Corin Raymond brings his Bookworm monologue to Snow Road Station and performs songs from his latest album

Corin Raymond is a Toronto based singer-songwriter who has performed locally on occasion over the last ten years, most recently at the Blue Skies Music Festival last summer. He has recorded four albums since 2001, including the double album Paper Nickels which was funded entirely with Canadian Tire Money. His most recent recording, Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams, was released in the spring of 2016 and was nominated for a Juno award in the contemporary roots music category. The award went to Earthly Days by William Prince.
Raymond has always been a literary kind of songwriter, often making songs that have both a narrative and a poetic bent.

In 2011 he wrote and staged a spoken word piece called Bookworm at Fringe Festivals around the country. Bookworm is a very personal account of Raymond’s own history with books and storytelling, a journey that is inextricably linked to his relationship to his father, whose personal 10,000 plus book collection was not stored in boxes throughout the family home, but was stacked on shelves throughout the house as if it were a bookstore or library.

With financial assistance from Blue Skies in the Community, Joanne Cumberbirch brought Raymond and his hour long Bookworm to the Snow Road Community Centre last Friday (October 6). Cumberbirch, who brings in a variety of musical acts to house concerts, decided to produce this event at the hall, calling it the first of a potential series of occasional Coffee Houses at the hall. The hall was sold out, even though many in the audience had no idea what the show was going to be about.
They were not disappointed.

The show starts with the first line of the Ray Bradbury novel Something Wicked This Way Comes.
“First of all, it was October, a rare month for boys. Not that all months aren’t rare. But there be bad and good, as the pirates say,”. Before going any further Raymond began a series of digressions and anecdotes about his relationship to that book, Ray Bradbury, his father, and many other stories.
Raymond spent a number of years living with his father in a small town in the far western corner of Ontario. They would drive to Ottawa to visit family, leaving a lot of time for his father to tell stories. His father was the kind of High School history teacher who dressed up like a Roman Centurian to teach the history of the Roman Empire, and the kind of father who read to his son every night and on 18 hour road trips. He was so enthused about, and idiosyncratic in the way he described books that he sent his son off on reading adventures that have never ceased. Corin never did like school very much, however.
Bookworm covers the great love Raymond has for books and certain writers and characters in particular. This enthusiasm for stories and story-telling informs all his own writing and music, and it came from his father’s determination to share his own love of books, stories, and knowledge.

Bookworm is also a wild narrative ride through Sherlock Homes, all of Ray Bradbury, Philip Pullman, the Twilight Zone, Homeric myth, Spiderman, Raymond’s own family history, and more. Although it retains the feel of a spontaneous yarn, you can hear the writer’s, editors and director’s hand as the story progresses.
The impact of the show is to catch some of Raymond’s love for story and books and life as well. It is also a great advertisement for some of the books and writers he loves, particularly Ray Bradbury. If he had copies of Bradbury’s books available he would certainly sell some after the show.
(He said that when he did the show for a week in Winnipeg, he visited some of the local used book stores on his down time, and the booksellers said they had all had an unexpected run on Bradbury’s catalogue.)
Bookworm is a 6 year old piece, but it still felt fresh and interesting last week.

Finally, he did get to the second line of Something Wicked This Way Comes, a line that captures the attitude of boys and girls back in 1962 when the book was written just as completely as it does today.
“Take September, a bad month: school begins. Consider August, a good month: school hasn’t begun yet. July, well, July’s really fine: there’s no chance in the world for school. June, no doubting it, June’s best of all, for the school doors spring wide and September’s a billion years away.”
After an intermission of coffee and treats, Raymond performed a set that was mostly devoted to the songs in his Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams recording.

Over the years, Raymond has experimented with different ways of telling a story using words and music. A good example of the facility he has developed, is the song “Hard on Things”. It is basically a list of things the singer is hard on: from clutches to tools to people he knows to his body to his own well-being. The narrative trick is to make the song more than a list, to create a story, which it does. Other highlights included a new song, written by the Australian songwriter David Ross MacDonald, about the recent end of Raymond’s relationship with his girlfriend, describing the day they were packing up her stuff. It has the line – and I am paraphrasing, “it is too late to say its ok, and too early to be sad. I’m so sad.” Heartache makes for good song lyrics.

