There’s no denying that the biggest ticket in the region this week is the Cape Breton Music Industry Hall of Fame celebration at Sydney’s Centre 200 on Thursday, June 18, with some well-deserved recognition for those who’ve supported the Island’s music at home and around the world.
The official website and the online box office for Centre 200/Ticketmaster are a bit short on details, but you’ve probably seen by now on social media that the honourees include the Dean of Cape Breton Fiddling, the late Buddy MacMaster; Grammy Award-winning Big Pond songwriter Gordie Sampson; and broadcaster Bill MacNeil, who is actually on the air doing his midday show at The Coast 89.7 FM as this column unfolds.
In addition, “Music Island” will also honour the legacy of Allister MacGillivray by inducting his enduring classic Song for the Mira, which joined the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. The tune has appeared on more than 300 recordings – most famously by Anne Murray, but also John Allan Cameron and the Mamas & the Papas’ Denny Doherty – and is a beloved favourite for perfectly encapsulating this piece of the universe.
The show will be full of surprises, but one of the worst-kept is that fiddling star Natalie MacMaster and her talented daughter Mary Frances Leahy will be on hand to pay tribute to their uncle/grand-uncle Hugh Allan (Buddy) MacMaster, the Judique maestro who famously played for his railroad co-workers over the telegraph wire, and was a favourite at village hall dances for decades before finally releasing his first album Judique on the Floor in 1989 at the age of 65.
As for Sampson, his record speaks for itself, from penning tunes for Natalie, the Rankins and the Barra MacNeils to hearing his work go global in the hands of Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Bon Jovi and, of course, Carrie Underwood, who made Jesus, Take the Wheel (co-written with Hillary Lindsay and Brett James) the 2005 Academy of Country Music Single of the Year and the Grammy’s Best Country Song.
Let’s just say he’s come a long way from when his band Real World played an early-’90s ECMA showcase at Halifax’s Pub Flamingo, as shown in a YouTube clip introduced by a fresh-faced music writer who now taps out this very column.
There’s more info about the event on its Facebook page, but at this point all you probably need to know is that tickets are available via www.centre200.ca with 6 p.m. doors and a 7 p.m. show time.
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And while a certain New Glasgow gastropub’s stage might not be as big as Centre 200’s – it’s called the Shoebox Cantina for a reason – that doesn’t make the talent that performs there any less mighty.
The main reason for its inclusion this week is to roll out the red carpet for visiting Toronto singer-songwriter Shawna Caspi, who is venturing around the Maritimes this month for a stretch of shows that starts on the South Shore at Riverport’s Old Confidence Lodge on Saturday, June 20, and includes a Dartmouth house concert on Thursday, June 25.
But also worthy of mention is her Sunday, June 21 visit to the Shoebox for a 3 p.m. matinee with Andrew Muise. The showcase is all-ages and, best of all, it’s free!
Caspi is also a skilled acoustic guitarist with a sweet, silky voice that goes down like strawberries and cream, and you can hear it for yourself on her latest album Hurricane Coming, on Bandcamp and other platforms. The tunes are superb and well worth hearing in person, and you can spend the money you save on a copy of her CD, or on a postcard of her own original artwork that comes with a download code.
For more information, visit her website shawnacaspi.ca with show info and free streams of her songs.
Also coming up at the Shoebox, on Thursday, June 18, it’s the return of improvised music adventurers Dawn Heirs, with Heavy Meadows’ Seth T. Huntley and Benn Ross following their muse through some dreamy twists and turns.
On Friday, the Shoebox Friday Showcase presents the duo 2Fold, a new Pictou County project by Chris Xiros and Danny Campbell, from local band the Clue. Tight harmonies and intertwining acoustic guitars separate the duo’s sound from the full band experience, for something different but no less enjoyable.
Looking ahead to the Shoebox lineup, on Thursday, June 25 it’s a triple-threat lineup for the Shoebox Songwriters Circle with Jon Cornwall, Aaron MacLean and Pat Walsh. Friday, June 26 features Big Name Actors, and it’s a two-band showdown at the Saturday Showcase on June 27 with the Rebel Prospects and the Royal Volts.
While this Sunday’s afternoon showcase with Shawna Crespi and Andrew Muise is a free event, the evening performances each have a $10 admission, and you can find out more at www.shoeboxshop.ca/tickets.