Welcome to
Knockgrafton Productions
 representing

JENNIFER WHITE
(Celtic Harp, Vocals and Storytelling)
 and
ROBERT McMASTER
(SoundScape Percussionist)

You can navigate this site by clicking on the links in the frame to the left. Have a magickal journey!

Check this page often for news on upcoming performances and updates on our upcoming CD release The Silver Branch. For new news, please scroll down this page.

NOVEMBER 2009

Life has a way of rearranging our plans. With a few unforeseen road blocks to our progress over the spring and summer months, we are finally back on track...

Amidst the economic squeeze that put the squeeze on series and events for us that unfortunately cancelled over the past winter and spring, our old long-suffering road van gave up the ghost this spring. At just under 500,000 km, it didn't owe us another trip, but its demise meant a signficant rearrange of our schedule and priorities. Thanks to a lot of help from our friends, we're back on the road on new to us wheels, with a few months delay to our scheduling regarding getting the two new CDs out. Plans are to return to the studio to finish up Silver Branch and the Yuletide albums over the winter months for release in 2010.

October found us performing for Declan Kelly, Ireland's Ambassador to Canada, at the dinner event for the Ailsa Craig Quilt Show, this year celebrating 50 quilts and quilters from Ireland. You can pick up a souvenir video of the quilts displayed, with some lovely harp music from Clarsach to accompany your virtual trip. Videos available at the North End Sewing Centre in Arva. Congratulations to Garnet Smalley and crew for putting on another amazing exhibit.

And "Loch Lomond", from Clarsach, is making its way around the world again, this time on a new digital compilation, Celtic Breeze, accompanied by another set of artists, on iTunes.

MARCH 11, 2009

After a very busy and rewarding couple of months, we're now gearing up to head back into the studio to complete work on A Silver Branch. I'll be posting some photos soon from our International Symphony concerts.

Robert will be hosting another workshop in Bodhran Bashing 101 at our local Landon Library (167 Wortley Road London ON) on April 4. If you've always wanted to learn, here's your chance for some fun instruction.

Our March and April performance calendar is happily a little more relaxed, so we can enjoy some studio hours. But if you'd like to catch us in action you have a few chances. We'll be playing a small part of the action for the Autism concert this coming Friday the 13th. Or you can catch us at the Women's Lifestyle Show the following weekend at the London Convention Centre. Our next local concert will be taking place at Landon Library on April 29. Check out the performance calendar for details.

JANUARY 9, 2009

Just ducking in for a moment to let you know we have an exciting January lined up. Jan 11 finds us presenting a concert as part of the St. Mary's Storytelling series. We've added the Stratford Civic Orchestra Celtic Spectacular to our list of orchestra concerts for January, in addition to our International Symphony Orchestra concerts at the end of January in Sarnia and Port Huron. You're also welcome to drop by for a visit at London's first Spirituality Expo on the 18th. Somewhere, in the midst of all this we're busy getting ready for a return to the recording studio this winter.

February will find me busy with the Brigit Festival at Brescia College here in London. Later in the month, we'll be heading NE of Toronto for a family concert at Cobourg Public Library.

If you are interested in hosting a house concert or know harp-firendly venues in your area, we're always happy to hear from you. Our spring travels will take us to Bancroft in May, and we'll be returning to the Kingston area in September...We'd be happy to fill out those calendars with other stops and new audiences...

DECEMBER 5, 2008

We have recently added to our Yuletide performance calendar a Yuletide Concert at Landon Library December 17, 2008 at 7:30 pm. Considering tough economic times and as our way to share our hearts and music with you, this is a Pay What You Can concert (suggested ticket price is $10, but if you don't have it, please just come and enjoy the time away from the daily grind), and if you can, please bring along something for the Daily Bread Food Bank. If you have misplaced that magical feeling you had as a child during this season, this concert is a doorway to that enchanted realm. It's all about the snow, good company, stories and poetry, and the seasonal warm-fuzzies. Please come and enjoy 1 hour away from the hustle and bustle, and reclaim that sense of wonder with winter and this season of light.

