The Pearl Company

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

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/