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Gigs This Week: The Strumbellas at the Horseshoe Tavern
By Will McGuirk
The Strumbellas at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Thursday Dec 1, Friday Dec 2, Saturday Dec 3. Tickets here.
Chad VanGaalen, photo by Sebastian Buzzalino
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Chad VanGaalen, The Strumbellas, Valerie June, Tami Neilson, Amythyst Kiah, Cadence Weapon, Matt Berninger, Tony Joe White, Maggie Szabo, and Art d'Ecco
By Will McGuirk
Big guns, big lungs, big sounds, big ideas showed up for this Open Mic on this night here in ShwaRawk City. We always have room for the emerging voices and always happy to share those voices on this platform, thats the being an all of what we do really, but when the name kats come by, well, there’s just as much room for those folks too and we appreciate the support. Listen and learn kids, and if you haven’t begat a band go begat a band right now.
“Black Myself is the first song I’ve written that was confrontational. I’d always made it a point to sing songs that anybody could relate to, but this was something that had been welling up inside me for a long time. The reception of the song so far has given me hope that there are people out there who are ready to confront the shared trauma of racism, to look within ourselves and see how we might be perpetuating racist beliefs, and to do what is needed to create equality for all people.” - Amythyst Kiah
Photo by Pooneh Ghana
Five ways to see The Strumbellas in Toronto on upcoming Canadian tour
Its a Goldilocks affair - you want small, big, medium, something in-between the in-between - whatev’ your preference the alt-folkies of The Strumbellas have you covered in the Six TwentyTwenty. The tour jumps off in Victoria Jan 9 2020. Dates in Toronto are Jan 21 at the Cameron; Jan 22 at the Dakota; Jan 23 at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Jan 25 at the Phoenix; Jan 26 at the Danforth Music Hall. So choose your style, the Cameron tickets will be part of a contest with details to follow. Five chances. They will also be playing Peterborough, London ON and Kitchener. No ShwarockCity gig. Tickets on sale Sep 13 2019.
UPCOMING TOUR DATES:
January 9, 2020 – Victoria, BC – Royal Theatre *
January 10, 2020 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore*
January 14, 2020 – Calgary, AB – Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium*
January 15, 2020 – Edmonton, AB – Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium*
January 16, 2020 – Saskatoon, SK – Coors Event Centre *
January 17, 2020 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre*
January 21, 2020 – Toronto, ON – Cameron House ^
January 22, 2020 – Toronto, ON – The Dakota Tavern
January 23, 2020 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
January 25, 2020 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix
January 26, 2020 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
January 30, 2020 – Kitchener, ON – Centre in The Square *
January 31, 2020 – London, ON – London Music Hall *
February 7, 2020 – Peterborough, ON – Peterborough Memorial Centre*
February 14, 2020 – Quebec City, QC – Imperial Bell*
February 15, 2020 – Sherbrooke, QC – Theatre Granada*
* w/ special guests Neon Dreams
^ win to get in (details to come)
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: No jokes just great tunes from Jenn Grant, The Strumbellas, Yoke Lore, Justin Wright, Luca Fogale, Tariq, the Middle Kids and more
By Will McGuirk
Nature has been playing enough japes on us so there’s no need for the annual con on this April 1. We have a full line-up of known and new, stars and starters for the open mic. The list has Yoke Lore, Justin Wright, The Strumbellas, Close Talkers, Lydia Persaud, Tim Moxam, Jenn Grant, Radical Face, Luca Fogale, Tariq, Middle Kids on it. We are getting a lot of players as you can see and hear so we may have to add another open mic day, maybe Wednesdays. Dig in.
SHOWS
Middle Kids - Mon. May 27 @ the Phoenix, Toronto
Tim Moxam - Tues. April 9 @ The Burdock, Toronto
Lydia Persaud - Wed. June 19 @ the Drake Underground, Toronto
Jenn Grant - Sat. June 1 @ the Danforth Music Hall, Toronto
Band friends The Strumbellas and Dizzy get themselves back to the Garden
By Will McGuirk
Oshawa’s loss is Hamilton’s gain - could apply to so much across all sectors but in this case its the Hammer which gets The Strumbellas’ fab-fancy folk picnic with Dizzy Saturday, July 6 2019. The big show takes place at The Arboretum at Royal Botanical Gardens., in HAMILTON! The Strumbellas are of course our Oshawa pal David Ritter (keys), and Simon Ward (vocals, acoustic guitar), Jeremy Drury (percussion), Isabel Ritchie (strings), Jon Hembrey (guitar) and Darryl James (bass). They have been building audiences and awards pretty much from the get go and will keep building when their new album, “Rattlesnake”, drops March 29. The strum-fest also features Dan Mangan and Donovan Woods and of course Juno nominees from Oshawa Dizzy and it is all presented by MRG (and I do believe there are a couple of few Shwakats in there too). Gates open at 3:00 p.m. All ages / 19+ areas / Free admission for children under 10 accompanied by an adult