After the previous day’s Canada Day festivities, the weekend proper began in Frederiction.
All over town the mood was still festive, with everyone still bouyed up by the celebrations.
Charlotte and I drove around, checking out the city proper, which away from the charming historical setting by the river, was really a little non-descript and bland, so it was quickly back to the river we headed.
After a couple of hours slowly wandering the streets, stopping in at a few establishments for what became a moving lunch, it was time to pop into the local brewery – Grimross brewing
Unbeknownst to me, the brewery were having an open mike session, leading into live music from a couple of travelling bands – Avalon Blue and Emilie and Les City Folks.
Not having much to do, I grabbed a beer and settled in to take in my second dose of live music in as many days.
We all know open mike events can range from incompetent to surprising to bizarre. This fell into the 2nd of those categories – a surprisingly good and mixed collection of local acts who each did 2 or 3 numbers before handing over the stage.
The music was wide ranging from original folk tunes to covers of rock classics, and before you know it a couple of hours had passed and it was nearly time for the main acts.
Avalon Blue is in fact a solo artist, Montreal based singer-songwriter Donovan Thorimbert, who plays a mixture of blues and traditional folk music. Interesting listening, with just enough toe tapping rhythm to be enjoyable, though he did have a few pitch problems on the way. I won’t be buying any of his self published albums anytime soon.
Emilie and les City Blues are usually an eclectic group of 6 musicians – the eponymous lead singer, a guitar player, a female drummer, a backup singer, a double bassist and a trumpeter. Only 4 off them had made this tour, but importantly both the trumpeter and double bassist were in the party.
As they took to the stage, I very quickly had a massive sense of deja daire. Emilie and her band are from, you guessed it, Quebec City, and sing predominantly in french! Now I’m a sucker for any band with a doube bass and a trumpet, so I hung around.
Despite not following the lyrics, the music was fantastic. Emilie can wail, and with the overlay of a trumpet on top of a double bass beat, the band were as funky as hell. Emilie had the politeness to briefly explain the background to each song in English so the general feel came across really well, and they even did a few innovative covers in my native tongue. It was absolutely brilliant – yet another unexpected but delightful discovery from the road
You can check out a sample of their music here.
Add in to the mix the fantastic beers from Grimross, which are amongst the best I’ve had in Canada, and it was almost a twin of the previous day – an intimate vibe, relaxed atmosphere, great music and fine ale.
Fredericton was surprising me in so many ways.
