Category Archives: Concerts

SWEET ALIBI COME HOME TO WINNIPEG

Local group hits the Park Theatre with Toronto’s The Strumbellas

(Winnipeg) – Three stunning voices, one great band – Sweet Alibi returns home to Winnipeg after their western Canadian tour. Since their debut in the spring of 2009, Sweet Alibi has been captivating audiences with their alluring blend of soulful melody and folk/roots tradition. Playful sense of lyricism set to powerful vocal harmony set the stage for a performance which is up front and personal and instinctively compelling.

Drawing influence from a vast array of musical references, Sweet Alibi apply a quirky pop sensibility to an eclectic set. Songs range in mood from hauntingly provocative ballads to left of centre takes on everything from Country to old school RnB. Backing their vocals with electric guitars, banjos, hand percussion, ukuleles, upright bass, kazoos and whatever else they can get their hands on, Sweet Alibi compliment a diverse set with an equally eclectic instrumentation.

Comprised of three core members (Jessica Rae Ayre, Amber Neilsen, and Michelle Anderson), and backed by an array of Winnipeg’s finest musicians, the group performs steadily both as a stripped down trio and with a fully fleshed out rhythm section. The band has shared the stage with many of Manitoba’s folk/roots community and have performed everywhere from intimate coffee houses and mainstay clubs to outdoor concert series and festivals (including an appearance at The Winnipeg Folk Festival). Having finished their highly anticipated self-titled debut album with Juno award winner Mitch Dorge, Sweet Alibi are currently touring their album across Canada including this stop at the Park Theatre on May 30th in Winnipeg.

Supporting the night are Toronto’s newest hit makers The Stumbellas. Having received rave reviews, CBC called them a “band to watch”, while their 2009 EP was well-reviewed across the blogosphere and in Now Magazine. February 2012 saw the release of their highly anticipated debut album, “My Father and The Hunter.” This is the band’s first ever show in Manitoba.

Sweet Alibi
w/ The Strumbellas

May 30, 2012 – The Park Theatre, Winnipeg
Tickets $12.50 at The Park Theatre, Music Trader, & www.ticketbreak.com/parktheatre
Doors 715pm Show at 8pm
ON SALE THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012 AT 10AM
presented by The Park Theatre

www.sweetalibi.com
www.thestrumbellas.ca

The Wooden Sky AND Sunparlour Players? Are you kiddin’ me?

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Sometimes a show is just too amazing to miss. Coming up is one of those. On March 29, our friends at the West End Cultural Centre are hosting what promises to be one of the best shows of the year, and surely one of the best double-bill shows we’ve seen in a while. Sunparlour Players and The Wooden Sky. Both have appeared live on Tell the Band to Go Home, and both are vying for top spot in our totally subjective, totally unscientific “Best Band in the Land” contest.

Best of all, tickets are stupid cheap. Get yours. Now.

http://wecc.ca/site09/performers/Wooden_Sky.html

Christina Martin returns to Sunset Saloon, Feb. 11!

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By now hopefully you’ve heard me encouraging you to join us in our living room on Feb. 11 when one of Canada’s finest female singer/songwriters, Christina Martin, returns for her third visit.

For full details, surf on over to the previous sales pitch.

If I hadn’t convinced you already, hopefully these gorgeous show posters will do the trick – definitely our finest advertisement yet, and we wouldn’t put this out there unless the show was going to be high class, all the way. Hope you can join us!

Feb. 11th @ Sunset Saloon: Christina Martin & Dale Murray

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Returning for her third appearance live in my living room (on top of a terrific show at the Lo-Pub supporting Cuff the Duke a while back), Christina Martin, February 11, 2012. This time, she’ll have her amazingly talented husband/producer/guitarist Dale Murray along to complement her songs and share some of his own.

As usual, admission price is up to you (although $20 will seem like a bargain, I guarantee you). All are welcome (bring the kids, your friends, your parents, your goldfish Charlie, whomever). We supply the snacks and soft drinks, you bring anything you’d like to enjoy yourself (BYOB) or a snack to share. The only thing you should make sure you bring is money for a CD (or two).

Here’s a small taste of the magic you can expect to enjoy:

Please RSVP if you can (it lessens the anxiety), but last minute and walk-up attendees are welcome too.

Jory Nash, Live @ Sunset Saloon, Fri. Oct 21!

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Tell the Band to Go Home and Steel Belted Radio are proud to present:

Jory Nash (http://www.jorynash.com/main-set.html)
Live @ Sunset Saloon (house concert, West Winnipeg)
Friday, Oct. 21
8:00 pm
suggested donation $15-20 (all money directly to the artist, price is flexible – pay what you can or what you will)
We’ll supply the snacks, soft drinks, juice, hospitality, and more – bring something for yourself or to share, whatever suits you!
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!

