Sunday, January 19, 2014
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Sharecroppers Continue Anniversary Tour -summer 2013
www.thesharecroppers.net
Summer dates soon to be announced!
Promo for 25 years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEOYr7LOQRM
Song: Crowd From Up the Hill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e4hrDImsLM
One Room School Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOoAEwEEuNY
Summer dates soon to be announced!
Promo for 25 years:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEOYr7LOQRM
Song: Crowd From Up the Hill:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e4hrDImsLM
One Room School Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOoAEwEEuNY
Monday, March 4, 2013
Sharecroppers "25th Anniversary One Room School Tour" - Updates
The Sharecroppers (of Newfoundland)'s 25th Anniversary One Room School Tour is taking place this April 2013 from April 15th-28th. Twelve shows are now booked! Hope to see you by the old potbelly stove with slate, rag and small water bottle. (No sleeves allowed). lol
Here's our short info ad and One Room School song that I put together! Enjoy. (Thanks to Nfld artist Lloyd Pretty who allowed us to use his wonderful one room school scene.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_IsG4mVfYA
See you at the show!!
Where are the shows in April?
15th Pasadena St. David's
16th Twillingate St. Peter's Anglican Church
17th Bonavista The Garrick Theater
NOTE ADDED SHOW: 18th April, Lord's Cove Community Center
19th Marystown St. Gabriel's Hall
20th St. John's Gower Street United Lecture Hall
21st Clarenville Clarenville Events Center
22nd Gander St. Martin's Anglican
23rd Grand Falls-Windsor Holy Trinity Anglican Church
24th Kings Point The Firettes
25th Corner Brook All Saints Anglican
26th Norris Point Lions Club @ Norris Point Community Hall
27th Port aux Basques St. James Anglican Memorial Center
The Sharecroppers...Ed,Guy & Mike
Thanks to Sound and Lighting provided by HM Audio Corner Brook!
 |
| 25th Anniversary One Room School Tour |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_IsG4mVfYA
See you at the show!!
Where are the shows in April?
15th Pasadena St. David's
16th Twillingate St. Peter's Anglican Church
17th Bonavista The Garrick Theater
NOTE ADDED SHOW: 18th April, Lord's Cove Community Center
19th Marystown St. Gabriel's Hall
20th St. John's Gower Street United Lecture Hall
21st Clarenville Clarenville Events Center
22nd Gander St. Martin's Anglican
23rd Grand Falls-Windsor Holy Trinity Anglican Church
24th Kings Point The Firettes
25th Corner Brook All Saints Anglican
26th Norris Point Lions Club @ Norris Point Community Hall
27th Port aux Basques St. James Anglican Memorial Center
The Sharecroppers...Ed,Guy & Mike
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Sharecroppers Celebrate 25 years -my blog
(By trio member Mike Madigan)
The Sharecroppers of Newfoundland celebrate 25 years a Newfoundland folk trio! (1988-2013) And by golly it's true too when I say: "it's been 25 years and nar fight betwix us!" lol. The trio have remained friends, fellow teachers (now retired), and two of us are even grandparents!
The Sharecroppers of Newfoundland celebrate 25 years a Newfoundland folk trio! (1988-2013) And by golly it's true too when I say: "it's been 25 years and nar fight betwix us!" lol. The trio have remained friends, fellow teachers (now retired), and two of us are even grandparents!
Life has been good in so many ways and although we have remained fairly humble in the public eye, our songs about Newfoundland have touched many. Just the other day someone from the Dept of Education asked that our One Room School song be submitted for a resource book to be used in the classroom. I love hearing that.
Over the years many of our songs like "The Legionnnaires: Lest We Forget", "The Kyle" , "Grenfell", "One Room School" and "Viking Winds" and more have been used in the classroom for projects as well as in various museums/exhibitions etc.
Over the years many of our songs like "The Legionnnaires: Lest We Forget", "The Kyle" , "Grenfell", "One Room School" and "Viking Winds" and more have been used in the classroom for projects as well as in various museums/exhibitions etc.
Who are the Sharecroppers personally? It pleases me to tell you about my trio buddies!