Corin Raymond performs most Thursday evenings at the Cameron House in Toronto from 6-8pm, and uses the Cameron House as a character in some of his banter. No doubt Snow Road Station will be used in the banter at the Cameron House some time in the future.
He said during his show that if he were a novelist and came up with a town name such as Snow Road Station, he would consider that “a good day’s work”. And the fact that he was the performer at the first ever occasional coffee house in Snow Road Station, pleased him even more.

Fiddler Jessica Wedden and her guitar player, Reilly Donnelly, are taking Southern Ontario by storm! They opened last Saturday night for three time Juno Award winner Ashley MacIsaac, originally of Nova Scotia, along with an appearance by Change of Step, a step dance group also from Nova Scotia and Ontario. The event was located at the DACA Community Centre in Dacre for the Festival of Small Halls Ontario. The Festival of Small Halls places Canadian musicians in small venues across Eastern Ontario. It is organized by the Team Behind Bluesfest.
To start off the evening, Jessica and Reilly opened with Celtic fiddle tunes. Jessica also did some step dancing and trick fiddling. Of course, for Ashley's set, he played some nice slow tunes and picked up the pace as his set unfolded with an appearance by Change of Step. For a dramatic ending to the show, Jessica rejoined Ashley on stage for a couple of tunes and Change of Step made one last appearance.

Jessica Wedden is a 15 year old fiddler, step dancer, trick fiddler and composer, passionately playing for almost six years. Jessica was nominated for a 2016 Canadian Folk Music Award, interviewed live a couple times on Kingston's CKWS-TV, and profiled in Halifax’s Celtic Life Magazine of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jessica was the special guest of J.P. Cormier, the Larry Mercey Trio, performed at the Havelock Country Jamboree, Ottawa's Marvest at CityFolk and many others.

Jessica has been performing with Reilly Donnelly since last July of 2017. Due to last minute band cancellation, she was asked to perform at the Youth Showcase for the Stewart Park festival and needed a backup guitarist. The unexpected cancellation joined the two and they proved to be a dynamic duo. They have been building their musical partnership and merging their talents ever since.

Aging baby boomers who’ve taken up the guitar in retirement take heart. There doesn’t seem to be any indication that becoming a septuagenarian is an impediment to producing great music if The Good Brothers’ latest CD, Wide Awake Dreamin’ is any indication.
This is their first album since 2008’s Restricted Goods (17th overall) and is something of a renaissance for the brothers. It’s almost as if they decided to take all the things they do best and roll them into a single album.

Bruce and Brian are 71 now. Larry is 65. But they still bring it. When they played Sharbot Lake a couple of weekends ago, they had just returned from their 39th European tour and they plan on their 40th next summer. It doesn’t look like they have any intentions of slowing down.
The Good Brothers have always been country, but not Nashville/Grand Ole Opry country. They’ve always been more Flying Burrito Brothers/Nitty Gritty Dirt Band/Poco kind of country and that means plenty of vocal harmonies. And the voices are still there folks.
Wide Awake Dreamin’ features 10 songs, seven of which are Good Brothers originals. There doesn’t seem to be a standout tune in this package but top to bottom, this is probably the best album they’ve ever done.
It’s a very consistent album, the kind you can listen to with a bunch of people and not hear any complaints.

A couple of original tunes, For Cryin’ Out Loud and One of These Days, are nice little 4/4 county crooners that will likely get a lot of campfire and open mike treatments once word gets around.
They follow those two with a Celtic cover, A Rainbow’s End, that’s heavy on Maritime influences. Then comes Train of Fools, a bluegrass original done in that bluegrass style that instantly says “Good Brothers.”
That’s followed up by Your Day Will Come, a nifty little tune featuring some tasty guitar and dobro work.

