Chautauqua is proud to provide local performers with an opportunity to share their talent. Each show will open with a local act.

The Steel Wheels have captured audiences across the country with their heady brew of original soulful mountain music and their deep commitment to roots and community. Based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, this dynamic four-piece string band marries old-time musical traditions with their own innovative sound and lifestyle, generating a truly magnetic revival.

The Steel Wheels is an amalgamation of hard work and easy rapport. The band is renowned for their raw energy and chemistry on stage, where they often cluster tightly around a single microphone to adorn Trent Wagler’s unmistakable tenor with bell-clear four-part harmonies inspired by their shared Mennonite heritage. Add to this Eric Brubaker’s lively and evocative fiddle, Brian Dickel’s grounded yet buoyant upright bass, and Jay Lapp’s signature mandolin style, and it’s no surprise that The Steel Wheels have enthralled the contemporary Americana scene.

Their breakout album, Red Wing, garnered critical praise and enjoyed tremendous success on the radio. It spent 13 weeks on the Americana Music Association’s Top 40 Chart, where it reached the number 15 slot, and cracked the Euro Americana Chart top 10. Red Wing ranked 70th out of the top 100 Americana albums of 2010 and second out of all independent releases (Americana Music Association). The Steel Wheels were nominated for five Independent Music Awards in 2010, with “Nothing You Can’t Lose” taking top honors as Best Country Song. The Steel Wheels continue to take the Americana scene by storm with their latest album, Lay Down, Lay Low, which lingered for 10 weeks on the AMA’s Top 40 Chart. NPR named “Rain in the Valley” their Song of the Day, marveling that the “heavy hymn […] is sparse and dense all at once.” Already celebrated as the darlings of Merlefest 2012, the band looks forward to further accolades during a phenomenal festival line-up.


For more information, visit the performer’s website.

I have enjoyed getting to know their music and look forward to hearing it live. I also look forward to meeting them as they seem like solid, community-minded people. Their band t-shirts are made in their hometown, they do an annual bicycle music tour, their local coffee roaster named a dark roast in their honour, and their local brewmaster created Steel Wheels Stout. How cool is that?

The Steel Wheels show on Monday, April 8th is sold out. If you don’t have a ticket and are very sad about it, take a chance and come to The Red Brick just before 7 pm. If a season ticket holder is unable to attend, there just might be a seat for you. It’s worth a try!

Chautauqua is proud to provide local performers with an opportunity to share their talent. Each show will open with a local act.

Alex Cuba (born Alexis Puentes in 1974 just outside of Havana) was a multi-styled multi-instrumentalist who got his start as a small child with his father’s group, Lost Puentes. After touring and performing with the band Temperamento with Roberto Fonseca, Alex moved to Canada in 1999, and it was there that the creative direction of his music began to move away from the more traditional aspects of the Cuban sound. Alex and his brother Adonis formed the Alex Cuba band shortly thereafter, but soon came to call themselves the Puentes Brothers, and released the album Morumba Cubana in 2000. The album went on to earn the brothers a 2001 Juno Award nomination. Tours for the pair followed, as well as hitting all the festival stops that would have them, but in 2003 the brothers decided to put the project on hiatus to work on solo projects. For Alex, it was a return to the idea of the Alex Cuba band, and he released his debut, Humo De Tabaco in 2005. The album was a critical success, and scored Alex a Juno Award for Best World Music Album in 2006. His follow up, Agua Del Pozo, was released in February of 2007. Again, the talent of Alex Cuba wasn’t overlooked, and in 2008 he was once again a nominee for the prestigious Juno Award. ~ Chris True, All Music Guide


For more information, visit the performer’s website.

Chautauqua is proud to provide local performers with an opportunity to share their talent. Each show will open with a local act.

With crystalline vocals, feisty carbon-fibre harp playing and an unfettered sense of fun Keri Lynn Zwicker has been a bright addition the Western Canadian folk music scene. Her eclectic repertoire and quick wit delight listeners who are surprised at how truly entertaining a harp show can be.

Keri Lynn brings to the stage a craft built solidly on Classical training, a stage presence polished by over 12 years of touring with David Wilkie’s Cowboy Celtic and a wealth of knowledge from a Masters Degree in Ethnomusicology.

She has toured and showcased in Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan with her versatile trio, HarpRouge featuring Tami Cooper on flute and Jeff Faragher on Cello. While playing playing folk clubs and festivals from Enderby to La Ronge and from Edmonton to Bragg Creek, Keri Lynn has garnered rave reviews for her lively stage presence, beautiful gaelic-styled singing and her ability to demonstrate the versatility of the Celtic harp.

