September 24, 2011

Route 10 Jam Session offers up a cafe of many Flavours

Posted by celesdavar08 under Festival Programming and Workshops, Music Experiences | Tags: , , , , , |
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A delightful evening with stalwart and well established local front men Murray Evans and Cam McKillop and the 2011 edition of the Route 10 Players kicked off Sonics & Sojourns, another annual weekend of music, nature, and the arts at Onanole and Riding Mountain National Park on Friday, Sept 23 at the Onanole Community Centre.

Adding the vocal talents of Pam Ryznar and newcomer (but very experienced) jazz vocalist Natasha Kaminsky from The Cottages at Clear Lake in Wasagaming, we were treated to a wide range of musical genres, mostly covers, and some originals.

Bruce Shavers from Brandon and locals Coulton McKillop, Iain Eyde, and Dennis Richards helped in the first set with some great blues licks. Showcasing in the second set was a young and emerging bluegrass originals trio from Winnipeg, Bog River. Everyone jammed for the last set.

There is nothing that makes a person more proud than seeing the “gems in our backyard” shining with the luster that we have come to appreciate in seeing and listening to these musicians all being from the Route 10 area of Manitoba. And, it’s professional musicians like Murray Evans and Cam McKillop who keep supporting and mentoring local talent… We’re glad they do!

Thanks everyone for a lovely evening. Tomorrow at The Friends Learning Center, Bog River will do a full concert.

 

September 21, 2011

Sonics and Sojourns 2011 edition ready to rock

Posted by celesdavar08 under A Sustainable Festival (Green), Festival Programming and Workshops | Tags: , , , , |
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George Hartlen, with Friends of Riding Mountain, is pretty excited at both the weather forecast and the weekend coming up. Having put together a very unique weekend of live music, speakers, outdoor hikes, an At The Farm Gate market with local produce and artisans, and many other things, Sonics & Sojourns rolls out again for another fall festival of learning and music. “We are offering some wonderful authors, access to local producers, and of course some innovative fall programming as usual. Our horse and wagon ride to the Whitewater Lake Prisoner of War Camp will take visitors into the heart of the wilderness. Yet, right here in Onanole, you can go the Saturday Farm Gate market, or Saturday night, you can take in Bog River.”

Bog River? (click on the link and have a listen to their music ) 

Yup. From the heart of the Canadian prairies, Bog River was first formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, when three young songwriters (Ben Hadaller, Carly Dow, Dave Barchyn) collaborated to create a new and passionate folk/bluegrass project.  With a wide range of influences, each member has come together to provide a unique sound with haunting lyrics and harmonies, and diverse instrumentals (including guitars, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, harmonicas and dobro).

 

Need to download a copy of the poster to share with others – here’s the link:

Sonics and Sojourns Poster 2011

 

September 25, 2010

At The Farm Gate – first year

Posted by celesdavar08 under A Sustainable Festival (Green), Festival Programming and Workshops | Tags: , , , , |
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Wes Huyghe At The Farm Gate_©Celes Davar

Wes Huyghe At The Farm Gate in Onanole

Valerie Pankratz, with the Riding Mountain Biosphere Reserve, is almost in tears. A dream that she has had for a number of years has been fulfilled. She has been wanting to see a venue that supports local producers who produce local, organic and healthy foods. At The Farm Gate is a project of the Riding Mountain Biosphere Reserve. It promotes and provides access to local, tasty, health farm fresh food directly from the producers themselves. This direct retailing supports farmers directly. It was great to see the number of people turning out for this first-ever event.Trisha Lee's soaps At The Farm Gate_©Celes Davar

Wes Huyghe's squash At The Farm Gate_©Celes DavarFrom local soaps and oils produced by Trisha Lee in Inglis (Secrets From The Garden) to fresh squashes and pumpkins and carrots provided by Wes Huyghe, a local Minnedosa organic food grower, consumers had direct access to a number of items. Local crafts, jewelry, breads, and cooking demonstrations were all well set up in the Onanole Community Centre.

