The Pioneer · January 27, 2011 · Page A4

Tell us about your events. Email The Pioneer with the details at [email protected] Poets Finger Eleven rocks Belleville share skills Nearly sold-out crowd enjoyed performance of Canadian band at mic night on Wednesday Special downtown event By Adam Jackson turns into regular event Canadian rockers Finger Eleven at Sweet Escape lounge made a stop in Belleville Wednes- By Kristine Benham day on tour for their new album, Life Turns Electric. Some say that one good thing The new album, released in 2010, leads to another and this is true has been performed live by the for the international support group but this is their first real tour worker students at Loyalist Col- with the album. lege. In front of a nearly sold-out crowd Initially started as a fundrais- at Empire Theatre on Front Street, er, the students’ slam poetry the group performed 10 songs, in- and open mic night has started a cluding a lengthy encore. Lead trend at Sweet Escape Dessert & singer Scott Anderson was suffer- Coffee Lounge in downtown Bel- ing from a cold, but the group of five leville. musicians managed to please their Heather Barker and Shamsa toughest critics – their fans. Hassan, both ISW students, or- “It was really good. I really en- ganized the poetry idea as a joyed the show and meeting Elias,” one-time event in early Novem- said an excited Ashley Wood, a ber 2010. The hope was to raise 15-year-old high school student. money for the ISW students’ trip Finger Eleven, the headliner for to Chiapas, Mexico. the show, played to a well warmed- The students left Monday from up crowd thanks to openers Elias Loyalist. They will be staying in and The Envy. Chiapas for five weeks to learn Small venues like Empire Theatre about community development. are known for their terrific sound, After the first slam poetry and 34-year-old drummer Rich Bed- night, many regular customers doe agrees. Adam Jackson of Sweet Escape asked when the “I love playing in small venues, the Finger Eleven frontman Scott Anderson performs the song One Thing at Empire Theatre on Wednesday. The band next poetry night would be held. acoustics are great and it’s a nice in- performed in front of a nearly sold-out crowd. “People that I don’t even know timate show,” said Beddoe. have invited me out to this and Beddoe joined the group in 1994 time performing in Belleville. In the city yet, most of the time when six weeks and will continue to tour that’s pretty great,” Barker says. shortly after they were dropped the summer of 2009, the group per- we tour all we see is the alley and the across Canada and the United States There is a wide range in types from one label and re-signed to an- formed in Empire Square alongside venue we’re playing in,” said Beddoe. until mid-February. of content, including humour, other. rock band ZZ Top. “But the people seem really nice.” Their next show is set for Jan. 27 original prose, letters and songs. This is not Finger Eleven’s first “I haven’t been able to see a lot of Finger Eleven has been on tour for at Cowboy’s Ranch in London, Ont. There is a great deal of material related to the spirit of the ISW mission of helping others. Barker says the event is open and everyone is welcome and encouraged to come and share on a Friday night. Country singer appreciates his fans “It makes my night go by faster, for sure. They are also Pritchett’s fifth studio album, In the Driver’s always up out front and it Aaron Pritchett Seat, was released in early November 2010 and makes us look busier,” says takes an entirely new direction compared to his Jessica Hindman, a Sweet Es- there to the end previous work. cape employee who has worked “The sound is a bit different, a little more rock several of the poetry nights. to sign autographs than it ever has been,” he said. “That’s me. That’s The 15-person ISW group does the way I was brought up. I listened to rock long not have a set goal to fundraise, By Mallory Haigh before I listened to country. I thought, ‘Why not but incidental fees and extra throw in some inflections of the artists I grew up costs such as flying, living with Canadian country singer Aaron Pritchett chose listening to?’” a family, travelling around and Tweed for the location of a CD release and fan Many of the songs feature darker lyrics, includ- other costs are all out of pocket. appreciation concert last Friday. ing Coming Clean, which speaks about the guilt “The cost per student is Pritchett, a multi-Juno award-nominee known associated with infidelity. Pritchett felt it was $3,500, which is above and be- for his country anthems Hold My Beer and Let’s important to bring this issue to light, both the yond our normal tuition fees,” Get Rowdy performed to a sold-out crowd of 300 positive and the negative, especially after recent Barker says, emphasizing on the at Trudeau Park. incidents involving high-profile celebrities. costliness of such a venture. The singer/songwriter has been travelling Fans were entertained with old favourites, but A global gala was held in a fi- across Canada performing small, intimate CD were also introduced to tracks from In the Driv- nal attempt to raise money for release parties to recognize and appreciate his er’s Seat. the group Saturday evening at fans. “Out of all my albums so far, I’m most proud of the Belleville Club. The semi- “Since I got into this level and aspect of the this one. To have full creative control has really formal gala included catering, industry and playing to a lot of fans, it’s always helped,” he said. This latest work was released local music and art, information been about them,” said Pritchett, about making under his own record label Decibel. tables and a silent auction. an effort to meet with his fans after shows. “I’ve Pritchett stayed until the last photograph was The ISW program started at never done it any other way.” taken and autograph signed. Loyalist last September and is Pritchett super-fan Christina Boudreau certain- “People keep saying ‘One day, you’re going to offered as a one-year post-grad- ly appreciates her favourite musician’s loyalty to have to stop doing this.’ I just say ‘No way!’ I’m uate program. The course’s goal his fans. always the last guy left; I joke that I’m the one is to allow students to use their “He makes me feel like a princess,” she said, who has to sweep the floor. But when it’s all said previous skills to travel and im- noting how Pritchett frequently dedicates his and done, if people come to the show to hang out prove the world, working with song, New Frontier, to her when she is in the audi- with me, that’s cool – it’s all about the fans.” Mallory Haigh international agencies. ence. The song Coming Clean is slated to be the next The next slam poetry night is “His songs have helped me deal with a lot of Hold My Beer singer Aaron Pritchett sings a song off single off the album, to be released some time in on Friday, Feb. 4 from 6 p.m. un- issues, and I’m very thankful for that.” his new album, In the Driver’s Seat, to the delight of mid-February. til 8 p.m. The café is located at Boudreau came from Toronto for the show. 300 fans at Tweed’s Trudeau Park last Friday. Pritch- Trudeau Park will feature more Canadian coun- 194 Front St. in downtown Bel- Over the past two years, she has attended 28 ett came to Tweed to do a small, intimate CD release try acts this year, including Jason McCoy on leville. concerts, including Fridays at Trudeau Park. show and to connect with his fans. March 26 and George Canyon in July. Band heads to international blues challenge ages span over three decades, also have Bad Poetry Band “straight” jobs on the side. “The blues doesn’t pay the bills,” remarked to perform at drummer Ken Layton. The Bad Poetry Band has gone through blues festival many incarnations in the five years since they formed. The current lineup, which in- in Memphis, Tennessee cludes Smith, Layton, Ian Davis, Peter Thorn and Jacob Charles, has been in effect for two By Natelie Herault months. How the band’s unique name came about Lead singer Phil Smith’s silver eyes catch the was accidental. red lights while singing the blues Saturday “We used to hang out at the Stinking Rose night at Stix and Stones in Trenton. Pub in Campbellford,” said Davis, saxo- The Bad Poetry Band, along with solo act phone/bongo player, a founding band mem- Mark Taylor, are raising money to help pay for ber. the cost of getting to the International Blues Realizing they had a mutual interest in Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, a competi- music, the original band members started tion that both acts qualified for in an audition playing together and got booked for a New put on by the Loyal Blues Fellowship at the Natelie Herault Year’s Eve gig. same venue last October. “We needed a name, and there was this Both acts are based out of Campbellford, Ian Davis (saxophone/bongos), Phil Smith (singer/bass) and Peter Thorn (guitar), perform with drummer Ken Layton and back-up guitar player Jacob Charles (not pictured) at a fundraiser at book [at the pub] called Really Bad Po- and a chance to compete at the world’s larg- etry that we used to read out loud as a est blues celebration represents a big step in Stix and Stones in Trenton on Saturday night. The event was to raise money for band, known as The Bad Poetry Band, to travel to Memphis and compete in the International Blues Challenge. The joke. We made a snap decision to name their careers. The festival takes place Feb. 1 to ourselves after it, and it stuck like wet 5 along Beale Street in Memphis, where artists band, based out of Campbellford, recently qualified to compete after an audition by the Loyal Blues Fellowship. noodles. We’ve tried to change the name, will perform in various venues. Last year, it fea- but we just can’t seem to get away from tured more than 110 bands, 82 solo acts and technical difficulties cutting short the playlist, Walker met Taylor by chance one day, when it,” laughed Davis. 32 young musicians. Grady Champion, from Taylor, a natural-born performer, didn’t miss he stumbled across the young musician play- Smith described the band’s musical style Mississippi, took home the ‘best band’ award, a beat in transitioning to a 12-minute song he ing in a garage with the door open. as an “eclectic party mix with blues influ- and Matt Andersen of New Brunswick won the had written for a friend he lost in a car crash. “I’ve been watching him play for two years, ence,” which was certainly the case Sat- solo/duet category. Mark Walker, Taylor’s self-professed number and I’ve never seen him miss a note,” Walker urday night when it seemed as though the “I’m looking forward to being part of a really one fan, couldn’t have been happier about this boasted. whole bar was up dancing. huge music scene,” said Smith, who makes up change of plans. Taylor is a local favourite, despite quitting “I hope that this experience will give us a one part of the five-piece band (who call them- “This is the song where his hand moves music as a full-time gig in 2008 after eight years sense of the state of the blues today,” Smith selves Bad Poetry). so fast, you can’t even see it!” Walker gushed when his daughter, Rio, 2, was born. He now said of the blues challenge. “I hope we can hobnob with industry people, about the song he first heard when Taylor lays floors for a living. “Blues isn’t really commercial music. and get a sense of where to move forward.” played it at his son’s wedding. “It was a crazy lifestyle with a lot of partying, It’s not overproduced like a lot of the mu- Mark Taylor, 32, began the show at 9 p.m. “Just when you think it’s going to end, it and it got the better of me. I still play a bit, but sic these days, and features real artists. I Saturday, playing the audition set that landed gets faster. This is better than most of the top now I focus on my family,” Taylor confessed. look forward to just having a really great him a spot in the blues challenge. Despite 10 on the radio today.” Members of The Bad Poetry Band, whose time.”