The Sunset Saloon presents Big Laughs & Big Fun with:Paul Strickland

(www.ainttrue.com/)

Monday, July 29, 2019
7:30 pm

Suggested donation $20 (price flexible, all proceeds to the artist)

If you wish, bring a drink for yourself, and/or a snack to share, but we’ve always got plenty of all of those on hand!

All are welcome (bring the kids, friends, family, people off the street, whatever)! Our house is family friendly (we’ve got 3 kids and plenty of room, so feel free to bring the family), easy-going, friendly, and open to all! If you don’t know us yet, come on down and make some new friends!

The Sunset Saloon is a house concert venue in Westwood (near the YMCA on Portage.) We’re open to all. Feel free to pass along the event info, bring friends, bring your kids (our kids will thank you), or just come by yourself and make some new friends! Admission is by donation, which goes directly to the artists. Most folks pay $20, but any hard-working performer wouldn’t turn down more and will take whatever is comfortable for you to give.

Please RSVP for the address and more information!

Questions? RSVP? Fill out the contact form below! Forward this to a friend!

“An hour spent with master storyteller Paul Strickland is an hour well spent and one which you shouldn’t miss.” – Cincinnati Enquirer

During the summer of 2015 we were lucky enough to host a very special show for our good friend Corin Raymond, who was in town for The Winnipeg Fringe Festival, where he performed his powerful one-man-show Bookworm, then performed a set of amazing songs. It was a different format from the all-music shows that we’d done in the past (and since) but it was a really nice change of pace and something that we’ve often thought about trying again.

That same night, we were introduced to fellow Fringe performers Paul Strickland and Erika Kate MacDonald. They stayed long after most of the audience had left and swapped hilarious songs and stories with Corin and Andrew Neville, and it was wonderfully entertaining.

Paul was in town at that time for his almost-entirely-sold-out run of a highly acclaimed show called Ain’t True and Uncle False, which the Winnipeg Free Press gave 5/5 stars. Since then he’s gone on to produce other wonderful and highly acclaimed shows like Papa Squat (review), Balls of Yarns (review), and last year’s wonderful, collaborative Tales Too Tall for Trailers (review). Each show has been hilarious, entertaining, and almost always sold out with universal rave reviews. And every time we see Paul and Erika we suggest that we should hang out and let people hear some of the magic that happened after-hours in 2015.

And here we are!

Paul and Erika are at this year’s Winnipeg Fringe Festival July 18-28 with a show called 13 Dead Dreams of Eugene: (www.winnipegfringe.com/performer-detail.aspx?kw=Theatre+Mobile)

X-Files meets the Twilight Zone…
in the dark!

This award-winning shadow and flashlight reenactment of nightmares won “Best Show” at the Orlando International Fringe Festival in May 2018 and ran OFF-BROADWAY in November of 2018.

After that show wraps, they’re going to stick around for an extra day and put on a special, intimate evening of songs & stories exclusively at The Sunset Saloon!

You won’t see a show quite like this at The Fringe Festival, any other house concert or any other festival anywhere! This is a special opportunity, and once we start telling people at the festival about it, I’d bet that we’ll fill the place in no time. We’d rather fill the room with our friends and supporters, though, so get on the list as soon as you can to avoid being left out!

Please RSVP to confirm your seat ASAP! Advance tickets may be sold during the Fringe Festival, and those who have confirmed and/or pre-paid will be given priority access to ensure the best possible outcome for the performers.

“Paul Strickland is a nice combination of Gamble Rogers, Kevin Kling and Willy Claflin. He’s got a whole bunch of tall tale type stories from his fictional trailer park  with a whole host of quirky, sweet, smart, and hilarious characters.” – Bil Lepp

Comments left below are public and are much appreciated as well:

Tell the Band to Go Home & The Sunset Saloon proudly present:
Colleen Brown w/Elijah Abrams (of Major Love) at The Sunset Saloon
(house concert in Westwood)
Friday, February 23, 2018
8:00
Suggested donation $20-25 (all proceeds to the artists)

If you wish, bring a drink for yourself, and/or a snack to share, but we’ve always got plenty of all of those on hand!

All are welcome (bring the kids, friends, family, people off the street, whatever)! Our house is family friendly (we’ve got 3 kids, a trampoline, and plenty of room, so feel free to bring the family), easy-going, friendly, and open to all! If you don’t know us yet, come on down and make some new friends!

The Sunset Saloon is a house concert venue in Westwood (near the YMCA on Portage.) We’re open to all. Feel free to pass along the event info, bring friends, bring your kids (our kids will thank you), or just come by yourself and make some new friends! Admission is by donation, which goes directly to the artists.

