Standing room only at Abrams Brothers show

Aug 25, 2011

Photo: The Abrams Brothers at The John Thomson Hall in Snow Road.

The Abrams Brothers packed their family owned John Thomson hall in Snow Road for their annual concert/fundraiser on August 21.

The brothers, John, aged 20 and James, aged 18, have been playing together since 1999 and have won recognition both at home in Canada and abroad. In 2005 they were the youngest Canadians ever to perform at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. That same year they were named emerging artists of the year at the Canadian Bluegrass Music Awards and one year later were presented with the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin, which is presented to especially gifted young musicians for a year.

Prior to taking the stage on Sunday listeners were first treated to a few fine tunes by the brothers’ grandparents Wayne and Mary Abrams. Next up, elder brother John introduced his friend Alex, who accompanied John on keyboards for a few covers and sang “The Cabin”, an original she and John co-wrote.

The second half of the show was all the Abrams Brothers band, who have never sounded better and who are back home after a very busy touring year that included their third trip to Israel and as well as an unforgettable gig in Brooklyn, New York, where they opened for the Courtyard Hounds, made up of sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison who are 2/3 of the all-time top-selling female US-based band, The Dixie Chicks.

With many more hours of stage shows under their belt, the band is hotter than ever. Both brothers now share more of lead vocals and with James on fiddle and John on guitar the two also appear in very fine soloing form. As usual their harmonies are tight as only siblings who have been singing together since they could walk can sound. Cousin Elijah was having a ball on the bass and joining him was Sharbot Lake-raised drummer, Cam Giroux, whose light but precise touch meted out a sure and steady beat. The foursome mixed up their set with a number of classic old country favs, like “City of New Orleans”, the always fast and furious “Orange Blossom Special” and “Big Mun”, each played all out, full throttle with nothing held back.

The brothers have just put out their fifth CD to date. Titled “Northern Redemption”, it is the first all-original material album put out by the band and was inspired by the Canadian wilderness that has surrounded them all of their lives. They sampled a few from the new CD during the show including the slow lament titled “Window”, written and sung by James and inspired by older Simon and Garfunkel tunes that the brothers have been harmonizing to for years. They also played the new tune, “While You Sleep”, a rollicking mellower tune that also showcases their spot-on perfect harmony. The two are thrilled to have an album out of all original material and equally pleased at the positive reception it has been getting, including ample air time on CBC Radio.

“We've gotten great reviews and people are really gravitating to it which is really encouraging since it is our first all original album,” said John Abrams. The brothers love returning every year to Snow Road to play for close friends and family who have not only followed their rise to fame over the years but who have grown up on many generations of Abrams family music. Fittingly the show closed with all three generations of the family getting together for a heartfelt rendition of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” led by dad Brian and by the end of it, the entire hall was singing the final chorus.

This September will be a busy one for the boys, who will both be studying arts and science at Queens University. They also have 120 bookings lined up for this year alone. Their new CD “Northern Redemption” can be purchased on-line at i-tunes, or through their website (abramsbrothers.com) and also at Chapters, Indigo and Coles.

This year the free will donations collected from the Snow Road audience totaled in excess of $3,000, and the proceeds are being donated to the Sharbot Lake services of the KFL&A Alzheimer’s Society, which is based at the Seniors’ Centre in the former United Church manse.