“Ardyth & Jennifer are building a sizzling career with their
soothing harp-playing and folk-tinged singing”
Sandy MacDonald, The Daily News
“Ardyth & Jennifer are building a sizzling career with their
soothing harp-playing and folk-tinged singing”
Sandy MacDonald, The Daily News
Check out the Innovative Imaging Studio pictures.
Photographs Copyright Steven Kennard ©2006 All Rghts Reserved
Thank you to the wonderful crew at the Discovery Stage for looking after us so well!
What a treat to meet Jian Gomeshi at the post gala party...
First stop, Ottawa. St. Brigid's was a wonderful way to start our concert tour in style. We had a great crowd out and enjoyed christening this new concert venue... hope to see you all again!
It was great to meet Gareth Pearson- what a fabulous guitarist.
Thanks for making us so welcome at the Moonshine, we had a great night and a great jam with Merilee Temple (our cellist who now lives in Guelph) and Jennifer's brother, Kit along with the regular crowd from the Moonshine.
We managed to stop in Quebec City on our way back from Ontario long enough for Ardyth to check out the stores.
We had a great night at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre in Fredericton- It is always wonderful to have the Elizabeth Smith Dancers with us and thanks again to Pam for coming all that way to join us and a big thank you to Matt for jammin' on the Bodhran!
Here's us packing up for the big tour... one day we'll send these to Volkswagen and get them to sponsor us. We love our Golfs (we each have one, can you believe it?).
We were honoured and inspired by the opportunity to meet Loreena McKennit.
Have harps (and double bass) WILL travel...
We had a great time at the brand new music Festival during Privateer Days in Liverpool and enjoyed the entertainment tent after our gig
We've decided to do a study in feet when we visit the Keltic, so this is the third in what we hope will be a series we'll continue... The view from the ski-lift is breathtaking!
We always enjoy our creative retreat while we're at the Keltic Lodge
The life of the sea calls to Jennifer- Thanks to the Avon Spirit and her crew for whisking me away one afternoon to dream of the sea... There's a song brewing for you all- I'll bring it back next summer.
Aaaaah.
Keltic Lodge rocks.
We had a wonderful retreat at Keltic Lodge at the end of June...
Unfortunately we were almost the only people there this last time, so these are the only pictures we have...
We really enjoyed getting a chance to meet David and his brother over some great home made pizza and wine, too.
Thanks to all the folks who help out at the Evergreen- We had a great time playing and getting a chance to meet you all. And we loved playing in that incredible acoustic theatre.
Margaretsville is a gorgeous hidden treasure, both visually and artistically. We hope to come back and visit you all again sometime!
Thanks to all our Bonny Lea friends- it was awesome to meet you!
And thanks to the “legendary lunchbuckets” for joining us and helping Ardyth learn a song.
It was great to sing with you again in our old "stompin' grounds".
We loved playing in the Baptist Church in Chester, it was a lovely spot for a concert, with great acoustics. But most of all we loved meeting you all-
Thanks for having us, Jane, and all the best to the residents!
We made it through our first appearance at a mall on the 17th of March (St. Paddy's Day!)- and it was really a lot of fun- thanks for coming out and listening!
Getting to the gig was a little problematic for the "girls with big instruments"...
But it turned out to be a great spot to play (once we found some chairs to sit on- Thanks to the Bay!)
We have been working away at our CD-
Thanks to the incredibly cosy studio that Pam has set up we are getting some great tracks...
...and having a lot of fun doing it!
With the relaxed atmosphere we have been taking our time and enjoying every single part of the process.
We can't wait to hear how it turns out.
The Al Whittle Theatre was sold out on March 11th for another Paddy's Pub Benefit.
Thank you for coming out and helping to support a great local music scene.
The line up of performers was impressive and very eclectic. The night started with the Paddy's Pub session band and went on feature Dave Carmichael, Ken Shorley, Rust Bucket, the Huffmans, Don Osborne and friends and many more!
We all got on stage at the end to have a huge jam session... If anyone took pictures of that, I'd love copies!
We played at the Aeolians International Women's Day Celebration on March 5th at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium.
What an honour to be in such good company!
We also played for a wonderful Roast Beef Dinner at Kings Presbyterian Church in New Minas. Thank you for making us feel so welcome, and for making such a wonderful meal!
We had a lot of help setting up from Brian, and the minister, Tim made us feel right at home. And it was great to have Rachael dancing with us to complete the ceilidh feel!
We played at the Saint Mark's Food Bank Benefit once again this year on the December 11th. It was incredible! What a way to get into the Christmas spirit.
Hopefully we'll have some pictures up soon...
In the meantime-
On December 10th we played at Knox United Church in Brookfield.
Village Blend is a wonderful seven voice women's choir that joined us this year.
Their director, Joanne Hatfield wrote a beautiful arrangement of Hodie that we performed for the first time on Saturday night.
We also joined them on a few of their carols including a lovely original work called Jesukin, written by Joanne.
They were a great bunch to work with, and we are already scheming about how we can get them to join us again.
Despite the very wintry weather we had a great crowd for the concert in Brookfield
(after a lovely supper at a nearby house- Thank you so much for your hospitality!)
I guess we were very lucky- It was a perfect snowy evening for both of our concerts this weekend.