Special thanks too to Jim Chapman for bringing us some Christmas cheer through some much needed help this season, and for the great push he's doing on his radio show on Radio 98, and through advertising spots throughout the programming day. You've made our season Jim, and kept us from becoming meat for the wolves...and it always feels great to know there are many out there who want us to continue making this music!

NOVEMBER 24, 2008

Our Sarnia Library Theatre concert, Yuletide Scenes from an Ontario Childhood, has been canceled.

OCTOBER 23, 2008

We're in the whirlwind and have been for some months now. Our initial recording deal from the spring fell through (turned out to be something entirely other than what we had expected and demanded resources of us we simply didn't have at our disposal, besides not quite being the environment these projects wanted to be birthed in). So we scrambled a little over this summer and found a much better "deal" within the family that will make the crossing the studio $$$ barrier to completing our productions from here out much easier thanks. Now that the worst of the Money issue is finally out of the way, we're taking a wee jab at that Time issue (there's a Laura Smith tune playing in my head now). A Silver Branch and Yuletide Scenes are now in full production. Our efforts are a bit scattered, since we don't have the luxury of blocking out time away from the usual demands of the business administration, performances and life generally to deal solely with the studio projects--from prep to post-production. To keep myself sane in dealing with all the unexpecteds that arrive through the business and through the usual rambly bits that show up with any artistic venture, I've let go of any notion of deadlines. The projects will be done when they say they're done. I am letting the music determine what these projects will ultimately be and how they will unfold. I'm committed to hanging out with them in some capacity every day. We are moving forward, even if on the outside it must look as if we're moving at a snail's pace. From where we're looking, well, I feel as if we've been moving at light speed and then some for several weeks now, and it's only going to get more demanding as our calendar heats up for the winter season. Thirty-five tracks between those two projects, and all that goes into the layering in from harp, voice, percussion and whatever else my ears decide should be in the mix. And then there's the administration that wraps itself around these things. Being independent means we get to carry all these jobs, and it's a tough go most days to remember to PLAY and not feel too burdered by how big this all is... In other news, we have some exciting bookings lining up for 2009. The International Symphony concerts are a go, we'll be performing as part of the St. Mary's Storytelling series this winter, and we'll be heading to Bancroft for a concert for the Performing Arts Council in the spring. Lots more in the works. So keep an eye on our calendar.

APRIL 17, 2008

That odd grinding sound you're hearing is our lives in overdrive...studio time for work on the Silver Branch is imminent. This summer should see us doing some fun activities, back in the company of old friends and odd new ones. Robert is venturing out into the land of Bodhran Bashing 101 workshops. If you want to join one of these classes and haven't heard from us, give us a call. The new year will see me fulfilling a childhood dream of playing my music with a symphony! Whoot. Mind you, my childhood dream involved piano, but I won't get picky about those kinds of details... I've added alot of new things to the calendar, and there are many others just waiting on confirmation in the coming couple of weeks. Then I'm off for my "studio tan".

FEBRUARY 12, 2008

Life is keeping us hopping. One news item, I'm up for a London Music Award, nominated in the category of Most Popular Classical Instrumental Artist (?). I noticed a few other uncategorical musicians lumped under this catergory...so I guess that's where the nominators put us hard-to-categorize types. It's a nice shift from being in amongst the pub bands (nothing against the pub bands...but I always felt like the one who took her harp to a party...you get the rest). If you would like to vote for me or any of the other fine London talent, go here: www.scenemagazine.com/awards/vote.html. One thing I do get out of all this is a gander and a reminder of who all works in the music scene here in London, and I'm always amazed at the scope of the local scene.

If you've ever wanted to invite out your inner storyteller, you might want to attend a series of workshops lead by a friend of mine, Susan Getchell, at Landon Library in Wortley Village. Starts this Wednesday, February 13 through March 5 at 7:15 pm. Cost is only $45 for the series. For more information, contact Susan at suetellstories@gmail.com. She's a wonderfully non-intimidating and encouraging presence. If you have ever wanted to give storytelling a try, here's a great chance to do it.