Guy Romaine hails from Newman's Cove, Bonavista Bay. Guy's dad, Newman Romaine, went to the little one room school there and always spoke of interesting and mischievous times in that one roomer, now a small United Church. Guy's dad worked in construction but also had a fishing license, so Guy and "skipper" would often go out on the Bonavista Bay. Thus Guy loves to write about the simple things of outport life and does a great job. With songs like Yesterday's Fisherman", Life in the Outport, Freddy's Tune, My Cove and One Room School, Guy's poetry is simply beautiful. Here's a youtube example of Guy's excellent poetry with his song "This Island": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcUGK9e5Dwg
By the way, Guy's dad passed away a few years ago and his funeral was in that very one room school he went to. Talk about full circle. Guy's mom Rita still lives in Newman's Cove and is the sweetest woman on earth.
By the way, Guy's dad passed away a few years ago and his funeral was in that very one room school he went to. Talk about full circle. Guy's mom Rita still lives in Newman's Cove and is the sweetest woman on earth.
Ed Humber hails from Corner Brook and it's no wonder one of his many fine songs is "The Mill Whistle". Ed's dad, Harvey Humber, worked for more than 37 years at the Mill.
Ed was the most recent to retire from the classroom and most of that time was spent as guidance counselor. The kids loved and respected him then and still do today, as Ed has helped many find their way through sports as well as his personal guidance. Every summer for the past 17 summers Ed guides a tour bus (Executive Worldwide Travel) for a friend and they do a 14 day tour of Newfoundland. He does this just once a summer and because of his finely tuned tour of St Anthony and the Grenfell place, Ed wrote this amazing song about Grenfell which I think is the best ever written about this great English born Newfoundland icon. Have you seen the youtube of this? Beautful!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf9tL0R9Iqc
As for myself, Mike Madigan, I've kept a rather low profile (lol) since my roots are actually Irish and French :) The father's side of the family comes from Askeaton,Co Limerick Ireland and he, Leo Wm Madigan, married a french girl from Quebec named Jocelyne Geoffroy. Dad, of course, quickly pronounced her name as "Joyce Jeffrey" and I think my mom suddenly became Irish!! lol So I'm half Irish and French, but most mostly Irish!
Perhaps you are familiar with the song I wrote called "My Grandfather's Fiddle" ? It's about my french grandpapa, Jules Geoffroy, who was a town fiddler in St Felix-de-Valois, Quebec. And I believe some of that French and Irish mixture has definitely rubbed off on me. Know how I know? Well, when I play on my mom's old fiddle the tune "The Saint Anne's Reel" ....or "La Reel de St Anne".... as they say in french, I do so in a very unique way here in Newfoundland. How? Well, I make the Irish and French harmonies blend in together. And come to think of it, maybe I play The St Anne's Reel the best in the world!! Hmm...I wonder what's "Blarney" in french? lol
Perhaps you are familiar with the song I wrote called "My Grandfather's Fiddle" ? It's about my french grandpapa, Jules Geoffroy, who was a town fiddler in St Felix-de-Valois, Quebec. And I believe some of that French and Irish mixture has definitely rubbed off on me. Know how I know? Well, when I play on my mom's old fiddle the tune "The Saint Anne's Reel" ....or "La Reel de St Anne".... as they say in french, I do so in a very unique way here in Newfoundland. How? Well, I make the Irish and French harmonies blend in together. And come to think of it, maybe I play The St Anne's Reel the best in the world!! Hmm...I wonder what's "Blarney" in french? lol
Here however is my Grandfather's fiddle on Youtube that Jim Yetman from Bryant's Cove nicely illustrated for me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37H-ojP-_d8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37H-ojP-_d8
Where did the Sharecroppers start? And why the name Sharecroppers? We are asked that all the time.Well The Sharecroppers started when Ed, Guy and myself were all teaching at Pasadena Academy. Our students one April day in 1988 knocked on the staffroom door at recess. They wanted to know what the teachers were going to sing at an upcoming cabaret the school was preparing for.
So the three of us got together and practiced two Newfoundland songs,... and something very different for a third song. That different song we decided to do was "Sharecroppers Dream" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Notice the name??!! The name Sharecroppers stuck, and because the trio went over so well that night, we were asked to perform at countless churches, schools, Legion halls and concerts... and the rest, as they say, is history!
All three of us are retired from the classroom but are still enjoying the music side and entertaining each summer. We give our Newfoundland Cultural Experience show to many coach tours and the occasional cruise ship during the summer, as well as a number of Newfoundland festivals.......which can all be seen at our web site http://www.thesharecroppers.net/
I also hope the crowd from CBC's Land and Sea read what I blog because I'd love to get a copy of our Bristol England trip we did for Newfoundland tourism in '96 at The International Festival of the Sea. Land and Sea followed us all over Bristol where we did 13 shows in 4 days. CBC did a nice segment on The Sharecroppers in that show.
