Happy Music Year!

Hope all the BobCat friends had a great Christmas. I've been thinking about some of the great music we were treated to here at BobCat. We had:

• Ana Miura
• Amanda Rheaume
• Janine Stoll & Paul MacDougall
• Rhonda Stakich
• Peter Elkas
• Andrea Simms-Karp
• Kate Weekes
• David Ross MacDonald
• The Undesirables (Sean Cotton & Corin Raymond)
• Corin Raymond
• Jonathan Byrd

grace us with amazing music. What a gift for us all.

But now it's time to start looking forward, and we've got some amazing people coming to play in 2010, starting with a show at the end of January with the amazing Nathan Rogers.

Nathan Rogers carries a family name with resonance -- and maybe with some baggage too. But once you hear him, you'll add the term "powerful performer" to the terms "son of Stan" and "nephew of Garnet". He's produced two CDs - 2005's True Stories and 2009's The Gauntlet. Both feature that rich Rogers voice, his Grit Laskin guitars, and songwriting that moves from the more conventional folk idiom you might expect to incorporate Tuvan throat-singing, beatboxing, and god only knows what.

Here's a sample of a traditional blues-styled song from Nathan's first record. "Can't sit still" was recorded at a concert Rogers did in Canmore:





Nathan's going to have a full weekend in Eastern Ontario. In addition to the BobCat show, he'll be playing a dinner+concert event in Merrickville at the lovely Yellow Canoe Café on Friday January 29, and doing a songwriting workshop on the Sunday afternoon. You can contact me for information on those events as well.

WHO: Nathan Rogers
WHERE: BobCat, 214 Northwestern Avenue
WHEN: Saturday, January 30
WHAT: $20 suggested donation. If you choose, bring some snacks to share at intermission and/or a donation to the Ottawa Food Bank.

I've no doubt this show will be FULL. So please ensure you've got a seat by reserving and providing your donation in advance. Pay by paypal or Interac money transfer by using the e-mail bob-dot-ledrew at gmail-dot-com, by cheque in the mail, or by cash in person.

And a couple of weeks after that, we have three of the brightest young women in Canadian roots music coming to the house for valentine's weekend. If you haven't heard of the Good Lovelies yet, you really need to. Kerri Ough, Caroline Brooks and Sue Passmore formed up as a unit at the Ottawa Folk Festival a couple of years ago, and this year launched their first full-length CD (Good Lovelies) and a Christmas CD (Under the Mistletoe). Both are wonderful items, capturing both their instrumental skills, their truly incredible harmonies (think the Andrews Sisters at a jam session with the Carter family), and their great original songs. But it's live where you get the full Good Lovelies experience, combining all the music with an infectious joie de vivre and good humour that would make Leonard Cohen giggle like a schoolgirl. It's rare to see an act that just seems to be having so much FUN doing what they do.





And now's your chance to see them here.



WHO: Good Lovelies
WHEN: February 13
WHERE: BobCat Love Canal
WHAT: $25 suggested donation by PayPal, Interac Money Transfer, cheque, or cash in advance please.

Corin Raymond and Jonathan Byrd, November 7

We had a full house for our Thanksgiving show with the Undesirables and David Ross MacDonald. Our next show features half of the Undesirables as well as the best export from North Carolina since powered flight and NASCAR - Jonathan Byrd.

Corin Raymond, the "front man" of The Undesirables, also has a burgeoning career as a solo artist. His new CD, "There will always be a small time", has a loose-limbed, good-humoured shuffle that is instantly engaging and treats you to touches of zydeco, Roy Orbison, and honest emotions from loneliness to raucousness.


Jonathan Byrd writes songs that are almost stark in their simplicity but convey deep thoughts in simple terms. People like Tom Paxton have praised him, and he's won the "New Folk" competition at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. When I brought home a stack of CDs from last year's Ontario Council of Folk Festivals and went through 'em with Cathy, we listened to a bunch of people. When I put Jonathan's on, she said "Can we get him?!" I said "Yes."

Corin and Jonathan share a tremendous musicality and a love of words that will move both heart and head.

WHO: Corin Raymond and Jonathan Byrd
WHERE: BobCat, 214 Northwestern Avenue
WHEN: November 7, 7:00 mingle, 8:00 show.

Suggested donation $20.