PLUS! Once again, Jaine is making her special one-night only homemade ice cream in honour of our guest. You get a taste FREE (but feel free to tip Jory as your thanks). Previous flavours have included Christina Maraschino (Christina Martin), Fort McLeod Fudge (John Wort Hannam), and Chris Caramichael (Chris Carmichael). This time ’round, how could we go wrong with:

Heavenly Nash!

A bit about this show:

When CD submissions started rolling in to me in 2002 or so, one of the first discs that really caught my ear was Lo-Fi Northern Blues, by Jory Nash. The second song is called “The Ballad of Easy Chair;” Jory calls it “a semi-autobiographical tale of hope, perseverance and grand theft candy.” It’s a lighthearted song with a great lyric and an instantly memorable melody. It showcases Jory’s tasteful guitar playing and his unique, wonderful voice. In short, it’s everything I look for in a song, and I love it still. He’s put out three albums since then (as well as a great one before) and each one shows great skill, dedication, and growth.

The primary goal Tell the Band to Go Home is to bring you amazing music that you might not otherwise hear anywhere else, and match you (the open-minded music lover) with talented musicians looking to find an audience. Jory is just the kind of super-talented, hard-working, DIY musician that we love to promote, and I know that once you see and hear him (especially live), you’ll fall in love.

Of course, you can hear plenty of his songs on upcoming episodes of Tell the Band to Go Home, or you can visit one of his homes on the web for samples:
Jory’s website (http://www.jorynash.com/main-set.html) – click on Sound Bites
MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/jorynash)
MapleMusic (http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/jna/default.asp)
CBC Radio 3 (http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/JORY-NASH)

wherever you go, you’ll hear right away that this guy is interested in writing thoughtful, intelligent, interesting lyrics and it’s all presented with tasteful, memorable melodies. He walks a musical line between Gordon Lightfoot and Paul Simon with many stops in between. It’s magical music that will capture your heart and your ears.

And he’s won over plenty of critics, too. His latest album “New Blue Day” was voted Album of the Year in a poll conducted by Penguin Eggs Magazine, voted on by artists, industry folk, and radio dorks like me. That might not mean much to you unless I told you that previous winners include Fred Eaglesmith, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Bob Dylan, Lynn Miles, David Francey & Harry Manx.

Jory is very busy touring most of the year, visiting spots across Canada and into the U.S. He regularly sells out Toronto’s hallowed hall “Hugh’s Room,” (kind of like their version of the West End Cultural Centre), and has appeared at festivals and special events all over. BUT, he NEVER comes to Winnipeg! He played a house show in our city in 2003, stopped by UMFM for a quick visit, and has never come back! I hope it wasn’t something I said! I’ve been bugging him ever since for a return visit, but it hasn’t happened… until now. Heck, one of the reasons I wanted to do house concerts in the first place was so I could convince him (and others like him) to come to town, knowing that there would be a room full of eager and attentive folks waiting to be entertained and enlightened.

So, don’t miss out on this opportunity to see Jory Nash, live in my living room! (after all, it may be another 8 years before he returns!)

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.)

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Brandi Carlile, Fargo, ND, Aug. 16, 2011

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The Steel Belted crew (and our respective better halves) took the journey down to Fargo to see Brandi Carlile at the Fargo Theatre. I had the great pleasure of seeing (and interviewing) Brandi at the Edmonton Folk Festival last year, so I knew that she’s great live. Last year, however, she was working with a couple less players (they were minus a drummer and a violinist) and it was a shorter set and at a decidedly different venue. This trip had the potential to be a bit of a downer, because sometimes shows aren’t as great the second time around, and because we had to drive 4 hours there and 4 hours back to see the show.

Luckily, it was well worth the trip. Brandi sounded even more powerful and confident than a year ago, perhaps owing to experience or the more intimate, comfortable venue. Whatever the case, the somewhat rowdy but wholly appreciative crowd, and perhaps the fact that Brandi had plenty of family in the audience made for a really fun, interactive show. She threw in some really cool covers and played a great selection of material, new and old.

Every once in a while, I get inspired to record a show, not because I’m some evil bootlegger looking to make a buck, but because I have a really bad memory, and I like something to remind me of the great shows I’ve seen and heard. My recordings are decidedly low-quality, and not in any way meant to be audiophile recordings, and certainly aren’t meant to take the place of authorized recordings. In fact, I really hope that they inspire you to get out to a show or buy a CD (ok, or a digital download) of your own.

With that in mind, if you want to download this amazing show for yourself, go ahead and enjoy. You don’t need to post it on your site or host it anywhere else, just let other folks know to stop by and visit my site. Don’t ever sell it or do anything bad. Look both ways before you cross the street, too.

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