� Riverdale Share Concert 2007

Today’s Performers

SPRAOÍSpraoí (pronounced Spree and meaning the same thing) are To-ronto’s premiere Traditional Celt-ic ensemble. Based around the playing of New Zealander Pat Simmonds and Canadian piper Kelly Hood the band has evolved over the years to include several other musicians and collabora-tors from several different traditions including Cape Breton, Ireland and Scotland. www.spraoi.ca

ROB CRABTREE Rob began bagpiping at the age of 10 and was the 1986 North American Amateur Champion. A regular prizewinner at the world’s foremost competitions, he cap-tured the North American Profes-sional Championship in 1997 and the Gold Medal at Braemar, Scot-land in 1998. His 1999 album, “The Piper’s Legacy”, was nominated for a Juno Award. He is co-founder of one of the top bagpipe summer schools in North America, plays Scottish smallpipes and tinwhistle and is also a fiction writer.His site can be found at http://www.robcrabtree.com

GREG LAWLESSCBC Radio’s Shelagh Rogers de-scribes Lawless as “...the best singer/songwriter you’ve ‘never’ heard!” Over the years, Gregg has built a remarkable underground following and is described “as the poster boy for the independent musician,” garnering rave reviews and impressing fans and critics alike in headline shows at major venues all across Canada. Gregg has been involved with Riverdale Share since 1998. www.gregglawless.com

DIANE FLACKSDiane Flacks is an actor, writer, mom, author (of Bear With Me), former Globe and Mail colum-nist, and a multi-tasker. She has a long list of accomplishments, which she either left in the car, or accidentally put in recycling. She is thrilled to be sharing the stage with such incredible talent for a great cause. www.dianeflacks.com

MICHAEL BRENNANCape Breton, Nova Scotia born and raised, Michael Brennan is considered the voice of REAL country music in Toronto. Possess-ing a deep, rich voice that’s been compared to Waylon Jennings and Roy Orbison, Brennan writes honest, straight-up working man songs full of characters who’ve loved and lost more often than they’ve won. www.michaelbrennan.ca

HOWARD WILLETTVocalist and harmonica player with the Bebop Cowboys Swing-a-billy Orchestra, Howard has spent most of his musical career playing country music. He has toured Canada a number of times with R.W. Pawley and later the Good Old Boys. Arriving in To-ronto in 1990, Howard fronted his own band, The Shifters. He has appeared on CBC Radio and Television and has guested with Jack deKeyser, Down-child Blues Band, songwriter Danny Brooks and the bluegrass band Whiskey Jack.

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KRISTIN BRIGGSIn addition to her singing contribu-tions to a number of local bands in Toronto, Kristin is a graphic de-signer, producing CD artwork and promotional material for such artists as Prairie Oyster and the Bebop Cowboys (she is also manager for the Bebops), as well as many books published by EGS Press, for whom she has been resident graphic designer for almost ten years. Her best productions by far are her two fabulous children, Cameron and Duncan.

TARA MACLEANThree years ago Tara, a single mother and musician, hooked up with a really great guy who came with a house in Riverdale. Little did she know that she was step-ping into this amazing community of parents, artists, and interesting people. Tara is excited about par-ticipating in Riverdale Share, not only because it is a chance to be a part of something great for the community, but also to meet other parents she can pawn her kids off on in the guise of a ‘play date’. Her third child and third solo cd will both be released this spring!

JORY NASHJory Nash is a Toronto-based in-dependent singer songwriter who blends elements of folk, jazz, blues, soul & pop into an original stew of sound. He has recorded and re-leased 5 CDs and regularly tours all across North America, playing music festivals, house concerts, soft seat theatres and folk clubs. Jory Nash has a hat collection that numbers in the hundreds and is a long suffering fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. His website is www.jorynash.com

DEWSHANE WILLIAMSDriven to rise above Kingston Jamaica’s notorious ghet-tos, Dewshane strives to push his own limits and channel his emo-tions through entertainment. He made his first stage debut before a rocking crowd of 1,000 at the age of three. Now 17, he is the founder of the positive urban mu-sic team “Revelation Army” and the co-founder of “The Projek Raw Dance Team.” Dewshane’s lifelong dream is to establish him-self as the strongest individual he can be within the enter-tainment world, and so his journey continues.

