February 23, 2009

2008 Year in Review

Already six weeks into 2009 - Wasn't the Millennium just last Friday?- I thought I might catch my breath and look back over the whirlwind of a year that I had and send out a note of thanks.

In this issue:

The Deep South

2008 saw a myriad of concerts, new audiences, great press and radio airplay. "Tour 'til You Drop" was the theme, beginning with stops in Atlanta, Florida and Magnolia Springs, Alabama. Talk about the Deep South! What a thrill to hear music that was born in the Bayou, sailing down Mobile Bay under a full moon and ‘put putting' along the Magnolia River on a pontoon boat, where the song "Honey, You Got Nowhere To Go and All Day To Get There" was born. Big thanks to the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council for the inspiration.

Vujà Dé Tour in BC

From there it was the "Vujà Dé" tour out to BC, beginning with a hot opening night at the Victoria Jazz Festival in a super supper club called Herman's, where the ‘byes from the "These Days" recording sessions came on board - Rick Kilburn, Craig Scott, Graham Ord- along with Ian Cox, David Say and Roy Styffe. In fact Rick, Craig and Ian provided solid back up throughout the tour out west, including a brilliant Vancouver Jazz Festival Canada Day Concert on Granville Island, followed by the official west coast launch of "Red Eye Tonight" at the packed Cellar Jazz Club on Broadway. In between festivals, there were stopover shows on gorgeous Galiano Island's Grand Central and to the Mayne Island Community Arts Centre, where the dynamic duo of Kim Darwin and Miranda Brown joined forces with me to celebrate the summer Solstice, jam packed with islanders and tourists alike, an evening graciously hosted by well known CBC host and personality Jurgen Gothe.

Jazz East in Halifax

Back to the other coast, I land in downtown Halifax to play the joyous Jazzeast festival, accompanied by the magical Mike Cowie quartet and enhanced by the terrific turnout of souls jazzin' it up on a sunny Sunday in July. Thanks to Music NL for helping me to realize this tour- it couldn't have been done without your help.

Wreckhouse Jazz & Blues Festival and more music

The music didn't stop there. A day later I land in Torbay and head to the newly named St. John's Wreckhouse Jazz & Blues Festival where I am joined by Bill Brennan, Mark Peddle, Gary Tilley, Charlie Barfoot and Pat Boyle at Harbourside Park, followed by a special Vocal Night at the Ship with Toronto singing sensation Caroline Martin Rowe. Then it's on then road again to drop in and play my annual Twine Loft concert in Trinity, and then venture off the main road to the Eastport Peninsula tto partake in the Winterset in Summer Festival's Songwriters Circle, that was warmly hosted by CBC Host Jamie Fitzpatrick.

The last treat of the summer was with the Newfoundland & Labrador Musician's Association hosting "Our Future in Music" International Festival and Conference, where I had the opportunity to share the stage with the mighty Matt Anderson and the incomparable Rita Chiarelli at Holy Heart of Mary Theatre under a glowing full moon.

Happily, I would return to Holy Heart a couple of months later as a guest in the 50th Anniversary Celebration concert, four hours of entertainment devoted to honouring the 50th anniversary of this remarkable institution where so many acclaimed Newfoundland artists saw their beginnings.

Fall Francophone circuit and closing 2008

The Fall swept in with the return of Le Festival du Vent at the theatre au Centre Scolaire des Grands-Vents plus a chance to open up for international recording artist Daniel Lavoie in December – a truly brilliant way to close out 2008.

All in all, it was a truly inspiring year, and I would once again like to thank the media and all the arts and festival organizations for their encouragement and of course the faithful fans and new faces, too, that came out to support the shows and spread the word. Merci infinement!

Mary Barry