ASPEN SWITZER AND THISTLEDOWNE TOURING AGAIN

§

Here's some good news for those of you who live in the lower mainland of BC. Aspen Switzer
and Thistledowne are about to go on tour and will be playing in Kaslo, Salmon Arm, Penticton, Vancouver, Victoria, Lasqueti Island, Chemainus, and eventually in Nelson.


Aspen recently released her second CD, Humble But Bearing No Apology, and on this tour she's accompanied by Jesse Lee on guitar and bass


and Jessa Koerber on keyboards and mandolin.


Jessa and Jesse also sing back up, and when the three of them sing harmony, look out!


Here are a couple more pictures of them at a house concert last year:







As you can see, they are serious musicians.


Here's the schedule, as cribbed from Aspen's site where you can click on links to maps and find out about getting your tickets in advance.

Thursday, February 5 at 8pm with Thistledowne
The Old Firehall, 2115 Queen Rossland, BC

Saturday, February 7 at 8pm with Thistledowne
the Langham Theatre 447 A Avenue Kaslo, B.C.

Sunday, February 8 at 7pm with Thistledowne
SAGA Gallery, 70 Hudson Ave NE, Salmon Arm, BC

Monday, February 9 at 7pm with Thistledowne
Penticton Art Gallery, 199 Marina Way, Penticton, BC

Tuesday, February 10 at 8pm with Thistledowne
Minstrel Cafe & Bar 4638 Lakeshore Road Kelowna, BC

Friday, February 13 at 8pm with Thistledowne
Vancouver House concert - call Hayley (778)898-5243
Apt 404 - 1188 Quebec St.

Saturday, February 14 at 8pm with Thistledowne
Vancouver House concert - call Ange (604) 629-8569

Monday, February 16 at 8pm with Thistledowne
Wired Monk, 2610 West 4th avenue, Vancouver
Map

Wednesday, February 18 at 8pm with Thistledowne
The Sunset Room, 1810B Store Street Victoria BC
Advance Tickets

Friday, February 20 at 8pm with Thistledowne
Lasqueti Island House concert

Saturday, February 21 at 8pm with Thistledowne
The Dancing Bean, 9752 Willow St., Chemainus, BC

Saturday, February 28 at 7:30pm with Thistledowne
Selkirk Nurses - Guatemala Project Fund raiser
Nelson United Church, Nelson, BC

If you get a chance, listen-up!




§

I don't much like January, as months go.

Some good things happened, though. Found out the Castlegar Library has two seasons of Black Books, the first episode of which prompted me to make Ted a "Little Book of Calm" for his birthday one year. I didn't even know there was a second season—and I see via Google there's even a third! Good old YouTube has the first episode here.

And as this is supposed to be a poetry-related blog, here's one of mine that is due to appear any second now in Cascade: Journal of the Washington Poets Associaton.

It's about my boy, Jesse Lee, Thistledowne member and all-around good guy.

MY BOY'S A MINSTREL

Beside the road a benevolent elephant,
burl-encrusted, beaming, invites me in
and I lean to its pocked and marvelous mantle,
close my eyes and there’s my boy.
Above my head, a cradle-cat of branches
my boy would climb if he was here.
This is a place a cat would floose,
roll in an ecstasy of Gods-eager wort.
Geese squinch-squelch on spring-sodden ground,
fither-feather water in a synchronized float.
My boy’s a minstrel, my boy’s a dancer,
he sees sounds as I see words.
Stick-stalks surge from last year’s sedum,
pine cones pearl in a tree-root cave.
My boy’s a rocker, my boy’s a roller
dream-catcher moments in a preen-green gale.
Green feather lichen, merry weather mornings,
garden-hugger buddha in his gray spring coat,
my boy’s a lover, my boy’s a rover.
Wait long enough and the alder turns green.


Finally, in the words of some famous bard, If winter's here, can spring be far behind? Let's hope not.

§

ASPEN SWITZER AND THISTLEDOWNE

§



Aspen Switzer and Thistledowne are touring in BC and Alberta this month. They're just back from what I hear were fabulous shows in Kelowna, Vancouver, Port Moody and Victoria. The picture was taken at the Vancouver concert, a review of which you can read here.

This weekend they're playing in the Kootenays. You can see them here:

CASTLEGAR

When: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8pm
Where: Kootenay Gallery Of Art History & Science (across from the airport)
Tickets: at the Gallery

NELSON

When: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8pm
Where: Nelson United Church, 602 SIlica St, Nelson, BC
Tickets: Eddy Music in Nelson

CBC

And if you can't get to either of those, you can hear them talking with Sheryl MacKay on CBC Radio's North By Northwest on Saturday, April 12 around 8:30 AM.

Next weekend they'll be in Alberta. Here's that schedule:

EDMONTON house concert

When: Thu Apr 17, 2008 7:30pm
Where: 10703 St Gabriel School Rd,
Tickets: (780) 468-9686

EDSON house concert

When: Fri Apr 18, 2008 7:30pm to 12am
Where: Red Brick Arts Centre, 4818 - 7 Avenue

CALGARY house concert

When: Sat Apr 19, 2008 7:30pm
Where: 126 Cougarstone CLose SW
Tickets: (403) 686-3270

You should go. No, really.

§

ASPEN SWITZER'S CD RELEASE PARTY

Aspen celebrated the summer release of her CD Narrow Sky on a rainyfoggymisty November night, filling Studio 80 in Nelson to the rafters. We (me and Ted and five friends) got there 45 minutes early (virtually unheard of in the Kootenays, never mind any of us) and soon got to feel very smug as the place was packed ten minutes before the scheduled start time with people still arriving.

Aspen sang several songs with Thistledowne cohorts Jessa Koerber, of Damn Your Eyes fame, and Jesse Lee on guitar.







Don Macdonald added the sweet sound of strings to a couple of the songs on the CD. He's program coordinator for Selkirk College's music program and was Aspen's mentor for her CD. Don also works as a film composer.



Guests performers included three of the guys from Bluegrasshopper (Jeff had to be in Ontario), one of the first groups Aspen sang with.



Here's the reason for Aspen's "do" in the first picture. She and Michael Graham did a great cover of Suddenly Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors. I will never see Michael perform without remembering the first time I saw him. He did a performance piece whereby he ate an entire box of chocolates on stage...it was like watching my worst secret desire come to life!



The last few songs featured Allison Girvan and Laura Landsberg ...Here, Jessa, Aspen, Allison and Laura harmonize while Jesse provides some notes. Aspen's parents are in the foreground.



The evening ended with Aspen, Jessa and Jesse doing Jerusalem Revisited, followed by Hallelujah, with the audience chiming in on the chorus. Rumour has it it was a good night for CD sales! And if you STILL haven't heard Jerusalem Revisited, you owe it to yourself to surf on over to Aspen's website. You'll be glad you did.