We'll be playing locally at the London Music Club, February 29 at 7 pm, for the low low price of $7, for 2 concert sets.

You can also catch us at the Western Fair Grounds, March 15 and 16 for the Women's Lifestyle Show. We're doing the ol' CD flog, besides taking the opportunity to work out some new material for our trek into the studio very soon.

JANUARY 15, 2008

Lots in the works, so much to come in the next newsletter due out at the end of January. In the meantime, I'm preparing for the Brigit Celebration, featuring Mary Condren, National Director of the Institute for Feminism and Religion of Dublin Ireland. Right here, in London Ontario...for more, please visit: www.brescia.uwo.ca/thecircle/brigit.htm

OCTOBER 10, 2007

We're making our first trip to the OCFF (Ontario Council of Folk Festivals) conference this week, being hosted in London ON. We've heard lots of stories out of previous years' conferences, but have as yet to see the creature up close and personal. We'll be reps at the AFM / London Musicians' Association booth in the exhibit hall. I don't expect we'll get much sleep over the next few days (Oct 11 through 14), since there will be lots of fine music afoot, and friendly faces we only get to glimpse at various folk festivals.

In other news, we've booked a few Yuletide concerts for the coming season: Sarnia Public Library (Nov 28), Wardsville (Dec 2), Uniondale (Dec 9) and London (Dec 12). These concerts feature nostalgic yuletide music and songs. Revisit the magic of childhood story books, crisp mysterious nights dressed with the glitter of starlight, the adventures of an afternoon skating party and the misadventures of a childhood Christmas pageant. We will be bringing you traditional yuletide tunes done with a naive twist where only a six-year-old's imagination can take them, and original tunes sure to transport you to a winter wonderland. The Sarnia concert will feature my public debut on their lovely grand piano, in addition to our regular harp and percussion instrumentation.

AUGUST 22, 2007

Sorry to have missed folks for our concerts August 16 in Whitby and August 17 in Camden East. Illness kept us home this week--fortunately nothing more serious than what a round a painkiller and a couple trips to the chiropractor couldn't set right. Had a little rest and now I'm back in fine form. We have now rebooked the August 16/17 concerts for September 13 (Whitby) and September 14 (Camden East). We may be staying in the Kingston / Ottawa neighbourhood for the intervening week before our appearance at the Goddess Workshop in Kingston on September 22. We're open to house concerts. If you would like details, please give us a call at 519-438-3924. September 28 through 30 will be seeing us make a return to the Woodstock Woodshow. Hope to catch up with folks we haven't seen for a few years.

MAY 25, 2007

Our June 20 community concert at The Grand Theatre to raise funds for autism research has been cancelled. Instead, we will be joining John Tesh, as guest performers, in concert at Centennial Hall in London ON on June 13. If you would like details, drop us a line at jenwhite@knockgrafton.com, and we'll get those to you as we get them...

MAY 1, 2007

Fast update here. I just finished an interview with Rogers 13 (London ON viewing area). It will be airing tonight at 5:30 pm on "First Local". Tune in, if you can...

NOVEMBER 6, 2006

Lots coming up in the next few weeks. Please join us for one of our Yuletide Celebration Concerts in St. Thomas (Dec 3), Sarnia (Dec 6), Wardsville (Dec 10) and Uniondale (Dec 17). We're audience testing a work in progress "Yuletide Scenes from an Ontario Childhood" that will be going into production in the new year. You can also get a little preview at the Capitol Theatre in St. Thomas on Nov 26 as we join a line up of fine musical talent for "Sisters in the Snow". More info on our Performance Calendar. We're doing our best over the next few weeks to get things in order so we can lock ourselves into studio mode the first two to three months of 2007 to complete Silver Branch and Yuletide Scenes. We may finally be seeing a bit of light at the end of that long tunnel.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2006

We're keeping our heads down and our noses to the grindstone for the next little while. Life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately trying to get our winter season lined up and make progress on those CDs.

