News
GREGG LAWLESS w/ very special guest LORI ANNA REID
HUGH'S ROOM, TORONTO
8:30 P.M., SATURDAY, JANUARY 26th
416-531-6604
http://www.hughsroom.com/
This year's concert features lots of new songs and a new singer. A native of St. John's NFLD, Lori Anna Reid has performed at Massey Hall, Carnegie Hall, The Montreal Jazz Festival and has sung duets with Daniel Lanois, U2's Bono, and Emmylou Harris. She was the featured vocalist for last year's National Arts Centre Christmas Concert in Ottawa and also performed a private concert at the residence of our Governor General, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean. Lori Anna will be singing a whole whack of new songs Gregg has written for her. Also appearing with Gregg is John Sheard, pianist extraordinaire and musical director of the CBC's Vinyl Café Orchestra. Call now to book a table for you and bunch of your friends. Most folks go as a large group and have dinner before the show .. and the food's great. 416-531-6604 or or e-mail .
ON CBC'S VINYL CAFÉ w/ STUART MCLEAN
Gregg met Jess Milton, producer of The Vinyl Café, when he was working with Stuart McLean on a special Canada broadcast of "Songs In The Key of Canada", a show he toured in theatres across Ontario a couple of years ago. Jess recently asked Gregg if I'd be interested in contributing a song for a special show. She was looking for Canadian songwriters who could provide a low-fi recording of a song with which they have a special history. In the spirit of low fidelity, Gregg phoned her back and sang his contribution into her answering machine. Judging by the emails we've received lately, more than a few of you heard it!
CHARACTER EDUCATION: LITERACY AND VALUES THROUGH MUSIC
http://www.gregglawless.com/literacy.html
It all started out over coffee with York Region DSB music and literacy consultant Yana Ioffe, who Gregg had worked with on the highly rewarding Hana's Suitcase CD project.
Gregg wanted to start an intensive school song writing program that would involve 30 school visits (3 visits to 10 different schools), followed by a live concert in a major theatre where professional musicians would accompany the students in a gala, live-to-DVD, finale performance. Yana wanted the program to become a cross-curricular one that would involve music, literacy, art, and character education. Now - five years later - "Character Education: Literacy Through Music" has been implemented in three different school boards, is being studied by scores of other school boards from across North America and Europe, is the basis of a doctoral thesis for U.S. student, was showcased at the Quest For Leading Edge Learning Conference, and was just awarded the National Schools of Character prize in Washington, D.C. Sounds like Yana and Gregg should go out for coffee more often.
Hana's Suitcase:
http://hanassuitcase.ca/classprojects.html
Dare to Dream: the Quest for Leading Edge Learning Conference:
http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/page.cfm?id=ITQ000007
Character Education Partnership: Promising Practices Award:
http://www.character.org/
Closer to home, Gregg will also be presenting a song writing workshop for TDSB secondary teachers on November 30th as part of a professional development workshop.
SUMMER SUMMARY
As per usual, Gregg kept his summer shows to a minimum. After a crazy November - May gig schedule he spent most of the summer catching up on admin., writing new songs, and preparing new projects. A special thanks to those of you who came to concerts at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre (St. Catharines), The Old Ormsby Church (Bancroft), Newmarket Theatre, Just Milton Folks Concert Series, and at a special Members' Night at Oakville Centre For The Performing Arts with Rik Emmett and Sean Cullen. After two weeks of writing and relaxing in NFLD. Gregg completed six songs for future Thomson-Nelson student textbooks that will be used by Grade 4-6 students across Canada, and also produced and recorded a third, full-length CD in French called "Oui!", under the pseudonymn "Gregg LeRock".
RIVERDALE SHARE CONCERT
http://riverdaleshare.com/2007/
Gregg will be hosting the 16th annual Riverdale Share Concert at The Danforth Music Hall on Sunday, December 9th. This year's show will include, among others, Steven Page (Barenaked Ladies), Murray McLauchlan, Lorraine Segato (Parachute Club), Cindy Church (Quartette), CBC's Jian Ghomeshi, and Russell deCarle (Prairie Oyster). Get your tix now, this show always sells out!