Peterborough Folk Festival

Miss Emily Brown’s debut album, Part of You Pours Out of Me, named one of the top twelve albums of 2008 by CBC’s Alan Neal, marked a graceful entrance onto Canada’s independent music scene. OnJanuary 18, 2010 Emily released her sophomore album, In Technicolor, which features songs written as part of her Canada Council for the Arts sponsored winter-long songwriting project that explores her grandmother’s journal from World War II.

Emily Millard was born in Iroquois, Ontario, a hometown she describes as “an airstrip, a beach, one diner and my parents’ house. That’s how it feels.”  In the 1950s, the original town was replaced by a Garden City town, designed and relocated by Ontario Hydro to make way for Toronto-bound ships. “As a kid I would look down off the docks at the old roads submerged under water,” she explains. “It is a very nostalgic community. We have to confront the past and the present all of the time. ”

At nineteen, Emily moved to Vancouver Island, where she studied poetry and recorded her first “clunky folk songs” in a friend’s art studio. In 2004, Emily relocated to Nelson BC, where the Kootenays’ hush and the Selkirk School of Music taught her jazz. She sang in a nightclub. And as she composed, she dug in auntie’s closets for autoharps and toy guitars. “An autoharp is not the sort of thing you can buy,” says Emily. “That would be too weird. You have to just find them.”

In Jeremy Fisher’s Vancouver living room, and in Corwin Fox’s Victoria studio, Miss Emily Brown recorded her first full release, Part of You Pours Out of Me. Called “wonderfully poppy” and “winsome” by Monday Magazine and “un véritable univers enchanteur” by the bloggers, the record is soft and nostalgic. The album features bassist Tobias Meis, former drummer of Vancouver’s Hey Ocean, Benny Schuetze, saxophonist Anthony D’Agati and string players Hannah and Nick Epperson. The tracks have been featured on CBC Radio’s Canada Live, Canada Next!, All Points West and Bandwidth, on popular UK podcast The Waiting Room and on university radio stations across Canada.

With the success of her first album, Miss Emily Brown toured to dozens of festivals and venues across Canada and the US in 2008-2009. In the winter of 2009, Emily was the recipient of a Canada Council for the Arts grant for composition, which she used to research and write her second album, In Technicolor. The project began with her grandmother’s wartime journal, but developed into a complex compendium of songs dealing with themes of femininity and independence under extreme duress.

For more information, visit her website.

The D’oh See Dough Boyz are well into their second decade of providing the perfect square dance party.  These festive occasions have included weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, school functions, and even a theological convention.  The classic old time square dance, now as in the pioneer past, brings together friends, neighbours and complete strangers alike, and is completely cross generational in appeal, not to mention that it’s fun and easy to learn.

Ben Wolfe, square dance caller extraordinaire, has not yet been able to make the lame walk but he can make a whoopin’ square dancer out of your most bashful and clumsy cousin.

Ken Brown, fiddler, provides the swirling jigs and reels.

Curtis Driedger, guitarist, lays down the quintessential square dance groove.

Put on yer dancin’ shoes (or kick ‘em off, for that matter) and join the D’oh See Dough Boyz for forty-five minutes of hoe down hoofin’ and hilarity!

Friday, August 27, 2010 – Royal Wood in concert
Presented in part by the Canadian Canoe Museum.
Tickets $15 – available in person at Titles Bookstore and the Canadian Canoe Museum,
or you can purchase them online at the Canadian Canoe Museum website.

Singer-songwriter Royal Wood has spent years perfecting his craft of balladry and pop music. His new album, The Waiting, appropriately begins with a song entitled “You Can’t Go Back.” And why would he, when with each new release Royal Wood delivers another collection of heartrending and honest tales of love, loss and life more impressive than the last. It now seems more than ever that Wood has found his voice. “This record is about the duality of life and how at times, I seemingly waited for the mirrored experience to return,” says Wood. “I went through so many severe shifts personally and all of that turbulence led to serious thought and reflection. That is why these songs were born and why they are my most personal and introspective to date.”

“Wood is on his way to establishing himself alongside the Canadian royalty of artists such as Sexsmith and Wainwright.” – EXCLAIM MAGAZINE

Royal Wood’s voice, songwriting and musical prowess caught the ear of Pierre Marchand and led to Wood’s decision to let others into his creative universe. On previous albums (A Good Enough Day, Tall Tales, and The Milkweed EP), Wood self-produced, arranged and played the vast majority of the instruments. Pierre Marchand, a heavy hitter best known for his work with Sarah McLachlan and Rufus Wainwright, produced three of The Waiting’s tracks. “I wanted someone who was going to push me artistically, get me out of my comfort zone and who I could inevitably learn something from,” says Wood. “That was Pierre.”

Royal Wood’s career trajectory is building one fan at a time through word of mouth, critical acclaim and impressive musical achievements. He was named iTunes’ Songwriter of the Year, supported national tours with Serena Ryder and Sarah Slean and landed song placements in TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy. With the release of The Waiting, his most inspired record to date, an upcoming national theatre tour withDavid Gray and more in the works, now more than ever Royal Wood is an artist on the rise.

For more information, visit his website.