Please RSVP for the address and more information!

Questions? RSVP? Fill out the contact form below! Forward this to a friend!

Colleen (along with her constant companion/partner/accompanist Elijah Abrams) was a late, surprise addition to the “On a Western Swing” Tour, featuring Luther Wright & Rueben de Groot, which we were lucky enough to host at The Saloon in November of 2016. After that, Rueben & Colleen played a stellar show at The West End Cultural Centre on the way home. You may have caught Colleen at the 2017 Interstellar Rodeo backing up Sarah Slean or doing her own interlude set. If you’ve seen her, surely you adore her.

If you haven’t had the pleasure, GET ON IT NOW! 2018 is poised to be a BIG year. Later this year, Colleen and Eli will release an eagerly anticipated album under the name Major Love, which is a band made up of hot indie pop/rock trio Scenic Route to Alaska, up-and-coming singer/songwriter Jesse Northey of Jesse & The Dandelions, and in-demand pedal steel mater/producer Aaron Goldstein. There’s some MAJOR attention circling Major Love, with a major release and a major tour later this year.

At this intimate duo show, we’ll surely hear a bunch of songs off of that record, as well as songs from Colleen’s previous releases, which include 4 full length albums and 2 EPs, including last year’s stellar Seasons are Circling, which included one of the most gorgeous songs of the year, I Can’t Wrap My Heart Around It.

Maybe you remember Colleen’s big breakthrough single, Love You Baby, which still gets a lot of play on CBC Radio and other outlets.

If you’re lucky, your life has been blessed by this song already!:

Let’s not forget about Elijah Abrams! Besides being an in-demand multi-instrumentalist, known for backing up Colleen, Oh Susanna, Rocket Surgery, and many others, Eli grew up on stage alongside his cousins The Abrams Brothers. Together, they toured the world, were the youngest Canadians to ever play The Grand Ol’ Opry, and won a bunch of awards. The guy’s no slouch.

Please join us for what’s sure to be a wonderful night of music! Your support helps keep musicians on the road and events like these happening!

And don’t forget, we’ve also got another exciting event in February:

Oh Susanna

February 4, 7:30 pm @ The Sunset Saloon
Event info: http://tellthebandtogohome.com/2017/12/12/oh-susanna-sunset-saloon-feb-4/

February 5, 7:30 pm @ The StuDome (RSVP: stureid@shaw.ca)
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1536869346409498/

And speaking of house concerts!

Please join the new Winnipeg House Concerts Facebook Group!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/554601468209276/
If you know anyone else who hosts or might want to attend house concerts in Winnipeg, we’d love to get to know them!

Thanks for reading! We welcome your feedback, and we’d sure love to know if you can make it out to one of these shows!

Comments left below are public and are much appreciated as well:

Oh Susanna at The Sunset Saloon (house concert in Westwood)
Sunday, February 4, 2018
7:30
Suggested donation $25 (all proceeds to the artist)

Advance tickets are available (and encouraged!) Fill out the contact form at the bottom of the page to get your hands on some. They make GREAT Christmas gifts!

Oh Susanna will also be performing the next night in Winnipeg at The StuDome in Crescentwood. Good-hearted music lovers will surely want to see both. Suzie’s got more than enough great songs to fill two nights, so we bet that there will be some of your favourites at each show, with perhaps a bit of overlap. RSVP to that one by emailing Ol’ Pal Stu: stureid@shaw.ca

If you wish, bring a drink for yourself, and/or a snack to share, but we’ve always got plenty of all of those on hand!

All are welcome (bring the kids, friends, family, people off the street, whatever)! Our house is family friendly (we’ve got 3 kids, a trampoline, and plenty of room, so feel free to bring the family), easy-going, friendly, and open to all! If you don’t know us yet, come on down and make some new friends!

The Sunset Saloon is a house concert venue in Westwood (near the YMCA on Portage.) We’re open to all. Feel free to pass along the event info, bring friends, bring your kids (our kids will thank you), or just come by yourself and make some new friends! Admission is by donation, which goes directly to the artists.

Please RSVP for the address and more information!

Questions? RSVP? Fill out the contact form below! Forward this to a friend!

Most of the folks who play at The Sunset Saloon just happen to be passing through town and are in need of a welcoming place to play. On rare occasions, we reach out to our favourites in hopes that they might consider making the trek to Winnipeg just to play for us. The latter is the case with this show, featuring one of the country’s finest songwriters and an amazingly intriguing performer. She also happens to be a real sweetheart and a longtime friend. Suzie is special all-around, and it’s a rare treat to see her in an intimate house concert environment.

