OnSunday, December 3rd at 2:00 PM, the fine local band, The Tritones, will be presenting a concert at the MERA Schoolhouse in McDonalds Corners.

The Tritones is an original Jazz, Funk Jam Band. Playing the compositions of guitarist Franc van Oort, as well as standards from many different genres, their sound takes a refreshing new direction, celebrating the roots of American music while venturing into uncharted territory. It is sensitive, yet with an edge — adding elements of Latin, Blues and Rock.

The Tritones are made up of three very talented local musicians, who got together a number of years ago, and play at a range of local venues.

Frank van Oort plays lead guitar and contributes his own compositions. He moved to the Perth area from his native Holland in 1987, and has since been playing in local groups such as Powersnooze, The Usual Suspects and Tell Mama. A growing interest in Jazz led him to join forces with Cam and Dave.

On drums is Dave Colter who has been a mainstay of the Canadian music scene for 40 years. He has played with Grammy Award winners Bo Diddley and Pinetop Perkins, Juno Award winner Jack de Keyzer (with whom he toured for two and a half years and recorded the Juno-nominated album “Blues Thing”), and many others. He now lives near Perth.

Rounding out the group is Cam Gray on bass guitar. Cam’s love of music started with listening to his dad play the piano and the ukulele. After 8 years of dutiful piano lessons he picked up the guitar. Something to do with Hendrix and Johnny Winter. He, Franc and their friend Tim Wynne-Jones started a band in the late 1980s. Cam jumped from guitar to bass when they became a five piece with keys and drums. He’s still lovin’ music.

Tickets for the concert are $20, children under 16 are free, and are available only at the door.

Trina Conboy

MERA Administrator

Last Saturday, Grandmothers by the Lake brought four local and very different music groups and one pianist together for a sold-out eclectic evening of music. The first performance was, appropriately, Log House Rhythms, a group of five playing powerful compelling West African based rhythms on Djembes and Dun Duns. Then Toute Ensemble, three well-known local flautists Anne Archer, Debbie Twiddy and Melanie Fyfe, played a broad range of chamber music. Carpe Musica came next: self described as an eccentric mix of three saxes, a trumpet, a trombone and a bass ukulele, they wound up their set with the New Orleans jazz classic “Just a Closer Walk”

During the breaks between sets, sixteen-year Noah Pedersen played the piano and sang, with a skill far beyond what one might expect from a person who first began piano two years ago.

Shout Sister, a 25-member women's choir was the closing act, with a wide range of popular songs. They are a group who get together for the joy of singing, and welcome new members at any time.

After the concert, audience and performers and performers met in the church hall for cookies and coffee.

The evening was a fundraiser by the “Grandmothers and Grandothers” who are committed to helping those in Africa who have been left to raise grandchildren orphaned by the HIV/AiDs pandemic. All of the performers donated their time.

Mich Cota is a two-spirit Algonquin woman living in Montreal but her roots run deep in this area. Two-Spirit comes from an Ojibwe phrase niizh manidoowag and has become an umbrella term for many Indigenous people across Turtle Island to verbalize fluid sexual orientations and gender identities. When asked about her relation to two-spirit identity, Mich recalled meeting someone at the Silver Lake Pow Wow when she was 13 or so.

“He was really forward and asked me a lot of questions that I didn’t really understand at the time but he explained to me what two-spirit meant. In Montreal and online I’ve met more two-spirit folks. It can mean that someone is both masculine, feminine or neither, or traditionally, one can be different creatures.

"The most visible concepts of two-spirit peoples are queer, transgender, and non-binary aboriginal people. But it also pushes the colonial concept of gender, encompassing intuition, empathy, respect and love for all genders, paying attention to our bodies and our emotions. In my way, I hold myself and express myself. I’ve always been sensitive, and now I see that as an asset. And it’s a quality of being a two-spirit woman."

Mich’s family has been on these lands for generations, but she grew up in Maberly. She graced the stage of the former Sharbot Lake High School Auditorium, in coffee houses, and productions with the North Frontenac Little Theatre. She moved to Perth as a teenager and then went on to pursue a creative career in Montreal, where she has been releasing solo works and albums with her former band Archery Guild.

Kijà / Care is a beautiful journey of self expression. Switching back and forth between Algonquin and English with an electronic tapestry of synthesizers, strings, drums and ethereal voices, this album has the power to transcend not only gender but also time and space. The opening song Kijà / Care is infectious, with the line “Do you see, if we don’t act now, we will lose everything” becoming a mantra. This album serves both as a departure from her earlier work, and also as a natural evolution.

