Be Sure to Get Your Tickets!
There is still time to get your hands on a coveted Season Pass for the 2015-2016 season! This pass grants you a fixed-rate admission to all of our shows through to the end of April 2016 - a great value for die-hard folks fans. For those of you who prefer to pick and choose, tickets for every individual show can now be purchased at
calgaryfolkclub.com, or by calling
1-888-655-9090.
SEASON PASSES: Only 8 remaining! CLICK HERE to get yours!
Invite a Friend!
Make the beginning of fall something to look forward to! Invite your friends to join you at one of the awesome concerts we have lined up for Season 44 of the Calgary Folk Club.
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COMING ON OCTOBER 16:
The Steel Wheels
The Steel Wheels have captured audiences with their heady brew of original soulful mountain music and their deep commitment to roots and community. Based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, this dynamic four-piece string band marries old-time musical traditions with their own innovative sound and lifestyle, generating a truly magnetic revival. The Steel Wheels is an amalgamation of hard work and easy rapport.  The band is renowned for its raw energy and chemistry on stage, where they often cluster tightly around a single microphone to augment Trent Wagler's unmistakable tenor with bell-clear four-part harmonies inspired by their shared Mennonite heritage. Add to this Eric Brubaker's lively and evocative fiddle, Brian Dickel's grounded yet buoyant upright bass, and Jay Lapp's signature mandolin style, and it's no surprise that The Steel Wheels have enthralled the contemporary folk scene. thesteelwheels.com
THIS SHOW IS ALMOST SOLD OUT - BE SURE TO GET YOUR TICKETS!
With guest: Joe Nolan
While it's not every day that a songwriter makes it from the shadows of open mic nights to the high-wattage, real-deal scene, Joe Nolan's old-
soul lyrics and striking vocals suggest that the odds of breaking through are in his favour, and his
distinctive and intimate vocals further stack the deck. In fact, those talents won him the Pros and Prose category of the Calgary Folk Festival's songwriting contest (sponsored by the Calgary Folk Club), earning him a well-deserved place on our stage. From theramin tremors to raw howls, his range of
expression reaches extremes. He delivers bandaged fragility and raw rage with equal impact. The songs are fervent, pressing and intense, attuned at once to the world of youthful melodramas in which Joe, an artist in his early 20s lives, and an older, deeper level of human experience. Insight into the latter has nothing to do with age. joenolanmusic.com
OCTOBER 30:
Steve Seskin
Steve Seskin is one of the most successful writers in Nashville today, with a boatload of songs recorded by such artists as Tim McGraw, Peter Frampton, Waylo
n Jennings, Alabama, and Peter Paul and Mary. A Steve Seskin concert will have you wipin
g away a tear one minute and laughing out loud the next. His songs all have messages that touch the hearts of everyone: from the feelings of a little boy missing his father, to growing up and being true to yourself, to being considerate to and respectful of one another. His song "Don't Laugh At Me", a finalist for CMA "Song of the Year" in 1999, has spurred an entire tolerance movement, launched by the Don't Laugh at Me Project.
Be sure to check out the songwriting workshop, hosted by Steve Seskin himself, on the Saturday following his Club performance! steveseskin.com
With guests: Rosie and the Riveters
This band's name,
inspired by the WWII-era icon of confidence and pride
,
immortalizes the strength and power that is inside every woman. Their compelling performance boasts enthralling vocal arrangements, acoustic instrumentation, percussion, scintillating choreography, inviting humour, and a whole lot of charm! rosieandtheriveters.com
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Attend a Songwriting Workshop with Steve Seskin!
Join this award-winning writer to learn the art of soulful songcraft.
Over the past two decades, songwriter and musician Steve Seskin has written for some of the biggest names in Nashville, including Tim McGraw, Neal McCoy, Kenney Chesney, and Waylon Jennings. His songs are so affecting that Peter Yarrow once said; "
Steve Seskin leads the cutting edge of American songwriting that, in this dark period of our history, leads us back to our humanity and our light."
Not only is Seskin a talented writer and performer, he has been teaching the art of songwriting to students and professionals alike for nearly 30 years. His workshops are wellsprings of creativity that are known for deeply inspiring all who attend. Now, for one day only, Steve Seskin brings his fierce talent and involving, compelling teaching style to Calgary. Find out why people are raving about these workshops, and feel the exhilaration of setting your very own heart to music. See more of Steve's impressive credentials, and read about the experiences of others who have attended his workshops, at
steveseskin.com.
Longtime friend of the Calgary Folk Club, Dan St.Yves, has a wonderful writeup of Steve Seskin's forthcoming visit at the
Calgary Herald.
Registration fee: $104.50
Date: Saturday, October 31
Time: 9:00am to 4:00pm, breaking for lunch from 12:00pm-1:30pm.
Location: Dallyn Street Building, 4448 Dallyn Street, Calgary AB (located behind the Dalhousie Elementary School parking lot).
Register for this workshop online through TicketPro! CLICK HERE, or visit the Tickets page at calgaryfolkclub.com
and scroll down to the listing for Steve Seskin's workshop.
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Calgary Folk Club Casino: Thanks to all our volunteers!
This casino is a major source of support for the Calgary Folk Club.
Thanks to the generous support of our members and volunteers, we have filled all of the positions that we had committed to for our upcoming casino night. Thanks in particular to our Casino Coordinator, Anne Platz, for all of her hard work in organizing this, and to those brave souls who signed on for the shifts that press through until the wee hours of the morning - we couldn't do it without you.