FLYNN TANNERFlynn started playing at 7, after Santa set him up with an electric guitar and amp for Christmas. Together with school buddies Reed Hollett (drums), Dexter Horn-sby (keyboards) and Jack White (bass), Flynn formed the Burning Boyz early in ’07. They debuted at the Withrow Fun Fair in the spring, and followed up with a gig at last summer’s North by North-east Music Festival. Flynn loves listening to and playing Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and personal fave AC/DC. There’s no band web site yet, but check out the boyz killing Zeppelin on Youtube—search “the burning boyz.”

JACK ROCHONJack began playing guitar at the age of 6 years when he began taking lessons with Steve Briggs. Starting out on a classical guitar, his interest soon veered towards an electric guitar and timeless hits of The Who, Zeppelin, and The Beatles. Now at 11, he is an avid composer in his own right. Jack enjoys performing at summer festivals, open mics, and parties and is really pumped to be returning to River-dale Share for a second time.

BAD DOG THEATRE COMPANYA Riverdale fixture since 2003, The Bad Dog Theatre Compa-ny proudly brings funny business to the Danforth. 2008 will mark our 5th year as Bad Dog, as well as the 25th year of Theatresports Toronto - our flagship show returns in Feb-ruary. Hailed by NOW Magazine as the BEST OF TORONTO for two years running, we’re the improv hub of the city... and we’re right on your doorstep! Come laugh with us! Currently, we’re ringing in the holidays with our annual A Twisted Christmas Carol. Check our website for show times and details on our improv classes and workshops! www.baddogtheatre.com

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THERESA TOVATheresa Tova is a singer, writer, and Gemini-nominated actor (for her continuing role on the TV series ENG). She wrote, produced, and starred in “Still the Night,” which won four Doras including Best New Musical and Best Production. After performing at Stratford and in the National Broadway tour of “Ragtime,” Ms. Tova has focussed her energies on her native tongue, Yiddish, producing three critically acclaimed CDs. She sings modern interpretations of old world classics, Yiddish theatre music, and jazz at mu-sic festivals, concert halls, and nightclubs throughout North America and Europe. Ms. Tova is happy to be home and lending her voice to Riverdale Share. www.theresatova.com

FOR THE LOVE OF IT PERFORMING ARTS CENTREFor the past 9 years, the cen-tre has offered a wide range of dance instruction—from toddlers to adults—in a fun, positive and nuturing environment. Its fac-ulty have extensive professional dance experience and provide a supportive atmosphere where students can experience the love of dance and self-expression. (416) 691-0253 www.fortheloveofit.net

FRANKLAND SCHOOL CHOIRThe Frankland School Choir consists of students from grades three to six who love to sing. The choir performs at school concerts and assemblies, along with community events, and has even performed with the Barenaked Ladies at Massey Hall. The choir is conducted by Tom Roedding and is ac-companied by Patrick Hornsby on piano.

LORRAINE SEGATOAs co-founder and lead singer of The Parachute Club, Canada’s most internationally renowned worldbeat band, Lorraine Segato has enjoyed a run in the music industry that few can match. Af-ter The Parachute Club won five Juno’s, five Casby’s, two Platinum and one Gold record, Lorraine went on to release two critically praised solo recordings and produced several notable mu-sic scores. Most recently, she spent two years directing, writ-ing, narrating, and music-editing a documentary film called “Queen Street West, The Rebel Zone” with the Award-winning Rhombus Media International. Segato’s work, regardless of the medium, remains consistently topical and relevant.

NORTHERN LEGS SOUTHERN FISTSToronto’s premier lion dance team is a group of multicultural people committed to preserv-ing and promoting the Asian art of lion dancing and drumming. Members of NLSF are also practi-tioners of traditional Chinese Kung Fu and pride themselves on edu-cating people about the beauty of Asian culture. The group’s most recent project was the Chinese Lantern Festival hosted by Ontar-io Place, in which NLSF made over 50 performances. The group is led by general manager and coach Sifu Ian Chow.