And I hope Mr Geoff Stirling reads this, for I'd like to thank him personally for listening in 1993 to our 1st cd (NATURAL) I sent him with the One Room School song. He phoned me at 5 am Newfoundland time from Arizona a couple of times. Imagine that! Geoff, out of his love for Newfoundland, gave us $20,000 worth of free advertising on NTV and then did a vignette of our song One Room School that played for 17 months straight - three times a day! He also did wonders with our song about the KYLE, the famous Newfoundland coastal boat that is still grounded in Harbour Grace. Many folks in Newfoundland and all around the world have now seen these vignettes on NTV because the station's having gone satelite in the 90s. Congrats NTV!
Yes, may there be many more years to come in sharing our Newfoundland cultural experience with Newfoundlanders and tourists here and all around the world! Isn't Newfoundland just a wonderful place to be? God Guard Thee Newfoundland!
Now please enjoy this little anniversary you tube video I produced using one of our original Celtic sounding instrumentals called Caplin Run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEOYr7LOQRM
Take care and please feel free to write me with any comments or suggestions for this summer!
Cheers,
Mike Madigan (mike_madigan@yahoo.com)
Take care and please feel free to write me with any comments or suggestions for this summer!
Cheers,
Mike Madigan (mike_madigan@yahoo.com)
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The Stray Birds -a trio worth hearing
Every now and then you come across a trio that just amazes and wows you!
Just recently (at the great coffee house Burlap and Bean) I heard a threesome named The Stray Birds that I wish could come to the Writer's Festival in Woody Point, Newfoundland. I would say this trio is just as talented as The Once, another wonderful trio I heard for the first time last summer.
After The Stray Birds' performance, I bought their two cds and told one of the members that I thought the sound and performance was really "cd perfect!" And of course what I mean here is that every instrument and sung harmony note was played perfectly. And it was all acoustic. They had this one rectangle shaped microphone in front, and the trio leaned in when the harmonies were needed. There were smaller mics for the banjo and fiddle, but it was a pleasure to hear this great natural sound coming from the instruments.
The girl in the trio, Maya de Vitry, is very gentile looking when she talks and plays her fiddle and claw hammer-style banjo at the side. But when she leads a song from the middle of the trio, her entire face and body take on a deep expression of desire to create musical poetry, and her voice is a real surprise. It's powerful and comes from deep within. She's fascinating to watch, but she's not in any way distracting or contorted. She is just 'singing perfection'!!
I wish I could play bass like Charles Muench. He plays it with perfection. It's a pleasure to watch him both pluck and bow this old friend. I like the way he finds every possible note to add to the music, but he's not showy. And his vocal harmonies are awesome as he leans in. He has real stage presence.
Oilver Craven, the lead singer, is a genius on guitar, fiddle and vocals. He plays his guitar with great expertise and it's a joy to watch his strum or finger picking. A master at work.
The trio played many of their original songs, and the lyrics and instrumentation all blended in wonderfully. Every now and then they would play a song like No Part of Nothin' that really stirred up the room with amusing lyrics and a great beat. You can't ask for a better show with something for everyone. Even their rendition of The Saint Anne's Reel with two fiddles competing as well as the big bass taking a turn at it, was a fascinating show of musicianship.
My wish? I would really love others to see this trio and experience the wonderful evening they offer. Let me know if you do.
One final mention concerns the venue Burlap and Bean. Not only is the coffee wonderful, but the place knows how to present a great atmosphere. No bar scene here! The audience is here to listen and enjoy! Wish there were more places like it.
Now folks,... I am going to do something here that I almost hate to do because it's never like being there. But if you promise to USE EARPHONES or at least have GOOD speakers, then listen to this. Do NOT use LAP TOP speakers....don't ruin this experience with this little camcorder. Yes, PLEASE use earphones because this is actually a good you tube capture of this trio! The song is one of theirs called "I dream in Blue".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RxMn8OvYvY
Just recently (at the great coffee house Burlap and Bean) I heard a threesome named The Stray Birds that I wish could come to the Writer's Festival in Woody Point, Newfoundland. I would say this trio is just as talented as The Once, another wonderful trio I heard for the first time last summer.
