By Stephen Cooke
Late August is your last chance to squeeze in one more summer road trip before Labour Day weekend brings the season to a crashing halt, but in some ways it’s the best time to do it. The heat is starting to ease up a bit, the water in lakes and at the beach has hit the perfect temperature, and there are still plenty of fun things to do before the clarion call of heading back-to-school or back-to-work starts ringing in your ears.
One good reason to hit the road this week is a trio of shows by a new multi-instrumental meeting-of-minds called Patouche Collective, to celebrate the release of the instrumental folk sextet’s new self-titled debut album.
The name may be new to you, but the names of its members won’t be: there’s acclaimed father-and-son duo of Chéticamp’s Gervais Cormier and Maxim Cormier, plus multi-instrumentalist Malcolm MacNeil (recently seen in several capacities at the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, fiddler Brad Reid (who’s toured with Cirque du Soleil), St.-Joseph-du-Moine fiddler and pianist Robert Deveaux and Caribbean-raised, Cape Breton University grad Ben Smith, whose family roots are in both Antigonish County and Christmas Island.
So that’s a whole ton of talent to have on one stage together, or in this case three stages, starting on Thursday, Aug. 20 at Sydney’s Capri Cabaret at 7 p.m.; followed by a Saturday, Aug. 22 matinee at the Doryman in Chéticamp at 2 p.m. and a Sunday, Aug. 23 stop in Halifax at the Carleton Music Bar & Grill at 7 p.m. (Each show has a Facebook event page for more information.)
And as if that wasn’t enough, they’ll be joined by fiddler Amelia Parker and bassist Ed Woodsworth for these shows, with singer songwriter Dane Pedersen as their special guest in Sydney and Halifax.
The project began with the two Cormiers, who’ve been playing together since Maxim was old enough to hold a pick in his fingers, and they added more musical friends along the way as they played around Cape Breton, and at events like Celtic Colours International Festival. In fact,the festival is honoured by the tune Big Sampie’s Reel, which is a nod to Maxim receiving the Celtic Colours Volunteer Drive’ers Association’s Big Sampie Award, which he put toward making his debut album in 2014.
Together, the musicians combine their collective influences, including traditional Scottish and Acadian sounds, and the name Patouche Collective reflects that, coming from the nickname for Maxim’s great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Muise, a true matriarch in her Chéticamp community, and a symbol for the group’s connections to family and regional histories.
As for the new record itself, it’s a glorious-sounding collection, recorded at Lakewind Sound, of new and classic tunes, with tributes to the greats, like Jerry Holland, Winston “Scotty” Fitzgerald and John Allan Cameron among the self-penned instrumentals. Each track brims with life and enthusiasm, and the players’ blend their instruments beautifully. It’s a very “live” sounding recording, and it’s not hard to imagine the level of musicianship you’ll enjoy at any of these release shows.
For more on the band, and their upcoming activities – or to pre-order a copy of the CD – visit patouchecollective.com.
Speaking of Cape Breton supergroups, if you’re reading this on Wednesday, Aug. 19, you can catch the one-and-only Beolach at Pictou’s deCoste Centre at 7:30 p.m., plus they have P.E.I. fiddle maestro Richard Wood performing with his trio on Thursday, Aug. 20.
It’s also worth taking a summer spin up along Bras d’Or Lake as Theatre Baddeck closes out its season with Mark Crawford’s The Golden Anniversaries, a two-hander comedy about a marriage that hits the rocks on the eve of marking 50 years of wedded mostly-bliss.
Todd Hiscock and Christy MacRae-Ziss are Glen and Sandy in the Samantha Wilson-directed play that looks at the forces that have come between them, and what it will take to rebind their ties in their golden years.
The Golden Anniversaries runs through Sept. 4 in the new Greenwood Arts Centre, and full details are available at theatrebaddeck.com.