The second of two Cole Island videos with Olivia Barrett was released this week! This composition, Afterglow, was written and arranged by Olivia. Thanks again to Lauren Noel Creative, Quin Etheridge-Pedden, and Adrian Dolan (Track and Trestle Studios) for their excellent video and audio work on this project, and to the Friends of Cole Island Society.
This weekend, I was delighted to be back as part of the band for Diaga Irish Dance's Celtic Christmas production. It was held at Alderney Landing Theatre and featured many different local dance groups and musical performers.
The new Narrows Public House on Gottigen St in Halifax has live music every Sunday night, and some weeks I am lucky enough to be part of the band! Here's a little clip from last Sunday with Colin Carrigan and Mark Currie, courtesy of Vince McMackin.
The Bombadils just released a new video for their song "Bicycle"! I had the pleasure of joining them for this video along with Scott Kingsley on bass.
Last weekend I headed up to Sydney with The Bombadils to participate in Nova Scotia Music Week. We did a showcase at the beautiful Highland Arts Theatre!
This year, members of the Creative Music Workshop performed at Nocturne with a new piece called "Listening Legacy". The piece combined live performance with audio recordings of students of Jerry Granelli recalling the intructions of one of his favourite exercises. Various ensembles performed throughout the evening at St. George's Round Church in Halifax! It was a beautiful evening - a deep tribute to Jerry and a fun night for the CMW community to reunite and play together.
This year, New Hermitage took its annual silent film show on the road with generous support from SuddenlyListen! We had two showings of Nosferatu in Halifax, we did Faust in Charlottetown, and then we did Nosferatu again in Wolfville. The poster was created by the amazing Charvel Rappos.
I'm very happy to share that I've been nominated for "Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year" through the Canadian Folk Music Awards!
I joined the Bombadils for three fun performances this August. We played at the Evergreen Theatre in Margaretsville, at the Dartmouth Summer Sunshine Series on the waterfront, and at a backyard house concert in Fleming Heights. Looking forward to more coming up this fall, and to the band's upcoming album release in October!
This morning we held our second annual dawn concert at the lake! A beautiful morning for it, and a beautiful audience.
The Bend in the Light has been nominated for a Music Nova Scotia award in the category of Traditional/Roots Recording of the Year!
Over the past few weeks, I've been out west for some performances and recording with the wonderful fiddler Olivia Barrett, who I met at school in Limerick. Videos are coming soon of some of Olivia's latest compositions, arranged for fiddle and harp. We also had the chance to reunite with Lizzy Hewitt and are hoping to bring our trio out east for a tour in summer 2023!
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Here are a couple of photos from the Halifax Jazz Festival's Creative Music Workshop in July! I was attending as a student for the third time, and it was as surprising and challenging and inspiring as ever. You can learn more about the program here: http://www.creativemusicworkshops.com/creative-music-workshop/
New Hermitage has just returned from a week of touring and performances at four beautiful festivals, Full Circle, Suoni Per Il Popolo, Wolfe Island Garden Party, and Something Else!
On Tuesday, Adrianna and I had the beautiful opportunity to open for Stranger Still at St. Paul's Church!
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New Hermitage played a show at New Scotland Brewing on May 28th, fresh from our recording retreat. Thanks so much to the bar for having us!
The Heavy Blinkers performed together for the first time in years at the Zuppa Theatre fundraising concert this past Thursday! The concert also featured Stewart Legere, Jim McDermott, Blue Lobelia, Cactus Flower, Keeper E, Kye Clayton, and Rebecca Thomas, and was hosted by Bob Mann.
This weekend, a variety of local artists presented two nights of Joni Mitchell's music at the Carleton, as a fundraiser for two great organizations: Lambda Health and The Youth Project! I played River with Kyle Gillis.
Merrytime Music Co, a sweet new music school in the North End of town, has been hosting loft concerts! Erin and I played one this past month, which was very cozy and followed by a session. If you know any kids interested in fiddle/violin or guitar, check out Merrytime's summer camp offerings: https://www.merrytimemusic.com/camps-halifax
New Hermitage spent a week on the south shore this month, recording material for a new album!
So happy to have been on the road for two awesome weeks of touring with the Bombadils! Many thanks to the very generous audiences and hosts in Lyndon, Randolph, Whallonsburg, Richmond, Montreal, Ottawa, Brooklyn, Rockport, and Portland.
This afternoon, I was a guest with the Trad Ensemble at the Halifax Institute of Traditional and Early Music. It was a great group of musicians, and I had so much fun sharing some tunes with them!
The Maritime Conservatory has started a free concert series featuring faculty members of the school, the "Family Discovery Concert Series". On Sunday, Kathleen Doherty and I had a blast performing in the first one, presenting harp and dance renditions of some Irish airs. There will be two more performances in the series this year: April 3, and May 1, both at 2pm in the Concert Hall.
Many thanks to textura for these very thoughtful and beautiful words about the album!
https://www.textura.org/archives/g/gibling_bendinthelight.htm
On March 4th, I'm looking forward to holding an album release show at the Bus Stop Theatre! I'll be playing through some solo pieces from the album as well as playing tunes with a few special guests.
Capacity is very limited, and the show is sold out. If you'd like to add your name to the waiting list, you can do so here, and I'll notify you if a spot opens up or if capacity changes.
poster design by Meredith Sadler
photograph by Marie Roy
The Bombadils have a new video for Losing Track of Time, including a little harp and bass from myself and Gabriella. Looking forward to some touring with the Bombadils in April!
On March 4th, I'll be releasing a new album of solo harp music, "The Bend in the Light"! The album includes some Irish traditional tunes and some original compositions, but is mostly comprised of newly written tunes by musicians I've encountered through playing Irish traditional music. Pre-orders are now possible on bandcamp, where you can listen to a preview track - a set of hopjigs. I'm so excited to share this music!
Re-jigged put together a beautiful program of artists for a St. Brigid's Day concert on Saturday. The concert is still available to view for a limited time! Both Ragged Robin and Harpaflöjt were on the program.
Today, I'm delighted to release this video of two beautiful new tunes by Olivia Barrett - Northern Journey and Dawn Dance. The video was created by the wonderful Melanie Stone and was shot on a summer's day on the South Shore of Nova Scotia.
The Bombadils released a new single yesterday, "Losing Track of Time". I really enjoyed working with them to make a harp part for the track! Check out the lyric video, below.