Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival

Amidst the whirlwind of prep, packing and activity that is my life these days, a body must have a break. So I spent a glorious Sunday afternoon in historic Lunenburg at the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival. Being a "poor, single mother", I only attended the free concert at The Gazebo. But that's where I wanted to be anyway; I wanted to see my daughter's friends play.
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Lunenburg is a beautiful town, full of quaint little shops, galleries and yummy food eateries.
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We got there before the music started and were delighted to have a front row bench. The crowd grew as the afternoon passed. We were a lively and appreciative bunch.
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The talent showcased on this particular stage, The Ken Matheson Memorial Stage, are some of Lunenburg County's finest up and coming singer/songwriters. Peter Whynot (in blue) was wonderful: he was quirky & funny and wrote beautifully poetic songs about life -- everything from misguided love to being a hypocondriac. I will definately buy a CD when he cuts one! On the lower left is Katherine Heim who was the junior winner in the South Shore Music Festival; she had a beautifully strong & pure voice for a wee little 14 yr old! And opening the afternoon were The Lustre Boys, a great bluegrass group. .
But the reason I choose to come to this venue were these guys -- The MacGyver Girls. (Yeah! Note the one girl!!) The 2 young people centre front are very good friends of my daughter Amy; and manys the time they sat, laughed, ate and made a mess in our home. These guys were so good! I was so proud to see them grown and flourishing and so bright and beautiful! Desi Gordon is the beautiful young thing with the uklele. She's a creative song writer, and sang about "Oh to be an Octopus" and the joys of such things as being able to knit several sweaters and "still hold your hand". And my favorite song is one about her ex-Vegan lover who didn't treat her very nicely, how he looked at her as if she were cheese, and there was a full chorus with quite emotive back-up echos which stated emphatically "I'm not a piece of meat"!!! It was a lovely mixture of sad and funny. And next to her is Liam Frier, a phenomenal guitarist who delighted us with his up-dated version of the theme song from the TV show "The Littlest Hobo. And the other 3 members of the group happen to be none other than the brothers and nephew of Harry Chapin of "Cats in the Cradle" fame.

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What talent we have in Nova Scotia. And as my Irish friend said, how wonderful it is that Canada supports and celebrates it's young, upcoming musicians.
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I thoroughly enjoyed my day of rest. But now, I've got to "get my skates on"!
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No rest for the weary!!










6 comments:

Chris said...

Sandy, looks like a really fun day! Hooray for your young singers! I hope their dreams come true...

Kathy C. said...

Wow, what an excellent review....are you sure you don't have a side job writing for the entertainment section in the paper? :) It sounds so invited that I wish I'd been there. :)
I've been an absentee blogger for a couple of weeks, but I'm kinda back on track now. :)

ethelmaepotter! said...

Wow, you and your lively bunch did have a grand day!

I love the wry humor of your Desi Gordon. If she ever puts out a CD, I'd love to get a copy! That octopus song sounds a hoot!

Terra said...

That sounds like a fun day of music, and the town looks like a great place to visit.

Marie Rayner said...

Looks a fun afternoon Sandy! Lunenburg is one of Todd's and my favourite places to go when we are home. It is a lovely little town and so picturesque! You are right, there is a wealth of homegrown talent in Nova Scotia! xxoo

Unknown said...

Sounds like a fun, entertaining day!

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