CAMROSE BOOSTER APRIL 2010                                                     By Brett Browne

FEEDING A GROWING APPETITE FOR LIVE MUSIC
SUCCESSFUL ROSE CITY ROOTS SEASON DRAWS TO A CLOSE WITH TWO FINAK EVENTS

 

The acclaimed Oysterband is in Camrose this Thursday at Scalliwag's Pub and Rum Bar. The United Kingdom band is one of the high profile performers the Rose City Roots Music Society has attracted to its concert series this season.

 

Live music has definitely taken root in Camrose

 

The Rose City Roots Music Society will wrap up a highly successful season with the two final events in what has been an ambitious 2009-2010 schedule.

 

"This is the most acts we've ever had in one season," says Society member Geraint Osborne who is in charge of booking talent for the group's events at Scalliwags Pub and Rum Bar. "We've had 14 shows this year and most of those have been sold out, which shows that Camrose has a real appetite for live music."

 

A special performance by the renowned Oysterband this Thursday is indicative of the season to date for the Rose City Roots Music Society. The highly acclaimed United Kingdom folk-rock quintet, which has inspired Canadian supergroups like Great Big Sea and Spirit of the West, was a last minute addition to the schedule after they contact the society about a potential performance. Osborne says having the Oysterband come to Camrose was simply too good an opportunity to pass up. Similar arrangements have been made on three other occasions this season, adding dates to a schedule that was already loaded with high profile acts including Garnet Rogers, Po' Girl, The Wheat Pool, the Deep Dark Woods and Stephen Fearing.

 

Osborne says the Rose City Roots Music Society has come a long way from its humble beginnings five years ago when it struggled to attract Alberta-only talent, primarily from Edmonton. Now, high quality acts from across Canada and beyond are actually contacting the Society looking for performance dates.

 

"It's really exciting to see Rose City Roots growing from this little Camrose institution to an Alberta institution, and now getting attention from the rest of Canada and even from the
United States and the U.K.," he states. "We keep asking ourselves, 'What's going on here'?"

 

Osborne says Camrose is a convenient stop-over point for bands organizing an Alberta tour and the Society does its best to ensure each performer enjoys his or her time here. However, the biggest attraction may be the intimate atmosphere of Scalliwag's Pub and Rum Bar and the warm reception the performers get from local audiences.

 

"They like the smaller venue where the audience is actually paying attention to the music. It's a cozy atmosphere with an attentive and respectful audience," he relates. "I think it's a great team effort. Everyone pulls together and makes a great show happen and the fans have been awesome."

 

And, with a wide variety of band and musical styles, Osborne says Rose City Roots performances are attracting more diverse audiences to Scalliwag's.

 

"It's interesting. We're selling out most of the shows, but each audience seems to be different from the next," he says. "The bands are attracting different types of audiences and that's fun to see."

 

Still, with a string of sell-out shows and higher profile acts coming forward all the time, Society members have started to wonder whether a larger facility might be needed to host some of the more popular acts. "It's a good problem to have," explains Osborne. "We're hoping that once the Bailey (Theatre) is up and running, that it will be our venue for the bigger acts that would attract larger audiences."

 

And, Osborne admits the success the Society has enjoyed this season is starting to prompt some discussions about booking a big name act to celebrate the end of their fifth anniversary season next year and about potentially establishing a Rose City Roots festival where the Society could book a number of acts over several days to perform at a variety of venues.

 

In the meantime, he says much of next season's schedule has already been booked, including a special performance by popular Irish punk band the Mahones, who will be stopping on their 20th anniversary tour.

 

This year's Rose City Roots Music schedule will wrap up in May with a performance by Spoon River, a talented band from British Columbia (originally from Montreal) which appeared in the 2007 movie I'm Not There about Bob Dylan.

 

For more information about the Rose City Roots Music Society visit the web-site at: www.rosecityroots.ca

 

CAMROSE BOOSTER 15 SEPTEMBER 2009                                     By Brett Browne

ROSE CITY ROOTS NEW SEASON OFF TO A GREAT START

 

In just three years the Rose City Roots Music Society established a solid fan base in the Camrose area, while developing an enviable reputation with many of the bands currently touring Canada.

 

The Society opened its 2009-2010 season with a sold-out show at Scalliwag's Pub and Rum Bar on September 12 featuring Winnipeg Band Dusty Roads who planned their entire western Canada tour around their Camrose performance.

 

Rose City Roots expects another sell-out this Saturday, October 3, when Canadian music icon Garnet Rogers takes to the stage at Scalliwag's.
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CAMROSE BOOSTER 26 MAY 2009                         Submitted by Camille McLellan

A MEMORABLE CONCLUSION TO ROSE CITY ROOTS MUSIC SEASON

 

Thanks to a couple of alarmingly attractive young men, my sister and I got seats close to the stage at Scalliwag's to enjoy the band F&M, proudly presented by the Rose City Roots Music Society May 9th.

 

With bittersweet elation, we awaited the society's last show of an amazing season of music and friendship. Warm faces flickered in the low lighting of the pub, oddly though not uncharacteristically intimate; there was definitely a sense of both closure and accomplishment.
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CAMROSE BOOSTER FEBRUARY 2009                                            By Brett Browne

GROUP PROVING CAMROSE HAS APPETITE FOR ORIGINAL MUSIC

 

A group of local music lovers are proving that there is a healthy appetite in the community for live music. The Rose City Roots Music Society has been attracting bigger and bigger crowds to its monthly musical events and has even had a few recent sell-outs.

 

"We're starting to make a name for ourselves," explains Society member Geraint Osborne who is in charge of booking acts for the monthly presentations held at Scalliwags Pub and Rum Bar.
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CAMROSE BOOSTER 2007                                                                By Brett Browne

ROSE CITY ROOTS MUSIC SOCIETY PREPARING FOR FIRST CONCERT

 

A new group dedicated to promoting live music in Camrose is looking forward to its first concert. The Rose City Roots Music Society is presenting acoustic roots and blues musician Kat Danser at the Hypnotika Lounge on Wednesday, March 28, starting at 8:00 p.m.

 

"The Rose City Roots Music Society is a non-profit group of motivated volunteers who want to bring original live music to Camrose in a non- smoking environment," explains society president Andrew Struthers, who feels there is an untapped audience in the community who enjoys live music, but avoids the smoky environment of traditional bars and lounges where it is typically performed.
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