You can catch Oh Susanna pretty regularly in town playing festivals and bigger stages, but up close and personal is definitely the way to go. Her thoughtful, detailed, powerful songs are best experienced in a quiet, comfortable room full of like-minded folks ready to be swept away. This will be a special night, and one that you do not want to miss!

Of course, it helps that Suzie is touring on the strength of one of the most acclaimed and amazing releases of 2017. Already she’s been nominated for has earned three Canadian Folk Music Award nominations: English Songwriter of the Year, Contemporary Singer of the Year, and Producer of the Year.

“A Girl in Teen City” is an exquisite song cycle set in 1980s Vancouver, represents a second coming for the rootsy Toronto-based songstress…..her thoughtful and tuneful coming-of-age is universal.” — The Globe and Mail

“A Girl in Teen City” is a gorgeous piece of work. There’s something here for anyone who appreciates the art of songwriting and great musicianship. I haven’t heard a better, or more complete, album this year so far.”
Rating: 5 stars — MusicRiot.co.uk

Comments left below are public and are much appreciated as well:

Tell the Band to Go Home  proudly presents:

Jon Brooks
at The Sunset Saloon (house concert in Westwood)
Saturday, November 11, 2017
8:00
Suggested donation $20 (price flexible, all proceeds to the artist)

If you wish, bring a drink for yourself, and/or a snack to share, but we’ve always got plenty of all of those on hand!

All are welcome (bring the kids, friends, family, people off the street, whatever)! Our house is family friendly (we’ve got 3 kids, a trampoline, and plenty of room, so feel free to bring the family), easy-going, friendly, and open to all! If you don’t know us yet, come on down and make some new friends!

The Sunset Saloon is a house concert venue in Westwood (near the YMCA on Portage.) We’re open to all. Feel free to pass along the event info, bring friends, bring your kids (our kids will thank you), or just come by yourself and make some new friends! Admission is by donation, which goes directly to the artists. Most folks pay $20, but any hard-working musician wouldn’t turn down more and will take whatever is comfortable for you to give.

Please RSVP for the address and more information!

Questions? RSVP? Fill out the contact form below! Forward this to a friend!

Every once in a while I run across a songwriter who scares me. It’s a rare breed who’s so intense and powerful that it leaves me shaken, changed somehow. Jon Brooks did that for me & to me last year at Mariposa Folk Festival.

It’s funny because I’d listened to Jon’s albums for a long time and was already a big fan of his songs. I already knew that he was a top-notch songwriter. His powerful song/performance “Gun Dealer” was one of my favourites of 2014. I was moved by Corin Raymond’s impromptu performance of “Mimico” in my car on the way to the airport one time. I knew his resume as one of the country’s most respected writers.

But I’d never seen him live until Mariposa, 2016. That’s when it really hit me. Hearing the stories behind the songs and feeling the impact of one man accompanying himself on guitar and percussive tapping really impressed upon me the depth of his skill. I left his solo concert breathless, moved, and excited. Each of Jon’s songs is a detailed snapshot of a life that I couldn’t have understood previously but was suddenly transported into. I felt like I’d walked a mile in the shoes of soldiers, gun dealers, cage fighters, and more. Each song is a carefully detailed – and extensively researched – novel. He’ll take you to new places and vividly see new lives. You’ll feel like you’ve gone somewhere and everywhere at once. I immediately knew that I had to share this experience with my family, so we followed Jon to Toronto the next day and walked the busy streets of downtown Toronto to get to The Cameron House for one of his regular “Sad Monday” gigs. Yeah, the songs may lean toward the darker, sadder places, but the experience is exhilarating and oh so rewarding.

Here’s his official bio:

“I write songs to calm those who’ve looked into, and seen, what is in their hearts.  I also write songs to terrify those who have not.” – Jon Brooks

