Retro-Roy", which will include his work with Connie.
The pride of Dawson Creek, British Columbia helped Connie open the show with their classic duet from the album "Moonlight Grocery". As the gremlins seemed to be in full force this evening, we had a lot of time between takes. Connie "waxed" poetic about Roy's extensive 78 collection which evidently takes up most of his garage. Also, Roy has been known to be the loquacious sort, so Connie made a bet that Roy couldn't stay silent during a lengthy camera positioning. As much as she prvoked him, Roy kept his cool and won the bet (the best bits indeed do wind up on the cutting room floor). As for the rest of the show, Roy performed a song he wrote for his daughter that he got the audience to join in on ("Lifting My Heart"), and some numbers from his album "Crazy Old Moon", including a song written for his mother's 75th birthday that was actually inspired by his mother in the first place. Tune in to find out all about that, and to see Roy and Connie perform another duet. (TAPED ON AUGUST 19, 2003)
9. BLACKIE AND THE RODEO KINGS
For the second taping of the three-act evening that was scheduled due to the blackout, the Wood River Hall was shaken down to it's foundation by the rockin' sound of Blackie & The Rodeo Kings (Stephen Fearing, Colin Linden and Tom Wilson). For Fearing, it was the first time he has recorded with Connie since 1988 and his solo album, "Out To Sea".
The three
guitarists have all enjoyed successful careers as solo
artists and as members of other bands. They have performed as Blackie off
and on since 1996.
Perhaps anxious to get to the closing night performance of the Regina Folk Festival, the band couldn't seem to stay still during takes, and proceeded to jump into impromptu rockabilly versions of everything from Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" to Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite". As for their scheduled playlist, they didn't fail to entertain there either. Ironically, the playlist included a song about a previous WRH guest, "Jackie Washington", from their hit album, "BARK." (TAPED ON AUGUST 15 & 17, 2003)
This was the Friday
tape date that was supposed to have featured Stringband and Blackie. But
due to that pesky blackout, they had to be switched to Sunday with Eileen
Laverty, who couldn't change her schedule. So to save time, Connie taped
her openings and introductions for the
three bands on that Friday, though they were all a thousand miles away (that's
show biz!) As April Verch was there as part of the house band anyway, her solo
show was taped that night.
Even between takes of the other acts, April occasionally broke into lively step dances as she fiddled away an impromptu tune. I can only imagine what she did at her featured performance on WRH! Her training at Boston's Berklee College of Music helped her earn the titles of Grand Masters Fiddle Champion and Canadian Open Fiddle Champion by the time she was twenty. She has appeared in many American and Canadian festivals and radio shows. Her latest album is "Take Me Back" from 2006. (TAPED ON AUGUST 15, 2003)
Although she's now a Canadian citizen, it
was nice to have U.S. born Shari Ulrich present -- that now made two of us.
I was starting to feel like the token American of the audience. But
seriously, not only was she also a third of UHF with Roy Forbes and Bill
Henderson and part of the Hometown Band (in which she received a Juno for her 
part), Ulrich prospered with a solo career (that garnered her a second Juno as
most promising female artist) and has many composing and acting credits to her
name.
Connie opened the show with a classic from "Gentle of Heart" that is also on her new "Vinyl Songbook". With the help of her long time musical companion Bill Runge, Shari treated us to a couple of selections from her album The View From Here: "If You Loved Me" and "Watching The River Run", as well as other favorites. In 1994, Shari, much like Connie at the time, was a fairly new mother, and was pleased to provide background vocals on Connie's "Mother's Prayer". Ten years later, Shari and Connie team up again on the WRH stage for a touching live version of the song. And afterwards, of course, a rousing sing-along finale! (TAPED ON AUGUST 19, 2003)
For the 12th installment,
we didn't have to go far to find our man. 
Regina resident Bob Evans provided some guitar instrumentals and clever songs
from his career that spanned the 70's, 90's and today. What happened to
the 80's you say? Well, when Bob started a family, he took it to be a
full-time job (and rightfully so) and concentrated his efforts on raising his
kids. But he came back with a critically acclaimed album ("Caffeineated
Coffee"), and his own show on Regina Community Radio ("Six Strings and
a Million Possibilities").
Bob's set included his songs "That Infernal Optimist", "Yeah, Yeah, Mister", a duet with Connie on an extended version of her "Spring In The Prairies" (with a lost verse -- unless you have "Prairie Grass, Prairie Sky") and an audience sing-along of the traditional Scottish tune, "Wild Mountain Thyme" (plus more that you'll have to tune in for...)
Congratulations to Bob, who, after placing third in 2002, won it all at the 2003 National Fingerpicking Championship in Winfield, Kansas. I'm sure along with his trophy comes a year's supply of Band-Aids! (TAPED ON AUGUST 18, 2003)
The last tape date provided the audience with a legend of the Canadian music scene. However, the gremlins were out in full force that evening, so there were some long gaps between takes. We did find out that we had someone all the way from the Hawaii in the audience (a third American!), which prompted the band to break into a sort-of-folk version of "Wipeout", with Bruce, the series writer and director, doing an impromptu percussion job on Bill's upright bass. It had been a long week...
Oh yes, our guests.
Well, how do I sum up Sylvia Tyson's great career briefly? Many will
remember her as half of Ian & Sylvia, a folk duo who developed a country
sound to their music. Sylvia herself has hosted country programs for CBC
radio and television, and became part of the Canadian Country Music
Award-winning group Quartette in 1993. She still performs today, but
mostly through her own show of songs and anecdotes called "River Road And
Other Stories", and with Quartette.
Well, what sounds more country than a song about a waitress at a husky truck stop (or is that a husky waitress at a truck stop?) In any case, that would be Connie's "Bird On A Wing", which opens the show -- with a very special surprise! Sylvia's set features "Hazel's First Ride", a song about a female rodeo rider in the Calgary Stampede in the early 20th century. Ms. Tyson sings some other classics, including the very first song she had ever written, which she performs with her son, Clay. Ironically, he hadn't been born yet when she wrote it! Also, many in the audience were stunned at how much Clay looked like his father performing with Sylvia. Tune in and see for yourself... (TAPED ON AUGUST 20, 2003)
For more information be sure to visit:
The Official Wood River Hall Website