The Citizen, 2015-11-26, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015.
Ghost Town Blues Band performs for SHSM program
On Friday, Nov. 20, St. Anne’s
Catholic Secondary School Music &
Specialist High Skills Major Arts
and Culture students were treated to
a performance of a lifetime.
The Ghost Town Blues Band from
Memphis, Tennessee performed at
the school for 250 music and arts
students.
The Ghost Town Blues Band is
Memphis’ latest success story and
are currently on a full-scale North
American tour. In 2014 the band
won second place at the international
blues challenge in Memphis. This
band is not your grandpa’s blues
band and their live show has been
captivating audiences in the U.S. and
Canada with a second-line horn
entrance, cigar box guitars and
electric push brooms to Allman
Brothers-style jams and their
rapping trombone player. St. Anne’s
students were blown away. Logan
Lacombe, fifth-year percussionist
and drummer at the school said,
“This is one of the coolest things that
has happened at St. Anne’s over the
last five years. I learned a ton about
the blues and got to see an amazing
concert!”
Both Preston McEwen behind the
drums and Matt Karner on the bass
guitar are a punishing rhythm
section behind multi-instrumentalist/
frontman Matt Isbell with raunchy
cigar box guitar licks and raspy “Dr.
John-like, whiskey- and smoke-
soaked vocals.” With the addition of
trombonist and keys, the grooves go
from funky to “funk-nasty” as the
band gains more notoriety in the
blues festival and jam circuit.
Ghost Town Blues Band is a
modern blues band with an intimate
knowledge of both blues and rock
improvisational jams. At the same
time, the band’s raw energy and
intensity is reminiscent of some of
the best blues that rock n’ roll has
ever offered. The band can turn on a
dime from North Mississippi hill
country grooves to classic electric
urban blues and Funky Meters- and
Allman Brothers-style jams. This
Memphis-based, gritty, seven-piece
band has been touring the U.S. and
Canada since its inception in 2009,
gaining a strong following within the
Blues and Jam Band circuit.
The band’s 90-minute perform-
ance at St. Anne’s came just weeks
after they opened for The Steve
Miller Band to an 8,000-person
crowd in the U.S. Notably, the Ghost
Town Blues Band also performed at
B.B. King’s funeral in May of 2015.
Their performance at this event was
a profound example of the respect
that this band has garnered on the
Memphis scene. Ghost Town is a
top-tier blues band and they did an
amazing job of performing and
teaching the crowd of St. Anne’s
students a little bit about the blues.
This event was sponsored by the
West Coast Blues Society along with
secondary sponsor: RBC Clinton.
Partnerships with the Specialist High
Skills Major Arts and Culture
program and sponsorship from Al
Meloche, audio services also helped
to make this event possible. St.
Anne’s has enjoyed a close
relationship with the local Blues
Community. This show was booked
through Rick and Marilyn Clarke
Blues Productions. Rick and
Marilyn run the Lighthouse Blues
Festival in Kincardine and have
brought other great acts to St. Anne’s
in the past including Juno
award winner Jack de Keyzer
in 2013.
Josh Geddis, the music teacher at
St. Anne’s said “having events like
this in our rural schools is so
important. It gives students an
opportunity to be exposed to music
that they might otherwise not ever
hear in a live setting. This was a
legitimate concert, and it was neat to
hear from a few students that it was
the first time they had ever been to a
‘real’ concert. I’m always trying to
find ways to strengthen the amazing
music program at St. Anne’s and
provide ‘out-of-the-box’ opportuni-
ties for our students to learn about
music.”
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph’s
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.
CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS
MINISTER
Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div.
All Welcome
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224
Sunday, November 29
Christmas Through God’s Eyes, The Promise
Sunday, December 6
Christmas Through God’s Eyes, The Voice
Worship Service & Sunday School at 10 a.m.
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.
Children
Welcome
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, November 29
Brussels Business & Cultural Centre
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and
preschoolers during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
Do I Have To?
At Huron Chapel you’ll want to!
huronchapel.com
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29
Nursery care available
519-887-9017
Worship & Sunday School - 10 am
Coffee & Snacks - 11 am
We invite you to join our church family in:
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
Everyone Welcome!
getlivingwater.org
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at 308 Blyth Rd. (former Church of God)
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Nov. 29: Lk21:25ff; 1 Thess.3:9ff
Evangelical Missionary Church
Tues. 7:30 pm Wingham Small Group
Wed. 10 am “Coffee Break” Women’s Bible Study at CRC
“Strengthened
from an
Uncommon
Source, for an
Unexpected
Visitor”
1st Sunday in Advent
BRUSSELS
WORSHIP SERVICE
AND SUNDAY SCHOOL 11:00 am
All Welcome
United Church
Minister: Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M.Div.
Bulletin notices: 519-523-4224
blythunited@tcc.on.ca
Church bookings: 519-887-6377
Other concerns: 226-963-1175
Jamming
The Ghost Town Blues Band performed for the arts and culture students in the Music and
Specialist High Skills Major program at St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School last week. The
show was important according to the school’s music teacher Josh Geddis who said it exposes
students to music they might not otherwise discover. (Photo submitted)