Ian Robb, Ann Downey, and Shelley Posen
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Finest Kind is the remarkable folk trio from Ottawa, Canada whose
exquisite harmony singing and brilliant vocal arrangements are bringing
a fresh sense of excitement and discovery to the performance of
old songs. The trio's glorious sound, served up with easy-going
humour, has won a devoted following across North America.
Finest Kind was formed in Ottawa, Canada, in 1991 by Ian
Robb, Ann Downey, and Shelley
Posen. Ian, originally from London, England, is renowned
as one of North America's most gifted performers of British folksong,
a concertina player extraordinaire, charter member of Toronto's
Friends of Fiddler's Green, and composer of folk standards such
as "The Old Rose and Crown." Ann, who hails from the southwestern
U.S., plays guitar, banjo, and bass, and has performed in bands
playing old-time and cowboy music, bluegrass, klezmer, jazz, and
swing in North America and Europe. Shelley, a professional folklorist
from Toronto, is a versatile singer and multi instrumentalist who
has spent a lifetime researching, teaching, writing about, performing,
and sometimes composing songs. Both Shelley and Ian are columnists
for Sing Out! magazine. The trio is often joined on stage by fiddler
and mandolinist James Stephens, a master of styles ranging from
Irish to Cape Breton, bluegrass to swing.
www.finestkind.ca
Community Sing Song Leaders
Friday Feb. 4, 8 p.m
Saturday, Feb 5, 8 pm
Pub Sing
Saturday, Feb 5, 11 pm with
Shelley Posen
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The
Singing Tradition of the Copper Family
with Finest Kind and Bob Blackman / 11
am to noon
For over 200 years, one family in a small English farming
village has
passed down an extraordinary group of traditional folksongs.
The
Copper Family of Rottingdean, Sussex, has been singing for
at least
seven consecutive generations. Their songs, and their unique
a
cappella harmony style, have influenced many other folksingers
throughout England and America. At this workshop, the Canadian
trio
Finest Kind will perform some of their favorite songs from
the
Coppers' repertoire. WKAR Radio's Bob Blackman (who wrote
a
comprehensive article about the family for Sing Out! magazine
in
2001) will talk about the Coppers and play a few of their
recordings.
Harmony Singing / 12:20 - 1:20 pm
Join
Canada's favorite folk music trio and weave your way through
fabulous
harmony lines of popular songs.
We Make Singers Bold: Yorkshire
Pub Caroling with Shelley Posen / 1:40
- 2:40
For over a century, villagers in Yorkshire, England, have
gathered at Christmas in the cheery warmth of local pubs to
sing magnificent, old, four part harmony carols—mostly
Victorian-era treasures heard no longer in mainstream churches,
seldom in mass media, never in elevators or shopping malls!
Singing these carols is now also a cherished local Christmas
tradition in a neighborhood pub in Ottawa, Canada, thanks
to Finest Kind’s Shelley Posen. Join him at the festival
as he teaches some of these highly singable, unclichéed
hymns of yuletide cheer. You just might want to start a pub
caroling tradition of your own next Christmas. Music provided.
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