Heather Latter
Six acts slated
for new season
After a great season last year, “Tour de Fort” is hoping to keep the momentum going.
But to do that, they need to sell more passports.
“We were in trouble the year before but it turned around last year,” noted “Tour de Fort” president Ken Avis.
“We had great sales and a good turnout at almost all of our shows last season, as well as incredible performances from some really big names in the Canadian music industry,” he noted.
Wanting to see another successful season, the committee intentionally went after some well-known artists this year, such as the Jim Cuddy Trio and Kim Stockwood.
“[Cuddy] and Greg Keelor are basically ‘Blue Rodeo,’” said Avis, referring to the Canadian pop and country rock band formed in 1984.
“And [Stockwood] is also very well-known in the Canadian music scene.”
But as of last week, passport sales were not where they had hoped with about 75 passports sold. That’s compared to the nearly 200 that had been purchased by this time last year.
Still, Avis is not worried as he expects sales to pick up this week.
Passports are available for $100 until this Saturday (Sept. 1), and costing $110 after that date, for all six shows in this year’s line-up.
“It’s going to be a really, really good season,” Avis enthused, noting there’s a nice mix of music, including folk and popular music, as well as a theatrical performance that’s been added.
In addition to their “headliners,” organizers also have lined up a few up-and-comers that Avis thinks local residents will really enjoy.
The 2012-13 season opens Sept. 13 with “The Once,” a trio of vocalists who offer a different vision of Newfoundland music that comes from a quieter and more thoughtful place, followed by the Jim Cuddy Trio on Sept. 29.
The “Blue Rodeo” frontman is touring with his latest solo album, Skyscraper Soul (released last September), which features the single, “Everyone Watched the Wedding”—a song about last year’s royal wedding.
Then Stockwood will take to the stage, with special guest Kevin Fox, on Nov. 27.
Stockwood, a pop singer and songwriter from Newfoundland and Labrador, and former member of the music group, “Shaye,” released her fourth studio album, “Back to the Water,” in March, 2011, which includes a performance by “The Once.”
Fox, an instrumentalist, singer, and composer from Nova Scotia, has played in Rainy River District before, with a performance three years ago at Cornell Farms in La Vallee.
Then in the new year, the “Tour de Fort” audience will be treated to “The Number 14” on Jan. 15, a theatrical comedy performance by the Vancouver-based Axis Theatre Company.
Watch as “six of Vancouver’s finest performers strut, swing, sing, and talk their way in and out of adventures aboard Vancouver’s #14 bus that is part Monty Pythonesque, part Mr. Bean and wholly engaging.”
Rounding out the season is “The Lost Fingers” on March 21 and then Treasa Levasseur & The Daily Special on April 18.
“We are so excited to have ‘The Lost Fingers,’” Avis enthused of the trio that offers a unique, jazz-inspired style of guitar playing.
“Nobody has heard of them, believe me, but they will be the highlight of the season in terms of the live performance,” Avis pledged.
“They are going to be incredible.”
And Avis called Levasseur the darling of folk/blues music in Canada.
“She’s so good,” he remarked.
Born in Winnipeg but raised in North Bay, Ont., the singer, pianist, and accordion player has an unmistakable voice and a sassy attitude the audience will enjoy.
“‘Tour de Fort’ exists to bring in acts that people partially have never heard of,” Avis explained.
“And that’s the point—to try something new.”
Avis indicated many newcomers last year who had never attended “Tour de Fort” before were impressed by the calibre of entertainment they were able to bring in.
“It works out to be just $16.66 per show,” he noted. “How can you go wrong?”
Passports can be purchased online at www.tourdefort.com, where people can pay using a secure PayPal service.
However, you do not have to have a PayPal account in order to use this service.
Those who wish to pay by cash or cheque can do so at 93.1 The Border (210 Scott St.)
“All passports are picked up the night of the first show,” said Avis, noting passports also can be passed along to someone else if you cannot attend a particular performance.
“We’re going into our 19th season and we want to make it to 20,” Avis added, citing they already are starting to think about next year.
“But we need the support, we need the sales,” he stressed.
Any questions regarding passports sales can be e-mailed to sales@tourdefort.com or visit the website for more info.
