Hey folks, The Small Glories have had an awesome summer and we're looking forward to a great Autumn and Winter season. We had a fantastic time at the Tonder Festival in Tonder, Denmark this past August. Some of the greatest audiences we've ever had and some amazing shows on the original stage of the festival to boot. We can't thank Maria and everyone at the festival enough for inviting us to perform this year! We can only hope to one day go back to this spectacular event.
The week after Tonder saw us making our way to the UK for a string of dates. We were honoured to have a headlining spot at the Didmarton Bluegrass Festival, where Cara busted out her amazing dancing banjo skills and wowed the audience. Also a fabulous sold out house concert on the beaches of Whitstable hosted by our good pals Johnny & Anna Fewings. We played the famous Green Note stage in Camden, London where folks squished tightly into the small room and shared a terrific evening of music, stories and laughter. There was a performance in Lewes at the Con Club presented by our friends at Union Music where we met an unforgiving local who almost reported us to the authorities because of how we parked our rental car as we loaded out of the venue. Eek! The tour ended with one night in Wales where we played a brand new venue that specializes in American BBQ cuisine. It was a pleasant surprise to be eating such delicious food and drink accompanied with some very interesting people. One of our super fans drove three hours to watch us perform and three hours home after the show! We have so much love for the people in the UK and can't wait to get back there in the spring of 2018.
This Autumn has already seen us travel twice to Cape Breton, NS and once to North Carolina, USA. We started in Sydney, NS at Contact East where we showcased to talent buyers and concert presenters in hopes of booking more work in 2018-19 seasons. It is such a beautiful part of the country and the people there are incredibly welcoming and friendly. The second time to Cape Breton was for the Celtic Colours Festival. TSG was invited to be apart of the Song House. For six days we wrote songs alongside five other great Canadian songwriters (James Keelaghan, Bruce Guthro, Lynn Miles, and Catherine MacLellan) and then performed them all at the "Songs From Scratch" concert. It was an amazing week of songwriting, cooking, eating, and hanging out with some of the greatest writers in the land. Not to mention a short canoe on the Bras d'Or Lakes and taking part in the World's Smallest Golf Tournament at the Dundee Golf and Resort. After playing best ball rules, everyone finished with the same score. It was too much fun.
We sandwiched in a trip to the IBMA's in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was another music conference where we showcased four times throughout the week, had a booth set up in the trad room, and mingled with a new musical community. We're definitely a folk band, but what a pleasant surprise to be so embraced and welcomed but the wider bluegrass community. We had a wonderful time schmoozing with new friends and hanging with some old pals who happened to show up at the conference to show their support. Much love to you, Robin Willis, for feeding us all week and sending us home with Cane Toad plectrum bags, kisses and memories that will last us a lifetime.
After all these amazing shows and tours we still have a handful of dates ahead of us in Alberta; Saturday, October 21 @ Beneath the Arch in Turner Valley, Friday, October 27 @ The Arden Theatre in St. Albert just outside of Edmonton, AB, and Friday, November 17 @ Fish Creek Concerts in Calgary, AB.
We'll be Toronto this week for the Folk Music Ontario Conference showcasing for upcoming seasons. And in November we'll be in Stamford, Connecticut showcasing at the North East Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference.
In December, January and the early part of February TSG will be touring Australia with dates at Woodford Folk Festival, Cygnet Folk Festival, and Festival of Small Halls Australia along with a few others. Check out our show page for more details on this up coming tour.