All in all, this CD is a classy effort that long-time fans will find quite satisfying. For those rare individuals unfamiliar with The Good Brothers, this is a good place to start.

Anyone who’s played high school football knows the challenge of that first day of practice where you try to find equipment that fits. And usually, the seniors get first crack at what’s available so the by the time the lowly Grade 9s get their chance, they’re lucky to find a pair of practice pants that don’t need a major tailoring job.

After taking over the junior team last year, coach Karl Hammer decided to do something about it.
“The equipment gets passed on year after year and if you get a 10-year life span out of it, that’s about it,” he said. “This year, we had 60+ students trying out for junior and 40+ for senior and that’s a lot of gear.
“And each year, we lose one or two players in the equipment process alone.”
Add to that all the technological changes in the football world, he said.
“With all the concern about concussion, new helmets cost around $200,” he said. “And now pants have an integrated pad system.
“It gets expensive.”

Luckily, Hammer said, he had somewhere to turn to.

“Sydenham is a traditional football school,” he said. “We have many good teams (basketball and volleyball come to mind) but football is probably the number 1 source of school pride.
“And we have a lot of alumni who played and now I’m coaching their kids.”
So, they decided on a fundraiser dance/silent auction at the Legion and guess what . . . it sold out quickly.
“Sydenham is unique,” he said. “This is the first time for this event and it shows how much people care about our sports programs.”
Hammer said coaches have held things like bingos and such before but this fundraiser is “a single good infusion of cash” that they can put to good use.
He said everybody wanted to help. The bands Still Standing and Little Betty (both bands feature alumni) were quick to sign on and when Little Betty had to pull out because of an illness to a key member, the Dunn Brothers stepped up.
“And the secretaries only made two phone calls to get stuff for the silent auction,” Hammer said. “Once word got out, we got plenty of offers.”
Hammer said the success of this initial event (even the Mayor bought a ticket) probably points to it becoming and annual fundraiser.

In the meantime, if you couldn’t make the dance and would still like to contribute, you can do so at the high school.
“Just tell the secretaries it’s for the football equipment program and they’ll get it where it needs to go,” Hammer said.

It was one of the hottest days of the year down at Oso Beach on Saturday. But there was a Canada Day size crowd. About the only difference from our annual beach bash was that there wasn’t nearly as much red and white. Oh, and the age of the crowd was probably a little older too, because you see, they were there to see and hear a bunch of guys they’ve been listening to for 40 years or so — fellow Canadians and iconic band The Good Brothers.
Bruce, Brian and Larry are a little greyer than most probably remember them but they can still bring it. Yes, they played Fox on the Run and Alberta Bound and nobody walked away disappointed.
The Brothers made their first trip to Sharbot Lake courtesy of Seeds & Company’s Sam Arraj, a former president of the Canadian Country Music Association, who wanted to do a ‘thank you’ for the community of Sharbot Lake. So, he brought in some legends.
Actually, the Brothers don’t think of themselves as ‘legends,’ they’re just doing what they love to do.

“Maybe in our own minds (we’re legends),” joked Bruce Good, who tends to handle the group’s interviews. “I guess if you hang around long enough people say those things about you.
“We did join the (musicians) union in 1970.”
That was in Richmond Hill where they played coffee houses, high school dances, churches, wherever they could.
But it wasn’t long before they were on The Festival Express (“our very first tour”) with The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Ian and Sylvia.
Tours with the Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage and other SoCal bands followed as did eight Junos and numerous other albums and accolades.
And they’ve always had a huge following in Europe.

“Actually we just got back from a tour of Europe,” Bruce said. “And we’re going back next year for a 40th tour.”
They do it because they enjoy it, they always have and they still do.
“It never gets boring,” he said. “We change it up.”
But how about Fox on the Run?
“Well, I still love the song,” he said. “But another part of playing that one is the response it always gets from the audience.
“And that’s why you do it, to please the audience and pleasing and audience never gets old or boring.”
And Bruce doesn’t see it coming to an end anytime soon.

