HALIFAX URBAN FOLK FESTIVAL
Sunday, August 29 to Septmeber 5, 2010

The Carleton is pleased to present the inaugural Halifax Urban Folk Festival (HUFF, for short).

"Urban Folk Festival?" Yeah, it's a singer/songwriter festival that takes place in a perfectly good city - Halifax - that won't require you to drive for hours to a vacant, recently-cut, hayfield somewhere; that won't necessitate a tent, or OFF, or rain gear, or your own toilet paper and you know you'll be able to get good, hot, food and the sound will be brilliant... That's the premise... Hey, I've been to every major "folk festival" in this country over the years and I'm getting too old to do the camping thing. Call me "crotchety" but that's just the way it is. I HATE being cold, wet and eaten alive by insects... Sorry.

So, this year, from August 29th, through September 5th - 8 glorious nights - I've got some stellar entertainment for all of you!

For the full line-up, schedule, ticket prices, and more check out the
HALIFAX URBAN FOLK FESTIVAL website HERE.

Headliners include from NYC, the lengendary WILLIE NILE. And making his way across the pond to Nova Scotia for the first time, the UK's own MICHAEL WESTON KING. Alongside are multi-award winning Canadians RON HAWKINS (Lowest of the Low), STEPHEN FEARING (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings) and MIKE O'NEILL (The Inbreds, The Beginners, The Lodge).
 

And if that's not enough, we've thrown into the mix the best band from Newfoundland you've yet to hear of SHERMAN DOWNEY & THE AMBIGUOUS CASE plus the pride of the Annapolis Valley, THE HUPMAN BROTHERS.  But wait - there's more! DAVE MARSH of The True Love Rules and The Joel Plaskett Emergency, along w/ JAY SMITH, guitarist for Matt Mays and STEVEN MACDOUGALL of Slowcoaster will get the joint shaking on September 1st and some cool new band talent - in the form of DANCE MOVIE and CONSTRUCTION & DESTRUCTION - alongside TANYA DAVIS and STACY RICKER will knock your socks off on August 30th. JUST ADDED... PEI Night, Tuesday, August 31 with THE DANKS (featuring Alex O'Hanley of Two Hours Traffic) and MOLLY RANKIN (Joel Plaskett says her EP is the best thing he's listened to all year!)
 

This just in! As an added bonus, we're putting together a band of superb musicians to add some electric muscle to some of Willie's show!  Rob Crowell (who just became a member of Deer Tick in July. Deer Tick, out of Providence RI, are bona fide indie folk rock stars. Check them out on Letterman June '10) with Dave Marsh and Chris Pennell (the Joel Plaskett Emergency) and Jay Smith (Matt Mays band) Can you say, "show of the year!"

Check out our interactive HUFF PROGRAM GUIDE online now!

OK, let's face it, if a guy's name is Carleton, I'm gonna give him a gig. Well, that's not really true, I suppose. If a guy's name was Carleton and he was awful I wouldn't give him a gig but we don't have to worry about that because this one - Carleton Stone - is really good.

Carleton's band won the Music Nova Scotia "Battle To Canadian Music Week" last winter and played the coveted Tiki stage at MNS's annual showcase event in Toronto in March, where they handled themselves exceedingly well, thank you very much.

We're happy to have them in for this Absolut Thursday, August 26th. The show will start at 10 PM and admission is FREE! Oh, I fully expect to see some Cape Bretoners out for this or I'm gonna want to know why not...

As you probably know, we're big fans of classic stuff at The Carleton, and by "classic" I mean there are some things - and styles - that we miss. Like a good martini; a real martini. That's why we serve stuff like that at our place.

There were a bunch of photos I could have chosen for Daniel Matto but I decided to go with this one because he has a drink in his hand. When I listen to his stuff, I go for a drink too. He's a great interpreter of material. Some of it is old school and some of it, like "Message To My Girl" by Split Enz just makes me smile a big summer grin.

I'm looking forward to this show. I'm going to dress up and order adult drinks. Why don't you join us?

That would be Wednesday, August 25th at 9 PM. Tickets are a ridiculously cheap $10.

For those of you who have been coming to The Carleton for eons, you'll certainly recognize this guy. Jon Cornwall was on our staff for a year before I found out he was a singer/songwriter (and that I'd actually interviewed him for MuchEast years earlier when he was in a band!). It took even longer to find out he did sound, produced other musicians and wasn't too shabby at graphic arts either.

Since my various discoveries, we've occasionally had him on stage to open for some of our headliners (Ron Sexsmith famously comes to mind) and our audiences always enjoyed his stuff. SO, we figured it was about time we gave Jon his own Carleton show. He'll be playing our place on Tuesday, August 24th and he's bringing some friends with him - Kev Corbett, Ryan McGrath, Sharon Resky, and his band mates will be DJ Timmons & Jesse Fraser (from Arlibido), Neil MacQuarrie (from High Plains Drifter & Aaron MacDonald Band), and Seth Fraser. 

It's gonna be a great show...at 9 PM. Tickets are only $10.

Come on out to cheer Jon on!

