Shadows and Light

As part of his acoustic “In a Quiet Room” tour, multi award-winning country star George Canyon visited the Evergreen Theatre and turned it into a fantastic kitchen party. He described it as the smallest venue of his tour, but what was lacking in volume was made up for by the warm enthusiasm of the Canyon fans who had lined up waiting at the door long before the show and packed the place to capacity! View the gallery of images here or read on

Winner of three East Coast Music Awards in 2007 and two Juno awards, Canyon rocked the theatre with his band, playing a great selection of songs from his latest CD “Classics” – including songs by Johnny Cash – the famous and signature tune for which many were waiting “Ring of Fire”; George Jones’ – “He Stopped Loving her Today”; Willie Nelson’s “Seven Spanish Angels”; Charlie Pride’s “Kiss an Angel Good Morning”; Ray Price’s “Please Release Me” and many more. This special and intimate venue was perfect for his easy and relaxed banter to be enjoyed by all in the audience who joined enthusiastically in singing many of their old favourites. View the slideshow of images of this event here .

It has been my priviledge to be a juried member of the NSDCC for several years and I always enjoy participating in the various programs and events put on by this important crafts association in Nova Scotia. Recently I attended the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council Christmas Crafts Show in Halifax and documented the new event “Showcase” this year, which was a lot of fun.

Creations made by NSDCC juried members were displayed in an imaginative and fun way by several volunteers whose contributions helped to make this show a highlight of the crafts year in the province. Congratulations and thank you to all the volunteers who took part and made this possible, in particular to Maria Rakel who conceived, directed and choreographed the Showcase.View the slideshow of images of this event here.

NSDCC site

In a year of many outstanding performances at the Evergreen Theatre, this concert by Tony Cox was surely one of the highlights! View the gallery of images here or read on

This multi-award winning acoustic guitarist who is currently based in Johannesburg, but born in Zimbabwe, brought to the Evergreen Theatre Margaretsville audience a wonderful style of composition and musicianship that is uniquely his own. It is extraordinary how the strings of a guitar played by a gifted musician can so clearly conjure up in our minds the sounds, smells and feel of a place – even one to which one has never been. We found ourselves transported to the depths of Africa, when Tony played his tunes – “Bluegrass Safari” – the combo piece that was inspired by two unique styles – Bluegrass and African Kwela – as well as “In the Distance”, “Kwe-Kwe” and the powerful and evocative “Jambanja”. In “Major Mynah” his guitar became the roosting birds gossiping and chattering themselves to sleep in front of the town hall while we eavesdropped on them.

His guitar, which you see in the photographs was made by a noted South African luthier, Mervyn Davis and was an unusual instrument which was actually bolted together and produced a wonderful rich tone.

Thank you so much, Tony, for a very special evening. I hope that you will come back to Margaretsville the next time you find yourself in this part of the world.

You can see the gallery of photos of the show which also features a music track from his live performance CD.

Ellie