If he’s not playing with his brothers, he has a family band with wife Margaret and sons Dallas and Travis (aka The Sadies).
The Good Brothers even have a new album out, Wide Awake Dreamin’, in which Bruce and Brian wrote seven of the 10 songs. It’s been getting airplay and critical praise but even if it didn’t, the album has one fan that means the world to Bruce.
“I got a call from Gordon Lightfoot to tell me he liked the writing on the album,” he said. “That means more than anything to me.”
Sharbot Lake’s own Adam Lake and Ryan Anderson of Whiskey Saint opened the show followed by Amanda Sadler.

Local rockers Reckless 4’s new single and EP album, Hell Bent, is set for digital release (iTunes, Spotify, etc) Oct. 1, following a ‘battle of the bands’ concert at Mavericks in Ottawa Sept. 30.
Local rock fans will recognize the faces as H. D. Supply but this is a new evolution said lead singer/guitarist Jordan Lowery.

“Jay Mills is still the drummer and Hailie Mills is back on bass,” Lowery said. “But Colin (Hamilton) decided to focus on his (diesel) apprenticeship so we added busker Curtis Nolan Escott, who brings a jazzy influence to our hard rock.”
Lowery said the band has hooked up with producer Glen Robinson, who’s worked with AC/DC, Steve Miller, April Wine, David Bowie, Tea Party, The Ramones who “has showed us some pretty cool stuff that has improved our newer music.
“But he’s also managed to capture our true live sound and he’s the one who suggested Night Train should be the last song on the album.”
Reckless 4’s single, Hell Bent, has been getting some airplay in the U.S. and Australia and Lowery hopes for some similar treatment here at home.
After all, this is where the band got its start and Lowery isn’t about to forget that.

“When I first heard that we were getting a world digital release, the first person I thought of was Miss Schall,” he said.
‘Miss Schall’ is Julia Schall, a fine musician in her own right but also the founder of a School of Rock when she taught at Hinchinbrooke Public School.
“I’d like to thank her for the opportunity she gave us,” he said. “She gave us the things we use today and I owe her.
“She can just jump in on any instrument and is the musician I want to be.”

While the major renovations at Bellrock Hall have been completed for some time now, there are still things to be done and plans in the works. So, with the bands After The News and Crimson River set to rock out the stage, a fundraiser barbecue was in order last Sunday.

“There’s always ongoing maintenance and repair,” said chair Sarah Robideaux. “We’re going to paint starting this week (and) there’s a drop ceiling under discussion.

“And we’re looking at roll-out chair racks which were planned after the last renovation started.”

And then they have ideas about the park behind the hall.

“It needs some TLC, as does the old play structure,” she said. “But it helps to have a contractor on hand.”
And they’ve also been looking at some kind of awning which would help towards holding more summer events outside, she said.
For such a small community, the Bellrock Hall tends to be a fairly busy place with yoga, sword training, the VON and euchre on a regular basis.

“We’re staying open all winter,” Robideaux said. “We’re going to start monthly pot lucks on Oct. 13 and there’s a concert/silent auction Dec. 10 and a gospel concert scheduled for Februrary.
“The plan is to have one nice thing each month.”

Sam Arraj was working as a senior manager at the accounting firm of G&G in Toronto, where he had built up a clientele over the years. Since he is a country music fan, he had been drafted onto the board of the Ontario County Music Association since “not-for-profit boards are always looking for people with financial experience” and in that role he continued to pick up more and more clients in the entertainment industry.

In 2016 he saw a for sale listing for an accounting business based in Sharbot Lake, Seeds and Company, and he thought about leaving Toronto behind and maybe starting a family with his wife in a less hectic location.
“I had seen the way many firms in Toronto were outsourcing their work to places like India and the Philippines and thought that it could be possible to outsource work to Sharbot Lake instead.”
When he looked into Seeds and Company, he found it was a very solid second generation business, started by David Seeds and carried on by his son Ryan, with a good local and regional clientele.