Great job Val and team! Nice to see the fall foods and our local producers featured in this way during the third annual Sonics and Sojourns festival of learning and music.

At the Farm Gate poster

 

September 25, 2010

Red Moon Road musicality shines!

Posted by celesdavar08 under Music Experiences | Tags: , , , |
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It was one of those under-stated, unexpected moments. From Erin Propp’s opening moments, you knew that you were in the presence of an emerging songstress. Like Maegan Blanchard from PEI, these young singers bring a depth of feeling and soulfulness that is immediately felt by everyone in the room – no talking, no distraction, just rapt attention. This soulfulness appears to be a quality beyond her years, which brings a feeling of surprise as a listener…”where have you been hiding?”  Erin is an equal among the group – with a good array of talent amongst the rest of the band, sharing duties on mandolin, guitars, melodica, keys, bass, banjo, and fiddle. The instruments were heard separately, but together, were full of energy and tight.

Red Moon Road presents live roots music that brings a touch of Celtic, a strong songwriting capability from Daniel Jordan, and a wide range of acoustic instrumentation into their program. Daniel Peloquin-Hopfner, Alex Campbell, and Jordan were all multi-instrumentalists. The peace-keeper in the group was a newcomer on fiddle Alan Owen, whose harmonies and solos on violin were beautiful. He is experienced and talented, playing fiddle with Del Barber, who received critical acclaim at the 2010 Winnipeg Folk Festival.

Red Moon Road @ Sonics and Sojourns

Red Moon Road writes most of their material, but their covers were great as well. Ending with a couple of fun and enjoyable renditions of songs from The Band showed how much fun this band could have with each other and with us. They are on mySpace – RedMoonRoad. Listen to The Frost and The Sailor Song, both of which they sang last night. Good stuff!

If you haven’t seen them yet, go and see them as quickly as you can.

 

September 24, 2010

Fubuki Daiko – Rhythms, Drums, Energy

Posted by celesdavar08 under Festival Programming and Workshops, Music Experiences, Photos and Videos | Tags: , , , |
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Sonics and Sojourns 2010 opened to a thunderous beat – that of Fubuki Daiko, (Japanese taiko drumming) from Winnipeg. Naomi Guilbert and Hiroshi Koshiyama are a duo attending the Riding Mountain National Park Artist in Residence program, hosted in partnership with the Manitoba Arts Council. After facilitating a session for Onanole Elementary School earlier in the day, Naomi and Hiroshi educated, entertained, and engaged the evening audience in learning some of the nuances of taiko drumming.

We learned two rhythm patterns together, by learning the drumming syllables vocally and trying them out on our bodies. In two separate groups, we then brought the two rhythms together, first by vocalizing only. The second time, we vocalized and were merged together with the drumming.

A fitting start to Sonics and Sojourns 2010. Each year, the Sonics and Sojourns Festival of Learning and Music has started with drumming. This year was no exception.

 

September 11, 2010

Sonics and Sojourns 2010

Posted by celesdavar08 under Festival Programming and Workshops, News and Updates | Tags: , , |
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Sonics and Sojourns 2010 continues the 3-year fall tradition of music, unique experiences, and a fall festival of learning in the Onanole and Riding Mountain National Park and biosphere reserve area. Within a shorter time-frame this year to be more effective with our time, volunteers, and partners, the organizers of the festival are packing a number of different unique community activities and experiences into four days.
Festival Dates:

From Thursday, Sept. 23 – Sunday, Sept. 26, you can take part in a variety of workshops, national park activities, musical experiences, and food events.
What you can expect from this year’s Sonics and Sojourns Festival 2010:

  • A focus on local (local area and Manitoba) artists and musicians
  • Emphasis on fall foods, food producers, and cuisine from the local area
  • A strong local community focus
  • Fall interpretive programming and interactive citizen science programs

We hope that you will join us.

 

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