We are still in need of people willing to be alternates for various positions, which would involve covering a shift should one of our primary volunteers not be able to attend. If you are interested in lending your support to this important endeavour, please contact
[email protected]
, or look for volunteer forms at our next club night on October 16. If you are able to contribute some of your time, we would be very grateful.
This year, our casino dates are October 18 and 19. Our organization's work for the Elbow River Casino helps us to keep ticket prices low, and ensures that we can bring the very best of folk music to our stage.
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Backstage with Chris Ronald
Discussing risk and reward with the talented wordsmith.
Calgary Folk Club newcomer Chris Ronald is just as engaging in conversation as he is on stage. We had a chance to ask about his experiences here, and his burgeoning career, after his show on October 2nd.
Calgary Folk Club: What stands out in your mind about playing the CFC stage?
Chris Ronald: I heard from friends that it was a big crowd, to start with. I'm relatively early on in my music career - I've been doing it for years but only seriously for the last three or four years. This is the biggest crowd I've played for, as yet. But I'd also heard about how attentive and friendly people were, and that certainly showed through tonight. The volunteers running it just couldn't do enough for me... fantastic atmosphere."
CFC: Tell us a bit about the literary approach that you take to songwriting.
CR: "That's how it started - it started with poetry. Age 15, I wrote a poem in English class, and at that time I was just learning how to play the guitar, so I brought the poem home, put it to music... it was my first song, and I've been hooked ever since. That was thirty years ago."
CFC: What made you want to pursue music so strongly at this point in your life?
CR: "I'm an elementary school teacher, and I took leave from my full-time teaching job to be a stay-at-home dad. During that time I made my second album, and I put it out there in whatever capacity I could, with my limited resources and time, and I started getting some really positive feedback. I got some great reviews, and I was like, 'Oh. Well, maybe there's something to this.' ... It set the wheels in motion to try to figure out: how can I still keep up all my commitments at home, with my kids and wife, and contribute financially to a reasonable level, but also honour my heart, and pursue something that's really starting to burn quite strongly inside. After a lot of churning around in my head, I came to the decision I was going to step back from teaching, and become a substitue teacher, which gives me the flexibility to go off and do things like this, and gives me a bit of a safety blanket in an industry that's very hard to hang your hat on."
CFC: It must've been a bit scary, giving up that stability.
CR: And it was a hard sell to the wife, frankly. She has family members that have been involved in the music business before, so she had her own reservations. I just said I've got to do this for my own sanity more than anything. We only get one crack at this life, and I didn't want to take any regrets with me.
CFC: Is there anything else that springs to mind when thinking about the Folk Club?
CR: Just keep doing it, because it's getting harder and harder to make it in the music biz, and places like this are just crucial.
We wish our new friend Chris Ronald the best of luck as his career accelerates. And, not to worry, Chris; we'll be here for a long time to come.
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Meet Dan St.Yves
A tireless folk music commentator in the Calgary media landscape.
Humour writer, columnist, and dyed-in-the-wool lover of live performance, Dan St.Yves has been a friend of the Calgary Folk Club for many years. Currently writing for the Calgary Herald, among other outlets, he often has exclusive interviews with the artists who grace the CFC stage. This week, check out Dan's profile of Chris Ronald and Oscar Lopez.
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Congratulations to the 2015 CFMA Nominees!
The Canadian Folk Music Awards honour our brightest stars.
As a proud sponsor of the Canadian Folk Music Awards, the Calgary Folk Club would like to extend its congratulations to all of the 2015 nominees. It's an illustrious group that any musician would be honoured to call peers, and contains quite a few faces that will be familiar to our regular patrons. CFC alumni being recognized for their musicianship this year are:
Amelia Curran
and
Catherine MacLellan
with 3 nominations,
The Once
and
Michael Jerome Browne
, each with two, the
Crooked Brothers
,
Le Vent du Nord
, The Sweet Lowdown, Lizzy Hoyt, and Buffy Sainte-Marie, who also brought home a Polaris prize this month. The Young Novelists, recipients of two nominations, will be coming to our stage later this year.
Each and every nominee is talented and deserving, and we wish them all well when the CFMAs are presented on November 6-8 in Edmonton. For the full list of nominees, event details, tickets, and a wealth of other information, visit
folkawards.ca. And if you're looking for a great weekend outing, consider attending the awards Gala itself, on Sunday, November 8th. The Gala was a phenomenal night when it was hosted in Calgary in 2013, and this year's show in Edmonton promises to be just as wonderful, with performances by John Wort Hannam, the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra, Jeffery Straker, and many more. Don't miss out on this collection of Canadian folk's best and brightest!
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Calgary Folk Club Tickets: A Great Gift Idea!
For any occasion, for the music-lovers in your life.
Looking for a unique gift idea for a birthday, an anniversary, or a thank-you? Are you the sort of person who likes to get all of their Christmas shopping done early? Why not give the gift of live music at the Calgary Folk Club? A night out at the CFC is a night of guaranteed fun and treasured memories among other devotees of live music - not to mention the tempting snacks! For a great gift that never spoils, wears out, or goes out of style, think about concert tickets for your friends and family. Individual tickets for all of this season's shows can be found on our ticket page at
calgaryfolkclub.com.
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Connect with Us!
Tune in to Alberta's vibrant folk music scene!
For concert videos, interviews with your favourite artists, and a wealth of information about your favourite Calgary Folk Club alumni and upcoming performers, come join the conversation on
Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram, and
YouTube.
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