The Pearl Company

Shari Vandermolen & David Brideau: Saturday May 5.  Doors: 7:30pm. Show: 8:00. Tickets: $20. Shari Vandermolen is a renowned vocalist and award-winning performer in Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area who has been entertaining audiences for 15 years with her Quartet, Trio or 5-piece band Quarter to Nine.  She is also the lead vocalist for the 10-piece jazz combo SwingLine.  On May 5th Shari brings her powerful and impressive vocal stylings back to the Pearl Company for a more intimate evening of song with jazz guitarist David Brideau, James Gannett on bass and Vince Waters on drums.  “…hear Vandermolen make jelly of your emotions with her voice and her art… one example is Stormy Weather… I barely weathered that storm intact.”  – View Magazine
David Brideau is a Canadian jazz guitarist, composer, and teacher who has been an active musician for over 15 years. A Hamilton native, and honours graduate from the Mohawk Jazz program, David has played all around the GTA with his own group, the David Brideau Trio and Quartet, as well as being prominently featured in groups with Michael Morobito, Amber-Leigh Palka, and Lauren Perreira among others. He studied under jazz greats Bob Shields, Pat Collins, Kim Ratcliffe, and Mark Ucci and is currently continuing his studies at McMaster University. David often composes his own standards, and released the sold-out EP “Addicted To You” in 2016. He is a recipient of the Dave McMurdo Music Bursary, the Antony Roberts Music Bursary, and the Richard Newell Memorial Scholarship.
Ticets: https://www.ticketscene.ca/events/21098/

HELD OVER! Shelley Marshall Presents: The Award Winning Production “Hold Mommy’s Cigarette”: April 18 & 19. All One Woman’s story of an unfiltered life, written and performed by Shelley Marshall, directed by Linda Kash. It seems appropriate that world renowned Comedienne, Marshall would open her autobiographical One Woman Show in the city where the story and star were born. It took 10 years for Marshall to create this Play and it is the rewarding result of resilience, recovery, and reflection while exploring many genres of performance including elements of clown, stand up, improv, buffoon, and play. Shelley Marshall takes her audience many places; “I take them on an adventure, both emotionally and visually. There is no denying that my story is tragic, but it’s my story and time and writing without shame has been my comedic relief. ‘Hold Mommy’s Cigarette’ is not an exploitation of what has happened in my life, but rather, an acceptance of where it may lead. It is a dark comedy, a vulnerable piece about life, mental illness and survival.” Marshall reveals with a smile. She invites you to come to her show with an open mind and promises you’ll leave with a full heart. *Mature Content* http://www.holdmommyscigarette.com Tickets available at http://www.thepearlcompany.ca or 524-0606. Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1451939231706392/

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EMERGENCY MONOLOGUES: Friday, September 27: 8:00pm. Admission: $18.00/$15.00 students/artists/seniors. A memorable evening of shock, horror, and hilarious true-to-life (and death) comedy. Morgan Phillips is an EMS paramedic/ambulance driver who has turned his true stories into a hilarious one-man performance that is part stand-up comedy and part (utterly) surreal storytelling. Phillips has won the NOW Magazine Audience Choice Award in Toronto and is back at The Pearl Company by popular demand. “Phillips [has an] easy and unaffected knack for telling funny as hell stories about crime scenes and head-on collisions.” Sean Davidson (EYE WEEKLY) “Side-splittingly hilarious view into the world of Paramedicine” Jason Ng (FNG) “Morgan Jones Phillips is a consummate story-teller – filling in the small details of each scenario as skillfully as a master-weaver entwines a rich tapestry.” Luc Iogna (Director) “Brutally honest, macabre and often hilarious…” (NOW Magazine) www.emergencymonologues.com Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0BrG-Z_0zo

Diane Beatty-Wearing: “AMBITIOUS”. Thursday, September 26. 7:00 to 9:30. No charge. Diane Beatty-Wearing brings a visceral perspective in her “Ambitious” Hamilton series. “Starting small and working to large, symbolic of the end result of ambition in any chosen direction. Hamilton has moved away from the reputation of manufacturing steel small c culture, into the culture driven multi media of arts production. Quite a large group now entertains this idea. It is the thought that counts. We are working towards a tipping point.”
DBW explores Hamilton with an eye towards the aesthetic. The architecture, abundance of trees and green space, Breathtaking scenery, community gathering places. There is a lot to draw from.
DBW has left the mainstream workforce to freelance as an artist and art educator.  High ambitions, fraught with challenge and bursting creativity.  Opening up the right-brain and following the feeling, DBW makes it up as she goes. “We are what we keep telling ourselves.  I AM Hamiltonian; I AM an Artist; I  AM.  And now to paint.”

Amber & Friends Fundraiser: Friday, September 20. 7pm doors. 8:00pm show. $20 / $10 for children under 12.  Please join Stephanie Beatson (Amber) for a musical fundraising event to help sponsor her upcoming volunteer work abroad in South Africa. Joined by fabulous special musical guests The Fox and the Moon, Jimere, Amber of course, and… much more TBA! Door prizes and raffles! This show is ALL AGES. Stephanie will be working in South Africa on two different volunteer placements.  The first is a cheetah reintroduction project that aims to help boost cheetah population long term.  The second one is devoted to the research and care of African elephants.  This is to study how the animals behave in captivity and to offer them a safe place to live, free of poaching.  For both projects, she’ll be helping with general park maintenance, cleaning and feeding, research tasks (collecting samples, observing behaviour, etc.) as well as helping to host guided tours in the park.