Your optional activities:

* non-perishable food good for the Ottawa Food Bank,
* some change to help the Babes for Breasts get across Canada and back,
* dessert or snack to share if you're the sharing kind,
* BYOB if you're inclined that way.

See you soon,

Shows with David Ross MacDonald, Jonathan Byrd, Undesirables!

BobCat’s got two great shows coming up this fall.

On October 10, we will be hosting the return of David Ross MacDonald to BobCat.

This Australian singer-songwriter is someone that we’ve become giant fans of, and he’s been having a wonderful year of touring in Canada.

You may have seen him at the (fabulous) Ottawa Folk Festival this year, where he brought the Hall Stage to its feet with his solo set, or you may have seen him at our place last year, where he did the same.

In fact, here’s a little taste of that solo set from the OFF, and here's an instrumental cut from a gig in Australia where David opened for the legendary Chris Smither:



David will be the special guest at the first-ever BobCat potluck early Thanksgiving dinner. The show will be on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, so we're going to take care of turkey for everyone if you take care of the fixings.

And the special guests of our special guest will be Toronto-based duo The Undesirables. Corin Raymond and Sean Cotton are two guys who are bringing their new CD to Ottawa. Their music is full of wood -- honest, strong, shaped by nature, and crafted to evoke the best of your emotions.

Details:

WHO: David Ross MacDonald with the Undesirables
WHERE: BobCat billabong
214 Northwestern Avenue
WHEN: Saturday, October 10; 5:00 dinner; 8:00 concert
$20 suggested donation.

As always, we will require payment in advance to ensure that people aren't told that we're 'sold out' and then no-shows leave empty seats; that disappoints potential audience members and takes money out of artists' pockets. And you wouldn't want to do that, now. (All proceeds of BobCat shows go to the artist.)

Then on November 7, we have another double show you won't want to miss. Corin Raymond of the Undesirables is going to come back for a solo show of songs from his own album "There Will Always Be a Small Time", and bring along one of his other musical friends -- the amazing Jontahn Byrd.
Jonathan Byrd's songs, someone has said, "are rich with imagery and textures of influences from Appalachian, country, early American balladry, modern atmospheric Mideastern, urban and old timey folk music. A stalwart of modern folk music, Jonathan is constantly evolving in new musical directions and each incarnation has proven to be masterful."

Performing Songwriter says "Jonathan Byrd doesn’t sing songs; he sings truth."

His latest album, "The Law and the Lonesome" reminds me of a combination of Lyle Lovett and John Prine; he is a fearsomely talented songwriter with a marvelous way of arranging and singing his songs.

Jonathan Byrd and Corin Raymond
at the Bobamo
Saturday November 7, 7:00 mingle, 8:00 show
Suggested donation $20.

To get your seat for either or both of these shows put aside, email us at bob.ledrew@gmail.com. Pre-payment by cheque to our house, cash in person, or by PayPal or Interac Money Transfer is required.

See you soon!

Peter Elkas plays "Will power"

For those of you who missed out on Peter's house-concert first-time, here's a little snippet. Thanks to Peter Elkas for allowing us to record and post this, and for being such a great performer.

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Peter Elkas, Emily Chen, and a peace bond: A valentine's day tale

This is the kind of decadence and depravity that happens when people like Peter Elkas get stalked by people like Emily Chen.

I am so ashamed.

PS: If you don't know, Em did the now-famous BobCat logo, and even used it to explain the difference between raster and vector graphics in this post.

Babes for Breasts put on show, make people happy, raise money. Yay.

We had such a good time Saturday night. We'll put some pictures and video up on in the next few days, but the IMPORTANT thing is that thanks to generous patrons and generous donors, we and Babes for Breasts were able to raise more than $2300 (net of expenses) for Breast Cancer Action Ottawa.

BCA Ottawa Executive Director Colleen Lyle talked quite movingly about the worthiness of the cause, and our patrons gave mightily. So thanks.

And thanks to Ana, Amanda, Rhonda, and Janine and Paul MacDougall (aka the man-Babe) for a wonderful night of four singer-songwriters with dramatically different writing and performing styles. It truly was a smorgababe. And a special thanks to Ana for all of her work on BFB. Beautiful, smart, talented and dedicated -- what else could you ask for?

And if you're regretting missing the concert, you can get a dose of Janine and Paul at Irene's Pub as they debut the first CD by their project The DoneFors, "How to have sex with Canadians"