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February 25, 2010
Colin Grant soaks up styles
By STEPHEN COOKE, Halifax Herald
I’VE BEEN
LUCKY enough to catch Cape Breton fiddler Colin Grant on
stage a couple of times during trips across the causeway,
including the CD release bash for his self-titled debut at
Celtic Colours in 2006, and discovered he’s everything you
could hope for from a Celtic musician: energetic,
adventurous, serious in his study of music but always eager
to have a good time on stage and in the studio.
Those
traits carry over to Grant’s new CD, titled Fun for the
Whole Family, which he launches this week with a series of
shows around the province, starting tonight at Governor’s
Pub in Sydney with guest Carlton Stone Drives the Big Wheel,
with two shows at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.
[Colin Grant
(front row, centre) and his band will perform this weekend
in Sydney, Church Point and Halifax. Band members include,
back row, from left Donnie Calabrese (bass), Colin Clarke
(drums); front row, from left, Jason Roach (piano), Grant
(fiddle), and Darren McMullen (guitar, mandolin, banjo,
bouzouki). (PHOTO: NATHAN BOONE)]
On Friday,
Grant returns to Universite Sainte-Anne in Church Point,
where he’s been a student and a teacher, to perform at
Theatre Marc-Lescarbot at 7:30 p.m. with guests Nathalie
Saulnier and Allie Mombourquette.
Then on
Saturday, Grant is in Halifax for an afternoon ceilidh at
Durty Nelly’s Irish Pub on Argyle Street from 2 to 6 p.m.
The shows feature a crackerjack band made up of bassist
Donnie Calabrese, drummer Colin Clarke, pianist Jason Roach
and multi-instrumentalist Darren McMullen, a cohort of J.P.
Cormier’s, recently seen around the province with the duo of
Gillian Boucher and Andrea Wittgens.
Grant’s
something of a musical sponge, soaking up the Scottish and
Acadian fiddle styles of Nova Scotia, and even a wee bit of
the Irish, and can go from a stone trad set like Donald
Angus Jigs to a contemporary track like Beoga’s Surprise
without batting an eye. It shouldn’t be a surprise he
started studying Cape Breton fiddle with Sandy MacIntyre in
Toronto at the age of 10, and continued with Allie Bennett
when his family moved to Cape Breton in 1998. As a result,
his music brims with confidence, but also reverence, as Fun
for the Whole Family includes tributes to the late fiddle
titan Jerry Holland, the Beatons of Mabou, and of course his
respected teacher MacIntyre.
This
weekend’s shows will also include new tunes that Grant and
his band plan to record later in the spring, taking
advantage of the extra musicians to explore a fusion of
Celtic and progressive sounds. Definitely worth a sneak
preview.
Also
touring the Maritimes this week are the six bands nominated
for the East Coast Music Awards LOUD Recording of the Year
category, an inspired tee up for next week’s ECMA blowout in
Sydney.
The East
Coast LOUD Tour hits Gus’s Pub in Halifax tonight, and it’s
a good chance to see how diverse the category really is,
from the down-and-dirty sound of Moncton’s the Motorleague
(nominated for its Black Noise CD) to the melodic anger of
Shelter With Thieves (nominated for Confessions of a Toxic
Generation) and the classic metal approach of Uncooperative
Death and Black Moor on their respective releases,
Uncooperative Death and The Conquering.
Included
on the bill are Big Game Hunt (whose Goliath album is
nominated) and We, the Undersigned (nominated for Bleed the
Constants). Six bands for $5 is a volume discount any way
you look at (and listen to) it.
Another
show that gives you more than you bargained for is at the
Paragon Theatre on Friday night, with five of the best
independent bands in the Maritimes gathering for one
memorable night of music, assembled by the Fredericton-based
label Forward Music.
Dog Day,
Tomcat Combat, Sleepless Nights, Share and Slate Pacific
guarantee a night of music with no lulls. Tickets are $10 in
advance at Taz Records, Lost & Found and Ticketpro outlets
(1-888-311-9090 or www.ticketpro.ca), $13 at the door.
As part of
its African Heritage Month programming, the Halifax Public
Library gives teens a chance to interact with Beechville
rapper Dennis Wright, a.k.a. Hellafactz Tha Akdaviss tonight
at the Halifax North Memorial Public Library on Gottingen
Street at 7 p.m.
An ardent
believer in the power of hip hop as a vehicle for being
heard and making positive change, Hellafactz has been a
welcome addition to the local scene since returning home
from Boston where he’d been making a name as a triple-threat
MC, DJ and producer. His CD Hard 2B Humble, with guest KRS-One,
is strong evidence of his talent and dedication. You can
find out more at www.hellafactz.org and
www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca.
For
something a little more subdued, not to mention down the
road apiece, the Petite Riviere Fire Hall’s Little River
Folk concert series begins again on Saturday with
singer-songwriter Jon McKiel and folk duo Acres & Acres
(featuring members of Down With the Butterfly) at 8 p.m.
It’s an
all-ages show, coffee-house style, and students get in
two-for-one. It’s a great venue and a great community and
well worth the trip. |