It’s a perilous and irresponsible life that pursues an ancient vocation incapable of modern recompense.  I’m at once consoled and terrified by Leonard Cohen’s comment that ‘songwriting is not a vocation, but a sentence…’ It’s true that fame and money are the jurors and legislators of success in the current age; and at the mercy of such a court I am unanimously judged a failure.  But I can’t help but question such narrow measures of success.  Since 2006 I have released 5 albums I remain wholly proud of; I’ve enjoyed the outrageous honour of being blessed to perform for thousands of open hearted and friendly souls the Western world over; as well, The Canadian Folk Music Awards has deemed me worthy of being nominated – a record 4 times – for ‘English Songwriter of the Year’ (2007/2009/2012/2015); in 2010, I became the 4th Canadian since 1975 to win the prestigious Kerrville (Texas) Folk Festival ‘New Folk Award.’ And yet still, on my best day, The Song is woefully all I know.  And on many more days, I don’t feel I know The Song at all.  Like beauty, The Song remains an eternal mystery to me; and, as often as I chase it, I spend my time considering dropping the sad pursuit altogether for something more secure, more ‘responsible.’  But I’m stuck.  The irreconcilable problem is this: I know no other thing more intimately than The Song – and outside of kindness, it’s the one thing in the mournful world I’ve occasionally touched that ascends with purpose, force, and love and so I stay seeking it more or less blindly.

All of these descriptions – and the video clips below – perhaps tell you part of the story, but you can’t really, truly understand until you’ve seen Jon Brooks live. This is a VERY rare opportunity to experience a singular talent in Winnipeg, and almost impossible to believe that you could do it in someone’s living room.

Never before have I brought you a show that I just knew that you needed to see. I really hope you’ll take me up on the offer to see something special and join us when Jon drops by on Remembrance Day.

Have a listen here: https://jonbrooks.ca/music

Feel free to fill out the contact form below if you have any questions or if you want to reserve your seat (your details aren’t public, just emailed directly to me.)

Bidiniband will be doing a special early show at Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club on Saturday, February 18 where they’ll do a set of their music as well as a set backing up NHL legend Bryan Trottier! Tickets for that one are only $15 and are available online via Ticketfly OR I have an exclusive, limited supply of tickets that can be purchased for $15 cash with NO FEES. You just need to let me know how & when to get one in your hand or pick one up when Bidiniband plays The Sunset Saloon on Friday, February 17!

Holy Mackinaw! One really big and very excited nerd presents:

Bidiniband (www.rheostatics.ca/bidini)
at The Sunset Saloon (house concert in Westwood)
Friday, February 17, 2017
8:00
Suggested donation $20-$25 (price flexible, all proceeds to this amazing band!)

If you wish, bring a drink for yourself, and/or a snack to share, but we’ve always got plenty of all of those on hand!

All are welcome (bring the kids, friends, family, people off the street, whatever)! Our house is family friendly (we’ve got 3 kids, a trampoline, and plenty of room, so feel free to bring the family), easy-going, friendly, and open to all! If you don’t know us yet, come on down and make some new friends!

The Sunset Saloon is a house concert venue in Westwood (near the YMCA on Portage.) We’re open to all. Feel free to pass along the event info, bring friends, bring your kids (our kids will thank you), or just come by yourself and make some new friends! Admission is by donation, which goes directly to the artists. Most folks pay $20, but these hard working guys wouldn’t turn down more.

Please RSVP for the address and more information!

Questions? RSVP? Fill out the contact form below! Forward this to a friend!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. In 1992 I had my great musical awakening. I’d loved music all my life, but it was entirely music that I heard on the radio and in parents’ & grandparents’ music collections. And although they are/were great people, they weren’t that cool. The music was good, but not that adventurous. And that’s all that I knew. I had no idea that there were other kinds of music out there.

And then I heard The Lowest of the Low and Rheostatics. And my life was forever changed. The Lowest of the Low was pretty easy to get into. I became a life-long fan in one night. But Rheostatics music is a little more challenging and very different from everything that I’d ever heard before. It confused me. But it intrigued me. I didn’t understand it at all, at first, but I knew that I wanted to. There was something in there that kept drawing me in, over and over again. Soon, I figured out that I was obsessed. But I don’t think I truly understood it until I saw the band live. Then I got it. And I got it in a big way!

Dave Bidini has been the driving force behind Rheostatics since he was just a kid in high school with big dreams. From 1987-2004 Rheostatics released 9 studio albums, and the tone, sound, and vision of those albums was all over the map. They made a children’s album, a soundtrack to Group of 7 paintings, and a bunch of amazing and diverse rock and roll. They played folk festivals, art galleries, concert halls and dingy bars across the country. They even did some really big shows with The Tragically Hip (and others.) They never got rich or famous, but they are revered among musicians, open-minded fans. In 2007, they called it quits. Or so they thought.

By the end of the initial Rheostatics run, Bidini was already gaining acclaim as an author and newspaper writer. His books are often about journeys (starting with his first book, On a Cold Road, about travelling with The Tragically Hip and the realities of touring in Canada) and often about sports, mostly hockey. He’s won awards and been a finalist on CBC’s Canada Reads competition. Bidini is the only Canadian to have been nominated for all three of Canada’s main entertainment awards, the Gemini Award for television work, the Genie Awards for film work and the Juno Awards for music.