Since taking over the business in November of 2016, Arraj has been pleased not only with the reception in Sharbot Lake, but also with the opportunities to carry on with his existing clients and expand the reach of Seeds and Company in Kingston and Toronto.
“We have been investing in staffing and technology to make Sharbot Lake a strong head office where the work gets done, with satellite offices elsewhere.”

A new computer server is coming online to increase the capacity of the four member staff in the Sharbot Lake office, and Arraj is seeking to hire a fifth full time and two seasonal people in the near future, as well as a staff accountant at some point.
Some of his plans mirror the trajectory of the Robinson Group, a Sharbot Lake based mortgage and financial business with clientele from around the world, whose dedicated long-term staff work out of the Simonett building on Road 38.
“There are benefits to working with staff in Sharbot Lake because they are more likely to stay on once they are trained up. We want to have a well paid staff, with benefits and all that, and we are only starting on a growth path.”

Since taking over the business, Arraj has been dedicated to maintaining the existing Seeds clientele, and upgrading the capacity of the office. He said that he has found the local clientele to be generally friendlier and more easy going than his Toronto clients, and conservative in terms of the way they manage their businesses, which he says makes sense given the local economy as compared to that of larger centres.
In the coming months Seeds will begin to do more marketing to seek out new clients, both locally and on a regional and provincial level.
The company offers a full range of accounting and auditing services, as well as book-keeping.

This month, as part of a coming out of sorts for the new Seeds and Company, Sam Arraj has arranged for a free community concert on Saturday, September 23rd from 2pm to 4:30pm featuring the Good Brothers, Amanda Sadler, and Whiskey Saint.
The Good Brothers are a country music institution in Ontario. They have been touring and recording since they released their first record, the Good Brothers in 1971. They received the Country Group of the year Juno award for 8 consecutive years at one point in their career. Among their best known songs is Fox on the Run. They just completed a European Tour late last month and will be performing at the Glenn Gould Studio at CBC headquarters in Toronto next month. The show, set for Sharbot Lake Beach, rain or shine, will be a fitting finale for a summer of events at the beach.
The Sharbot Lake and District Lions will be running a BBQ during the afternoon as well. The company has donated the food and all profits will go to support local Lion’s programming.

Sunday, September 10, sees the return of the Blue Jeans Classical series at the MERA schoolhouse in McDonald’s Corners with the first of three concerts before Christmas. Concerts are held once a month and are at 2:00 PM.
Performing first on September 10th will be the world-renowned cellist, Paul Marleyn. He will be accompanied by the outstanding pianist, Frédéric Lacroix.

Mr. Marleyn has performed as a soloist with such symphony orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, European Chamber and the Belgrade Philharmonic, among others. As well, Paul has been a member of a number of outstanding quartets including the famed Tokyo Quartet, along with several other international groups. He has appeared at music festivals around the world as a featured performer, and has made several compact discs.

Accompanying Mr. Marleyn will be Frédéric Lacroix, who is one of the busiest and most popular pianist based in the Ottawa area. He has performed in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist, and has performed with many of Canada’s most important musicians. As well, he performs regularly with the National Arts Centre orchestra.
The next concert will feature the Harmonious Pigs, on Sunday, October 15th,

A chamber ensemble made up of three principal musicians from the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra: Shauna McDonald, clarinet; Susan Morris, oboe; and Benjamin Glossop, bassoon. These three friends and fine musicians love playing together and are thrilled to share their programme of woodwind music with you. You will hear a wide range of musical delights from Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras, including some favourite light classics and jazzy tunes. You will also discover the reason for our intriguing name!

The final concert of the series will feature Frédéric Lacroix on Sunday, November 12th. As mentioned in his bio above, Frédéric is an outstanding solo performer who is in constant demand, with rave reviews and a loyal following.
For more information, please check out the MERA website at meraschoolhouse.org

Tickets for each performance are $25, plus convenience fee, and are available at Ticketsplease.ca or (613) 485-6434. They can be picked up at the door.