It was another folk-filled evening of music at the monthly music show, Music in the Lake, Thursday, January 27, at Lake Cowichan’s Lower Centennial Hall.
The show marked one year since the first Music in the Lake, Thursday, January 25, 2010. This first show was held at the Lions Den, and served as a dry run to see whether or not the monthly music show would fly.
“It was a little crowded, but we should be thankful for them for letting us use (the building) to see if it worked out – and it did,” host David Lowther said, introducing the anniversary show.
It hasn’t all been about just having fun and listening to Vancouver Island’s best musicians. It’s also been about the community. During December’s Music in the Lake, $1,250 was raised for Mesachie Lake residents Bill and Glenna Bergen, who lost their home in a December 20 house fire.
“It kind of shows what kind of a community we have,” Lowther said.
Although the January 2011 show didn’t benefit from the 75-person attendance of the January 2010 show, a large enough crowd gathered to make the performers feel welcomed, on stage.
Local talent Randy Liboiron, who hosts a show and volunteers his time as program director at local community radio station CICV 98.7 FM, opened the show with a punk-influenced cover version of the ‘30s jazz song Minnie the Moocher, followed by a mellow original song, The Face in a Name. Liboiron, a big fan of Bob Dylan, closed his three-song set with a cover of the song It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.
“This is what you call really making your own content,” Lowther said, of Liboiron. Fellow local radio personality Rick Endres was on-hand throughout the evening, recording the show for re-broadcast on CICV, to be played at 6 p.m., Wednesday, February 2.
Nanaimo musician The Dirty Flannel Dawg then performed a few country-influenced songs, followed by local musicians Katherine Worsley and her daughter, Samantha Oliver.
With both mother and daughter having learned guitar together over the past year, the two harmonized together nicely, performing a duo of songs; the last of which being the spiritual song When The Music Fades.
Katherine told the crowd that the spiritual song is a necessity in whatever show they perform, as they’d like to thank God for helping them on-stage, and for learning the guitar to begin with.
Proving that all forms of unplugged songs are allowed at Music in the Lake, David and Mary Lowther then performed the classical song Peer Gynt: Suite no. 1, which is commonly associated with spring time in cartoons.
The two performed with Colleen, from headlining Victoria/Gabriola Island group The Jug Bandits, on her tap shoes. David played guitar while Mary played Clarinet.
“Other kinds of music are allowed,” David reassured the crowd, after the song, adding that although the event is co-organized by the Cowichan Folk Guild, more types of music than folk are allowed.
Duncan resident Paul Ruszel, of celtic group Jane’s Way, closed the open stage event with an a-capella performance of a labour martyr-influenced song he wrote, named Dying for White Blood.
Victoria/Gabriola Island-based bluegrass group The Jug Bandits then filled the stage with instruments and performed their headlining set list of fun toe-tapping songs.
The next Music in the Lake will take place Thursday, February 24, and will feature Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Kate Reid.
With songs like The Only Dyke At The Open Mic, she should prove to be an entertaining performer. Open stage, wherein anyone interested in performing a song unplugged may do so, will begin at 7:30 p.m.