THE JACK STREET SHOW: THE LAST CALL: The Memorial Wake & Celebration of the Life & Work of the late local Artist & Story Teller. Monday, September 16. Doors at 6:00, show at 9:00. Pay what you wish at door. Join Jack’s wife LLLLaura, his family of friends, and his dog, Gonzo in celebrating the man’s life and work. At 9:00 the show be launched with bagpipes and we will showcase the eclectic parade that was Jack’s life: his poetry, his stories, his musical collaborations, his artwork (the retrospective he was working on before he passed away)..  Jack`s favourite music will accompany LLLLaura`s photo slideshow. Bob Ezergailis’ videos of Jack on stage, taken over the years will be projected on the big screen of the main floor theatre. Suggested attire is Gypsy/Hippy/Jack Street style. There will be spirited libations, merriment, great gobs of food, remembrance and lively conversation, all the things Jack loved the most. Truly a multi-faceted, entertaining, and interesting evening not to be missed. A good old “Knees Up” as Jack would say! Pot luck offerings welcome!

Ambre McLean & Tara Holloway:The Teeny-Weeny tour: Saturday, September 14: 8:00. Admission: $15.00/$10.00 students/artists. Guelph

singer/songwriter Ambre McLean (Busted Flat Records), made it through to round 3 of the CBC Music Searchlight competition which surprised no one except that she did not finish by winning!  “Ambre’s voice, is an instrument itself: gorgeous, sometimes with a rich, bluesy feel, other times a sweet mellow sound, alternatively soft and ferocious, always carrying these tunes straight to your musical heart.?” (David Yazbeck, CKCU FM).  “It doesn’t take long for her talent to make her seem larger than life, filling the room with the kind of songs that make you remember lost loves and abandoned dreams.” www.ambremclean.com And Tara Holloway (Light Organ Records) Somewhere in the sonic vicinity of Liz Phair and Susan Tedeschi lie the tunes of Tara Holloway, whose debut Sins to Confess exhales and thrashes in equal measure. But whether Holloway belts or bawls, rocks or ruminates, the blues is ever present.

Paul Reddick: Wednesday, September 11: 8:00pm. $15 /$10 students/arts workers. Paul Reddick calls Toronto home, but his reputation is spreading internationally. The award-winning harmonica player, bandleader and songwriter described his most recent CD, Wishbone, as “a soundtrack for dancing and sex.” (!) Now, the January issue of Mojo, listed the CD in the #3 spot on its annual list of the Top 10 blues records of 2012. And if those accolades weren’t enough, here’s Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin, a long-time Reddick fan, “Wishbone is terrific!”  When Reddick, nominated for no less than five Maple Blues Awards, was asked “What is the blues?” the answer: “The Blues will always provide a soundtrack, a language, an endless landscape. It offers an unlimited means to express, explore and experience every thing and every question that matters most.  It can be the heart singing its deepest song.” http://www.paulreddick.ca

Smoky Tiger: Sunday, September 8: 8:00pm. $15 /$10 students/arts workers. Very interesting group from Winnipeg. Check out the Youtube video below and join me in thinking that these guys are smokin’! Formed in the cold dark tundra of Manitoba, Smoky Tiger has made mere mortals tremble and the skies split asunder! Consisting of a revolving door of like-minded eccentrics from Winnipeg’s many-tentacled music scene swirling around one man (Andrew Courtnage) behind a powerful and intimidating Lowery organ!  “The entity Smoky Tygre is an angelic-demonic spirit which is sometimes summoned by, sometimes possessed by, sometimes channelled by….Andrew Courtnage…… Its songs express fury and ecstacy: the dualistic nature of modern existence. Courtnage has journeyed the planet …. trying to reveal inner truths through sonic vibrations to all the friendly and nonfriendly peoples of the planet with varied success.” https://www.facebook.com/pages/Smoky-Tiger/ Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk-jifbpcww

The Art Bus is Sponsored by Judy Marsales Real Estate Brokerage:

First 2 Fridays of every month! Check out Hamilton’s unique and constantly evolving art scene!  Call Barbara (905.524.0606) or email (hamiltonartbus@gmail.com) to reserve your seat.  Next dates: October 4 & 11.  Cost: $15/$10 students/artists.  Start: 6:30 from The Pearl.

• September 6:
  The L’Arche Community Art Studio:  This favourite stop for our Bus patrons is an international family of communities for people with learning disabilities and those wishing to share life with them. Participants produce colourful paintings and works in clay as part of their programming.
  Ottawa Street Stroll: Earls Court Gallery: Currently showing the very painterly ‘Alla Prima’ with artists Dara Aram & Jan Yates.
  AllSorts Gallery: A co-operative art gallery and gift store with 38 local artists and artisans including: ceramics, glass, textiles, wood, and jewellery.
  337 Sketch Gallery: Opening Reception of  ‘My Way’ – a collection of work by Anne Becker influenced by her pilgrimage through Spain (Camino de Santiago), and Italy (Via Francigena).
  Arts 4U Studio: A gallery, studio and a classroom with a collection of 19 artists and artisans showing and teaching. Artist in Residence Mary Simms hosts.
  Montmartre Gallery: Rob Laffier, John Stirling, Don Graves
  Nathaniel Hughson Gallery on John Street North is dedicated to representing artists in their early and mid careers. We will be previewing gallery artists Christina Sealy’s , “Small Paintings and Studies”.

Explore Hamilton’s exciting Art Scene on the Art Bus!
•    Starting at 6:30 from The Pearl Company
•    Reserve a spot via email or phone, and purchase your trip ($15/$10 students/artists) when you arrive
•    We finish at The Pearl for an après-tour wind-down, either a tour of the building or admission to that night’s event
Call Barbara Milne at  905-524-0606 or email hamiltonartbus@gmail.com to reserve your seat. The Art Bus has been called ‘The Best Deal in Town’, ‘A great way to catch the Art Scene in Hamilton’ ! Meet new people and/or bring your own party. Group Tours arranged.