Featuring a fine slate of western Canadian roots musicians, the ‘Front Porch Roots Revue’ arrives in Red Deer Jan. 14.
The eclectic show runs at The Matchbox Theatre starting at 7:30 p.m.
Singer/songwriter Bobby Cameron is a long-standing member of the Edmonton roots/rock scene and wears several creative hats from that of performer to producer and mentor of emerging artists.
For the Red Deer show, he’ll be joined by Ron Rault, Stew MacDougall, Crawdad Cantera, Thom Moon and Tim Williams.
As for Cameron, he’s been described as a “superbly skilled guitar player with a powerful, emotional style.” He was raised in Cape Breton (is now based in Edmonton) and the musical sensibilities of the East Coast are clearly a part of his music.
But he’s also a prolific performer in a spectrum of genres from folk and roots to blues-rock. It was in Edmonton that Cameron formed The Bobby Cameron Band and promptly began touring and gigging across Canada building his fan base one city at a time.
And when it’s come to laying down tracks, he’s consistently found himself with outstanding talent to guide the process.
His first self-titled indie disc was produced by Randy Staub (U2, Metallica, Bon Jovi). His second CD, Drowning on Dry Land was mixed by the renowned engineer Mike Plotnikoff (The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Kiss).
His third project, Emotional Drift was recorded in Nashville by Miles Wilkinson and mastered at Sony Studios in New York.
Besides keeping up a busy pace as a performer, the past several years have also seen some pivotal chapters in Cameron’s career. His collaborating with Jully Black resulted in a song on her 2008 Juno award winning CD. In 2007 he garnered Toronto Exclusive Magazine Award’s Best Blues Artist, Best Blues Song for the rollicking tune Sueanna and Artist of the Year.
He also received a platinum sales award for co-writing on Canadian Idol winner Ryan Malcolm’s Home album.
From 2002 to 2006 Cameron was a staff songwriter/producer for Carlin America Music Publishing out of New York, and also a guest and guitar slinger for the late blues icon Long John Baldry.
Over the years Cameron has teamed up with lots of musical greats from Jeff Healey, Chris de Burg, Chuck Levall and Bernard Fowler of the Rolling Stones to Tom Cochrane, Blue Rodeo, Colin James, Burton Cummings and Big Sugar.
His latest disc, co-produced and co-written with John Capek was released in the fall of 2009.
Meanwhile, as for the other folks appearing at the Front Porch Roots Revue, the sheer variety is compelling. Stew MacDougall is a former member of Ian Tyson’s Chinook Arch Ryders and k.d. Lang’s band the Reclines. His tunes have been recorded by folks ranging from Tyson to Randy Travis an the Great Western Orchestra.
Crawdad Cantera has worked with a bunch of American blues artists including Lazy Lester and Mojo Buford. Cantera also plays with the electric blues band Jimmy and the Sleepers who last released a CD in 2007.
Tim Williams’ career stretches back to southern California in the 1960s when he ventured out as a young blues player on the coffee house scene.
By the time he was 19, he was opening shows for John Fahey and Hoyt Axton, and was well on his way to a record deal before he turned 21.
Also set to perform is Ron Rault who has recorded with folks such as Johnny Shines and Louisiana Red.
Rounding out the list is Thom Moon, who is considered to be one of the most musical drummers to ever emerge from western Canada. Hailing from Bragg Creek, he was a drummer in Ian Tyson’s drummer for 17 years playing on records ranging from Old Corrals and Sagebrush to Live at Longview.
Over the years he has teamed up with a range of artists from Amos Garrett and Cindy Church to Tim Williams and Crystal Plamondon.
Tickets for the Front Porch Roots Revue ($27.50) are available at The Matchbox or by calling 403-341-6500.
-Weber
