Live at Aeolian Hall

Music'n Arts Collide ChristmasJump to Info for Music'n Arts Collide Christmas

With Special Guests

Sarah Smith Jump to Info for Sarah Smith

Paul Murray Jump to Info for Paul Murray

Brian Good Jump to Info for Brian Good

Friday December 07, 2018
7:30 pm   |  Doors Open @ 6:30 pm
$32.20 Regular (advance)    $43.50 VIP Package (advance)    $37.20 Regular (door)    $48.50 VIP Package (door)   

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Headliner

Music'n Arts Collide Christmas

paulmurray.com/musicnartscollide/

In minutes, 8 foot canvases come alive in unorthodox ways. Murray’s the only artist on the planet painting this way, it’s mind-blowing!

Sarah Smith’s dynamic singing and inspiring original songs, along with powerful covers of rock classics by Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash, Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Little Big Town, Allman Brothers, Brian Adams, Tina Turner, will highlight this special night.

“These award-winning talents, will take you on an energy-filled journey with paint & song that will leave you spellbound. A powerful combination rock classics & originals by Sarah Smith & her band, mixed with revolutionary performance/speed painting by Murray. He’s been labeled “The Jimi Hendrix with a paint brush.”  Come experience what 180 countries did in the Opening Ceremonies of the FINA World Championships.

Post-concert a FREE 30 min. Masterclass discovery session with Sarah & Paul. A fun, inspirational experience, learn the business, the secrets, and what it takes to follow your dreams.

Come feel the passion and power of raw original talent.

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Sarah Smith is exactly where she needs to be.

As she shares her third full-length CD, 11, with the world, the London, Ontario pop/rock singer-songwriter is reflecting on lessons learned and dreaming of a bright future.

“This album sums up the last few years of my life,” Sarah says. “Searching for happiness, I came across misery. Wanting to succeed, I discovered how to fail. Trying to balance, I ended up falling. Looking for answers, I found them here all along. And, in all of this, I was able to continually grasp on to hope that life was putting me exactly where I needed to be.”

Produced by Juno-winning engineer Kevin Doyle, 11 is Sarah at her insightful and vulnerable best. The record features 17 new songs about love, life, and seeing the good in things – even the dark things.

“Life isn’t always easy,” she explains. “Sometimes there’s pain. Sometimes we make mistakes, but there are always things we can learn about ourselves and the world. It takes courage, but there are always reasons to have hope. Writing this record helped me get perspective, again, on how beautiful the world can be.”

11 follows Sarah’s previous full-length CDs, Stronger Now (2012) and The Journey (2014). Like her previous work, the CD weaves through a variety of styles, from rock (Changing My Mind, Runaway Stay) to pop (The Dark, Girl, Undertow) and country (Lay It On The Line, Sunrise). Also like her previous work, 11 features her honest lyrics, memorable hooks, and absolutely unmistakable voice. The album introduces some new sounds to her music as well, with different songs including horn arrangements, cello and steel drum.

A seasoned road warrior whose full-time touring schedule dates back to her days in Canadian rock band The Joys, Sarah continues to feel most at home on-stage. She plays nearly 300 shows per year, primarily in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Along the way, she has shared the stage with artists including Melissa Etheridge, Sass Jordan, Emm Gryner, Craig Cardiff, Joel Plaskett, David Wilcox, and many others. Whether it’s just her and her acoustic guitar or her full band, she is a mesmerizing performer. The 2015 DVD Sarah Smith: Plugged and Unplugged captures Sarah and her band in peak form, both live and in the studio.

Sarah has won and been nominated for many awards throughout her career. Her video for Into the Light, directed by Stacy Poulos and shot in California, won both a 2016 Telly Award and a 2016 Akademia Music Award for Best Video in the Pop Rock category. In 2015, she won the Toronto Independent Music Award Best Adult Contemporary honour, plus the Best Rock Artist at the London Music Awards, and Best Rock Artist at the Jack Richardson Music Awards. Music from The Journey has been featured on shows including CBC’s Cracked and the movie Anatomy of a Love Seen, directed by L.A-based director Marina Rice Bader.

While the accolades are appreciated, Sarah says for her it’s still all about the music.

“In the end, 11 is about blessings,” she says. “Sometimes you have to take a step back and appreciate the blessings in your life. Music is one of mine, and I’m excited to share these new songs with people all over the world!”

sarah-light

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

  • 2017 – Top Professional Entertainer at The Reader’s Choice Hamilton Community News
  • 2017 – Finalist in the “Great American Song Contest” and “Canadian Songwriting Competition”
  • 2016 – Best of Festival, Adult Contemporary Music Video at the Berkeley Video and Film Festival for Into
    The Light
  • 2016 – Best Video and Pop/Rock Song at The Akademia Music Awards
  • 2015 – Best Adult Contemporary at The Toronto Independent Music Awards
  • 2015 – Best Rock Artist at the London Music Awards
  • 2015 – Best Rock Artist at The JRMAs
  • 2014 – Fan Favourite at The JRMAs
  • 2014 – Best Singer/Songwriter at The London Music Awards
  • 2014 – Best Rock Group at the London Music Awards
  • 2014 – Top-10 Album by The London Free Press
  • 2013 – Best Singer/Songwriter at The JRMAs
  • 2012 – Best Singer/Songwriter at The London Music Awards
  • 2012 – #1 Album by The London Free Press
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Special Guest

Paul Murray

paulmurray.com

“I’m trying to capture the last flicker of light of the past, the character and depth of the people of yesterday. I don’t know what an artist’s job is exactly. I do know I’m trying to capture something that is almost lost – fading fast.”
~ Paul Murray

In pencil and in paint, Paul Murray records the everyday lives of a few who remain hidden from this world. The Southern Appalachian mountain folk and the rural Canadian farmer, whose recluse or pioneer lifestyle, are detailed in Murray’s timeless faces.