RUSSELL DECARLEAs lead vocalist, bassist and con-tributing songwriter for the multi-Juno-Award winning, platinum-selling group Prairie Oyster, Russell has toured the world entertaining young and old for over three de-cades. He is currently developing material for a solo project. www.prairieoyster.com

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STEVEN PAGE Steven Page is best known as one of the lead singers of the multi-platinum, multi-award-win-ning supergroup, the Barenaked Ladies. Mixing socially conscious observations with crafty lyrics, BNL have toured the world and have racked up memorable hits like “Pinch Me,” “If I Had A Million Dollars,” “Brian Wilson,” among many others. Steve has also re-leased a solo album through his side project; “The Vanity Project”

WENDELL FERGUSON Wendell Ferguson is a buffoon, a fool, a charlatan and a general nuisance, but he can play the guitar (a bit). He’s garnered nine Canadian Country Music Awards, an OCPFA Lifetime Musician Award and was twice nominated for a JUNO. Despite all this, he still remains the same unapproach-able snob he’s always been. He’s just released a new CD entitled “Wendell Live! “The $#!T Hits the Fans”. He’s proud to be ap-pearing once more at Riverdale Share. Visit his site for sore ears at: www.wendellferguson.com

N’JACKO BACKOCameroon’s N’Jacko Backo is a national treasure. Now living in To-ronto, N’Jacko is the King of Ka-limba and integrates the African instrument into the enchanting rhythms of Kalimba Kalimba. Their latest record “The Conscience of Africa” is a glorious ode to the continent, its people and its be-ing. N’Jacko will be performing today with his wife Valerie Woloshyn. www.njackobacko.com

CINDY CHURCHCindy spent her formative years out west, touring with Ian Tyson. That friendship led to the forma-tion of Quartette with Sylvia Tyson, Caitlin Hanford, the late Colleen Peterson and later Gwen Swick. Current projects include “The Nearness of You - A Tribute to the Music of Hoagy Carmichael” and “Lunch a t Allen’s”, a collaboration with Murray McLauch-lan, Ian Thomas and Marc Jordan. Cindy has been nominat-ed for several Juno and Canadian Country Music Awards. www.cindychurch.com

SANTA CLAUSThis jolly old elf hardly needs an in-troduction. Santa has been grac-ing the Riverdale stage since the very beginning and claims that it’s a high point in his social calen-dar every year. He loves watching all the talented performers and meeting all the busy volunteers. He says he is very proud of the Riverdale Community and the way they all come together to celebrate the season and help those who need it in their own neighbourhood. He wants to wish all of you here today a very merry and safe holiday season. Ho, Ho, Ho!!!

MURRAY MCLAUCHLANMurray McLauchlan began writing songs and performing them in his late teens and after engagements at music festivals and clubs such as Toronto’s River-boat, began to attract wider at-tention. Before he ever recorded an album of his own his Child’s Song was already well known af-ter being recorded by American folk star Tom Rush. Now, twenty years later, Murray has eighteen albums of songs to his credit on both True North and Capitol Records and has won eleven JUNO awards as well as RPM Big Country and Toronto Music awards. In 1993, McLauchlan received The Order Of Cana-da.

JIAN GHOMESHIJian Ghomeshi is a broadcaster, writer and musical artist born in London, England and raised in Toronto. He is a familiar face on CBC Television and is currently best known as the host of the daily national cultural affairs pro-gram, Q on CBC Radio One. He has appeared as a regular on various programs including The Hour, Sounds Like Canada, and The National. He spent three years as the host of the Gemini-award winning TV program, Play, and has interviewed sub-jects ranging from Woody Allen to Johnny Rotten to Jane Fonda and Steve Nash. He has written for numerous pub-lications including the Sunday Washington Post and The Globe and Mail. Jian first came to public attention as a singer and songwriter in the multi-platinum selling folk rock group, Moxy Früvous.

