Folks, do you have your Roots North Music Festival tickets yet? This popular springtime festival always sells out its main stage, so don’t delay if you’re thinking of going. If you’re on the fence, read on, lots of information coming up for you to help you decide.
Roots North Music Festival is running April 20-23 this year. When you buy your $60 weekend pass, that guarantees you admission to the two nights/five acts of the main stage, Friday and Saturday night, at St. Paul’s Centre.
The music festival also includes many wonderful acts throughout downtown Orillia and beyond, all weekend long. Most of these are free and can be enjoyed by anyone ... just get there early as some of the smaller venues tend to get pretty crowded.
Kicking off the festival, on the main stage Friday night, is the ever-popular local Ronnie Douglas Band. With musicians Dave Hewitt on drums, Rick Greensides on guitar and vocals, Timmay Kehoe on bass and Ronnie Douglas on guitar and vocals, this band is awesome. Playing blues with elements of soul and funk, this award-winning band will start the festival with a bang, and is worth the price of admission.
The final band Friday night will be Tommy Youngsteen. This Toronto-based classic rock supergroup features members and alumni from Juno-winning bands The Sam Roberts Band, Stars, The Arkells, The Trews, July Talk, and The Serena Ryder Band. They pay tribute to the legendary music of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, The Band, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, and many more. (Young…steen…get it?).
This band gets people out on the dance floor, so St. Paul’s chairs will be reorganized to allow for a dance floor. If you love dancing, get your weekend pass today.
On Saturday night, Meredith Moon, Kellie Loder, and Michael Kaeshammer will be gracing the St. Paul’s stage. I had the pleasure of talking to both Moon and Loder early this week, and they are pumped to come back to Orillia.
“I absolutely love playing in Orillia,” Moon said. “I have never had a bad crowd there, Orillia’s passion for folk music is absolutely unrivaled in Ontario."
Both Moon and Loder have played at Mariposa Folk Festival before, and, of course, Moon is well known around these parts. Moon will also be here just weeks before Roots North, on April 2, for an album release at PICNIC, with special guest Sean Patrick.
“It will be a fun party, no tickets, just pass the jug, and enjoy songs with good friends,” Moon said.
Her new album, Constellations, just garnered her a record deal with True North Records and is coming out March 31. Constellations has 10 tracks, eight of which are original, and then two Appalachian folk tunes which Moon arranged for the record. All the songs accidentally happened to talk about stars and the skies, hence the title.
Loder is also putting out a new record, but sadly it won’t be out until after Roots North. They will, however, have lots of their other work available to purchase at the festival. You might know Loder from their first runner-up win on Canada’s Got Talent, and the song, Fearless, which was picked as the soundtrack for the CBC’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympics.
Loder moved back to Newfoundland from Toronto during the pandemic, and has no plans to leave.
“I have a sweet apartment right downtown, and am in a very creative state right now, with the new album and another one all ready to go as well,” they said. Loder added that they are “very proud of the new record, it’s the best work to date, which is the goal, really, of every record.”
Loder, like many musicians, had a tough time with the pandemic.
“I was looking around for a short course to take, to have something to do, I was so bored, and I came across a carpentry course that was nine months long, so, I became a carpenter,” they explained.
“There was no music, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I really enjoyed the course, I loved building things, it was another creative process for me. I collected a lot of tools and built a lot of things. Then, I got the call from Canada’s Got Talent. And so, the universe had other plans for me," Loder explained.
Michael Kaeshammer rounds out the evening at St. Paul’s Saturday night, playing St. Paul’s legendary Bosendorfer piano. After decades as a professional pianist, the multi-award-winning Kaeshammer has developed a style that weaves threads of classical, jazz, blues, boogie-woogie, stride, and even pop into his signature sound. This is a finale that will blow you away.
Also, there is a great art market downstairs at St. Paul’s which is open before, during, and after the main stage performers. This is a curated market full of wonderful vendors, so be sure to check it out. Roots North is licensed, as well, so bring your money for a drink during the shows.
And then there are all the downtown venues and performers: over a dozen venues and a couple of dozen performers, starting Thursday night and wrapping up on Sunday. For a full list of performers and venues, to buy tickets, and get more information, go to the Root North website here. See you there.
Lots of events this weekend and coming up, so I will just list them in short form for now, as I am running out of column room.
- Thursday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m., The Men Behind the Music: Beatles edition, at the Orillia Opera House. Tickets available here.
- Friday, March 24 at 7 p.m., the Mariposa Arts Theatre March Social, a pizza and games night, at the warehouse, 12 Brammer Dr.. For $5 donation ticket, click here.
- Friday, March 24 Rob Watts Duo at Couchiching Craft Brewery.
- Saturday, March 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. Gouache Landscapes Workshop with Gary Blundell at Orillia Museum of Art and History. For more information and to register, click here.
- Saturday March 25: Terry Savage at Couchiching Craft Brewery.
- Sunday, March 26 at 2:30 p.m., the Orillia Concert Association presents the Weston Silver Band, at the Orillia Opera House. For tickets, go here.
- Sunday, March 26 from 2 to 4 p.m., SAMMY at PICNIC.
- Sunday, March 26 from 1 to 4 p.m., the Will Davis/Chris Robinson duo at Couchiching Craft Brewery.
- Saturday, April 1 from noon to 4 p.m., Mixed Media Portrait Workshop with Amanta Scott, Orillia Museum of Art and History, for more information go here.
- Saturday, April 1 from 7 to 10 p.m., the Maple Leaf Club Spring Fling, featuring the Orillia Big Band at St. James’ Auditorium. Lunch, dancing, cash bar and door prizes. Tickets $20 from Randy Hoover 705-345-3353 or St. James church office: 705-325-2742.
ALSO! The Orillia Kiwanis Music Festival is finally live again after going virtual during the pandemic. It started on Monday and runs until April 6. Classes and workshops are at St. Paul’s Centre, and are free for the public to attend, although a little donation won’t go amiss either.
This is your chance to hear great young performers and groups and really see all the talent Orillia has. You can download your copy of the program and plan your days, here.
Next week, more great events in April, stay tuned.
If you have arts news, send it to [email protected] by Tuesday at noon to be included.
