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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-04-21, Page 23THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2011. PAGE 23. Canadian folk royalty will be visiting the Blyth Festival on April 30 as Juno and Canadian Country Music Award winner Jimmy Rankin takes to the stage at the Blyth Memorial Hall. The show, put on by the Blyth Festival, is part of Rankin’s tour for his recently released fourth studio album Forget the World. The album, which hit shelves on April 12, has a decidedly different direction according to Rankin, but still bears a strong resemblance to Edge of Day, his third album. “My last record [Edge of Day] was produced by Colin Linden, and it was really a roots record,” Rankin said. “It was me and a band playing live off the floor, I really enjoyed the process.” Rankin stated that he wanted to use this same process to produce this record but take it a bit further. “I wanted to expand that practice and that sound, he said. “I wanted it to be a bigger country and pop record.” He feels he succeeded in the endeavour as well, stating that the contents of the 12-track album come from across the musical spectrum. “There are some songs that fit there, and there are some that are really my songs, and are very stripped down, just singer and songwriter kind of tracks,” he said. “What I ended up with is a country/pop/roots record.” The record has been doing well, with the first single, “Here in my Heart”, climbing the country charts and the video being in heavy rotation across the country. Rankin stated that the new music would play prominently in his set list, but that he would also be incorporating work from both his previous solo releases and music from his work with The Rankin Family. “I have a skeleton list that I run from, and then I take requests,” he said. “I’m excited to be playing my new stuff, but I also cover stuff from [other releases].” While Rankin has played in theatres both big and small, he says he enjoys the smaller shows. “I’ve played every venue I can think of across Canada,” he said. “I’ve played at the Queen Elizabeth in Vancouver, the Labatt Centre in London, Toronto and the Friar Hall in Mambou where I’m from. Big halls are great, having 2,500, 5,000 or 10,000 people listen to you play is amazing, but I like intimate shows, where it’s a real singer/songwriter night. “It’s like the way I started to play when I was growing up,” he said. Rankin stated that fans wanting to know what he is up to should track him down on Facebook or Twitter. “I’ve started using [social media] recently and it’s a great way to connect with the audience,” he said. “I’m enjoying it.” Rankin said he likes putting photos up and the way fans can instantaneously respond to his music and give their reactions. For more information about Rankin, visit jimmyrankin.com After receiving a presentation several months ago, Central Huron Council decided to beef up its policing at its April 11 meeting, officially upgrading its contract. Council was presented the option of a Section 10 contract at a meeting last month. The Section 10 contract includes an increased police presence in Central Huron in addition to giving local Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers more power to enforce bylaws that they didn’t have under the previous Section 5.1 contract. The contract proposal stood for six months from the date it was first presented to council (March 7). The proposed Central Huron budget (which has yet to be approved, as it was deferred at the April 11 meeting) includes $10,000 more allocated to the immediate policing costs (while council allocated $50,000 to the policing fund from a policing credit the municipality received earlier this month) to aid in the formation of a Police Services Board, a requirement under the new contract. The contract will expire in 2014 and as part of the agreement, there will be no wage increases in 2013 or 2014. New Hamburg native Jeanine Plummer recently joined the staff at the Blyth Festival, and the trip to there was a long one. Plummer, the new Education Outreach Co-ordinator, grew up in New Hamburg, but found out about the position while she was on the other side of the world in Australia. Trained at York University in Theatre Directing and teaching at the University of Sydney, and having received her masters in dramatic theory and criticism from the University of Alberta, Plummer has always had her eye on two things; theatre and working with children, and her new position allows her to marry those passions. “I love working with kids and young adults,” she said, stating that, prior to her return from Australia, she was working with high-risk youth and using theatre as a means to reach out to them. Plummer plans on focusing on existing programs from the Blyth Festival’s past, and expanding their work to local schools. “I want to start working with schools, both on-site and here in the festival,” she said. She also plans on creating a free, after-school program which will run one day a week, starting in May. Beyond the school year, Plummer wants to focus on summer programs and adult workshops. She stated that she wanted to focus on improvisational workshops and specialized lessons during the summer camp, and creating adult workshops for people interested in theatre. “We’ll have a writing workshop with Eric [Coates, Artistic Director of the Festival] and public speaking and introduction to acting workshops that I will run,” she said. “We’ll also have a guest designer in for theatre design. The goal will be to provide meeting and organizational space for the interested participants.” Plummer is bringing two years of work experience at The Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Alberta, plus countless hours of theatre experience thanks to her growing up in close proximity to the Stratford Festival. “I started going to the Stratford Festival when I was six, and I fell in love with the theatre,” she said. Her interest in dramaturgy and play development started there, and she’s incredibly excited to be able to work for the Blyth Festival due to its efforts and achievement in the field. “I really admire the process that [The Blyth Festival] encourages,” she said. “It’s amazing how many plays have come out of Blyth that are now the ‘it’ plays.” Her love of theatre spawns from one well-known Stratford Festival actor’s command of Shakespeare’s work. “I loved the costumes, and I loved the plays, but I really connected with William Hutt,” she said. Hutt, a staple of the Stratford Festival who passed away in 2007, and made a name for himself in acting, film and television. “He made me fall in love with the theatre,” Plummer said. “Shakespeare’s language is really hard, but it made sense when he did it.” Plummer is loving Blyth, both because of how similar it is to her memories of New Hamburg, and because of the support that the community gives to the Blyth Festival. “It’s amazing to see the support that the theatre gets through the community,” she said. “It’s totally unique to Blyth, that level of personal interest just doesn’t exist in bigger places.” Plummer said she would be open to suggestions and answering questions from the public, and that anyone interested in specific workshops or events could call her at 519-523-9300 extension 200. Jimmy Rankin to play Memorial Hall New face joins Blyth Festival team CH upgrades policing contract All-You-Can-Eat $795 Sticker’s Family Restaurant Call for reservations 519-526-7759 Auburn SUNDAY B R U N C H Sunday, April 24 9 am - 1 pm Family & Friends are invited to a Buck & Doe for Kelly White & Amanda Dorsch Saturday, April 23 BMG Community Centre, Brussels 9 pm - 1 am Lunch provided Age of majority Tickets $8 or 2 for $15 Available at the door For tickets call Morgan 519-357-5753 or Jill 519-531-0648 Come Celebrate With Us Mary Bryans 90th Birthday Saturday, April 30 Come and Go 2~4 pm Huronlea, Brussels Best Wishes Only Family & Friends are invited to a BUCK & DOE for JOE FRASER and HEATHER LITTLE April 30th 9 pm - 1am $5. Blyth Community Centre Age of majority Lunch provided DJ Family and Friends are invited to a Mark Gillis and Caitlin Bellamy BM&G Community Centre, Brussels Tickets $8. in advance $10. at the door or call 519-887-6009 Age of majority. Lunch provided. Saturday, April 30 8 pm - 1 am Buck & Doe for Good Friday Lunch Buffet 11:30 - 1:30 All-you-can-eat only $1000 tax incl. Sticker’s Family Restaurant Auburn 519-526-7759 Entertainment Leisure& By Denny Scott The Citizen