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Riverdale Share BandTOM LEIGHTON Musical Director (piano and accordion)Tom Leighton is well known for his energetic performances and his ability to play several instru-ments at the same time. As half of Haines & Leighton, he has three CD’s with Borealis Records, includ-ing the award-winning “Hand To Hand”. Tom teaches part of each year at Wexford C.I. School for the Arts, performs regularly with Con-rad Kipping and Anne Lederman and is proud to be part of the RSC team as musical director and orchestrator. www.haines-leighton.com

STEVE BRIGGS Band Leader (guitar)A native of Powell River B.C., Steve has been a busy band leader, freelance guitarist and arranger in Toronto. He has per-formed, arranged and recorded with a wealth of wonderful artists including Sylvia Tyson and Quar-tette, Russell de Carle and Carroll Baker. His popular western swing orchestra, the Bebop Cowboys, have garnered many glowing re-views and accolades across the country. As a guitar/mandolin in-structor, he runs the Kitchen Music Instructional Studio in Riverdale with his wife Kristin. He has been featured twice as “Best Guitar Instructor” in Toronto Life Magazine and has released two instructional CDs.

BEBOP COWBOYS - Swing-a-billy OrchestraKnown as Canada’s premier western swingers, the Bebops have toured across the country bringing the joy of country swing to the people. With their third CD, “Canadian Dance Hall”, featuring guests such as Sarah Harmer, Russell de Carle and Alex Pangman, they have gathered enthusiastic recog-nition for their fun, danceable music, including a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for Best Ensemble, and were named Best Roots/Country Act by NOW magazine. www.bebopcowboys.com

BURKE CARROLL (pedal steel, dobro)Yukon native and Bebop Cowboy Burke Carroll is an in-demand mu-sician who has toured the globe extensively, backing artists such as George Fox, the Good Broth-ers, Shania Twain, Justin Rutledge, Scotty Campbell and the Wilkin-sons. Burke is also a talented ar-ranger and producer.

RUSS BOSWELL (bass)Russ has to be one of the busiest bass players in town. He’s recently toured with Ian & Dave Thom-as, DK Ibomeka, David Wilcox and Colm Wilkinson. He has also toured with Corey Hart, The Para-chute Club, Seals and Crofts, Holy Cole, Dianne Tell and Mary Mar-garet O’Hara. Recording credits include Serena Ryder, Corey Hart, Charlie Majors, David Wilcox, Julie Crochetiere, Jullian Austin, John Landry, Sean Hogan, and Beverly Mahood to name a few. Russ is actively involved with ‘Folkalarm’ featuring Kevin Breit and Jorn An-dersen and has been a long-time fixture at Riverdale Share.

BRUCE MOFFETT (drums)Bruce has been a part of the River-dale Community Concert for all 15 years. He formerly played with Prai-rie Oyster, Sass Jordan, Corey Hart and Red Ryder, among others. He owns PRB Pro Rehearsal & Back-line, supplier of equipped rehearsal rooms to bands and shows. Bruce recently moved into recording with the opening of his studio, The Drum Room, which special-izes in recording drums, and his mobile recording truck, “The Roving Recorder,” which records performances and events of all kinds. www.torontobackline.com

PATRICK HORNSBY (piano)Patrick lives in Riverdale with his wife Karen and son Dexter. He works for the TDSB as a Grade One teacher and teaches private piano lessons at his home. He has performed at the Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax jazz festivals and has recorded for CBC Maritimes.

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DANNY GREENSPOON (guitar)Danny Greenspoon is a multi-plat-inum, award winning record pro-ducer, recording engineer and guitar player. As a record pro-ducer, he has produced over fifty albums, including Great Big Sea, Ian Tyson, Colm Wilkinson, Sophie Milman, Jane Bunnett and Spirit Of The West. The albums have garnered 4 JUNO Award wins out of sixteen JUNO nominations and seven ECMA’s. As a guitarist he has performed with some of the biggest names in the coun-try, including long stints with Murray McLauchlan, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Sylvia Tyson and The Great Speckled Bird, and The Romaniacs.

Riverdale Share HornsMIKE MURLEY (saxophone)An engaging, lyrical saxophon-ist, Murley has emerged as one of the nation’s finest jazz talents. Active as a leader in various for-mations from duo to septet, Mur-ley maintains a busy schedule as a sideman with the David Braid Sextet, the Rob McConnell Tentet and the David Occhipinti Quar-tet, among others. Murley has played on nine Juno Award win-ning recordings and has been named saxophonist of the year eight times by the Jazz Report Awards and National Jazz Awards. His latest recording, “The Melody Lingers On”, finds him live in concert at the Glenn Gould Studio with a twelve-piece string ensemble.