In Amherst, even though there was a winter storm outside we had quite a large crowd, and we once again enjoyed the incredible sound and sight of that magnificent building.
It was so good to be back and see everyone again- this was our fifth concert in that sanctuary, but we missed last year, so this time we made a pact not to miss it next year. It has become a tradition for us all, I think.
Thank you to Mike and Brenda for their hospitality after the show, and thank you as always to Byron Corkum who welcomes us so warmly every year.
It seems as though we managed to miss the worst of the storm.
And the best news was that our hotel room had a parking spot two feet from the door.
You have no idea how much that means to a bunch of girls with big instruments!
On the 3rd of December we played at Mersey House
What a wonderful time we had!
(and it's even named after us...
...well sort of.)
We hope to get back there again soon (maybe when we get that new CD!).
Thanks to the great bar staff and our wonderful hosts, we were treated royally.
Good food, good company, what more could you ask for?
Everyone made us feel so welcome, and we enjoyed meeting you all.
It was great to run into George Canyon and Dave Gunning and the gang too.
Kinda too bad that we were both playing at the exact same time, but that's how it goes...
At least we had time for a brief harp lesson and some dinner...
Even Eric had a go at the harp.
See- it's not so hard, is it?
And Dave had to learn how to play the upright bass when he was on the Stompin Tom tour, so he felt right at home.
Hey- You look like you knwo what you're doing- how about we switch gigs, guys?
Meanwhile we couldn't resist trying to switch vehicles-
I mean we love our deisel volkswagen golf, but who can resist a huge tour bus that sleeps twelve, has two living rooms with comfy chairs, wide screen TVs and surround sound?
On the next WinterFire tour, we're going to re-name it the "Winter TIRE Tour" and get michelin to sponsor us for some wheels!
Truthfully, though, you just can't beat being able to stop when you want and take in the amazing countryside.
We are so lucky to be able to see so many beautiful places around the Maritimes as we travel.
Pinch me, I'm dreaming!
The weekend before we were at Sherbrooke Village's "Old Fashioned Christmas".
What a special place!
We were honoured to be part of the closing night celebrations, and we loved hearing all the local talent, seeing the "dancers" and soaking up the atmosphere of the Village bathed in white lights.
It was really nice of Roly and Ellie to invite us into their home for a "wee nip" afterwards- I hope we get to see you folks again soon!
Possibly in the Summer if we tape a Christmas show at the Courthouse?
Once again this year, we began our WinterFire tour with two benefit concerts in Yarmouth and Mahone Bay for the Tri-county Women's Centre and the Second Story Women's Centre.
These have become a very special Christmas tradition for us, and we were glad to see so many of you out again to help support this worthy cause.
In Mahone Bay we met up with Rebecca, who knows all the words to all of our songs...
Keep singing, Rebecca!
And Ryan who spent quite a while figuring out how the bass worked with Pam's excellent help.
Gail Maddigan (from the group "Goode and Mad") entertained us after the show.
She is in the market for a smaller harp, and wanted to give Gwenivere a test drive.
It has been great to have Pam Mason with us for so many of these concerts- not only do we have a great time on stage, but we make the best traveling companions!
Nothing like eggnog and chocolate after the show to really say "Christmas"
She's pretty handy to have around for help with the sound, too- or even repairing a harp leg.
We were really glad to see Tressie (Diane's Mom) again this year in Yarmouth. We have stayed many nights at her house and enjoyed her incredible seafood chowder- It was so great to get a little visit in again!
Thank you, Tressie for treating us all these years!
Everyone claims to make the best seafood chowder, but it's only Tressie who really does.
We tell everyone- her seafood chowder is legendary. We travel all the way to Yarmouth every year just to get some!
We played at the deCoste Centre again this Summer... It is always a treat to play on that wonderful stage, and this year we were able to stay for the Hector Festival wrap up party at Wayne and Delores' house...
John Spyder MacDonald was in RARE form with some help from John Meir on the accordian.
We all enjoyed listening, despite the chilly Nova Scotia air that settled in around midnight.
Thanks to Delores and Wayne for their hospitality (and the loan of the socks!)
And thanks to John for introducing us to Picky-Pee, Penny-Rue, Roo-ey Whistle, Mary Hassle and Old Tom Bombil!
The Saltscapes Expo in the Spring was a really nice performance venue...
Jennifer had lots of help from Rachael and Rhiannon to set up the booth...
... and we made some new musical friends from New Brunswick.
(thanks for jammin' with us, guys!)
We love playing folk clubs, and Seaside Folk was a great spot to play.
No matter where we are, we always have fun.
We have been lucky enough to play in everything from the ECMAs to church concerts to folk festivals...
We even played at a traditional session at The Green Briar Pub in Boston when we were down for the Boston Irish Festival.
It took up one whole room, and the pub graciously offered beer and loads of food for the musicians. There were at least forty or fifty of us! Thank you, Green Briar, we'll be back!
We discovered Harp lager on tap at the Boston Irish Festival-
Pam Mason was there with us playing acoustic bass, and getting us in and out of trouble...
And the organizers made us feel very welcome.
thanks, guys!
(and thanks, Guiness for the Harp Lager!)
The Imperial Theatre in Saint John really put up our name in lights!
And what a venue!
Thanks to all of you who come out to our concerts, buy our CDs and help support our habit!
