The Pearl Company

An Evening with Séan McCann: Friday, April 6. Doors: 7:30pm. Show: 8:00. $30 at the door. Séan McCann won over audiences from coast to coast and around the world as a founding member of the award-winning Newfoundland band Great Big Sea. Today, McCann is charting his own course with a new sound. His live performance combines original songs and stories designed to inspire and change lives for the better. Same great voice, songs that sing to your heart, and an engaging performance perfectly suited to the quiet intimacy of The Pearl Company. http://www.seanmccannsings.com/  Listen:  https://www.youtube.com/user/greatbigsean  Tickets: https://www.ticketscene.ca/events/20100/

Your Own Sons: Thursday, April 19 – 21 / 26, 27. Doors 7:30 PM. Show 8:00. Saturday April 28 Matinee @ 2:00 & Closing Night @ 8:00. TICKETS: $20. Pauline’s son travels overseas to fight for ISIS while Dan’s son joins the Canadian Forces. Desperate to understand, both parents set out on a journey to confront the fate of their sons. But as their paths draw them closer to each other, will they be ready for the answers that await them? From the creators of Finding Mr. Right and Test, comes this searing and critically-acclaimed drama tackling the politics of faith and fear and the collision between love and loss. Written by Stephen Near. Directed by Aaron Joel Craig. Produced by Same Boat Theatre. Featuring: Adam Lemieux, Terri Brunsting, Stephen Near, Jennifer Walton, Amber Wood, and Ramzey Zourob.
Reviewer’s Pick in Venue – View Magazine. Encore Festival Pick – Best of 2017 Fringe. Top Hamilton Theatre Pick of 2017 – View Magazine
Your Own Sons was written with the support of the Ontario Arts Council’s Theatre Creators’ Reserve program and Theatre Aquarius and produced with the support of the City of Hamilton’s City Enrichment Fund. https://sameboattheatre.com/your-own-sons/  Tickets: http://www.ticketscene.ca/series/603/

Annie Patterson & Peter Blood: Rise Up Singing: Friday, April 13. Doors: 7:30pm. Show: 8:00. $20 / $15 students/seniors/wage-challenged.
The creators of Rise Up Singing and their 2015 sequel Rise Again are coming to Hamilton! This will be a singalong concert with Annie & Peter performing and leading songs from Rise Again. Annie & Peter will be joined by beloved Canadian singer songwriter James Gordon, whose song “Frobisher Bay” is included in Rise Again.
This tour is a celebration of the life & work of Pete Seeger, who worked closely with Annie & Peter on their books. A wide array of Pete Seeger CDs will be available as well as Seeger’s autobiography (which Peter edited). Copies of Annie & Peter’s songbooks will be available to borrow or buy at the concert.

• This is a chance to meet the people who “wrote the book” and experience group singing with two of North America’s most widely loved songleaders.
  Annie is a widely respected folk and jazz performer and recording artist. Playlist on Youtube.
• Praise for Annie’s performances
• Rise Up Singinghas created a quiet revolution in group singing across North America with a million copies in print. Praise for RUS.
• Rise Againcontains 1200 more songs (including many by Canadian singer songwriters) in the same format as RUS. Praise for Rise Again.

https://www.riseupandsing.org/events/rise-up-singing-hamilton  Tickets: https://www.ticketscene.ca/events/20784/

Rae Billing with CRYBABY: CD Release! Saturday, April 14. Doors: 7:30pm. Show: 8:00. $20 / $15 students/seniors/wage-challenged. REUNITED AFTER 20 YEARS… In 1996 Toronto alt-country band Crybaby released their sole and seminal recording, Paintings. The band lasted just four years, but won much critical acclaim: one of the Top Three Country Albums of 1996 (withLyle Lovett and Blackie & The Rodeo Kings)!  ‘Nashville Scene’ writer, Michael McCall, characterized their music as “tangy country soul” and called Crybaby’s performance one of the “notable moments” of the ‘96 South By Southwest Music Festival.
Praise for lead singer and songwriter Rae Billing’s voice: “honest and pure, assured and desperate at the same time”, “shiver-inducing”; her lyrics and music: “full of wide open spaces and bittersweet emotions,” and mood: “late night, pan-Americana rootsy songs… handled with gutsy femininity.” After Crybaby, Rae recorded three albums under her own name all receiving excellent reviews: her 2001 “self titled” album, her 2008 recording, “Blue Black Night”, and 2013’s “Walls and Fences” with ‘The Unpayables’. Late in 2016, Crybaby came together to play two 20 year anniversary shows. The reunited band included Steve Koch (Ron Sexsmith) on guitar and Lucky Pete Lambert (Kensington Hillbillies) on drums and backups.  Three treasured Hamilton musicians, Andrew Aldridge (Sarah Slean) on guitar, Greg Brisco (Junkhouse) on keys and Scott Bell (Dinner Belles) on bass jumped in. The music sounded so good, they went back into the studio to do their version of the renowned Bobby Gentry single Ode to Billie Joe. and while the music was flowing, they couldn’t resist recording one of Rae’s songs… and that was the beginning of a new album. Crybaby (redux!) is stronger than ever.  www.crybabyband.ca  www.raebilling.com  Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBvPQZl-pGc

Carlos del Junco & The Blues Mongrels – “Hang On” CD Release! POSTPONED! To the fall. Carlos has a detached retina – he’s in B.C and is not allowed to fly home…. Saturday, April 7, Doors: 7:30pm. Show: 8:00. Tickets: $25. Carlos del Junco is a harmonica virtuoso who has won numerous national and international awards for his unique playing style.  Simultaneously sophisticated and raw, his playing blurs the boundaries between blues and jazz (ergo, “The Blues Mongrels”). Caught between the blues and jazz world, Carlos and band deliver a seamless fusion of everything from swing to Latin, second line New Orleans grooves to swampy folk roots melodies, and even “world music”.
Their new CD Hang On is not officially available yet; however, it will be available for sale only thru Carlos during his western Canada March tour and he’ll for sure have it on hand April 7 at The Pearl Co!  Eventually he’ll put it onlline for streaming and digital download purchase. The new CD features Eric St. Laurent and Henry Heillig on guitar and bass respectively, some back- up vocals from Jimmy Bowskill, with Kevin Breit playing mandolin on mandolin and 12 sting resonator guitar on a couple songs. You can listen to some sound bytes of the new disc here: www.carlosdeljunco.com
“A model of focus and urgency…a true virtuoso…” Brad Wheeler – The Globe and Mail
http://www.carlosdeljunco.com   Tickets:  https://www.ticketscene.ca/events/20662/
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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/