JOHN MACLEOD (trumpet)Trumpet and flugelhorn play-er, John played on 6 Juno winners and 2 Grammy win-ning CD’s and is an active Jazz and commercial free-lance trumpeter. John was a featured soloist with the world-renowned Rob McCo-nnell & the Boss Brass for over 15 years and has played back up to the likes of Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin and Linda Ron-stadt. John’s also a professional arranger/composer who leads his own big band - The Rex Hotel Orchestra and is cur-rently teaching advanced arranging at Humber College.

MEI KELLY (trombone)Meirion (Mei) likes sharp suits and plays a sweet trombone. He is a permanent member of the Na-tional Jazz Award-Winning en-semble Kollage and has recorded with the band on their most re-cent session; At This Time. Mei ap-pears regularly on CTV performing arts broadcasts such as Canadian Idol and Canada’s Walk of Fame and has performed with international artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Robert Goulet, Paul Schaffer, Dan Akroyd, Doug Riley, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Joey DeFrancesco. He can be found in the St. Clair/Christie area walking his dog, or conducting the Jr. Band at Dr. J.M. Denison Secondary School.

Riverdale Share StringsANNE LEDERMAN (fiddle)Fiddler/singer/composer/multi-instrumentalist Anne Lederman is known for her fiddle work with such pioneering groups as Muddy York The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, Njacko Backo and Kalimba Kalim-ba and LOKA as well as her own group Fiddlesong and as backup for many Canadian artists. Anne has composed for the Roseneath Theatre, The Blyth Festival, Cana-dian Children’s Dance Theatre, the National Storytelling The-atre and Veronica Tennant Productions, and is delighted to be part of the Riverdale Share Band.

JOHN SHOWMAN (violin)John Showman studied at Indiana University and in Ottawa with Vic-tor Pomer before moving to Mon-treal to begin his professional ca-reer. With the band ‘Nobody You Know’, he recorded four albums and spent 5 years touring Cana-da and the United States before relocation to Toronto. John‘s me-lodic phrasing and original lines can also be heard with the East-coast/Celtic group ‘Skraeling’, the bluegrass group The Fog-gy Hogtown Boys and with the creaking tree string quartet.

SUSAN BAKERPRODUCER AND CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORSusan has been a Riverdale resi-dent for the past 20 years. She dedicates every fall to wrangling the Riverdale Share volunteers but the rest of the year you’ll find her sailing her boat off the Leslie Spit; planning other community events; cursing at her computer; walking her dog Jack; home ex-changing around the globe with one of her kids or selling Riverdale Real Estate. Riverdale Share is in her blood.

Riverdale Share Artistic TeamRANDI FRATKINCO-ARTISTIC DIRECTORProud to be part of Riverdale Share, Randi is the artistic direc-tor of Kingfest, and was the artis-tic director of the Mariposa Folk Festival from 2000-2006 and of Winterfolk for 2006 and 2007. She has participated in numerous na-tional music juries, and has been on the Board of Directors of the North American Folk Alliance and the Ontario Council of Folk Festi-vals. Randi is a pediatric dentist at the Hospital For Sick Children and maintains a private prac-tice in Toronto.

STEVE BRIGGSBAND LEADER AND CO-MUSICAL DIRECTORSteve has played in the Riverdale Share Band for many years and joined the artistic team in 2004. He is an accomplished freelance guitar player; leader of the popular western swing band, the BeBop Cowboys; and the best guitar/mandolin instructor in Toronto (according to Toronto Life Magaizine). He lives on Withrow with his wife Kristin and his kids Cameron and Duncan.

TOM LEIGHTONMUSICAL DIRECTOR AND ORCHESTRATORTom has been the musical director for Riverdale Share since 2004. He brings his boundless energy, creativity and huge musical talent to the team. He prides himself in his ability to keep all the members of the Riverdale Share band play-ing from start to finish. His wonderful orchestrations give the show its spit and polish. Tom lives in Riverdale with his lovely wife Sandra and is an avid windsurfer.

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