Colleen Power had to trick her father into buying her a Michael Jackson album.
Terry Penney was enthralled by the voices he heard coming from the kitchen radio.
Chris Kirby's life changed late one night when he stayed up to watch a concert on television.
We'll hear those stories and more his Saturday (May 18) as the Performance Hour continues its occasional series on Newfoundland musicians and their early influences.
Colleen Power, Terry Penney, and Chris Kirby join me to talk about favourite singers and memorable songs.
The playlist includes country legend Hank Williams, Francophone star Pierre Lapointe, the celebrated singer-songwriter Randy Newman, and much more.
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This Saturday on the Performance Hour it's an all-star all-female line up as we celebrate the work of Newfoundland's greatest songwriter Ron Hynes in a show called "The Girls Do Ron".
The cast includes Juno award winners Amelia Curran and Maureen Ennis. plus Lori Cooper and Jenny Gear.
They take on classics like "Cryer's Paradise," "No Change in Me," "She Never Will," and "Dark River."
The show was recorded live at the LSPU Hall as part of the CBC MusicNL Songwriters Circle.
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Nominated for a combined total of 11 MusicNL Awards this quartet ranks among the finest singer songwriters in the province. Sean Panting whose CD "Man Of The Year was nominated for Male and Pop Rock Artist of the Year; Katie Baggs, nominated for Female, Roots Recording and Socan Song Of The Year for her debut release "Home Again Home Again"; Ian Foster, nominated in four categories including Male Artist, Folk Roots Artist, Album and Socan Songwriter Of The Year for "The Evening Light" and Terry Penney, nominated for Country Artist and Socan Songwriter Of The Year for his CD "My Last Guitar". Recorded live at the LSPU Hall it's an intimate hour of songs and stories from four of the provinces best.
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This week on the Performance
Hour west coast singer songwriter and freshly minted winner of the CBC National "Searchlight
Competition" Sherman Downey and his Band The Ambiguous Case. Recorded live
at the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John's.
Sherman and the boys were voted "best new Canadian act" winning out over 3000 bands or single performers who entered the competition. Tune in and check out what all the buzz is about!
Gypsy jazz maestro Duane Andrews joins country picker extraordinaire Craig Young as we to explore the common ground of jazz, trad and country...and where else would you get the music of Django Reinhardt, Bill Monroe, Tony Rice and Rufus Guinchard all under one roof but here on The Performance Hour.
Almost Forty years have passed since Alan Doyle stood
on the bridge in his home town of Petty Harbour and became part of
Newfoundland film history. The holywood produced movie "Whale For The
Killing" was shot there in the summer of 1980 and for his role Alan
received the credit "Boy On Bridge". Fast forward into the next century
and Alan Doyle is now a major player in Canada's music scene. Known
mainly as the front man with platinum selling trad rockers Great Big
Sea, Alan has just released his first solo recording aptly titled "Boy
On Bridge".
Although the CD is a solo effort he says "It may be the most collaborative project I've ever done. I just thought it would be cool to write a bunch of songs with some people I really wanted to work with and I had a blast." That blast came from the likes of Gordie Samson, Hawsley Workman and Russell Crowe.
The album was recorded all over North American from studios in Nashville, LA and Toronto to his own basement in St. John's. "I wanted to create the music where we all felt comfortable and that took us to some pretty interesting places"
CBC Radio was at Club One in St. John's for the final night of Alan's "Boy On Bridge" tour. This exclusive recording can be heard this Saturday on the Performance Hour.
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Amelia Curran
launched the long awaited and highly anticipated encore to her 2009
Juno award winning CD Hunter Hunter with a sold out concert at the St.
John's Arts and Culture Centre. She brought with her a brand new band
complete with horns and strings and a bag of great new songs.
"Spectators" marks the growth of this exceptional singer songwriter whose precise poetic sharpness and tuneful rhythms set her apart from most of her contemporaries. The new material continues to explore the hope and despair of relationships and the search for a better ending - every word considered and confidently delivered within an air of vulnerability.
On this the opening night of a Canadian tour Amelia and the band waltzed the home town audience through the heart of her new material with a just enough attention paid to her past catalogue to satisfy the faithful.
Her fan base ever growing Amelia Curran's audience finds a restful place in her music while she quietly achieves star status one show at a time.
Catch the concert this week on The Performance Hour!
]]>We're not sure if haunting the bars and concert venues of St. John's in the first decade of the 21st century can now be considered historical fiction but this week on The Performance Hour award winning and best selling author Michael Crummey takes us on a stroll through his nights in the old town. Along the way we'll check out the likes of Amelia Curran, Billy Bragg, Sean Panting, Leonard Cohen, The Once, Feist and The Novaks.
Though he emerged just a couple of years ago, Matthew Byrne ranks as one of the finest singers in contemporary Newfoundland folk music. Born
into a family of music makers from Placentia Bay his repertoire is
heavily influenced by this unique singing tradition. It is a tradition
that thrives on the song - the weaving of a great story with a beautiful
melody - and Matthew's music reminds us how satisfying traditional
songs can be when stripped down to these basic elements.
In this live concert recording at a sold out LSPU Hall in St. John's Matthew presents tasteful and honest interpretations of folk music delivered with polished guitar work and powerful vocals. He is joined by his Dardanelles band mates Emilia Bartellas and Aaron Collis, his brother Alan, Billy Sutton and Geraldine Hollett.
]]>Host Stephanie Domet will count down the Top Ten East Coast Songs of All Time, as selected by voters at CBCMusic.ca.
The songs will be performed live by artists like Maureen Ennis, Jimmy Rankin, George Canyon, Jenn Grant, and Ben Caplan.
The Top Ten has been revealed, and you can view the list here.
But which Atlantic Canadian classic will top the charts as number one? You'll have to listen to find out.
Because this is a live show, it will only be heard during our CBC Radio One broadcast. It will be on the air at the usual time, 5:35 PM, half an hour earlier in Labrador.
]]>If you go back to the early 1990s, to names like the Irish Descendants and Thomas Trio and the Red Albino, you can use the East Coast Music Awards to track changing fashions in Newfoundland and Labrador music, year over year.
It's far from definitive, but the list of nominees provides a glimpse of how our music is viewed by the insiders and industry professionals who vote on the awards.
The 2013 ECMA weekend kicks off Wednesday, March 6 in Halifax, and that's our focus for the next two weeks.
On Saturday, March 2, the Performance Hour checks in on the Newfoundland and Labrador challengers who are heading off to this year's extravaganza.
The 2013 ECMA idols from this province include Repartee, The Once, Chris Kirby, the Long Distance Runners, and the Dardanelles. We'll hear them and a whole lot more.
On Saturday, March 9, we hand the reins over to our sister show, Atlantic Airwaves, for one of the highlights of ECMA 2013: The Top Ten East Coast Songs of All Time.
Stephanie Domet hosts a one-hour special from Halifax, featuring artists like George Canyon, Jenn Grant, Jimmy Rankin and Maureen Ennis.
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This week on the Performance Hour singer songwriter Rod Caines drops by to talk about the release of his debut CD "Crazy When The Sun Goes Down". And we'll have a live studio session with folk duo Holly Hogan and Allan Byrne
Below, enjoy a video exclusive of Allan Byrne and Holly Hogan, in performance at CBC.
Jeff Parsons photo credit