One cool development is we're now up on CDBaby. So if you have friends you'd like to introduce to our music, they can easily order a CD through CD Baby. The address for the website is: cdbaby.com/cd/jenniferwhite. CD Baby are also making it possible for us to accept charge card cd sales at live shows.

AUGUST 1, 2006

Lots and lots in development right now. We're living life in the whirlwind for the moment, but it's a great way to keep our minds off the heat ;-)

We are now listed with CD Baby for CD sales. And we now accept VISA, Mastercard, American Express and Discover cards for our CD sales at live events. We have also added Grainne O'Maille's in Cookstown to our list of retailers.

August and September will prove to be very busy months for us as we're getting down to track A Silver Branch CD, and a seasonal special, Yuletide Scenes from an Ontario Childhood. We're aiming for mid-November to have these in our hands and available for sale. There will be no leisurely days for us until January, by the look of things. But both CDs have me excited about the music again, and I'm having a grand time re-visiting yuletide scenes from my six-year-old era imagination. This week also sees me doing a bit of recording for the Canadian Celtic Choir's new CD due out this fall. Robert put in his time last month. Other local favourites, including Shane Cooke have also put in an appearance.

If you are trying to reach us by phone this month and next, please be patient. We have to keep things quiet for our at-home recording, so our phones will be turned off for much of the next two months. Of course we'd like to hear from you and talk to you, so please, if you don't get an immediate answer, please leave a message on our voice mail or email, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

It has also come to our attention that our monthly newsletters might not be getting through to those who signed up. As these messages are not returned to us, but simply get zapped into your bulk folder, we may be unaware that we're not getting through, as you may be unaware that we've been trying to reach you. Please check with your server and make sure our email address (jenwhite@knockgrafton.com) is recognized as a friendly addy and not spam. We'd like to see all your loverly faces out for our concerts and we'd like you to have the headsup on our CD releases. Email is the best way we have to reach you.

Oh, and our St. Thomas Concert is now reschedule for September 28, 2006 at 7 pm. We are doing advance ticket sales only for this event, so please speak soon for your tickets.

And thank you to those who stopped by at Home County Folk Festival and made this one of our best year at HCFF. The winner for our St. Thomas tickets draw is Emily Blacklock of St. George ON. The tickets are on the way, Emily.

JUNE 15, 2006

Our St. Thomas concert for this evening has been cancelled due to a lack of advance ticket sales as off Wednesday morning. Jennifer will instead be performing for a private engagement in London Thursday evening. We will reschedule the St. Thomas concert for sometime in the autumn of 2006. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. Our coordinating faeries seem to have passed us another opportunity, however, to rescue the evening.

MAY 10, 2006

The mystery has been solved. Apparently I share a name with a woman who drowned off the coast of Maui trying to save her two children on Monday. Our thoughts are with her family. It's sad that this bit of attention for our music has sprung from a tragedy.

For those arriving here via the search at the top of msn.com, you've arrived in our livingroom under some strange circumstances, but you are certainly welcome to make yourself at home. The kettle is on, and I'll be doing some quick editing to get you to our music a little easier today. Put your feet up and thanks for dropping by. May future visits be under more auspicious circumstances.

UPDATE--We now have a way for you to sample our music (check the Music Samples link in the left hand column). The samples are currently available at the Harp Mall where you can make a credit card purchase of Clarsach online. You can also make paid downloads purchases at our new Paid Downloads link at left.

MAY 9, 2006

I'd like to extend a hearty Welcome! to new visitors to this site. I'm a little baffled today that we suddenly have a huge influx in traffic. Certainly check out the links to the left, and feel free to drop me a line. I've been trying to solve this mystery today. If you could drop a line to jenwhite@knockgrafton.com, and let me know why you came searching for me today, I would much appreciate being let in on the mystery. Our site has gone from a low level average of 10 hits a day, to over 500 hits today alone. Did you hear me somewhere on the web? I'd like to know. You could also pop into the journal link in the left hand frame and drop a comment on the blog. If you're new to this music, please let me know how you found out about me. In the meantime, happy browsing. We're in production on the next two CDs at present in addition to a busy performance schedule, and are apt to be a little distracted from regular web updates and e-mail replies, but will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for dropping by.

