PLAIN FOLK

By Les Pearson
Move Over Batman—Folk Music has a New “Dynamic Duo”!

Medicine Hat is first stop on an Alberta concert swing for folk music’s new “dynamic duo.” Lester Quitzau and Honey Mae Moore will hit the Crescent Heights High School Theatre stage at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow night. BIFF! WHAM! (You may have to fight for a ticket!)

Lester and Mae Quitzau perform here before moving to Calgary’s Jack Singer Theatre for Sunday’s Western Canada Music Awards. The couple’s first joint recording, released earlier this year, has been nominated for Outstanding Roots Recording of the Year! Even a quick listen provides ample reason why.

“Oh My!” is a mellow, bright, blend of original songs by each and both. Lester’s dobro and Mae’s acoustic guitar are stellar highlights on this CD. To understate the case, both artists play well. And their love lyrics melt in your ears.

Lester and Mae are seasoned, quality, solo performers. But together? Magic, pure magic.

Friday’s concert will certainly showcase individual talents. And like a good wedding, the show should have something borrowed. Maybe it will be Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing. Something blue could mean Lester wailin’ his Troubled Ways or In Your Arms Again. Something new might be Mae’s lyrical Stepping Through Fire. All these songs appear on the new CD.

But the “new” that generates a turbo charge will be their duets! When these two click, it will be your “on” switch! The artists agree that together is better. The 2003 Winnipeg Folk Festival was the first time since their marriage just over two and a half years ago that they performed together at a festival.

After that show Mae cooed, “Being on stage with Lester is like being home.”

Lester elaborated. “Our styles work together quite well. It parallels how we support each other in life.” In the year that followed that show, the two have collaborated on “Oh My!” and have toured to promote it.

Things seem destined for this couple. The two stars first collided on a small British Columbia island. Lester had travelled to his parent’s island home for Christmas. At a holiday dinner, he met Mae Moore, a folk-jazz songster, songwriter, and touring artist.

In addition to solo performances, Lester tours with Bill Bourne and Madagascar Slim. Together they form Tricontinental, a gritty world music and blues band. But Lester’s chance meeting with Mae propelled both artists into a new creative spin. Today they travel in the same orbit.