This Friday November 15th a homecoming of sorts will take place at the Niagara Artists Centre on St. Paul Street in downtown St. Catharines. Longtime folk musician and teacher Jane Lewis, born and raised in St. Catharines, will return to the city with musical partner Eve Goldberg to host a local launch of their new CD collaboration, All That's Real on Borealis Records. They perform under the moniker Gathering Sparks, which is an apt description of what they do.
It's been awhile for Lewis, as she moved from the city to Guelph several years ago to pursue a music career full time. Why Guelph? Why not? I've always found Guelph and much of Wellington County to be a hotbed of creative organic folk music, much of it making it on to the airwaves of Canada's national broadcaster CBC as well as selling strongly in the Canadian music marketplace.
I used to work in a music store on Carden Street in downtown Guelph years ago, Twelfth Night Music, and it had a relatively large selection of Canadian-grown folk music, and it always sold quite well. So it should come as no surprise Lewis would follow her folk inclinations to the city.
Somewhere along the way, while recording her solo album Stay With Me, leading music workshops on singing harmony and singing backup vocals for other artists, Jane hooked up with Toronto-based musician and vocalist Eve Goldberg and things just seemed to click. Goldberg, originally from Boston, moved to Toronto in 1981 and has been a busy performer at festivals, folk clubs and concert venues across Canada and the US ever since.
Eve has released three albums on her own, Ever Brightening Day in 2006, Crossing The Water in 2003 and A Kinder Season also in 2006. Like Lewis Eva is also an experienced teacher who engages aspiring musicians in private lessons, workshops and classes.
Jane Lewis plays piano, ukulele, accordion as well as sings; Eve Goldberg also sings, plays acoustic guitar and ukulele. For the CD launch on Friday they will be joined by special guest Cheryl Prashker on drums and percussion, who also appears on the new CD.
Together, Lewis and Goldberg perform as Gathering Sparks and their new collaboration is entitled All That's Real, produced by Jeff Bird of Cowboy Junkies fame. Joining them on the new disc, which first launched back in early October in Guelph, are the aforementioned Cheryl Prashker on percussion as well as Anne Lindsay on fiddle, Joel Schwartz and Kevin Breit on guitars and a host of harmony singers, all of whom presumably worked at one point or another with Lewis!
Already the lead-off song from the album, Bringing in the Light has been recognized with a 2019 Folk Music Ontario "Songs From The Heart" Award in the Singer-Songwriter category. That's on top of the group being nominated for a 2014 Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year for their six-song debut CD.
Their inclusive style embraces folk, pop, blues and gospel influences all played on acoustic guitar, piano, accordion and of course the ukulele. They had me at the ukulele, actually. Although I've never played one I've always loved that humble stringed instrument ever since I first heard British singer George Formby on the instrument many years ago. Who doesn't love the ukulele?!
Anyway, this is the very first time Lewis and Goldberg have written together but you'd never know it. They have brought together their passion for wordplay, strong melodies and harmony to create 11 new songs plus one cover of a Pete Townshend classic. The end result is a collection of songs that are decidedly hopeful and upbeat as well as reflective and full of great storytelling.
Perhaps that's not such a bad combination in these divided times we seem to live in.
If you want to join in on the CD launch yourself, you can pick up tickets for $20 in advance or $25 at the door Friday night. Advance online orders can be made by going to www.gatheringsparks.com. The concert/launch begins at 8 pm and NAC is located at 354 St. Paul Street.
Have a great week!
November 11th, 2019.
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