I’ve Got 60,003 Reasons… - theHumm November 2016

By Rob Riendeau

After attending a recent Blues on the Rideau show at The Cove in Westport, I started counting the reasons why this series is so successful (and why you should include it in your pub crawling plans).

Reason 1: The entertainment is world-class. Organizer James Doran, has done an incredible job of bringing outstanding blues performers from across Canada and the U.S. to Westport. Over the past eleven years, James has cultivated relationships with some of North America’s premier purveyors of the blues, and they seem delighted to bring their years of experience performing in venues large and small to the stage at The Cove.

Reason 2: The Cove is such a great venue. Owners, Mary and Terry Cowan along with their manager, Seamus (who is also their son), always seem to be smiling as they work alongside their friendly and professional staff. The buffet dinner at the Blues on the Rideau events is always delicious, varied and plentiful — you should plan on going back for seconds — but save room for dessert.

Reason 3: The dance floor is full all night. Don’t worry about eating too much at the buffet; you will dance off all of those extra calories! One of the things that gets performers to deliver that little bit extra is a good audience, and Blues on the Rideau has one of the best crowds going. The space in front of the band fills up practically as soon as the performers take to the stage and it stays that way until the last chord is played.

60,000 Other Reasons: Every Blues on the Rideau show is a fundraiser for a local charity. Over the past eleven years, over $60,000 has been raised for organizations like Westport in Bloom, The Westport Arts Council, The Westport Food Bank and the Westport Library. That is nothing to be blue about.

The next Blues on the Rideau show features the Karen Lovely Band from Oregon. Karen is a powerful singer in the style of Big Mama Thornton and Bessie Smith who is set to blow the roof off The Cove on November 18. Don’t miss it! Visit bluesontherideau.ca for more details on the series.

Brock Zeman’s The Carnival Is Back in Town

Brock Zeman is a shapeshifter. Not in the sense that he shifts musical styles (which he does occasionally) but in the sense that he fully inhabits the many personae that he creates in his songs. The lovers and losers, rascals and rogues who populate the stories that he tells musically are all fully realized and relatable. So it is no surprise that his latest CD, The Carnival is Back In Town, is full of some great characters. But there is something deeper and darker about these folks.

Apparently, Brock saw a carnival barker on TV and was inspired to write the song Come One, Come All which lists all of the weird and wonderful entertainers the carnival has to offer. From there, he began sketching out the other carny performers in songs of their own.

All of these songs were written about ten years ago — and Brock even recorded them all — but he was ultimately unsatisfied with the results and scrapped the whole thing. It wasn’t until he went back into the studio this year with guitarist Blair Hogan and drummer Dylan Roberts that the project got dusted off and given a new, entirely acoustic treatment. The result is a lush and full concept album that is delightlful from start to finish.

Brock will be playing a CD release party for The Carnival Is Back in Town at the Carleton Place Legion on December 3. Find out more at brockzeman.com .

The Peptides

Hailing from Ottawa, The PepTides is a nine-member high-energy ensemble who have been described as “the B52s crossed with The Manhatten Transfer backed by Arcade Fire.” In September, they released their new recording, The PepTides EP. As part of their fall tour, they are playing a show at the Almonte Old Town Hall on November 12. When asked why they decided to include Almonte in their tour plans, they replied: “We have such fond memories of the place. Our first Almonte show was when we were musical guests for the 20th anniversary special of The Vinyl Cafe, which we recorded in the Old Town Hall with Stuart McLean back in 2013.” Opening the show will be local favourites, The Ramblin’ Valley Band. And although their musical styles are very different, Scottie Irving of the PepTides asserts: “the positive energy is the same, and both bands use a lot of vocal harmony.”

Visit thepeptides.com for more information on the band, videos, and tickets to the upcoming show.

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I’ve Got 60,003 Reasons… - theHumm November 2016