We kick off the winter season with Scottish-born Canadian, David Francey, one of today’s finest singer-songwriters. Winner of three Junos (Canada’s top music award) in less than five years, Francey, who has released eight CDs to date, will be joined by American ballad maker and multi-instrumentalist, Craig Werth. The opening act for the show, Beaucoup Blue, is described by Sarah Craig of Caffe Lena as “. . . This powerful yet gentle father-and-son duo (who) gets their audience lost in reverie with arrestingly soulful blues-based music. Their original songs blend folk, R&B, jazz, country, and bluegrass together in songs that might be classics, or might just sound like it.”

David Francey was born in 1954 in Ayrshire, Scotland, where as a paper boy he got his first taste of the working life. He learned to read at an early age, and by age eleven was devouring the newspapers he delivered. This helped establish his interest in politics and world events while developing the social conscience that forms the backdrop of his songs. He was twelve when his family immigrated to Toronto. He says he can trace his love of the land, the history, and the people of his adopted country to weekend family drives exploring southern Ontario. Music played a large part in these family outings. They sang traditional Scottish tunes as they drove through the Canadian countryside. Dad and sister Muriel sang melody, while mother and David sang harmonies. His attachment to Canada grew with travel. He hitched across the country three times, then thumbed his way to the Yukon.

This attachment surfaces in his songs of rail lines, farms, and the St. Lawrence Seaway. He grew to understand the people while working in Toronto train yards, the Yukon bush, and as a carpenter in the Eastern Townships. These experiences color his first CD, Torn Screen Door, with songs like “Hard Steel Mill,” “Gypsy Boys,” and “Working Poor” and his second, *Far End of Summer*, with “Highway,” “Flowers of Saskatchewan” and “February Morning Drive.” In concert David is a singer and a storyteller. His wry humor and astute observations combined with his openhearted singing style have earned him a loyal following. His most recent recording is Seaway — a collaboration with Mike Ford of Moxy Fruvous fame with songs based on their voyage on the M.V. Algoville. Francey also had the honor of receiving the prestigious SOCAN Folk Music Award.

Since October 2006, Craig Werth has served as the accompanist/co-arranger for three-time Juno-winner David Francey. Craig served as co-producer for Francey’s Right of Passage, which won a best album Juno in 2008. A New Hampshire musician, songwriter, educator, and humorist, Werth has been performing at coffeehouses, folk festivals, concert halls, and schools (from kindergarten to Elderhostel) for . . . a wicked long time. He also brings to his writing and performing a life-load of experience as a counselor, teacher, outreach caseworker, builder of musical instruments, and family man. Craig’s compositions explore topics ranging from natural wonders like whales, dinosaurs, and zucchinis; to relationships, parenting, his Newfoundland heritage, and his Long Island and Catskill Mountain roots. He performs primarily with voice, guitars, bouzouki, and mountain dulcimer.

Photo of David and Craig by Beth Girdler

Beaucoup Blue is the Philadelphia based duo of David and Adrian Mowry. Father and son have been performing their music strongly rooted in the blues, up and down the eastern seaboard. Bridging many gaps in American music, their soulful traditional and contemporary style mesh into an innovative and authentic sound. Although blues is a staple in their repertoire, they also base their love of music from Folk, Soul, R&B, Jazz, Country, and Bluegrass. All these interests and influences come out in their original songwriting in a unique way. A handsome range of instruments like six and twelve string guitars, slide guitar, Dobro and the two soulful voices blend together like only family members can, affecting audiences wherever they perform. Music critics have raved about Beaucoup Blue: “This is what acoustic blues should sound like but so rarely do. Father and son, David and Adrian Mowry, deliver a surprisingly soulful performance. Their singing is tough and controlled and their guitar work is crisp and mournful.” (Tune-UP Magazine), “Covers and reworkings mix nicely with their own compositions like the tender “Crying Won’t Help You” and the roots number “Shiver To The Bone” and “An acoustic masterpiece” (Big City Blues Magazine). Please listen and hear for yourself what this unique family duo has to offer.

He’s bound to stumble at some point, isn’t he? But so far, Canadian folkster David Francey has hit the bull’s eye every time he’s headed into the studio. Right of Passage, the two-time Juno winner’s newest collection, finds Francey spinning economical, evocative tales about turning points in life: leaving places, finally telling your girl you love her, confronting the ultimate turning point of death. For the most part a quiet, reflective album, it’s rooted in the everyday, the songs’ spare imagery that of rain, a garden gate, Quebec City’s old stone walls. Francey, as always, excels at narrative, his warm Scottish burr welcoming the listener into his own life and that of his characters. Guitar, fiddle and restrained backing vocals are among Francey’s accompanists.” Patrick Langston, Ottawa Citizen

Thirteen short songs about life’s transitional moments — written, for the most part, during his recent summer gig crewing on a Great Lakes ore carrier — bear all the Francey watermarks: lyrical economy, harmony-inducing melodies, wry humour with a hint of melancholy, intimate vocal performances and tasty accompaniment. This is classic Francey — personal, evocative, a work of considerable beauty Greg Quill, Toronto Star

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Their voices work superbly together, frequently attaining a mesmeric panache that must be thrilling to view in person. Beaucoup Blue is a versatile, imaginative team that has something to say and say it with an adventurous sense of personality from the bottom of their hearts. Sing Out! Magazine

Beaucoup Blue is riveting and haunting, with that kind of beauty you can still hear long after the last note fades away. Hear for yourself two generations coming together for the common good of great music everywhere. City Paper Rochester, NY