FEBRUARY 2006

Lots of exciting developments going forward here at Knockgrafton Productions. Our recordings are in the works. We're finishing up a few details on two Double Bill concerts we're doing with friends of ours from Kingston (Gopher Baroque) traveling through on tour at the end of March in Sarnia, and early April in London. We'll post details to the web as soon as we tidy up the loose ends. Hope to see you out to these. They'll be fun.

I'm up again for nomination for the Jack Richardson Music Awards (not to be confused with the London Music Awards). If you'd like to see a sampling of the awesome musical talent that calls London home, please check out their website: www.thejackrichardsonmusicawards.com. While you're at it you can give the nod to a few of those folks in their individual categories. I'm under World/Celtic.

We're also doing a little pioneering with combining two funding programs to bring music into the schools this term. Music Performance Fund and Home County in the Schools are combining their efforts to make our upcoming performances in the schools possible and incredibly economical for the schools (total cost to schools is $50 per performance!). If you would like to know more about this program, please drop us a line. The response so far as been very encouraging. Thank you to all the schools who have booked us and to Home County's new Artistic Director, Catherine McInnis, for putting the bug in our ears.

JANUARY 2006

We're back at work on the recordings! For those of you who attended the ProMusica concert, you've now heard 4 of the pieces that will be included on the Yuletide CD, three of those tunes were newly composed for our ProMusica concert. We'll be taking a little time out from our production work January 18 to present a concert just down the road at Landon Library--seating is limited, so get your tickets early at Landon Library, Village Idiot or L'Atelier Grigorian. Hope to see you there...now shhh! back to work :-)

OCTOBER 2005

**Katrina Relief update** Through our fundraising efforts the first weekend in September and by donating 10% of our Sept 9 concert proceeds, we were able to present Canadian Red Cross International Disaster Relief with a cheque for $500.00. And one of our concert attendees on Sept 9 also sent us to the Red Cross with an additional donation of $500 for the relief effort. Thanks to all who contributed. We wouldn't have been able to send this help without your support.

In the not-so-wonderful-but-not-disasterous news, the recordings are getting a re-think again :-( We're taking some time between now and the end of October, in the midst of our performances to put together an application for Canada Arts Council funding so we can have some creative time in 2006 and still get the bills paid. We've been on the survival treadmill for so long that the creative stuff is suffering. I can't get to the recording and do the intensive focus work that requires, if I'm worn out from performing, travel and all the administrative stuff involved in keeping us going. We're doing as much as we can with the time and energy we have here at home for the recordings (and I'm encouraged in what I'm hearing from our efforts to date), but the deadline is driving me to exhaustion, so I'm taking my foot off the accelerator for a while. I don't want to jeopardize the quality of the projects for the sake of getting the stuff out before the end of the year. Sorry for the wait, especially those of you who've been waiting on our stuff since 2001. We'd like to be done, too, and have some lovely recorded material to show for it...I just wish the money didn't make most of the decisions here and in the rest of the world. A little reprieve would be welcome. We're keeping our fingers crossed for a successful grant application. Outside that possibility, we'll be treking along at a non-breakneck pace, giving the recording every effort we can muster. Silver Branch will be getting intense focus in January and February 2006. I won't hazard a guess or estimate anymore at its eventual release date...soon, we hope. I'm commited to making a lovely recording, I just don't want to end up getting "commited" trying to get it done in such a hurry that I don't enjoy the process.

We're looking forward to our month end concerts, with Bernie in Mary in Nairn on the 29th, doing a benefit for those whose difficulties make our troubles look like a little inconvenience (Gulf Hurricane Relief). And we're very pleased that London Storytellers are reviving their annual Night of Wonders, on the 30th. We will be providing the musical interludes between the stories. The Night of Wonders was one of my first professional appearances with the harp way back in 1997. Please check our upcoming performances page for details on these dates.

