The 2024-25 Tour De Fort season launches on Sept. 25 with Allison Lupton band at the Townshend Theatre. Lupton brings a career steeped in Canadian folk music history to the first show of the season.
Lupton comes from rural roots which she says has impacted her music.
“I grew up on a dairy farm in Oxford County, and I fell in love with traditional music in my late teens and early 20s,” Lupton said. “I went and participated in various bands over the years and started writing music of my own in my 30s. I’ve always loved playing trad music. I’m a flute player so I started playing flute in high school and then went from there to playing traditional Celtic music and then fell in love with Canadian traditional music as well. I hooked up with some very fine musicians who also play traditional music and formed bands from there.”
Members of Lupton’s band include fiddle player Shane Cook, mandolin player Andrew Collins, bassist Joseph Phillips, and Kyle Waymouth on guitar.
Lupton has high praise for her bandmates who are all successful for their own part in different projects and as solo acts.
Those in the audience at the show will hear a wide array of folk music Lupton says.
“They’re going to hear some fiddle tunes, they’re going to hear some ballads,” she said. “They’re going to hear some dazzling artistry from people like Shane Cook, who is a Canadian and North American us fiddle champion, Andrew Collins, he’s a five times, you know, nominee and multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards winner for on mandolin with his various albums. They’re going to hear Joseph Phillips, who plays such a versatile bassist he plays with Payadora Tango Ensemble and with the London Sinfonia, and he’s just a dynamic bass player. They’re going to see Kyle Waymouth on guitar, and Kyle is the CFMA solo instrumental Artist of the Year winner two years ago, fabulous guitarist, but also a five time Canadian National step dance champion. So they’re also going to do step dance as well, so a variety.”
Lupton’s newest album Words of Love is available on BandCamp.com and she will have CDs on tour as well as material by the rest of the band.
“Everybody in the band plays in various ensembles, so they’ll also have their own music as well as the music we recorded together in the band,” Lupton said. “We’re very excited about it, we’ve never played Fort Frances before, so this is exciting for sure.”
With a new album upcoming audiences will also have the opportunity to hear some unpublished music as well.
Lupton added before the conversation wrapped up that she was grateful to Tour De Fort and programmers John and Sheri Payne for their support of music.
Passports for the 2024-2025 Tour De Fort Season are still available at Tourdefort.com or through Ski’s Variety or the Fort Frances Public Library.
The $150 passport gets holders into all six shows this season including Tim Hicks Acoustic Duo in November.
Other shows in this year’s Tour de Fort Lineup include the Ian Sherwood Trio in December, Aysanabee in February, The Dirty Catfish Brass Band in March and Rum Ragged in April.
After the Allison Lupton show, individual tickets for the following shows will be available on the Tour De Fort website, Ski’s Variety and the Fort Frances Public Library in the weeks leading up to the shows or at the door unless sold out. Tickets for the Tim Hicks Acoustic Duo will be $40 while the rest are $25. Keep an eye on Tour De Fort’s website and social media pages for ticket availability and more information.
All shows take place at the Townshend Theatre with doors opening at 7 p.m. and shows starting at 7:30.