“I’m feeling like I’ve finally tapped into a place in myself that is honest and joyful. I have always wanted to express myself through my ethnicity, and it took me a while to figure out how to navigate that. I first started to write in Algonquin using nature mythologies and applying them to my own life. But I was having trouble overcoming my own victimhood. I wasn’t paying attention to the beauty of Algonquin Culture. I was just looking at the darkness.

“For this album, I started writing in English. I started with the second song on the album Takokì /  Step, singing about how comfortable I felt wearing a dress; How strange it was to be hidden as a young kid. I had named myself Michelle and I told people I was a little girl. But that was overshadowed by people telling me that I lived in a fantasy. I did live in other fantasies, but this one was a reality. Now that I feel the strength of being myself, being a woman, I am also feeling more of the strength and pride in being Algonquin simultaneously.

 “I had a lot of help translating English to Algonquin from Paula Sherman and using some online resources. My method for making Algonquin poetry was not by writing sentences. Instead I put words together and let the spaces between them remain ambiguous for people, both Algonquin speakers and not, to relate to and interpret. I hope these songs will be used like incantations, like prayers, like tools for empowerment, for peaceful moments.”

Mich has been playing many shows, including a performance as part of the First People’s Festival in Montreal this summer. She played an album release show in Montreal around Halloween, and came onto the stage being held up by six white men in a dive bar with low ceilings. The room acted as a container for her expression. She stood on a table in a dance portion of her piece and pushed up against the ceiling with her head, symbolising being held captive by the room, bursting boundaries of what a concert can look like.

“My friend and collaborator Pamela Hart has suggested that I should be playing in art spaces. Performing in a concert setting isn’t difficult, but the audience doesn’t know how to react. My piece is like a meditation, a performance, exhibitionism, what kind of body do you see? What is this body allowed to do?”.

 You can listen and buy the digital download of Mich Cota’s album Kijà / Care online at Kijà / Care - or go to the  following youtube videos from the record Madjashin/Goodbye or Kija/Care

 This week is Transgender Awareness Week. It started with Monday’s Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to mourn and honour the countless deaths by acts of anti-transgender violence.

On the subject of being Trans in Canada, Mich commented “In Canada, things are very scary, but we are fortunate that our existence is legal and not punishable by death. But the impact of ignorance through verbal and emotional abuse can really stunt trans people’s growth and lives. Everyone deserves to live and be themselves. Let’s listen and believe each other. We know who we are.”

Photo by Joel Moyer taken just outside Sharbot Lake

It’s kind of a shame that Louise Day’s A “Day” in Nature photographic exhibition at Blueroof Farm ended Nov. 12 (it was open each Sunday since Sept. 24). While there were many competent images of animals (including an excellent grab of a Cooper’s hawk and its prey) and Day’s beloved tulips, it was her unique images of frost that broke many molds and rose above standard photographic fare.

Although the frost series pieces all have titles like Fire Frost, Frost Medallion or Spider Frost, Day opted not to have them displayed with the works preferring the viewer see “what you envision or see yourself.”

And in hindsight, that seems to have been an astute decision because these images certainly do invite interpretation.

The enlargements were done on a “special paper” at Kingston Frameworks and then mounted on acrylic or in one case, metal. They presented without frames.

And simply put, they’re magic.

“Frost presents itself so differently and like snowflakes, no two images are ever alike,” Day said.

And, we suspect, neither are the interpretations.

(For example, this reviewer saw alien jungle landscapes and seashores, and the lair for some otherworldly giant spider queen.)

Day said her fascination with frost happened somewhat by chance one day in Verona.

“I saw frost on a sunroom and went up to it, knocked on the door and asked if I could photograph it,” she said.

She’s been doing it ever since.

“I also take ice images along the river,” she said. “You only see these images once — that’s your chance.

“You can skip living where you are and imagine yourself anywhere.

“But I’m not going to forget my tulips.”

Day began photography in 1991, taking lessons from Kim Ondaatje.

“She (Ondaatje) taught me how to see,” Day said.