“Murray is interested in the simple lives of his subjects in this complex age. His desire is to preserve the heritage and traditions of our forebears. This is not merely a nostalgic journey, but a chance to remember time-honored values. Murray continues to capture on canvas the inner beauty and the essence of these people. Many of his subjects live their entire lives without what the modern world considers necessities, such as electricity and running water.” *(quote from Jay Demier – Louise, writer of his book “Mirrored Souls”)

His subjects have a richness within that we find distant, strange, yet wonderful. His talent to capture the depth of every soul is not only unique but well mastered. In each weathered wrinkle, a life story is told, far past a glistening eye; the detail is revealed it is not what is visible but what is felt by the viewer. Murray’s use of negative space is rare, and here he balances beautifully; mystery, mood, and technique.

In the oil paintings, Daniel, Joseph and Aunt Emily, it is made easy for us to experience the hard work, the joy and the inner peace of his subjects. In the paintings of his childhood friend Joseph age 100, in the pencil-Aunt Emily age 103, and in the children, we understand a peace of heart, a pride, a wisdom, and an innocence. To capture all of this it is a task is not easily achieved.  Murray does this while practicing the oldest and most arduous methods of painting. He has discovered passes on the dyeing techniques of the Dutch & Flemish masters of the 16 century.

His art studies:

Born just outside of Windsor, ON in a village called “St. Clair Beach”, Murray had the countryside just out his window. Always preoccupied with the study of his art; at the age of 10, Paul didn’t find it hard to skip school and walk 12 miles to visit his old hermit friends Joeseph and his siblings. These were the last of the pioneer lifestyles in this part of Canada. When he wasn’t on the ancient farm in Belle River, Ontario, he was in the library learning the techniques of the art masters of old and of current times. Some of those that most excited him were Rembrandt, Wyeth, and Rockwell.

Murray was already displaying his work at local art shows, where his paintings and commissions sold. At age 13, he left school and dedicated himself to preserving these rare people. Paul was either on his friend’s homestead learning to make tools by hand and live off the land, reading about the masters of art, or researching the history of Appalachian culture. Paul documents the lives of his subjects, he doesn’t just drop by for a short visit, he knows them for life, and even lives amongst them at times. Imagine yourself living this isolation, not trusting strangers, and having a young strange man knock on your door! Murray has chosen a risky career, walking in places where foreigners are not wanted. Although he travels these places with great respect and caution, he says it is the most fulfilling career one could have.

Many artists work in one medium only, but Murray has various mediums; pencil, pastel, egg tempera, oil and watercolor. He read all that he could on the elusive and eclectic mountain people of Appalachia and the Canadian settlers of the area. In seeing relatives in the south, he visited these areas, since an early age and the mountains and its people intrigued him deeply. Here he recognized the unique purity of such deep isolation, the hard struggle to survive, the pride and hundreds of years of knowledge kept alive in this hard place.

International Exposure & Public response:

Paul Murray began publishing his paintings and solo exhibitions at age 16. Most if not all of the limited releases of his art have sold out and his art has shown in almost 200 galleries internationally. His accomplishments to date are the publishing of his book in 1989, “Mirrored Souls – A study of Paul Murray’s art”. At this time special showings for schools were set up where Murray gave insight and motivational talks. He donated over 200 books libraries and schools and he traveled to the schools giving talks in 1990. Murray continually gives back to the community. His donations to many charities have helped raise more than a million dollars. His three day, one-man art galas every fall have garnered 3000-5000 patrons from all over the world. At times the lines on opening night shut down the roads leading to the lakeside venue in his home area. Since his paintings and in-depth research take many months, people sometimes get a rare chance to view both finished and unfinished works and are excited to learn about his development process.

Paul Murray is still a young man yet he is a veteran in his field. Let’s see what the future brings in the life of a man that has only ever wanted one thing.

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Special Guest

Brian Good

thegoodbrothers.com/

Brian Good is a Canadian country music singer. This iconic frontman has released 20 albums while touring extensively through Europe, Canada and the U.S. with the Good Brothers Band.

“I’m not only a friend, I’m a fan”
— Gordon Lightfoot

Brian started playing music at the age of ten in a musical family of Celtic and French Canadian roots. His inspiration was fueled by artists of the times, such as Hank Williams, The Carter Family, Bob Dylan, The Clancy Brothers and Gordon Lightfoot to name a few. Brian, alongside his identical twin Bruce and brother Larry have toured together for their entire lives, and continue doing so to this day.

“One of Canada’s national treasure’s”
–George Jones

Over his accomplished career Brian has earned eight Juno awards, two Canadian Country Music awards, a double gold album, including inductions into both the Canadian and North American Country Music Hall of Fame.

“Never seen anybody work a room like the Good Brothers”
–Sylvia Tyson

From the beginnings of his professional music career in the Haight Ashbury days of the 70’s touring with the likes of Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin, Brian’s unique approach to his music is on full display in the nine song offering “Good as Gold”, now available for stream or download everywhere.

“My favorite country band”
–Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins

This 20th Album, “Good as Gold” (AMG Records) is a culmination of lifelong experiences penned to his unique flavor of roots music sparkled with a dash of country, folk and rock. It was recorded in Toronto, Nashville, Strawberry AR and Los Angeles.

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