Note the start time for this show is 7pm.
Over the last few years, this city (who knows, maybe the world) has witnessed what can only be termed "a Banjo Explosion". The much-maligned instrument has been part of a renaissance that hasn't been seen since the 60's, and its instrument buddies from the Old-time and bluegrass traditions are coming along for the ride.
Whiskey Hollow Bound - the brain-child of multi-instrumentalist Steve Charles - is a CD featuring 6 of the Vancouver scene's hottest bands. The idea was that 6 (or is that 26?) heads are better than one, and that by working together, the bands could generate even greater exposure for themselves and their burgeoning scene.
The music is straight ahead Bluegrass and old-time; two traditions that originate in the Appalachian Mountain regions of Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Old-Time music was a blending of Celtic fiddle tunes, African instruments (the banjo) and the New World sensibilities. It flourished and evolved across North America before crystallizing in the 1940's, through performers like Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs into Bluegrass. Now both Old-Time and Bluegrass co-exist and flourish (mostly) peacefully in the paved - but still green - hills of Vancouver.
Dyad digs deep into the song and instrumental traditions found in the Appalachian mountain region of the eastern United States. Over 100 years ago, songs were like gazettes, with the singer relating the story of a lover, the accused, the wronged, and the cruelty of fate. Public hangings were as much entertainment as they were a reckoning - sound like a reality show? Dyad sees the correlation between events of the past and those of the present day, taking on the role of storytellers for a new generation of listeners.
The Vancouver, B.C. trio of Kori Miyanishi (vocals, banjo, guitar, fiddle, jaw-harp), Leah Abramson (vocals, guitar) and Shiho Mizumoto (fiddles), came together to play traditional American Old Time music after delving into everything from indie-rock and punk to classical and traditional music of various cultures. With the release of their second full-length CD, No Pedlars or Preachers , in 2006 on Copperspine Records/Festival, Dyad continues their stark and haunting sound, though a line-up change (Leah Abramson replaced Stephanie Custer in 2004) takes the band further into a traditional country and stringband approach.
Plough was formed in the hills of East Vancouver in 2005 and play a mix of traditional, contemporary, and original tunes in the folk/old-time tradition. Plough are: Karla Mundy, Linda Bull, James Scholl and Patrick Metzger.