Sunday June 3, 2018 Bishop Cronyn Memorial Place
An Afternoon of Intimate Acoustic Performances
Featuring performances by Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, multiple award-winning artist and 2018 CMAOntario Impact Award recipient Michelle Wright, radio-hitmaker and Canadian country music star Aaron Pritchett, consummate road warriors and beloved country-bluegrass trio The Good Brothers and songwriting maven and country queen Patricia Conroy along with special guests Randy Owen and Bob Funk.
Patricia Conroy
Throughout her musical career; songwriting has been an integral a part of Patricia's success.
From her debut album "Blue Angel" where she wrote many of the tracks, it became apparent songwriting was in her blood. Crafting hits like "Direction of Love", "Keep Me Rockin" "Bad Day for Trains" "I Don’t Wanna Be the One" & many more.
Lately Patricia has been writing & having songs recorded with many of Canada's brightest country stars like Meghan Patrick, Leaving Thomas, River Town Saints, Michelle Wright, Jimmy Rankin, Emerson Drive, Leaving Thomas, Bobby Wills, Chad Brownlee, Kansas Stone, Smalltown Pistols, Jessica Mitchell ,Aaron Pritchett, Beverley Mahood, Leah Daniels & Tebey. She also has a song on Reba's latest cd called "God and My Girlfriends”.
2:00pm - 2:30pm
The Good Brothers
Wide Awake Dreamin’, the title of The Good Brothers new album, aptly conveys how the brothers feel as they reflect on decades of writing, recording and performing music together.
In 1970 twin brothers Bruce and Brian Good of Richmond Hill, Ontario, met James Ackroyd from Winnipeg, Manitoba and formed a band simply called James and The Good Brothers. Their first show was with Grand Fund Railroad at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Then came the cross Canada tour on the outrageous Festival Express with such artists as The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Ian & Sylvia, Ten Years After, Traffic and The Band just to name a few. With a little help from friends The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, they recorded their first album on Columbia records. What excitement - the nights at the renowned Troubadour in West Hollywood, the gigs at San Francisco's famed Fillmore West and Winterland Ballroom with The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and the New Riders of The Purple Sage.
Later, James would choose to remain in the U.S. while the brothers returned home to Canada and recruited younger brother Larry. This was 1973 and would be the beginning of a wonderful musical trip... The Good Brothers. Their first gig was the legendary Toronto club The Riverboat, on May 14, 1974. They played simple, straight from the soul music that encompassed country, bluegrass, folk, Celtic and the occasional taste from their rock & roll songbook. Highlighted by Larry's fiery banjo breaks, Bruce's award winning autoharp styles, Brian’s guitar finger picking and their unique sibling harmonies, they produced enough energy to burn down the barn.
It wasn't long before The Good Brothers were packing Toronto's fabled El Mocambo five nights a week; breaking bar records, attendance records and exhausting determined dancers. Then there were eight straight Juno awards for Best Country Group, and headline gigs at Toronto’s Massey Hall and Roy Thompson Hall, The National Art Centre in Ottawa and the weeks at L.A.'s Universal Amphitheatre with their mentor Gordon Lightfoot. There was even a certified gold self-titled double album.
They kept the flame glowing, and the music flowing through out the 80's and 90's and beyond. Canada's musical soundtrack, through all those years, included The Good Brothers.
In 2004 they were honoured by being inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame as well as two nominations for Country Group and Roots Artist of the year at the Canadian Country Music Awards. In 2015 they received a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Toronto Musicians Association and in 2016 were inducted into the North American Country Music Association International Hall of Fame in Tennessee.
This year The Good Brothers are off to Europe again, marking their 39th tour on the other side of the Atlantic. To see the brothers live is an experience not to be missed. The music, intertwined with side splitting stories and song introductions are said to be as entertaining as their songs.
Today the warm family harmonies are still there on their sixteenth recording titled “Wide Awake Dreamin”. Their music lives on and the songs still come straight from their hearts to your tapping toes and the smile on your face.
