After, perhaps, a run of quiet days spent at home or visiting with family and friends around a Christmas tree, you are keen to get out and hear some live music. We can help!
Braden Lam with Pillow Fite will be here on Saturday, January 14 to kick a new year of shows at Patchwork. We hope you will join us……
ABOUT BRADEN LAM:
Blending authentic songwriting with modern indie flare, Braden Lam is forging the path to a new 21st century folk-pop. The young ECMA-nominated artist from Halifax, Nova Scotia sounds like The Lumineers and Phoebe Bridgers met at a campfire in Canada. His new 2-part music video series documents the arc of human relationship, from falling in and out of love to the torment and delusion that follows. Both singles are available now ahead of an EP release to come in early 2023. It’s music for driving and singing along to, for late night heart-to-hearts and Sunday morning papers, for growing up and letting go. Listen here: don’t let go
ABOUT PILLOW FITE:
Pillow Fite is Halifax, Nova Scotia’s most exciting new musical duo. Pairing tender, heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics with catchy alt-rock instrumentals and folky ballads, the genre lines get blurred in a way that keeps the project dynamic and binge-worthy while giving listeners all of the feels. As a trans non-binary fronted band, Pillow Fite strive to represent queer experiences both on and off stage, and work hard to perform in safe and inclusive spaces. Their debut EP ‘Flutter’ is out now. Listen here: Spilt Milk
Together, these two emerging acts have headlined the Halifax Urban Folk Festival and most recently performed in Germany and the UK.
For all shows, the artists take 100% of ticket revenue. We provide the stage, chairs and (hopefully) a room filled with eager listeners. We will have snacks and soft drinks available, otherwise our events are BYOB. Our events are also BYMLF (Bring Your Music Loving Friends).
Best,
Monique & George Patchwork House Concerts 30 First Ave., Bedford We are on twitter & Instagram @PatchworkHConc and META (facebook.com/PatchworkHouseConcerts)
As we wind down another year (my how quickly they pass ….) George and I want to take a moment to be grateful:
to you – for hanging around while we sorted out how to welcome you safely back into our home for live music after the ‘great pause’
to performing musicians – who found the courage to keep writing and recording and playing for whomever until they could return to doing what they do best: performing for a live audience
to Morgan Toney, Keith Mullins and Kellie Loder – who helped us kickstart live shows at Patchwork this fall
You guessed it! We have several shows confirmed for Q1 2023. Check these links and consider purchasing tickets (or promises of tickets) as Christmas presents – what could be better than a gift of live music?
We are thrilled to announce our second show this autumn featuring Kellie Loder – Juno nominee and first place runner-up of City TV’s Canada’s Got Talent (where they triumphantly wowed audiences and judges with their outstanding mesmerizing performances).
Kellie will perform at Patchwork on Thursday, September 29 (Note Bene – Friday, September 30 is a national holiday……you may sleep in!).
Tickets are $35 and available on EventBrite here (all monies to artist).
There is something truly captivating about Kellie Loder. It can be found in their poignant and timely lyrics set against magical melodies. It can also be found in the singer/songwriter’s electrifying live shows, inspiring profound emotion in listeners. You’ll cry, you’ll laugh, and you’ll tell your friends about it. CBC q’s Tom Power proclaims “If I were a betting man, I’d bet the house on Kellie Loder being the next big thing out of Newfoundland”.
Included in their long list of accolades are 2022 ECMA nominations for Songwriter of the Year as well as Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year. They were named the 2021 Ron Hynes Songwriter of the Year at the Music NL Awards and received a 2021 ECMA Award for their groundbreaking music video and compelling song, “Molded Like A Monster”.
Their 2019 single “Fearless”, received high praise and was chosen as the soundtrack behind CBC’s 2021 Tokyo Olympics coverage as well as the soundtrack behind an IMAX Trailer for Superpower Dogs, narrated by Chris Evans (Captain America/Avengers). Their continued accomplishments and hard work has placed them on the same performance stages as Melissa Etheridge, Steven Page, Paul Brady, Joel Plaskett, Alan Doyle, and more.
Anyone who has heard Loder or watched them perform knows one thing is certain: they’re a towering talent about to explode on the world stage. Don’t miss this opportunity to see Kellie Loder in our intimate setting before they take off for far bigger stages…….
NOTE: For all shows the artists take the door. We provide the stage and hopefully a room filled with eager listeners. We will provide a few snacks and soft drinks will be available; otherwise it is BYOB. Bringing music-loving-friends and visiting family members is strongly encouraged.
Best,
Monique & George Patchwork House Concerts 30 First Ave., Bedford We are on twitter & Instagram @PatchworkHConc and META (facebook.com/PatchworkHouseConcerts)
Canadian Mi’kmaq fiddler and singer Morgan Toney is one of the most in-demand young fiddlers and singers in Atlantic Canada. Nominated for three 2022 East Coast Music Awards and winning two, Toney’s been able to invigorate both the Atlantic music communities and Mi’kmaq communities by bringing together the fiery fiddling of Cape Breton Island with the old songs of the Mi’kmaq, some dating back up to 500 years. He calls this fusion Mi’kmaltic (Mi’kmaq + Celtic) and it’s his way of celebrating his language and heritage.
