Po' Girl jam with special guests

As the night wore on at the Black Sheep Inn, Po' Girl called to stage various friends from the audience to join them for a tune or two. Luther Wright, Lyndell Montgomery, Kristin Sweetland, Jeremy Lindsay (JT & the Clouds), Rueben deGroot and Asia Matthews.

Here they are playing "O Mary Don't You Weep", a track first recorded in 1915 and years later one of the highlights of the 2006 Bruce Springsteen with The Seeger Sessions Band Tour.

Po' Girl at the Black Sheep Inn

Last night some friends and I drove out to the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield QC to see Po' Girl. I last saw them play at Guelph's Hillside 25 in July. They were great at Hillside but they were smokin' at the Black Sheep.

Opening the show was Lyndell Montgomery formerly of the band Ember Swift. Her show was rather unique as the majority of it was solo with her on vocals and electric bass. She did switch it up for a couple of tunes when she picked up the violin and impressed the audience with the depth of her musical ability.

At the end of her set, guitar sensation, Kristin Sweetland stepped on stage to help her out. I really enjoyed Lyndell's set and would have loved to see more of Sweetland.


Kristin Sweetland joins Lyndell Montgomery

Joining me on this Thursday night were Dave, Rick, Jen, and Yvan. I'm not sure if everybody knew exactly what they were in for but by the end of the night they were definitely hooked. Alli was as angelic as ever and although I've often heard the saying "she has a smile that lights up the room" I had never honestly come across one as glowing and infectious as Alli's.

Alli at Hillside 25 in Guelph (July '08)



What I like most about this venue is its intimacy. By the end of the night you walk away feeling like you've just spent an evening in the band's living room. There's even a little pug that wanders around table to table checking everybody out.




At the end of the night Dave and I stuck around to talk with some of the band. Dave chatted with Benny Sidelinger about guitar making and with Kristin Sweetland whom he recognized from last years' Canadian Guitar Festival while I spoke very briefly with Alli and Awna who were busy saying goodbye to friends.

Hillside gets Bourbonized!

Today was the day that The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir would rejoin for a one night concert after a 13 year hiatus. We were pumped.

Saturday morning Glenn and I waited around for some more friends to show up. Rich drove in from Peterborough, Al from Bobcaygeon, Steve from Bowmanville, and Kevin even made a lunch time appearance after a long haul from Cambridge. A total of 16 hours of driving (map) PLUS 8 hours of flying Glenn from London, England and yet another 2 on the train. Gas prices and carbon footprint be damned! This was a one time Bourb reunion, you just can't put a price on that.

We arrived back at Hillside around 5:30 but unfortunately missed Plants and Animals who I had hoped to see after catching the end of their Ottawa Bluesfest set a few weeks earlier. Oh well.

Next immediate item on the agenda. Beer. After all it was a hot day even though they had called for rain. So over to the Lake Stage for some refreshments while we waited for Po' Girl to hit the stage.

Po' Girl is truly a multi-talented band. Tonight's line-up consisted of Allison Russell (clarinet, banjo, guitar, vocals), Awna Teixeira (bass, banjo, accordion, washbucket bass, glockenspiel, bicycle bell, vocals), Benny Sidelinger (guitar, keyboards, banjo) and Austin Cooper (drums). Missing from today's show was Diona Davies (violin, vocals) and Trish Klein (guitar, vocals) who I originally caught back in October 2003 when they opened for Chris Brown and Kate Fenner at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa. They were amazing then and they were just as amazing tonight.





I even managed to have my photo taken with Allison before the show. Don't we look like two long lost friends? So relaxed.



After a thunderous applause we headed off for some food. Steve, Al, Glenn and I all opted for some tasty Caribbean dish while Rich settled for something less daring. This turned out be a poor choice for Rich as he was later unarmed for the warfare that ensued.

As soon as The Sadies finished their set, Rich, Steve, and I all headed for the very front of the stage (aka stalker's row). Sweet. Glenn and Al choose to have an extra beer or two and watch it from a little further back.

A quick intro from the Hillside Art Director explained that he was the reason behind this one night reunion of the Bourb as he dreamed of bringing them back to help celebrate Hillside's 25th anniversary. Thank you Sammy.





The show was every bit as amazing as I remembered. Dave Wall was in top form with his high energy performance and wide ranging vocals. Kate and Chris were great too but I've been keeping up to speed with their post-BTC careers so I expected nothing less. Andrew Wakeman was in fine form on guitar and although Gene Hardy didn't pull out the musical saw he did do an amazing job on the dual saxophones.




Thanks a million to the Bourb for pulling this together, it couldn't have been easy. I just hope it's not another 13 years before the next show... BUT if it is, I'll be there!

PS: The show was videotaped by the Independent Film Channel to be aired sometime in this fall. DVDs to follow, or so we were told by the camera dude.