Date: Saturday 27 June 2015
Time: 08:00pm
June 27, 2015, at 8:00 pm (doors open at 7:30)
Suggested donation (100% goes directly to the artists): $15-$20 per person
Leah and I (Mike) are excited to announce the first concert of our 2015 season. We are going to change up our schedule a bit from last year, and instead of a show every two months we are going to have one in June and one in July, with two more in the fall.
Also, we learned our lesson last year, and we won’t have any on long weekends and holidays, so you don’t have to choose between camping and coming to share a night of amazing music with us!!
As before, since this is a house concert, please email fingalfolk@gmail.com to RSVP. This way we can keep track of how many people to expect.
You can find official bios for our performers below, but first a few quick words from me:
If you had a chance to catch “Tempting Providence” at The Grand Theatre a few years back, then you might Avalon Stanley of the acts for this concert as a central character in that amazing show. While the theatre company was here from Newfoundland, we became fast friends. Luckily for us (and you!) Avalon finds himself in our neck of the woods, just in time to come and share some music with us! Having listened to his E.P., Burn, more times than I can count I can confidently say that you will not be disappointed!
Speaking of luck and good timing, I’m pretty happy that we are getting Graydon and Laura this month in particular. When we were starting our series last year, we came up with a wish list. Basically an ever-expanding list of artists we want to play at our house. And it expands fast; we are blessed with a lot of talent in Canada. Graydon and Laura found themselves on our list basically from version 1. What makes the timing of their concert particularly lucky is that they are right now in the middle of releasing their newest album, “made us strangers”. I have it on good authority (yay pre-order perks!) that this album is FANTASTIC!
So really what I’m saying is get ready for a night of great music, followed by a nice drive home with more great music ringing through your car speakers!!!
AVALON STANLEY
Avalon Stanley is a singer-songwriter from Newfoundland, Canada. After touring the world with an award winning stage play for over a decade, performing to over 125,000 people on 3 continents, Avalon looked to change his artistic direction with a new challenge and an old love: Music.
So, in 2008 he began intently focusing on the craft of songwriting, passionately fostering his unique voice in the nightclubs and on the stages of the vibrant artistic community of St. John’s. Weaving the intensely personal with the sublimely mundane, his work has been described as “edgy, emotional and eclectic.”
Expect new recordings from Avalon Stanley in 2015. In the meantime you can check out his 2014 EP “Burn” here:
www.avalonstanley.bandcamp.com/
THE YOUNG NOVELISTS
Through their rich but rustic sound, Toronto roots-rock outfit The Young Novelists deliver a dose of honesty in audible form. made us strangers, their upcoming sophomore effort, showcases a significant sonic progression for the band. Ripe with raw but elegant instrumentation and stacked multi-layered harmonies, their pure take on folk-tinged rock translates equally well from the stereo or stage.
What first began as a stack of songs that frontman Graydon James had amassed behind the drum kit in various bands during his university years eventually became a collection of recordings performed by the six-piece band, Graydon James & The Young Novelists. But over time, as James’ wife Laura Spink became integral to the creative process and the band began performing and touring as a duo, the more succinct banner of The Young Novelists was born. Since dropping their debut EP, a small town eulogy, in 2011, they’ve made impressive strides up the industry incline. Their catalog also includes a live collection and their 2012 debut LP, in the year you were born, which cemented their status as an act to watch.
This time around, The Young Novelists enlisted the aid of producer Carlin Nicholson (Jason Collett, The Golden Dogs), also a member of Toronto rock outfit Zeus. Together, with a minimalist approach to recording – no pitch correction, no click tracks, and some cuts captured entirely live off the floor – they added some grit to The Young Novelists’ sonic grace.
Cuts like “brothers in the garage” showcase the fruit of that union – rooted in folk with the band’s captivating and catchy vocal phrasing but boosted by slightly overdriven guitar and a triumphantly authentic chorus. More sombre offerings like “always make the mistake” – this one anchored by Spink’s vocals – are delicate but alluring.
“This record hinges on interpersonal relationships,” James explains of made us strangers’ underlying lyrical theme, which includes both traditional and non-traditional ones – from brothers in a band to a torrid love triangle to a new father missing the sound of his son’s voice when they’re apart. As a published author with one novel – The Mall of Small Frustrations – to his name and two others in the works, James’ words carry a weight and depth that demand repeat listens. The hope, he says, is having a listener connect with the sentiment he explores, if not the specific subjects. “As personal as the songs are,” he offers, “I hope they’re connecting to other people in a way that goes beyond the situations I was writing about.” That connection is perhaps most intense from the stage. The band will have many more opportunities to take to the road in the coming months. “It’s going to be a busy year,” James says, but not with the slightest hint of unease; instead, it’s a shred of excitement that belies his modest demeanor.
Honesty and transparency. They’re at the very core of made us strangers, from the lyrics to the music to the way it was recorded, and that’s sure to foster closer connections between The Young Novelists and their current and future followers.
http://www.theyoungnovelists.com/