Tag Archives: House Concert

SWEET ALIBI – House Concert

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SWEET ALIBI HOUSE CONCERT Wednesday November 15, 2017, 7:30pm at 5768 Haha Creek Road, Wardner.

With the possible exception of Classical Chamber Music, small group truly acoustic performances are pretty rare these days. Even “folk” musicians “plug in”. The expectation of audiences, regardless of the music genre  or the performance venue is for the music to be amplified. The Sweet Alibi  house concert at Van and Shelagh Redecop’s place on Wednesday night is about as close as one can get to an acoustic performance.

The opening act, Mismatched Socks,  was 100% acoustic. No one plugged in and none of the vocalists were “miked”. This local family band  of related siblings and cousins have been performing around the area for a couple of years now and features Grace Cleland on mandolin; Rachel Cleland  on upright bass; Jason Cleland  on violin;  cousins and fellow siblings Rachel and Meaghan Gaudet on percussion and guitar. All musicians double up on vocals. This was the perfect venue to hear the sweet harmonies of the vocalists against the soft musical back drop of the accompanying instruments. They did a short set that included Rip Tide, Muddy Waters, Phillip Phillips  Home,  and the Lumineers  Hey Ho.

        

On the other hand Sweet Alibi did “plug in” their guitars but the vocals were 100% acoustic and the balance between the instruments and the vocals was absolutely perfect. The vocal harmonies were to die for. Having performed in the area last April this is their second concert at Van and Shelagh’s place. The band of Amber Rose – guitar, vocals and percussion; Michelle Anderson – banjo, vocals and guitar; Jess Rae Ayre  – guitar, vocals, percussion and harmonica were joined by bass guitarist Alistair Dunlop (It is rumored that Alistair first met the ladies in a Winnipeg North prison). The band performed  selections from their numerous recordings and it included their wonderful version of Bob Dylan’s Gotta Serve Somebody and their tribute to the undefeated rodeo bull  Bodacious.

Here are some more images from the evening.

            

Thanks should go to the musicians of Sweet Alibi who spend so much time on the road touring to entertain such small, but welcoming audiences. Thanks to the “Cleland Clan” for coming out on a school night to perform  and thanks also to Shelagh and Van for hosting the concert, housing the musicians and providing the wine and delicious snacks.

We should do this again some time……..

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The Driftwood House Concert Series

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“LISTENING TO LIVE MUSIC IS SOMETHING THAT USED TO BE UBIQUITOUS IN OUR CULTURE. BEFORE RECORDED MUSIC WAS WIDESPREAD CONCERTS WERE ATTENDED, BALLS WERE HELD AND THERE WAS AT LEAST ONE PERSON IN EACH FAMILY WHO KNEW HOW TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT.” – Jenny Williams, blogger for Wired.

Driftwood_Plain_LogoIn the days before music became an “industry” that may have been the way it was, but not any more. An intimate musical event is one that most of us, but not all, no longer have the opportunity to experience. Generally speaking, musical performances are larger scaled  events and music is some what confined to the concert hall or the bigger venues. The idea of a music as an intimate affair is almost, but not quite, unknown. The notable exceptions in this area are The Beannick Subscription series, The Homegrown Coffee House and Locals Coffee House series and the occasional House Concert.  “House Concerts”  are not new.The most notable historical example are the famous Harlem “House Rent parties” of the 1930s that were a hot bed of jazz piano. Piano giants like James P. Johnson, Lucky Roberts, and Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith would play in apartments in Harlem and the money collected went towards the owners rent. In more recent times there has been a resurgence of House Concerts. The idea is that a musician can play a concert in a private home, either for a nominal fee or donations, usually they then have a place to stay and Darin Welchsomething to eat. The owner of the house can invite interested patrons to attend for a nominal fee. Usually the performing groups are either solo acts or small groups that play acoustically or with minimal amplifications. The audience usually number less than 40. Over recent years Beth Crawley and Sharon Routley, on separate occasions, have hosted House Concerts. We can add Darin  and Jen Welch to the list of music patrons willing to host House Concerts. They have just completed a winter series  in their Driftwood Concert House in Kimberley. They are about to launch their Spring – March/April series that will include the following performers:

Thursday, March 28, 2013:  Belle Plaine from Saskatchewan. Check her web site at Belle Plaine

 Friday, April 19, 2013: David Newberry w/- The Nautical Miles from Vancouver. Check their websites at David Newberry  Nautical Miles

Sunday, April 28, 2013: Christa Couture w/- Jess Hill from Vancouver. Check their websites at Chris Couture  Jess Hill

There are 40 tickets per concert and at $12 they sell out fast. To reserve your ticket contact Darin at the following email address    driftwoodconcerts@gmail.com

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