Day is a member of the Kingston Photographic Club and considers photography a hobby. However she does sell her work and several pieces from A “Day” in Nature are still for sale and if interested in buying one, you can contact Day at 613-374-3333 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Dave Gilmore has exhibited at Verona’s Art in the Saw Mill since it began in 2013.
An engineer by trade, he began to take up painting seriously about 10 years ago after he retired to 14 Island Lake.
“I guess it’s full time now in retirement,” he said. “I enjoy it, it’s a good way to pass the time and it seems to make people happy.”
He said he enjoys showing his work as well.
“I do enjoy showing,” he said. “It’s a chance to mix with people and explain your art as well.”
His subject matter tends to come from what he sees around him but he’s starting to lean a little more towards abstraction as his art evolves.
“How you choose subjects is usually something that inspires you inside and out,” he said. “I like colourful scenes, fall colours especially.
“But I like buildings too.”
Gilmore’s artistic education is quite diverse. He lived in England for a time and took courses from three different artists and studied with Kingston artist Don McCallum.
He numbers among his prized possessions two brushes that once belonged to the Group of Seven’s Edwin Holgate.
Gilmore credits a love of the Group of Seven with his new-found interest in abstraction, such as the works of Lawren Harris an A. Y. Jackson.
“It’s a journey,” he said of art and painting. “You can’t expect to make your bread and butter in art unless you’ve got a unique approach.
“But it’s fun.”
Art in the Saw Mill featured nine local artist/artisans this year including Gilmore, Elaine Farragher, Havery, Virginia Lavin, Ali Williams, Carolyn Bloye, Bill Anderson, Judy Skeggs and Waters Edge Pottery.

South Frontenac Students interested in exploring painting, pottery, and printmaking will have an opportunity to take classes this fall.
Gabriel Deerman and Ashley Doucette Pilles operate Salmon River Studios out of Tamworth. Last year they started offering afternoon art classes in Tamworth, Enterprise, Centreville and Newburgh in Lennox and Addington and this year they are expanding to Frontenac.

The two artists are establishing their own practices out of their studio and one of their goals is to foster the arts in their community by offering the classes. It makes for a bit of a juggling act to keep making and teaching art while running a studio, and for Ashley even more so since she is also a supply teacher, but they love teaching art and exploring different materials and media with their students.
“We both taught oversees for four years, teaching art mostly.  We came home and we decided we wanted to try and start a private art teaching practice. We found that what was most valuable to parents is if we started working in the schools. It’s turned out to be a lot of fun.  A lot rural schools are lacking in arts programming, and that’s where we step in for families and kids who are interested,” said Gabriel Deerman.
Salmon River Studios is committed to arts education for all ages and all abilities. Workshops for adults in various media are being offered out of the studio, and the artists also work with special needs young adults in association with New Leaf Link in South Frontenac.

They are also looking into some other schools in South Frontenac where they might offer classes   
The classes take place once a week after school, at a cost of $50 per month. Students in all elementary grades (Kindergarten to grade 8) are welcome to join in.  There is a limit to class size, somewhere between 12 and 15 students depending on the room that is available and makeup of the classes.

Students at Harrowsmith and Prince Charles are encouraged to have a look at the Salmon River Studios website. Registration forms will be available at the school offices when school starts next week, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information about booking a spot.

In all of its 22 years, the Bon Echo Art Exhibition has “never had bad weather,” said Betty Pearce, coordinator of the Exhibition for the Friends of Bon Echo.
Pearce said that at 40 exhibitors, this was one of the smaller shows of recent years but within their optimum range.

“We usually try for 45 but we’re generally in the 40-50 range,” she said. “We’ve found 50 or more to be a bit too crowed.”
The juried show features Canadian wildlife and/or countryside and it’s all ‘fine art,’ ie no crafts per se.

“The show itself isn’t really a fundraiser for the Friends of Bon Echo,” she said. “But the food and barbecue sales generally are.”
“It’s a cultural event,” said Katie Ohlke, who had her own work on display as well as that of some of her art students at North Addington Education Centre. “And it’s good real life experience for the students, especially if they can make a little money for materials.

“It’s one thing to make art; it’s quite another to show it to an audience.”
And, she said, it’s a good way to meet people with similar interests.

Carla Meidema has been meeting people this way for 22 years at the Exhibition. One of the original instigators, she’s only recently (five months ago) moved to Kingston but lived in Cloyne for many years. She has a BFA from Queen’s and has been an artist “all my life.”

She recalled that the Park wasn’t that keen on the original idea but when the Friends of Bon Echo got involved, it really took off.
“The exhibition has matured quite a bit from that first one,” she said. “The first year we had 23 artists and hung ropes in the trees to hang the art from.”