And November will be bringing some fun, as we make our first appearance with London Pro Musica, for their Wassail on the 27th of November--I'm delighted and terrified at the same time on this one, this being my first really collaborative effort (performance-music-arranging-and-improve-wise) with folks whose musical skills I admire. There are a number of other appearances in the works for November and December, so please stay tuned.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2005

We have been tuning into the reports coming out of New Orleans this week in the wake of Katrina. This weekend 10% of all of our CD sales and all of our tips will be going to the Red Cross ear-marked for the relief effort. We will also be making some kind of donation out of next Friday's concert proceeds toward helping the victims of Monday's hurricane. We don't have much here most days, but we're willing to share our relative good fortune with those who now have nothing.

AUGUST 2005

The housekeeping crew will be coming in here over the next few months to do a little dusting and cleaning and rearranging of the furniture. The website will get a little redecorating too as we move forward with two CD projects this summer and fall. Just re-reading our May 2005 update...yep, we've been a little short of breath lately. Look for a new journal link in the left hand frame in the next few days--a little peek into the process of producing Silver Branch, and with a bit of faerie dust here and there another seasonal CD out in time for Christmas 2005. The whole process gets underway in earnest August 15 for completion (CDs in our wittle hands) November 15. It's a big leap over a very big pit, so I'm not looking down to see if it's full of shiny eyes and sharp teeth...just keeping my eyes on that sliver of a ledge I get to grab onto on the other side of all this ;-)

In the coming weeks we'll also be linking to the many sites where you can now download our music if you're a little shy of record stores or can't get out to our concerts to pick up our stuff in person. Tandem Music Group has been hard at work for us in that regard.

We'll be doing a concert close to home (ok very close to home...about 3 blocks away from where we lay our heads at night), at the Epiphany Hall in London Ontario (Briscoe just west of Wharncliffe in London's Old South). The date is Sept 9. The time is 8 pm. The tickets are $10. For more info, please give us a call at 519-438-3924.

MAY 2005

A quick note to invite you to join us May 16 at the Staircase Theatre in Hamilton ON for a concert featuring us and Heather Dale. Please check the May performances page for details. We're looking forward to this one...8 pm, 27 Dundurn North in Hamilton for the low low price of $8 a ticket. What a great way to beat the Monday blues with two very original takes on some ancient Celtic fare. Drop in early and enjoy supper at the Staircase Cafe.

We're undergoing a big reorganization here. You'll see some effect of this as the website undergoes an overhaul before the end of June. Lots of news to report, so little time to report it ;-) There have been some exciting developments and we'll get you posted as soon as we stop for a breather...

MARCH 2005

We're back into our busy season. You can catch us in two public concerts this month. One in Strathroy on March 18. One in Fort Erie on March 30. For more information on these check our upcoming performances page.

Lots of updates on the Fanshawe Pioneer Village situation which we'll post later. The concert series will be taking the year out from the Village at least until things have stabilized. Gayle is not returning to the Village this year. Mind you, the series may pop up at another location later in the year (we have some ideas in the works). We'll keep you posted.

We'll be spending the next four months, when we're not in the road or tied up in the office, playing about with our recording gear finishing (yes!) The Silver Branch and putting down some tracks for a Christmas album. Updates on those projects as we move forward.

Oh yes, we're also now up on itunes. The link will be appearing here in the coming weeks as we get the details on that. A thank you to Tandem Music Group in BC (Celtic Mystique) for moving us into the digital download age.

More coming very soon.

FEBRUARY 2005

Robert and I are recovering from a flu bug that wrestled both of us to the ground. We think it was lurking behind the front door and ambushed us on our return from our Niagara/Hamilton area gigs late January. We've rescheduled a New Day TV appearance for Friday, February 4, 2005 to do a little plug for our participation in the Strathroy Concert Association's Tsumani Relief Concert happening Friday evening. Please tune in Friday morning, and, if you can, please join us for the concert on Friday evening. We will be appearing with several other guest artists.