On First Flight, reissued March 25, 2022 by Indigenous record label Ishkode Records, Toney sings songs so old that modern Mi’kmaq speakers struggle to understand the lyrics, but he also sings songs meant to reflect the turmoil of our current times, shining a hard light on the racism and violence forced on First Nations populations in Canada today. With family members who were sent to residential schools and had to relearn their language later at home, Toney’s interest in the language is very personal. “Some people don’t understand us,” Toney says. “They don’t understand what we’ve been through, and we need to tell the story.” But never one to focus on the negative, Toney’s goal is to push for positive action and change through music. “We wanted to say something in the way that we know how, through music.”
Though Toney’s fiddling has been celebrated across Canada, including special appearances with Ashley MacIsaac and Jimmy Rankin, his first instrument was the drum. Born in We’koqma’q First Nation on Cape Breton Island, Toney moved to Wagmatcook as a teenager where his musical and spiritual interests developed. At a school that featured smudging ceremonies, prayers in Mi’kmaq, and the Mi’kmaq honour song, Toney was surrounded by the culture.
A chance encounter in Baddeck introduced Toney to Cape Breton artist and producer Keith Mullins. The two bonded quickly over music and have been inseparable ever since, operating as musical partners and pushing each other to craft bigger arrangements and to try bigger ideas. There are two worlds of Mi’kmaq music,” Toney explains, “song and fiddle. They had never come together before. People knew of each, but never had I seen a collaboration between Celtic and Mi’kmaq culture before. It was either play Mi’kmaq songs with a drum or record a Cape Breton fiddle album. I knew I could sing, but me and Keith really had to think how we could give something out to the world that was different and made sense at the same time. We did that, we blended the two together and it’s been crazy. It’s like an explosion. It’s so fresh, but also familiar, and people can connect with it on a personal level.” Now Toney’s shows are full of both Mi’kmaq and Cape Bretoners reveling in a shared culture, and he’s created a new sound that bridges two worlds, drawing a sense of pure love from both.
Toney’s debut album First Flight showcases this unique combination, both in the way he transforms traditional songs like the Ko’jua and the Mi’kmaq Honour Song, but also for the new songs he’s creating. “Msit No’kmaq” was written partially in Mi’kmaq and features a fiddle break from the great Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac. “Kwana Li” is a traditional Mi’kmaq song that Toney added new English lyrics to and “For the Elders” is a newly composed waltz from Toney. One of the most powerful songs on the album, “The Colour Red,” which Toney wrote with Mullins, directly addresses the scourge of missing and murdered Indigenous women throughout Canada. At a time in Eastern Canada where the Mi’kmaq are subjected to demonstrations and violent attacks, Toney’s unflinching in his desire to stand up against racism. “We all have to be on the same page and we have to work together,” Toney says. “Those times of racism and discrimination, there’s no place in the world for that. Not just Mi’kmaq but anyone. “
NOTE: For all shows the artists take the door. We provide the stage and hopefully a room filled with eager listeners. Only 40 tickets are being sold for this show. We will provide a few snacks and soft drinks will be available; otherwise it is BYOB. Bringing music-loving-friends and visiting family members is strongly encouraged.
Best,
Monique & George Patchwork House Concerts 30 First Ave., Bedford We are on twitter & Instagram @PatchworkHConc and META (facebook.com/PatchworkHouseConcerts)
May 2022: Congratulations to all the ECMA 2022 nominees and winners! George and I went up to Fredericton for the weekend to attend. To say that 4 days of LIVE music was good for the soul is an understatement. We are INSPIRED to dust off the folding chairs and welcome live music lovers back into our living room.
I was totally inspired by the talented and courageous artists who continued to create, pen songs, record, and share their work (in person if possible, virtually if not) during these past 27 or so months. Me? All I had to do was show up (to work)….these humans had to pivot, to persevere, to innovate, and perhaps most importantly, to keep the faith.
We rejoiced in seeing performances by musicians we’ve known for years who used the pandemic pause to evolve, to make new musical connections, to hone their craft. And we delighted in discovering new to us musicians, some of whom we think would be a perfect fit for our little stage…..
Who’s in? If you are and are on our mailing list, you need do nothing (but feel free to say hello). I encourage you to invite your new friends to join our email list. If attending is no longer an option for you (perhaps you’ve moved away), you can easily unsubscribe from our list. If you look forward to live music but are not quite ready, no worries, just sit tight until you are.
With most restrictions lifted we hope to start hosting in late summer. We want guests to feel comfortable. And safe. So we will keep guest numbers on the low side to start. More to follow…so stay tuned.
Patchwork Threads 