Kitchen Concert Series 2020

2020 ARTISTS:

Dave Penny & Daunt Lee

Colleen Power

Andrea Monro

Matthew Byrne

Jim Payne & Fergus O’Byrne

Ian Foster & Nancy Hynes

Soundbone’s Kitchen Concert Series presents some of Newfoundland and Labrador’s top performing artists, recorded in their homes.  Visual images from around the Province are also featured.

The concerts were recorded by the artists themselves and edited by musician/film-maker Ian Foster in 2020. Soundbone Kitchen Concerts is produced by Eric West, artistic director of the Soundbone Foundation. The six concerts premiered on Soundbone’s YouTube channel last year and are now available for viewing at any time. All the concerts are free.

Performing artists featured in the 2020 series included Ian Foster, Nancy Hynes, Jim Payne, Fergus O’Byrne, Matthew Byrne, Andrea Monro, Colleen Power, Dave Penny, and Daunt Lee. The images displayed in the videos are by photographer Dennis Minty. Caroline Clarke designed the introductory graphic. The music for the closing credits was performed and recorded by Gerry Strong and Eric West.

Dave Penny has written some of the most memorable comical songs and parodies to come out of Newfoundland and Labrador in recent years. With his cat curled comfortably up against the piano, Dave sings four of his latest ditties from his cozy home in St John’s. He is accompanied by Daunt Lee on guitar and back-up vocals.

Colleen Power is a singer/songwriter who is originally from Freshwater, Placentia Bay, but now makes her home in St. John’s. Her songs encompass a wide range of topics and styles. Fluently bilingual, she writes and sings in both English and French.

This singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from St. John’s has a very expressive voice and writes compelling lyrics. Andrea sings three recently composed original songs. The first, ‘Jumbo’, is from the viewpoint of a famous circus elephant (“32,000 miles I’ve gone / In a railway car alone”). “Radio Flyer” was inspired by a movie about two little boys who decide to build an airplane out of their wagon to escape from their troubled home. The final song, “Standing Up in the Kitchen”, came from spending time alone during the pandemic – longing for the time when things will return to normal.

Considered by many to be one of Canada’s finest folk singers, Matthew Byrne performs three classic ballads from the British Isles. “Three Score and Ten” commemorates British fishermen who lost their lives during a storm in 1889. “Jack Ashton” is about a person who would tell the most outrageously exaggerated lies, but with a twinkle in his eye. The concert finishes with “The Banks of the Bann”, which tells a tale of seduction, parting, and reunion on the banks of the River Bann.

Jim Payne & Fergus O’Byrne, two of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most respected folksingers, deliver an entertaining mix of traditional ballads along with a couple of Jim’s original songs.

Ian Foster and Nancy Hynes perform an intimate concert from their sunlit home in St John’s. Ian’s evocative lyrics and elegant guitar work combine with Nancy’s beautiful harmonies to tell stories about moving on from the past, exploring outer space, and honoring legendary songwriter Ron Hynes.