Back into the fire once again. We thought we'd won the fight to keep Fanshawe Pioneer Village open, but in a last minute budget tweak, city council stripped an additional $75,000 from Fanshawe Pioneer Village's 2005 operating budget. Yep, the Village is back on the chopping block. We were gearing up Monday to call all those artists who are clamouring to play the After Hours Series, when we got the word. So we're back in the fight and the concert series is back on hold. If you would like to know more about how you can help out with this cause, please drop me a line at jenwhite@knockgrafton.com. I'll be happy to point to in the save-Fanshawe direction.

Due to the late January blizzard in the Niagara region, we had to cancel our January 22 concert at the Staircase. We are rescheduling this for a later date. In the meantime, you can come enjoy some harp music with brunch this Sunday, February 6, 2005. We'll be at the Staircase Cafe (27 Dundurn North in Hamilton) from 1 to 3 pm. Hope the weather cooperates this time.

More coming, so we'll be in touch.

JANUARY 2005

Lots happened over the "holidays". Thankfully we're settled into our cosy english-cottage-like house since our emergency move last March, and managed to snag a little rest over those "holidays". Well, mostly settled. This month we're doing the grand purge of all the stuff we hauled with us and haven't opened since the move. It's been a weird exercise in historical excavation. But we're making room for the new studio gear so we can get down to the business of recording the second (and possibly third) CD this year. I feel we're part of a new revolution in the music business. It's become a kind of cottage industry for many of us, especially in the niche markets where we have no expectation of a million copy seller...we're learning our way around all those knobs and slidy things and putting on our producers ears for a little home-made sound. What we've heard so far out of our system is very very encouraging.

We got a little taste this month too of what it's like to win when we fought City Hall on its negligent if not openly hostile stance toward Fanshawe Pioneer Village and other heritage sites in London. After a weekend of lobbying individual councillors at the mall budget sessions, a "mob" of us donned historic attire, and, with the help of Col. Talbot, stormed the gallery during the council's budget deliberations. We were in very real fear that after council's rejection of much needed capital funding for the Pioneer Village, that the operational funding would also face the chopping block in the 2005 budget. In fact the Board of Control initially removed its operational funding from the proposed 2005 city budget. Well our angry but well-behaved mob of villagers changed a few of those councillors' minds. We faced the closing and ultimate loss of this historic living history village if the vote didn't go our way. By a vote of 11-7, the village has been spared for at least another year.

So now we have other decisions to make. In all likelihood, we will be continuing the popular acoustic/folk concert series at the Village. Gayle Allen will be returning to manage the cafe only part-time, but the venue will still be available for the series. Nonetheless, we're doing a little regrouping in order to get the series to run well with a little less leg work from us, so we can focus more of our energies on creating more original music and getting a second and third CD out this year.

Oh yeah. And once again, we have a nomination for one of London's music awards. I'm (jw) up for a Jack Richardson Music Award (under Celtic/World). These awards are organized by the folks who initiated the London Music Awards (beginning in 2003), and remain a not-for-profit endeavor to promote London musicians. The London Music Awards continue under the auspices of Scene Magazine and have gone for-profit. More info on these two once I get my own head wrapped around it. You can give me and/or your other favourite London musicians the nod by voting at: www.thejackrichardsonmusicawards.com. The voting deadline is the end of February so vote soon.

If you can, please join us at one of our Hamilton area concerts this weekend (January 21-23). Chapters Ancaster (Friday). Chapters St. Catharines (Sunday). And we return to the Staircase Cafe in Hamilton on Saturday evening (can we get a venue something like this in London please). For more information on these click on the Upcoming Performances Link in the left frame.

In February, we'll be helping out with a Tsunami Relief effort, participating in a fundraising concert in Strathroy.
Photography by Robert McMaster
Site Design by Jennifer White ©Knockgrafton Productions 1998-2008
P.O. Box 23132, London, Ontario Canada N6A 5N9 | Phone/Fax: 519-438-3924
www.knockgrafton.com | jenwhite@knockgrafton.com


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