This Week In Art/Culture/Entertainment
By John Swartz
This is the weekend for the annual Images Studio Tour. There are 32 artists participating at 20 venues. About half the venues are close to Orillia and the other half clustered nearer to Barrie along Lake Simcoe.
You can plan a route with their handy map. All the studios are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
You could start right here in town at Jimi McKee’s place at the north end of Laclie Street. He’s got a mixed bag of artworks to show, from sculptures to paintings and drawings, with a duck or too thrown in.
Of high importance would be going to Marlene Bulas’s studio on West Street. She had become ill and likely won’t be there, but Walter has always been a good host. Todd Beckett reopened the late Dave Beckett’s Marchmont studio for the tour. Who knows if there will be another chance to see a range of work from those artists in one place again.
While you are out in Marchmont, drive down the road from Dave’s, past the mill to Paul and Pam Allen’s place. Paul makes furniture and Pam makes jewellery.
From there it’s short drive to see Xavier Fernandes’s stuff. He does some great paintings and he got into using a lathe to make useful things out wood, bowls and such. I can’t recall if he has had a regressive streak to public school shop classes and made any ashtrays, but he’s made quite a number of other interesting things. He is also working a new project turning the downtown trees being chopped down into bowls (he is planning an exhibit of those in December, so he might have only a few on hand to show). He’ll be at Heather Kerslake’s studio in Jarrett.
Since you are out there, you could continue on and visit 10 other studios all situated close to Horseshoe Valley Road.
Bring your camera.
New Music
Saturday night the Terry Savage Band is celebrating the release of a new EP, Hope This Helps. It’s also on whatever streaming service you might happen to have.
There are 6 tunes on it and it sounds like good old traditional country music of the 50s, 60s and early 70s before it went all Hollywood.
One of the reasons I never really liked country music –other than live – was the conventions, twangy singing with an affected southern accent (you know the Brits managed to sing in normal voices, but not the country stars) and the too prominent use of the pedal steel guitar, which was also played overly twangy.
Jamie Haffenden doesn’t sing that way, well except of a couple minor instances and Tim Kehoe has learned to play the pedal steel using all the tricks, but not hitting you over the head with it. He’s a lot more tasteful with his playing.
The fun starts at 8 p.m. upstairs at Couchiching Craft Brewing with Nick Bellinghauser opening the show.
Also with new music is the Big Bad Jug Band who last week released an EP, Big Bad Demo.This is a relatively new band with Jim Fitzgerald (of Frankie and Jimmy) Sean Patrick, Jessica Martin, and Nate Robertson. They played a gig at St. Paul’s last year and it was a fun evening. Since then they’ve added bass player Chris Lamont.
The music is just like the kind you’d think you could hear on the back roads of Tennessee, Georgia or any of the neighbouring States – but with irreverent lyrics.
They also shot a video for Don’t Touch My Stuff. They are planning to have a gig in Orillia soon and of course I’ll let you know when and where.
I’m not done. Zachary Lucky has a new music out. Well, it’s coming out October 28 and you can be the first to hear it here. He’s got two songs out now on Youtube. I like them. I like the recording. Maybe the trend of burying lead vocals and guitars into the mix is reversing itself because his voice is clear and out front of the mix and the guitar work is distinguishable along the other instruments. The two tunes have a really good balance of sound.
I especially like Water in the Fuel, a cover of Fred Eaglesmith’s tune and it’s maybe Zachary’s best performance from a catalogue of good music. Zachary will be playing at the Orillia Opera House November 27 (tickets).
Jazz Fest
The Orillia Jazz Festival is next week. The main event(s) are Saturday, October 19 at the Opera House. The afternoon gig is with Brassworks, Autorickshaw, The Orillia All-Star Jazz Band and the All-Star Vocal Ensemble. The latter two are ensembles made up of music students from our high schools (tickets).
Brassworks always seem to have some new tune in their lineup that I like. Autorickshaw’s music is a fusion of Indian/Jazz/Pop and a dose of modern looping technology. They last played here at Mariposa a few years ago. The high school band and chorus have really improved over the last few years and it will be interesting to hear what they are doing now.
In the evening Thompson Egbo-Egbo will be sharing the stage with Juno winning singer, Caity Gyorgy, who sings Bebop (who does that anymore- a lost art) and Swing.
Also appearing at the concert is a dance troupe choreographed by Vicki St. Denys. I haven’t been able to confirm if they are performing with Thompson, or as another act, but if this is the same group, and I think it is, that performed with Thompson at the 2024 Ontario 55+ Winter Games in February, it’s going to be great. You can get tickets online.