A HarpRouge show features Keri Lynn’s fresh take on traditional folk songs, finger-blazing jigs & reels and fiery Latin instrumentals. Her lively arrangements ensure that her carbon-fibre instrument is always the driving force – never the frill. “The term ‘multi-dimensional’ barely does justice to her ability to address and envelop so many musical styles….” Peter North, Edmonton Journal

Keri Lynn has been playing music since she was 5 years old beginning with her classical training on the piano and culminating in a Bachelor of Music in piano and harp from the University of Alberta. She plays second harp with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and has performed major harp & choir works with award-winning choirs such as Cantilon, ProCoro and Kokipelli. She is a private instructor at the Alberta Conservatory of Music and has also led harp workshops in Montana, Alberta and BC.


For more information, visit the performer’s website.

Chautauqua is proud to provide local performers with an opportunity to share their talent. Each show will open with a local act.

Recorded by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Basia Bulat, Silver Mt Zion) live off the floor at Montreal’s Hotel 2 Tango, June In Siberia is the full length follow up to 2008’s What The Boat Gave The River. June In Siberia sees a departure for Mark Berube and The Patriotic Few (Kristina Koropecki on cello, Patrick Dugas on drums, and Amélie Mandeville on bass) from their previous experimentation with large-scale arrangements of strings and horns, choosing instead to hone in on the impressive vocal and instrumental strengths of each member. Joining the band are four special guests. Dan Mangan appears on Side of the Road, Emily Loizeau sings a verse in the redemptive eulogy Above the Ground; CR Avery lends a poem in Let Me Go; and Hattie Webb of the Webb Sisters bestows her voice to the blues-piano riff Fela Kuti-inspired ballad My Me Lady. The overall result is a striking and unique blend of indie chamber-folk.

Since the release of What the Boat Gave the River, Mark Berube and the band have rarely left the road. Their September 2008 Cabaret Juste Pour Rire concert in Montreal, was recorded by the CBC for Canada Live and was programmed and aired an unprecedented 8 times on Canadian national and regional radio programs, drawing Mark a comparison to a “young Leonard Cohen” from CBC’s Duke Eaton for his lyrical brevity and craftsmanship.


For more information, visit the performer’s website.

Chautauqua is proud to provide local performers with an opportunity to share their talent. Each show will open with a local act.

Tickets Still Available!

A small quantity of tickets are still available at Thymes Two for this evening’s performance.

General Admission/Individual

A Canadian WW2 veteran reluctantly returns to Normandy, France, for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings. While revisiting the beach he landed on sixty years earlier, Jake encounters Isabelle, a precocious 10-year-old from the local village whose inquisitive nature and charm challenge the old soldier to confront some long-ignored ghosts – most notably, the war-time death of his eldest brother Chester, a once promising young musician.

In 2004 performer and playwright, Julia Mackey, traveled to Normandy, France, for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. While there, she interviewed dozens of WW2 veterans from Canada, Britain and America who had returned for the ceremonies. Their stories and the events that unfolded on her journey were the inspiration to create Jake’s Gift.


For more information, visit the performer’s website.

The experience of Jake’s Gift is difficult to express in words. Hopefully you know someone who saw the January 17th performance and has encouraged you to attend the second community performance at The Red Brick on Saturday night–January 19th. If not, take my word for it. The story is both poignant and humourous. You will feel you have done something important–just by being in the audience.

Chautauqua is proud to provide local performers with an opportunity to share their talent. Each show will open with a local act.

Season Ticket Holders Show

A Canadian WW2 veteran reluctantly returns to Normandy, France, for the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings. While revisiting the beach he landed on sixty years earlier, Jake encounters Isabelle, a precocious 10-year-old from the local village whose inquisitive nature and charm challenge the old soldier to confront some long-ignored ghosts – most notably, the war-time death of his eldest brother Chester, a once promising young musician.

In 2004 performer and playwright, Julia Mackey, traveled to Normandy, France, for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. While there, she interviewed dozens of WW2 veterans from Canada, Britain and America who had returned for the ceremonies. Their stories and the events that unfolded on her journey were the inspiration to create Jake’s Gift.


For more information, visit the performer’s website.

Will you help? We would like to sell 10 more sets of season tickets. If you’ve already bought your own tickets, invite a friend, neighbour, or colleague to do the same. If you haven’t made your purchase, race down to Thymes Two or buy online. Remember that season tickets are transferable: if you can’t make a show, give or sell them to someone else.

Oh, and did I mention Chautauqua Season Tickets make great gifts? This Christmas, don’t buy a thing: buy an experience!

Take a minute or two and share your summer music plans. Is there a festival you attend every year? Why is it your favourite?

Tell us what’s on your calendar or reflect back on the highlights of a festival you’ve already seen.

Pembina River Nights http://www.asmallshieldmusic.ca/home.html

Wild Mountain Music Festival http://wildmountainmusicfest.ca/

Edmonton Folk Festival http://www.edmontonfolkfest.org/