October

Canada's brilliantly inventive Kevin Breit will open the Greenbank Folk Music Society’s 2013 - 14 season on Saturday, October 5th. Acoustic-roots rocker, Mark Reeves, will be opening for Kevin.

A legendary guitar and mandolin player, Kevin has performed on recordings that have earned 13 Grammy Awards. He has worked with Norah Jones, Rosanne Cash, Bill Frisell, k.d. lang, Cassandra Wilson, Amos Lee, Jane Siberry, Molly Johnson, Serena Ryder, Ani DeFranco, Natalie McMaster, Marc Jordan, Carlos del Junco, Jane Bunnett, Janis Ian, Barra MacNeils, the Rankins, Wailin’ Jennies, Lynn Myles, Ian Tyson, Celine Dion, Quartette, Michael Kaeshammer, and many others. In 2004, he was honoured with a ‘Musician of the Year’ Award from the Toronto Musician’s Association.

With the Sisters Euclid, he has recorded ten albums, and received a Juno Award for the Run Neil Run recording. Breit’s trio, Folkalarm, has recorded 5 albums and has toured throughout Canada. Kevin was awarded a Gemini Award for his collaboration with Misha Brueggergossman for Both Sides Now…a celebration of Joni Mitchell.

His most recent album, Field Recording, is earning critical acclaim. Says the CBC reviewer: “The only person that comes to mind for this level of inventiveness is Ry Cooder, and I mean that as the highest praise.”

Like some kind of caffeinated single malt whiskey, Mark Reeves’ acoustic roots-rock goes down smooth and easy, but packs a powerful kick that can’t help but move you. Turning heads because of youthful talent, he won a scholarship to Boston’s Berklee College of Music at 19, paid his dues in the blues clubs, made a record with Los Lobos producer Keith Keller’s at Keller’s mansion in New Orleans, won a sackful of awards, and warmed up stages for everyone from Robert Cray and Blue Rodeo to Colin James and Jesse Winchester.

World class and stellar entertainment to start off our new season. Join us for a great night of great music!

November

Club Django grew out of weekly jam sessions devoted to the timeless music of gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli. By adding an accordion to the classic Reinhardt/Grappelli quintet of three guitars, violin and bass, Club Django provided a warm, round feeling to its faithful rendition of the tangos, waltzes and straight-ahead swing tunes first made famous by its heroes in Paris of the 1930's.

Each time out, the founder of the band, Andre "Papy" Seguinot, and his cohorts demonstrate their love for the music of two of their heroes, Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt. In fact, the band listens to the Grapelli-Reinhardt records so much, they titled one of their original songs "Exact Copy".

With Seguinot on rhythm guitar, Abbey Sholzberg on double bass, Rodion Boshoer on violin, Gerry Duligal on accordion, John Farrel on lead guitar and Tony Oldland on rhythm guitar, these Canadian folk music makers have a ball swinging with tunes like "Minor Swing", "I'm Confessin'" and "Dark Eyes" which they describe as the Gypsy National Anthem.

December

From the website:

David Francey is a Scottish-born Canadian carpenter-turned-songwriter, who has become known as “one of Canada’s most revered folk poets and singers” (Toronto Star). Born in Ayrshire, Scotland to parents who were factory workers, he moved to Canada when he was twelve. For decades, he worked across Canada in rail yards, construction sites, and in the Yukon bush, all the while writing poetry, setting it to melodies in his head and singing it to himself as he worked.

A truly authentic folk singer, Francey is a documentarian of the working person who never imagined earning a living from his music. But when he was in his 40s, his wife, artist Beth Girdler, encouraged him to share his songs and sing in public. The reaction was instant. His first album Torn Screen Door came out in 1999 and was a hit in Canada. Since then, he has released ten albums, won three Juno Awards and has had his songs covered by such artists as The Del McCoury Band, The Rankin Family, James Keelaghan and Tracy Grammer.

Francey also had the honour of receiving the prestigious SOCAN Folk Music Award as well as taking home the Grand Prize in both the International Acoustic Music Award and in the Folk category for the John Lennon Songwriting Award.

January

CBC listeners have likely heard the music of this Ottawa-based musical storyteller. According to his CBC bio:

“In 2010 Fisher launched a unique tour of the west coast called The Malahat Revue with fellow artists Said the Whale, Hannah Georgas, and Aidan Knight. Fisher travelled by bike with gear in tow, and pedaled roughly 500km from Vancouver to Saltspring Island, and then from Pender Island to Vancouver Island, across to the Sunshine Coast ending the tour with a closing set at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival.

No stranger to touring by bike, since 1998 he has completed the journey across North America three times . . . . . . He is without a doubt a modern-day folk hero who is bringing back the nearly forgotten art of making a great record from start to finish, and forging a career path that is built to endure."

February

Rob Lutes is widely known for his superb songwriting, finger-style mastery and soulful vocals.His sixth album, The Bravest Birds, was recorded in an intimate studio in Montreal in April 2012. With The Bravest Birds, he delivers an exquisite collection of songs that inhabits the intersection of blues, Americana and the contemporary singer-songwriter genres and includes the blazing instrumental, "Turning Point".

Since his first release, Gravity, in 2000, the Montreal-based musician who originally hails from the town of Rothesay, New Brunswick, has become widely known for his impassioned live performances, featuring extraordinary playing, a bit of improvisational magic and Lutes’ intense, gritty vocals. He is a former Kerrville winner and Maple Blues, CFMA and Lys Blues nominee.

Join us . . . should be a great show!

March

According to James' web site, "Barely into his 30s, Hill has already made a career out of knocking worlds against each other. His technical prowess on ukulele is achieved through attacking what is mostly regarded as a lowly folk instrument with the seriousness and nuance of technique usually associated with the highest levels of virtuosity on, say, classical violin or piano. His entertaining and unpredictable solo concerts have a world-wide audience that would be envied by many wannabe rock stars and his inspirational music seminars have made him something of a ukulele-based motivational speaker. Anyone lucky enough to have seen one of Hill’s recent live shows might also be familiar with his hip-hop influenced forays into heavily percussive, beat-driven prepared-ukulele “sound sculptures”: John Cage meets Chalmers Doane via Kid Koala." And "... Hill’s songwriting has grown to rival his prowess as a musician..." “A dazzling live performer with a genial, low-key sense of humour” reports the Edmonton Journal. “Utterly world-class in every respect” says Paul Symes at The Blacksheep Inn. “Hill has come into his own as a songwriter... He's obviously got a big heart as well as nimble hands” notes a review of his latest album in Penguin Eggs.

April

May

From the website:

"...Plays and sings the blues like he was born and bred in the Mississippi Delta... maintains their original character while infusing them with his own interpretive flavor." - 'Guitar Player' Magazine

KEN HAMM is a Western Canadian blues and roots music artist with an international reputation. Emerging from early coffeehouses and Northern Ontario bluesbands, to festivals and concert halls, Ken has been playing professionally since the late 1960’s. He has a reputation as a dynamic, moving performer, mixing hot slide fingerstyle acoustic blues with original songs based on his travels and encounters. Although Ken is as comfortable playing a house concert in your living room as playing on main stage, recent performances have included Edmonton Folk Festival, Calgary Folk Festival, Saskatoon Jazz Festival, and Vancouver Island Musicfest.