After The Stray Birds' performance, I bought their two cds and told one of the members that I thought the sound and performance was really "cd perfect!" And of course what I mean here is that every instrument and sung harmony note was played perfectly. And it was all acoustic. They had this one rectangle shaped microphone in front, and the trio leaned in when the harmonies were needed. There were smaller mics for the banjo and fiddle, but it was a pleasure to hear this great natural sound coming from the instruments.
The girl in the trio, Maya de Vitry, is very gentile looking when she talks and plays her fiddle and claw hammer-style banjo at the side. But when she leads a song from the middle of the trio, her entire face and body take on a deep expression of desire to create musical poetry, and her voice is a real surprise. It's powerful and comes from deep within. She's fascinating to watch, but she's not in any way distracting or contorted. She is just 'singing perfection'!!
I wish I could play bass like Charles Muench. He plays it with perfection. It's a pleasure to watch him both pluck and bow this old friend. I like the way he finds every possible note to add to the music, but he's not showy. And his vocal harmonies are awesome as he leans in. He has real stage presence.
Oilver Craven, the lead singer, is a genius on guitar, fiddle and vocals. He plays his guitar with great expertise and it's a joy to watch his strum or finger picking. A master at work.
The trio played many of their original songs, and the lyrics and instrumentation all blended in wonderfully. Every now and then they would play a song like No Part of Nothin' that really stirred up the room with amusing lyrics and a great beat. You can't ask for a better show with something for everyone. Even their rendition of The Saint Anne's Reel with two fiddles competing as well as the big bass taking a turn at it, was a fascinating show of musicianship.
My wish? I would really love others to see this trio and experience the wonderful evening they offer. Let me know if you do.
One final mention concerns the venue Burlap and Bean. Not only is the coffee wonderful, but the place knows how to present a great atmosphere. No bar scene here! The audience is here to listen and enjoy! Wish there were more places like it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RxMn8OvYvY
Hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you can at mike_madigan@yahoo.com
Cheers,
MikeMadigan of The Sharecroppers of Newfoundland
PS. As for the trio mentioned above called The Once, here's a youtube with Newfoundland photos that captures this group's ability to deliver a great song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TZRXMqbLII
PS. As for the trio mentioned above called The Once, here's a youtube with Newfoundland photos that captures this group's ability to deliver a great song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TZRXMqbLII
Friday, October 19, 2012
Our "One Room School" song gets a facelift!
Our popular One Room School song from our 1st cd NATURAL (1993) got a facelift from a friend who is really talented in making those you tube videos. Jim Yetman, from Newfoundland, captured the theme of our nostalgic song in this worth-the-watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOoAEwEEuNY
The days of the one room schools in Newfoundland still seem to attract attention, and if you visit you tube you'll see a lot of clips of one room school stories and documentation. From the cod liver oil and cocomalt thoughts, to remembering the old outhouse, the one room school remains engraved in our memories.
The Sharecroppers of Newfoundland, my trio that's celebrating its 25th Anniversary as a Newfoundland folk trio this 2013, invites you to stay tuned for an announcement on our web site that will mention where in Newfoundland we are performing our anniversary shows. Hope to see you then!
Drop into www.thesharecroppers.net in the new year to catch where those shows are. Cheers~Mike Madigan ( mike_madigan@yahoo.com )
The days of the one room schools in Newfoundland still seem to attract attention, and if you visit you tube you'll see a lot of clips of one room school stories and documentation. From the cod liver oil and cocomalt thoughts, to remembering the old outhouse, the one room school remains engraved in our memories.
Drop into www.thesharecroppers.net in the new year to catch where those shows are. Cheers~Mike Madigan ( mike_madigan@yahoo.com )
(PS....
For other excellent videos of our songs and lyrics,... and many of Jim Yetmans's,... drop into the great Newfoundland music site called GEST and explore our music and thousands more at http://www.wtv-zone.com/phyrst/audio/nfld/ashare.htm Thanks again!~Mike)
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Writer's Festival 2012......honest stuff !
Did you attend the writers' festival in Woody Point this summer?
I really enjoyed the Writer's at Woody Point Festival 2012 in Woody Point, Newfoundland this August. There were excellent writers and musicians there, and Steve Brunt and Gary Noel, organizers, are to be commended. Shelagh Rogers, who I finally got to meet at Peter and Robert's house, was charming. I also met the daughter of the late Peter Gzowski and she was pleased to hear of my once 8 minute radio interview with her father concerning my 1960 unopened can of Dunlop Fort tennis balls. I still have them, by the way...still unopened too!