But he certainly wasn’t done with music after Rheostatics were put to rest. He soon formed Bidiniband along with former Rheostatics drummer Don Kerr and two Manitobans, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Paul Linklater and bassist Doug Friesen. They’ve released 3 albums of the same type of thundering, imaginative, interesting rock that he’d been known for with his other band.

Bidiniband has never toured extensively and has never played in Winnipeg. Until now!

Bidiniband will be doing a special early show at Times Change(d) High & Lonesome Club on Saturday, February 18 where they’ll do a set of their music as well as a set backing up NHL legend Bryan Trottier! Tickets for that one are only $15 and are available online via Ticketfly OR I have an exclusive, limited supply of tickets that can be purchased for $15 cash with NO FEES. You just need to let me know how & when to get one in your hand or pick one up when Bidiniband plays The Sunset Saloon on Friday, February 17!

Word is getting out about this show, and it’s starting to fill up. With a full band setting up in the living room, SPACE AND SEATING ARE VERY LIMITED! We will fit in as many people as possible, but we may have to cut out some chairs to do it. So reserve your spot early and get there early if you want a seat!

Please, friends, this one is absolutely a dream come true. Heck, it’s a dream that I never even would have dared to dream or even imagine. I may cry or embarrass myself somehow. Actually, it’s almost guaranteed. Please come and see how it goes!

Tell the Band to Go Home & Steel Belted Radio proudly present:

Tony Furtado (www.tonyfurtado.com)
at The Sunset Saloon (house concert in Westwood)
Friday, November 11, 2016
8:00 pm
Suggested donation $20-25 (price flexible, all proceeds to this artist!)

If you wish, bring a drink for yourself, and/or a snack to share, but we’ve always got plenty of all of those on hand!

All are welcome (bring the kids, friends, family, people off the street, whatever)! Our house is family friendly (we’ve got 3 kids, a trampoline, and plenty of room, so feel free to bring the family), easy-going, friendly, and open to all! If you don’t know us yet, come on down and make some new friends!

Questions? RSVP? Fill out the contact form below! Forward this to a friend!

Please RSVP for the address and more information!

Tony Furtado is a major musical force without a doubt. He has his black-belt in voice and bottleneck guitar and his banjo playing scares the crap out of me.”
– David Lindley, musical adventurer

Very few musicians of any stripe so personify a musical genre as completely as Tony Furtado embodies Americana roots music. Tony is an evocative and soulful singer, a wide-ranging songwriter and a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist adept on banjo, cello-banjo, slide guitar and baritone ukulele who mixes and matches sounds and styles with the flair of a master chef (he’s also an accomplished sculptor, but that’s another story). All of the music of America is in Tony’s music. Relix hit the nail on the head when writing of Tony: “True talent doesn’t need categories.”

A native of Pleasanton, California, who now makes his home in Portland, Oregon, Tony Furtado took up the banjo at age 12, inspired by the Beverly Hillbillies TV show and a sixth grade music report. He first attracted national attention in 1987, when he won the National Bluegrass Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas. Not long after that, Tony opted for the life of a full-time professional musician, joining Laurie Lewis & Grant Street. A second victory at Winfield, in 1991, bookended his years with Grant Street.

In 1990, Tony signed a recording deal with Rounder Records, one of the country’s preeminent independent record companies. Beginning with Swamped in 1990, he recorded six critically acclaimed albums for the label, collaborating with such master musicians as Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Kelly Joe Phelps and Mike Marshall. During this period, Tony also performed and recorded with the band Sugarbeat and the Rounder Banjo Extravaganza with Tony Trischka and Tom Adams. Tony has recorded and produced almost a dozen CDs for various labels such as Dualtone, What Are Records and Funzalo Records.

Beginning in the late 1990s—influenced by such musical heroes as Ry Cooder, David Lindley and Taj Mahal—Tony added slide guitar, singing and songwriting to his musical toolbox and began leading his own band. He is a tireless road musician who performs in a dizzying variety of formats: solo, in a duo or trio or with his full five-person band. He especially values the opportunities he has had to tour with such legendary musicians as Gregg Allman and with such esteemed slide guitarists as David Lindley, Derek Trucks and Sonny Landreth.

“I love playing live,” he says. “All my energy is focused on the love of playing music and rolling with the moment. It’s a give and take from the audience to the stage, and back. And the music that is created is something that otherwise might not occur without that flow.”