As many of you know, we just had Jay Semko - the bassist from The Northern Pikes - at The Carleton for a very excellent solo show. During that show, Jay hauled out a few Pikes classics and I couldn't help thinking it would be great to see the band doing these songs again... The last time they were through town they played the late, great, Marquee Club - and it was a helluva show.

Well, last week Don Schmidt - the band's drummer - gave me call, saying the Pikes had a good festival offer in the province but wanted to do a show in Halifax and, because we're old friends, wanted to do something at The Carleton if possible.

Who was I to say "no?" Because the show is a full-on rock thing, we batted a couple of ideas around and decided to do it on Sunday, August 15th. It will be a later start - 10 PM - in deference to our good friends at The Press Gang downstairs (and you're still invited to make dinner reservations for our usual preferred seating) - but it'll still be an awesome Carleton experience! Tickets will be $20.

The band's Snow In June album is a Canadian classic and still one of my favourite albums ever.

The room will be set up to rock and our "no talking" policy will not be in effect on this night. Take the opportunity to see this classic band in our intimate venue, it's unlikely you'll get the chance again!

This show is made possible by our sponsors The Delta Hotels Halifax & Barrington and we thank them!

The Jay Smith Band on Absolut Thursday, August 12th. Admission is FREE.

Jay is one of the best musicians in the city and is formerly of the best-named band ever - Rock Ranger. He's currently putting the finishing touches on his debut solo album and is also a member of Matt Mays' touring band.

It's a rockin' night and it's Absolut-ly FREE. Show lifts off at 10ish.

I probably don't have to tell you much about Don Ross, or shouldn't have to is likely a better way to put it... Don is simply one of the best guitarists on earth and, lucky for us, now lives in the Halifax area. You can see some footage of Don in action HERE.

The first time Don played our room, he generously offered to open for Antoine Dufour - a young player who considers Don his mentor. Well, the place sold out and the ensuing night of music was mind-blowing to say the least.

After the show was over, I talked to Don about maybe doing a series of shows each year where he could "introduce" players he considers to be extraordinary and, that way, we could have him do more shows than he might normally entertain for one venue. He thought it was a good idea and - presto! - he'll be playing on Wednesday, August 11th in the first of that very series. Tickets are only $25 and I expect them to go fast, fast, fast... maybe not as fast as Don's fingers, but pretty fast!

And the guy Don is "introducing" us to, this time around, is Jimmy Wahlsteen. Jimmy is from Sweden, was/is a hugely in-demand session player who's just released his first album. And that's all I know about him, except to say he's obviously a phenomenal player.

Take a gander at some video of Jimmy's playing, HERE and HERE...

If you're a guitar freak, or just someone who appreciates the instrument in the hands of a couple of masters, you should not miss this show!

NEeMA has just completed her second album, Watching You Think, a collection of twelve stories seamlessly melding elements of world music, folk, and jazz with a good measure of pop. Produced in association with Leonard Cohen and Pierre Marchand (Sarah McLachlan, Ron Sexsmith), Watching You Think contains songs of love, life and simple observations that read like parables and sound instantly familiar to listeners who will find themselves singing along effortlessly by the second chorus.

NEeMA’s uninhibited and authentic style is complemented perfectly by some of Montreal's best musicians, who add nuance to every mood and emotion. The musicians include Howard Bilerman, Tim Kingsbury (Arcade Fire), Tom Mennier (Martha and Rufus Wainwright), Joe Grass and Miles Perkin (Lhasa de Sela), and Gurpreet Chana (Nelly Furtado). Also assisting with the album’s production are Haig V and Fred Bouchard. 

Since the successful independent release of NEeMA’s debut album Masì Cho in 2006, she has toured Canada, Ireland, Australia, England and the US. In the summer of 2007 she performed over 33 concerts including Nova Scotia’s Privateer Days Festival and the South Country Fair Festival in Alberta. Other highlights include her 2008 concert at the Electric Picnic Festival in Ireland, the 2008 Winterfolk Festival in Toronto and Canadian Music Week, and two sold-out shows at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 2009. Receiving positive reviews and accolades, Masi Cho was nominated for a MIMI (Montreal International Music Initiative) in the World & Roots category and her song The Risk advanced to the second round of judging in the 2006 International Songwriting Competition out of Nashville.

Born of Egyptian and Lebanese decent, NEeMA’s presence on and off stage is powerful and charismatic, and her voice is honest and unique. She has traveled and experienced the world in ways that many wish they could. She has spent time with the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa; she has had the privilege of working with Tribal elders managing Wekweti, an isolated First Nation community in northern Canada. And with her journeys she has acquired an undeniable ability to communicate her stories through poetry and song, exploring those themes that are dear to the human heart.

www.neema.ca
www.myspace.com/neemaste

The lovely folks in Twin Bridges have been very politely asking for a show at our place for the last year or so. I told them originally that they should get back to me when they were sure they'd be able to draw a crowd big enough to warrant a show. They got back to me and - to take some of the guess work out of the equation - have put together a bill with Michael Redden, which ought to be enough of an enticement to fill our room!

So, we're going to give them the show they've asked for on Sunday, August 8th. Show time is 9 PM and tickets are $15,

Michael Redden already sold our room out on his own, so we're looking for another full house for this show. Tickets are available by calling The Carleton at 902-422-6335. Dinner reservations are recommended for preferred seating!