PLAIN FOLK

by Les Pearson
A Folk Concert Series Pass, By Any Name, is an Entertainment Bargain!

The Medicine Hat Folk Music Club’s 2006-2007 Concert Series is in the bag! Darla Sawatsky has booked the final act. And while the names of performers will not be released until after the Farmers Market on August 26, some important information is available to our members and patrons now.

For our fifth season, the Club is releasing concert dates and venues. This may help folks who are planning winter holidays or trips out of town. The first two events are soft seat concerts at Crescent Heights High School and feature major figures on the Canadian folk scene. The first concert is scheduled for October 13 while the second will be staged on November 13.

Don’t think for a minute that September has been shunned. Watch this column for details on a September CD Release Party for Phyllis Sinclair

The third evening concert is part of the Club’s Tongue on the Post Winter Folk Festival on January 27 at Medicine Hat College Theatre. John Wort Hannem, Karla Anderson, and the fabulous McDades are the featured performers, but there is still discussion of a fourth musician with ties to CKUA joining this illustrious crew. If you love folk music in all its shades and forms, you won’t want to miss this concert—or the afternoon workshops with guests and local musicians!

A very special performance is slated for March 2. Not only is the performing group outstanding, the venue will be unique! With the cooperation of the Historical Clay District, Medalta Pottery’s auditorium will be a new venue.

And then on May 5 Darla has booked an amazing party band for the Moose Family Centre. In past years, this venue has hosted such memorable groups as Tiller’s Folly, The Polyjesters and, most recently, Cousin Harley. This year’s zydeco specialists will raise the roof higher than a Moose mortgage!

Several years ago the Club started the tradition of offering a series pass at a discounted rate prior to the official release of our line-up. Buying this pass was a “pig in a poke” and one way our members and patrons could express their trust and support. Series passes, after all, are the financial insurance that the Folk Club needs to continue booking quality musicians.

But “pig in a poke” is pejorative. The expression implies risk. Now the discounted pass is simply the “early bird” for wise shoppers.

Here is what you get for $90. First, there are four regular concerts. Admission to each of these is $20 per individual ticket. That makes $80. And then there is the festival concert at $25 and $10 more for the afternoon workshops! That makes $115 without a series pass.

But if you buy the pass now, all these events are included in the $90 price. After August 26, the regular series pass will sell for $100 at and until the first concert. See you for savings at the Farmers Market!