DAVE MATHESON @
http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/dma/bio.asp had been playing piano for the other performers but played guitar and sang “Don’t Beat me Down” - VIDEO – night 2 -
and then “I’m Not Supposed To Care.” – VIDEO – night 1 -
- He had gone to a 1998 Dylan concert and heard him sing it.
MATTHEW BARBER was new to the shows this year @
http://www.matthewbarber.com/?page=Home He is a JUNO nominee. He sang “Carefree Highway” – VIDEO – night 1 -
and “Summer Side of Life.” – VIDEO – night 2 -
He mentioned that he had always listened to it as a sort of pop song and not paid much attention to the lyrics until he was preparing for the shows and realized it was about a young man who went off to war, leaving his girlfriend and family, not knowing if he’d return. He has a very strong voice with a young man’s quality well suited to the song.
LORI CULLEN @
http://www.loricullen.com/bio.html She has been at a few of the shows over the years and always is a huge hit. She’s got a charming and funny onstage persona that is adorable and endearing. On Saturday night before singing “Your Love’s Return” she said “One of the Good Brothers, I can’t say which one, came to me and said he was ‘memorized’ by it. So be prepared to be “memorized.” She sang “Your Love’s Return” – VIDEO - Night 2 -
and had the audience humming along and also did a countrified “Summertime Dream.” – VIDEO – night 2.
TWILIGHT HOTEL @
http://www.twilighthotel.ca – Brandy Zdan and Dave Quanbury originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba but now living in Austin, Texas. This duo left us all gobsmacked with their versions of “Black Day In July” and “Long Thin Dawn.” - You’ve never heard a Lightfoot tune like this before. I thought I had video of “Long Thin Dawn” but it has disappeared..Brandy went to a used record store in Austin to look for a Lightfoot album so she could choose a song. She found the Back Here On Earth album and the first song she listened to was Long Thin Dawn and knew it was the one they would do. Their new CD was reviewed in the Toronto Globe and Mail last week -
http://twilighthotel.ca/media/globe-mail-reviewjan-2011
Here is a good video of them singing it at a different venue the day after the Tribute shows:
GREGORY HOSKINS @
http://www.gregoryhoskins.com/news.html He sang “The Wreck” and a jazzy “Rainy Day People.” His rendition of The Wreck was very different-lots of sound effects and flow to the song..I think it was longer then Lightfoot’s. Rainy Day People had a call/response audience participation with the lyrics “Rainy Day People.” No video but I do have audio to post asap.
JAMES KEELAGHAN @
http://web.me.com/jameskeelo/Keeloweb/KEELOWEB.html He is a JUNO winner, he has 11 cd’s and as David introduced him he called him a true troubadour and balladeer. His first song was “Sit Down Young Stranger.” – VIDEO-Partial-night 2 - with a very strong and clear voice.
At the end he asked, “Is there anything sadder than that – John loves Mary, does anyone love me?” He sang a song on the Lightfoot tribute CD “Beautiful.” When he was asked to be on it he said he wanted to do “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” and then thought “what have I done? I haven’t sung it since I was 19!” He sat down with his guitar and sang it right through and that is the sign of a great song he said. As a kid he was influenced by a very garrulous Irish father who told stories and then when he heard CRT he knew that was what he wanted to do at 8 – it affected him very deeply and he knew he wanted to write songs like it. He added, “The most amazing thing about this evening is that all these songs sprung from one mind and one pen. Like a steady line of graphite or ink heading off into the unknown future.”
FINALE – All performers assembled onstage for “Rich Man’s Spiritual.” – VIDEO – night 1 -
night 2 -
and night 3 -
Aengus Finnan – co-founder of the shows was in attendance on Saturday night but did not sing. He did join in when all the performers congregated onstage for the Rich Man’s Spiritual finale. As always it was wonderful to talk with this multi talented young man. He’s taken his life on yet another journey and is living in Toronto. He had a new haircut too.