The evening my trio, The Sharecroppers performed, was August 25th and we were pleasantly accompanied by Newfoundland writers Tara Manuel and Donna Morrissey in the beautiful Warehouse Merchants Theatre. Both women gave outstanding very humorous introductions to their works, but Donna stole the show. Tara's reading of her twenty minute story was interesting too, but as it progressed it got darker and darker and by the end, many of us were wondering why she chose such a risque piece. But I guess it is a writer's festival afterall!
One of the highlites of the week for me and many was the Al Pittman tribute....both the special night hosted by Clyde Rose as well as his reading of Al's "Seabreeze Lounge" poem as a Project Bookmark. Clyde read Al's poem with 100% heartfelt emotion that day with everyone standing around where the Seabreeze used to be. I was touched by his comments and friendship.
The evening tribute to Al Pittman was the best of all the Writer's Festival, I thought. The acting performance of Al's poetry by the art students was amazingly well done. They made his poetry come to life, and the expressions on those actors' faces were perfect, profound and professional!
I thought our own eight original tunes performed by my Sharecropper Trio the night of August 25th was well received. It gave us a chance to put our poetry to music with songs like Yesterday's Fisherman, My Grandfather's Fiddle, The Simple Things, Grenfell, A Traditional Song, The Hangashore, One Room School and This New Founde Lande. I suggested later to Gary Noel if we ever did this again, it would have been nice to do a longer set and finish off with some good ole Irish-Nfld pub style songs since everyone had a drink in their hands anyways. But I think our host Angela Antle was a bit too eager to get everyone out to the Legion for 11pm.
The last evening I attended - which was Sunday night- was quite a show with Shane Murphy and Sandy Morris. Shane and Sandy ended off the evening with a Jimmy Hendrix song Hey Joe and it was electrifying! You might even say it was "sum shockin' good!"!! I watched them (Sandy, Shane, two drummers and a bass player) from only 15 feet away. I always knew Sandy Morris was a good guitar player, but it's the first time I had ever seen him in the rock mode. Both he and Shane (the master of rock perfection) played wild heavy sounds with smooth fingers! It was fun to watch and quite frankly, I had never seen this great guitar playing up that close! It was awesome, thrilling, loud and magnificent!
The group All the Wiles were excellent too. It was nice to see them getting the crowd going too.
I would like to commend Jenny Galliott of Galliott Studios for her beautiful art gallery turned into a coffee and Spirits lounge of poetic readers and guest musicians. Great job, Jenny and everyone loves your place. Great venue and I hope you also sold tons of your beautiful artwork and pottery!
I have a few criticisms I'd like to share. Not all the writers were good readers! I'd suggest some get others to read their work like Clyde Rose did of Al Pittman's. Of course Al is deceased but sometimes it takes someone else to read a good piece of literature other than the author himself.
I also attended Alan Doyle's second evening. Although I am not a fan of his often harsh singing style, he delivers quite a vibrant show. But I couldn't understand why Corey Tetford's guitar that second night was so dominant. I asked Max Simms about this and he said Corey's guitar was not controlled by the master board but was amplified right from the stage. Too bad as the excellent fiddler was drownd out continuously. Perhaps all instruments should be controlled from the soundman's board. Max and crew do a fantastic job, as we all know and appreciate!
Finally...one more criticism. Although it was good to see locals attending the events, there were not enough. Is it the price of tickets? I think so. One may as well call a spade a spade. Maybe special prices should be given to the folks who live in Woody Point and nearby towns. The Heritage Theatre that Charlie Payne runs is a beautiful wooden venue with good acoustics. My trio played there 3 years ago to a crowd of 57 and last year at the Legion to well over 150 folks, mostly locals. I think pricing is a factor. Something to re-think perhaps?
Writers at Woody Point 2012 was a wonderful experience. I'm glad I was there attending and participating. I'm also glad Kathy and I have a home and 82 year-old house there too...for I believe Woody Point is the gem of Bonne Bay in Gros Morne. Don't you?
Cheers!
