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LORRIE MATHESON HOSTS SONGWRITERS NIGHT
KARMA LOCAL ARTS HOUSE
THURSDAY NIGHTS
Over the past few years Karma’s reputation as the place to see live music diminished a bit with changes in ownership, but with new owner Geoff Shipley now at the helm, efforts are afoot to ramp up the musical vibe once more.
Shipley used to spend time at Karma in its halcyon heyday. When he returned from working in the film industry in Vancouver, he and his wife were shocked by the way the place had gone downhill. It came on the market in October, so he bought it with a plan in mind.
"We want to bring it back to the kind of place it was when there were always musicians and people who love music hanging there," Shipley says.
To that end, he has booked acts like Steve Pineo, Mike Stack and Tim Leacock, and the place has come alive again.
One of Shipley’s first moves was to approach local songwriter-curmudgeon Lorrie Matheson to host a series of Thursday night songwriter sessions. In the past few weeks, Ayla Brook of AA Sound System and Jason Crocker have played with Matheson to appreciative audiences.
"I decided it would be cool to showcase different songwriters and give the people who don’t normally play solo a chance to do so. I’m a big fan of songs – it doesn’t matter what flavour they are if they’re good songs, they are good songs. I wanted the ability to showcase some good songwriters and play some solo shows as well," Matheson says.
On December 1, Stagger Lee Shedden will join Matheson onstage, and December 15 will see Mico’s John Stewart sharing Matheson’s mic stand. Plans are in the works for Leacock to join Matheson in a nostalgic evening, sure to wash the National Dust from fans’ eyes. Chris Vail, Tom Phillips and Dolly Sillito will also join Matheson onstage in the near future. |
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