Sunday St. Paul’s Centre is doing their Jazz Service at 10:30 a.m. The performers are Rhonda H Way, Betty Beata, and Dave Sereny and the choir. Dave has some Canadian Smooth Jazz Award nominations and has had a couple of his tunes make the Top 10 in the U.S.
The Shorts
- There are still spots for Trunkers left – Derick Lehmann is trying to hit 100 – and registration for the 5th annual Trunk Or Treat Halloween fundraiser for the Orillia Youth Centre is open. You can get tickets online for your kids now. The date of the event is Saturday October 26 and it’s at ODAS Park.
- The Orillia & District Agricultural Society. Has a trick or two up their sleeve for Halloween. They have the Severn Slaughterhouse happening Oct. 11/12, 16-19, and 23-27 at ODAS Park. They say it’s family friendly and you can get tickets online.
- If you are in Toronto Oct. 17, Samantha Windover has a gig at Hugh’s Room. She’s on a bill with Danny Marks and Alec Fraser. This is a big deal for her.
- The Cellar Singers start their concert season Oct. 18 at St. James’ Anglican Church. The featured piece of music is The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace by Karl Jenkins. Jenkins is the composer who wrote Palladio, which was the DeBeer’s diamond commercial music we all know. Jenkins was also in the Jazz/Rock Fusion band, Soft Machine, for quite a long time and is you’ve ever seen the BBC video performance of Mike Oldfield’’s Tubular Bells, he’s in the band. The soloist is Lillian Brooks whose career has kept her far away for so long, I had forgotten she’s from here. You can get tickets online.
- The Orillia Concert Band and the Orillia Big Band share the stage at St. Paul’s Centre Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. It’s a benefit concert for The Sharing Place Food Bank. You can get tickets online.
- The Orillia Concert Association starts their concert series Oct. 27 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church with the Stratton Soloists. This nine piece ensemble is made up of musicians who formerly worked for the late Kerry Stratton. They have the Elmer Iseler Singers in January, the comedy team of Bridge and Wolak (they are musicians too) in March, and Lance Anderson in May. The season ticket price is still only $90 and you can get season passes by emailing orilliaconcert@gmail.com or call 705-325-3532. You can also get tickets for individual concerts (440) at the Opera House box office.
- The Leacock Museum has a new exhibit, Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction and has a Ghost Walk happening Oct. 18, 19, 25 and 26. You can get tickets online.
- Downtown Orillia is putting on a parade. The Monster March is Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. Anyone can enter, but you have to dress up. This one is going up the hill on Mississaga Street. There will be Trick or Treating for the kids at some downtown businesses after the parade.
- There are a few gigs at the Opera House to be aware of. Mariposa Arts Theatre is doing Gypsy in November, which has Josh Halbot directing for the first time. Get tickets here. Second City is coming Oct. 4 (tickets) and guitarist Johannes Linstead has a concert Oct. 18 (many tunes and albums on various Billboard charts over the years – tickets).
- You can get tickets now for the Mariposa Folk Festival’s Mariposa-In-Concert event Nov. 23 at the Opera House with Matt Weidinger’s Van Morrison show. Matt is a member of Matchedash Parish and has appeared in many of Lance Anderson’s tribute show bands.
- The Orillia Museum of Art and History has Jeanette Luchese’s solo show, The Process Informs Me: Contemporary Abstract Frescoes; up until Oct. 19, then they put up the annual Carmichael Landscape Show which opens Oct. 26; OMAH’s annual gala is Jan. 18 and is also their 25th anniversary party; it’s at Hawk Ridge and the keynote speaker is Adam Shoalts; get tickets online; OMAH; the monthly History Speaker’s Night is Oct. 16 with John Smith talking about the history of the Tudhope Carriage Company, it’s a zoom event and you can register online; Haunted History Tours are Oct 23 and 30, register online… St. Paul’s Centre has the Call to Action 83 Art Project in the Ogimaa Miskwaaki Gallery… Hibernation Arts just got new paint, on the walls, from front to back and most of the artists have brought in new work to see… Peter Street Fine Arts has work by Renee Havers as guest artist for October.
- Quayle’s Brewery has Mike Schultz playing the early set and Kyle Wauchope the late set Oct. 12; Kat Chabot (early) and Stephan Bernard (late) are in Oct. 13; David Stone is in Oct. 17; Kevin California plays Oct. 18… Jakob Pearce is playing at Ktchn Oct. 14… The Polyester Slackers and DJ Rudy have a Halloween party happening at the 201 Grill and Game Bar (the Highwayman) Oct. 25 (prize for best costume).
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Images Supplied) Main: Art by Images Studio Tour Artists Xavier Fernandes, Dave Beckett, Jimi McKee and Marlene Bulas.