2:30pm – 3:00pm
Aaron Pritchett
Aaron Pritchett’s legacy continues to be unstoppable. His authentic desire to connect with his fans, whether it be onstage, via his digital platforms, in person or through his music, has sustained and grown a robust and loyal fan base for well over a decade. Artistically, Aaron Pritchett continues to adapt, and evolve, while refusing to abandon the down-home sincerity in his music that has been his trademark since his career inception. Pritchett has charted anthems like “Dirt Road In Em, “Let’s Get Rowdy,” “Hold My Beer (Certified GOLD),” and also appealed to the softer side with powerful hits like “Done You Wrong,” and his recent top 5 smash - “When A Momma’s Boy Meets A Daddy’s Girl.”
“Country Music always appealed to my soul because the songs tackled subject matter that may have been taboo for other formats and told REAL stories about REAL people. Those stories were a lot like mine. I was going fishing, camping, and riding buses to hockey tournaments in even smaller towns than the one I grew up in, life was a lot more country than rock and roll. That feeling resonated with me and I strive to convey that in my music to this day”.
“The Score” released shortly after Aaron Pritchett opened multiple SOLD OUT shows for Garth Brooks, hit the market on June 24th, 2016 and debuted at #1 Canadian on the country charts. The first single “Dirt Road In ‘Em” broke industry paradigms by landing inside the top #10 on the country radio singles chart, marking Aaron’s first return to the Top 10 in over 8 years. The sophomore single, “Out Of The Blue” scored a top 15 spot at radio in November 2016, and the aforementioned “When A Momma’s Boy Meets A Daddy’s Girl,” landed at #5 on the Canadian country singles chart and was the #1 most played Canadian track – as well!
Recently, the industry has caught on to what the fans have always known – which is that Aaron Pritchett belongs in the pantheon of Canada’s most elite artists. In 2017, Pritchett was welcomed back to the nomination circles with a Juno nom for Country Album of the Year, as well as multiple CCMA Award nominations, including Male Artist of the Year! Pritchett’s current single “VW Bus” was the most added single at radio its week of release, as the unprecedented story continues to roll on!
3:00pm – 3:30pm
Michelle Wright
Michelle Wright has been drawing rave reviews for her expressive voice and her distinctive style since her debut CD Do Right By Me was released in Canada. Over the ensuing years, she has released monumentally successful albums in the United States and Canada and enjoys an international career, one that has seen her grace concert stages around the world. She is the first Canadian‐born artist in the modern era of country music to have a Top Ten hit in America with her Arista Records Nashville release, “Take It Like A Man,” a Number One video on CMT‐USA (also for “Take It Like A Man”) and to win a major U.S. music industry award (the Academy of Country Music Top New Female Artist award in 1993).
Signing with Arista/Nashville in 1989, Michelle released her first U.S. album, Michelle Wright, the following year and the first single, “New Kind Of Love,” became her first Top Thirty hit in America. Michelle Wright started a string of thirteen projects released around the world.
All along the way, whether on the radio or at her live shows, fans embraced her songs “Take It Like a Man,” “He Would Be Sixteen,” “Guitar Talk,” “One Good Man,” “Safe In The Arms Of Love,” “Nobody's Girl,” “What Love Looks Like,” “The Answer Is Yes,” “I Surrender” and others. Her duet with Jim Brickman, “Your Love,” and her gospel version of “People Get Ready” only added to the fame of “that girl singer from up north with the snow in her videos.”
For 2018, Michelle is adding two new songs to the list. “My music is always an extension of me,” says Wright, “And each new song is a chance to push a little harder, to dig a little deeper.” In the studio with producer and fellow Canadian Bob Funk, Michelle has recorded the groovin’ “Attitude Is Everything” (Daryl Burgess,/Joanna Cotton) and the gospel tinged ballad, “Lovin’ This Day” (Daryl Burgess, Joanna Cotton/Angie Russell). Bboth of the new songs and the recordings are an intoxicating mix of contemporary country and the R&B roots that have been the foundation of her musical journey.
With a career that includes twenty‐five Top Ten radio hits, millions of records sold, more than forty major awards (including her 2011 induction into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame) and a new label home, Michelle is poised for the next phase of what has already been a stellar musical career. Michelle Wright continues to show her fans that the feisty girl from rural Merlin, Ontario is here to stay. Or as she says, “What a way to make a living! I’ll play music as long as I am able.”
3:30pm – 4:00pm