Arden Artisans is Judith Versavel’s paintings and one-of-a-kind jewelry, Joanne Pickett’s pottery and Sarah Hale’s batik art. But for the past couple of years, they’ve added a group show and tea room at the Kennebec Centre. All together, it makes for a rather busy day in Arden with a lot more traffic than your typical Saturday.

“It’s a really good day,” said Versavel, whose Gallery on the Bay witnessed a steady stream of visitors through its doors. “This is just a fun day and it’s really crowded down at the community centre.”

Versavel is the relative newcomer to the Arden art scene, having been in business for 10 years. Pickett has been operating for 38 years and Hale for 39.

This year, Versavel had the rustic furniture of James Hanley line the walk to her studio.

“I really like meeting the people,” she said. “And reconnecting with others. “I like telling the stories behind the paintings and work that I’ve done.

“It’s a lot of work (getting ready for the day) but it’s something to work towards.”

Versavel has an extensive arts background including working for Harrowsmith Magazine and various other stints as art director but this is something she’s always wanted to do.

“I’ve always wanted to have my own gallery,” she said. “But the big thing for me is talking to the people.”

Pickett agreed that that inclusion of the show at the community centre has been a draw.

“It’s a busy day, but it was last year too,” she said. “There are more artists at the hall and the blueberry tea is a big draw as well.”

At 1:30 p.m., Pickett still hadn’t had breakfast.

“No, I haven’t had breakfast yet,” she said. “But somebody did bring me some blueberry cake from the hall.”

It was, by all accounts, the biggest crowd ever for the Piccadilly/Bedford Jam Sunday as musicians, fans and organizers celebrated 10 years at Glendower (Bedford) Hall on Westport Road.

Second to only Jack’s Jam in Plevna (and that only by a few months) in longevity, the current Bedford Jam began quietly at the pavilion on Second Lake in 2007. It quickly became apparent that they needed more space to accommodate the growing number of musicians who wanted to join in as well as audience members and it moved to Piccadilly Hall.

Well, that lasted two years when it became a victim of its own success and the move to the larger Bedford Hall became a necessity. They even had to buy more chairs for the hall.

“We’ve been a big family from Day 1,” said Judy Murphy, speaking for the committee that oversees the festivities now, as well as taking a turn on the sound board beside co-founder Roy Shepherd. “You don’t have to ask, people just jump in to help with chairs, make sandwiches, coffee.”

For the first five years, Roy and Joan Shepherd essentially were the chief organizers. Then, they effectively passed the reins to Homer and Wilhelmine Card, who oversaw operations with the help of Murphy, Dianne and Kim Sproule in the Kitchen, and Dave Froats who served as treasurer.

“You want to stay straight with the dollars, you stick with Wilhelmine,” Froats said.

After their five years, Homer and Wilhelmine are also stepping down, and while their successors have been chosen, they have yet to formally accept the position.

“It will stay in familiar hands,” was all Wilhelmine would say.

But while she declined to name her successor, Card did have plenty to say about her time at the helm.

“It’s been a busy time and we couldn’t have done it without all the help,” she said. “This has been all volunteer work and we’ve even managed to give back to the community helping individual families in need as well as two food banks.

“It’s amazing what a $2 admission can do and the feeling is very rewarding.

“And everybody seems in favour of where the money has gone.”

She said she’s met “a lot of good people” and has many fond memories.

However, when pressed, she did manage to come up with one memory that stands out.

“Rita (Thompson) dancing with her dummy partner Arnold,” she said.

Fiddlers and Friends have filled the Ompah Community Centre several times in the last few years and the appreciative audience left wanting more.  In fact the audience joined in whenever the opportunity arose and felt that they were part of the concert too.  The band has always talked about the great audience and all fun they had.  They are delighted to have the chance to return to Ompah to play a completely Canadian set of tunes.

Fiddlers and Friends love to entertain by sharing their joy of music and zany sense of fun.  They play a cheerful set of old-time fiddle tunes that has the audience clapping, toe tapping and singing along.  Fiddlers are joined by keyboard, double bass, and cello.  The irrepressible Lois Webster who makes many of her own percussion instruments and costumes, dances and keeps everyone guessing what she will do next.  Special guests will be the Ompah Community Choir.

Mark Thursday, July 20 at 7:00 on your calendar.  Admission is $10 at the door.  Following the concert, musicians and audience can mingle over refreshments.  For further information, contact Marily Seitz (613-479-2855).