~Mike Madigan (mike_madigan@yahoo.com)
I really enjoyed the Writer's at Woody Point Festival 2012 in Woody Point, Newfoundland this August. There were excellent writers and musicians there, and Steve Brunt and Gary Noel, organizers, are to be commended. Shelagh Rogers, who I finally got to meet at Peter and Robert's house, was charming. I also met the daughter of the late Peter Gzowski and she was pleased to hear of my once 8 minute radio interview with her father concerning my 1960 unopened can of Dunlop Fort tennis balls. I still have them, by the way...still unopened too!
The evening my trio, The Sharecroppers performed, was August 25th and we were pleasantly accompanied by Newfoundland writers Tara Manuel and Donna Morrissey in the beautiful Warehouse Merchants Theatre. Both women gave outstanding very humorous introductions to their works, but Donna stole the show. Tara's reading of her twenty minute story was interesting too, but as it progressed it got darker and darker and by the end, many of us were wondering why she chose such a risque piece. But I guess it is a writer's festival afterall!
One of the highlites of the week for me and many was the Al Pittman tribute....both the special night hosted by Clyde Rose as well as his reading of Al's "Seabreeze Lounge" poem as a Project Bookmark. Clyde read Al's poem with 100% heartfelt emotion that day with everyone standing around where the Seabreeze used to be. I was touched by his comments and friendship.
The evening tribute to Al Pittman was the best of all the Writer's Festival, I thought. The acting performance of Al's poetry by the art students was amazingly well done. They made his poetry come to life, and the expressions on those actors' faces were perfect, profound and professional!
I thought our own eight original tunes performed by my Sharecropper Trio the night of August 25th was well received. It gave us a chance to put our poetry to music with songs like Yesterday's Fisherman, My Grandfather's Fiddle, The Simple Things, Grenfell, A Traditional Song, The Hangashore, One Room School and This New Founde Lande. I suggested later to Gary Noel if we ever did this again, it would have been nice to do a longer set and finish off with some good ole Irish-Nfld pub style songs since everyone had a drink in their hands anyways. But I think our host Angela Antle was a bit too eager to get everyone out to the Legion for 11pm.
The last evening I attended - which was Sunday night- was quite a show with Shane Murphy and Sandy Morris. Shane and Sandy ended off the evening with a Jimmy Hendrix song Hey Joe and it was electrifying! You might even say it was "sum shockin' good!"!! I watched them (Sandy, Shane, two drummers and a bass player) from only 15 feet away. I always knew Sandy Morris was a good guitar player, but it's the first time I had ever seen him in the rock mode. Both he and Shane (the master of rock perfection) played wild heavy sounds with smooth fingers! It was fun to watch and quite frankly, I had never seen this great guitar playing up that close! It was awesome, thrilling, loud and magnificent!
The group All the Wiles were excellent too. It was nice to see them getting the crowd going too.
I would like to commend Jenny Galliott of Galliott Studios for her beautiful art gallery turned into a coffee and Spirits lounge of poetic readers and guest musicians. Great job, Jenny and everyone loves your place. Great venue and I hope you also sold tons of your beautiful artwork and pottery!
I have a few criticisms I'd like to share. Not all the writers were good readers! I'd suggest some get others to read their work like Clyde Rose did of Al Pittman's. Of course Al is deceased but sometimes it takes someone else to read a good piece of literature other than the author himself.
I also attended Alan Doyle's second evening. Although I am not a fan of his often harsh singing style, he delivers quite a vibrant show. But I couldn't understand why Corey Tetford's guitar that second night was so dominant. I asked Max Simms about this and he said Corey's guitar was not controlled by the master board but was amplified right from the stage. Too bad as the excellent fiddler was drownd out continuously. Perhaps all instruments should be controlled from the soundman's board. Max and crew do a fantastic job, as we all know and appreciate!
Finally...one more criticism. Although it was good to see locals attending the events, there were not enough. Is it the price of tickets? I think so. One may as well call a spade a spade. Maybe special prices should be given to the folks who live in Woody Point and nearby towns. The Heritage Theatre that Charlie Payne runs is a beautiful wooden venue with good acoustics. My trio played there 3 years ago to a crowd of 57 and last year at the Legion to well over 150 folks, mostly locals. I think pricing is a factor. Something to re-think perhaps?
Writers at Woody Point 2012 was a wonderful experience. I'm glad I was there attending and participating. I'm also glad Kathy and I have a home and 82 year-old house there too...for I believe Woody Point is the gem of Bonne Bay in Gros Morne. Don't you?
Cheers!
~Mike Madigan (mike_madigan@yahoo.com)
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