Feature Article October 16, 2002
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Abrams Family & Clarendon Station present CD at final concertBy David Brison The Abrams family wrapped up their first season of summer concerts at the John Thomson Hall in Snow Road on September 22. They invited back many of their guests from the previous concerts, and asked Bill MacDonald, the father of banjoist Glen MacDonald, to entertain. And entertain he did by telling a number of jokes, singing his own brand of country & western and blue grass, and generally keeping his supporting band members, including son Glen, off balance.
On stage with his father, Glen appeared to have a "What is dear old dad going to do next?" look on his face. At intermission Glen said good-naturedly, "I'm supposed to sing with him, and I don't even know what key he is in!" Brian Abrams summed it up by saying, "Glen must take after his mother."
As usual, the audience was in place hours before the 2:00 p.m., start so Wayne Abrams decided to kick it off 20 minutes early (how often do concerts start early?)
The old guests back for the final concert were: Jessica Halliday, who teaches the fiddle to the Abrams boys, and her father Paul and sister Jodie; the Roberts with Bob Slater on guitar and Clarendon Station mandolin player, Bob Burch; and Kingston-based musician Reg Weber with his Smiley Bates Tribute Band. Joe White played the fiddle with the Smiley Bates band. Joe is the grandson of Morley (now deceased) and Alma White of Plevna. Joe regularly plays with The Echo Mountain Blue Grass band of Harrowsmith.
All the fiddlers got together for a rendition of the Orange Blossom special. John and James Abrams, Shawn Kellett, Jessica Halliday, and Joe White all took their solo runs, to the delight of the audience. The rapid-fire improvisation of Shawn Kellett stood out.
The Abrams Family and Clarendon Station has made their first CD: "Doris James". A pre-release version sold out at the concert. Doris James Thomson is Tanya Abram's grandmother. Doris and her husband John, who both recently died in their 90s, lived across the street from Tanya and Brian, and were an important influence on the Abrams boys, James and John. The great-grandparents were usually the first to hear what the boys had learned in their weekly lessons. John said that they could always play a little louder, and be more boisterous generally, around their great-grandparents. The cover of the new CD has a picture of Doris James as a young woman standing on the corner of Brock and Princess Sts. in Kingston at the farmers' market. She stood at that corner into her 90s, and when she died, the vendors and market customers honoured her with a special day. Listening to the new CD certainly added to my appreciation of The Abrams Family and Clarendon Station. Being able to listen without distraction and replay sections at will brought to the forefront several features of the group that hadn't fully registered from their live performances. Brian Abrams wrote and sings the title song for the CD - Doris James, with its haunting chorus:
Doris James, I feel your voice softly call Doris James, I feel your passion in the wind Doris James, I hear your footsteps softly falling walking back 'cross my heart again There are also four songs written by Wayne Abrams: Bear on the Porch, Picture of You, Mary's Song, and The Second Mile. Collectively they tell a story of a man who lost his spiritual roots, recovered them through a close personal relationship with his Lord, and is experiencing a "second mile" in the bosom of his family and their beloved gospel and blue grass music.
Clarendon Station is a well-blended and powerful group that seems to improve with every performance. The components of the group are: Glen MacDonald on banjo, the guitar work of Wayne and Brian Abrams, the spectacular Bob Burch on the mandolin, Jim Kirkham on bass guitar, Shawn Kellett's intricate improvisations on the fiddle, and Brian and Wayne's vocals, both alone and with Mary. They combine wonderfully in singing their own songs as well as traditional gospel and blue grass music.
On the CD John and James Abrams play and sing their signature song, Big Rock Candy Mountain, and add their rendition of Keep on the Sunny Side. The boys are very talented youngsters with a stage presence that immediately captures an audience. I particularly liked their singing on Keep on the Sunny Side. The concerts are over for the summer, but the Abrams family and Clarendon Station are doing a fundraiser in Kingston for Soup Truck Mission, "The Heavenly Hoedown Concert", at the Iron House Saloon on October 27 from 2 - 6 p.m. They will be joined by their summer guest - Don Cochrane.
