The Victoria Folk Music Society acknowledges with respect and gratitude the Coast Salish People upon whose traditional territories we live, work, and play. We honour and
give special thanks to the Lekwungen and Saanich peoples, also called the Songhees, Esquimalt, Tsartlip, Pauquachin, Tsawout and Tseycum First Nations.

Our Logo: Queen Victoria playing a banjo. VFMS: The Victoria Folk Music Society; 48 Years and Counting...

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June and Onward…
What a fabulous Spring season it’s been at the Folk…rousing jams kicking off each Sunday night followed with exceptional open stage sets and phenomenal feature performances! Wow!! And how about those two – yes two!! – ’60s Folk Revival Concerts that Denis Donnelly hosted for us with sooooooo many members, past and present, coming out to sing and play with him? AMAZING!! How ever do you follow that? Well, with a June full of more, that’s how, and then with a well-deserved Summer Break to give our faithful volunteers a breather and everyone opportunity to partake in the myriad other musical offerings coming up…in Victoria, on the islands, and even on the continent!

As hard as it is to imagine (and for the first time in living memory if you don’t count COVID!) the Victoria Folk Music Society will indeed be closed for July and August! It’s a thing. In fact, all the other local folk clubs have been doing it all along and it feels like the right time for us to give it a try, as well. Maybe it will become our thing, too? Or maybe we’ll miss being together so darn much we’ll go back to 50 Sundays a year in 2024! Time will tell, and meanwhile please mark your calendars accordingly. Also, please do let other folks know who may not yet have heard the news. Definitely mark down Sunday, August 20th as the date for the VFMS Annual Summer Jam and Social Gathering in the Park. Beacon Hill Park, that is, by the Rose Garden, 2-4pm, EVERYONE welcome, BYOE (Bring Your Own Everything) especially a smile on your face and a song in your heart! Most importantly, be sure to mark down September 3rd as our first Sunday back from holidays and be sure to join in on the launching of a whole new year of singing and playing! Although there won’t be another hardcopy newsletter before September, Ron Gillmore will be keeping the website and Facebook page running throughout and please don’t hesitate to phone or email me with any questions or just to chat.
Happy trails to y’all, Carol Aileen, for The Folk

The Victoria Folk Music Society (VFMS)
Every Sunday
CLOSED for July & August 2023
at 7:30 PM
at “Norway House”,
1110 Hillside Ave.
Victoria, BC
(between Quadra St.
and Cook St.
on the #4 bus route)

Admission: $8.00;
16 yrs. & under, Free;
VFMS members, volunteers, and performers: No Charge

Pre-Folk Jam: 6:45 PM

First Half: 7:30 PM
Open Stage:
sign up with Host and perform a ten-minute-set;

Performer Guidelines (PDF):
How to please a folk audience!

Half-time Break:
Tea, coffee and assorted goodies available

Second Half: 9:00 PM
The Feature

Format may occasionally vary

Memberships and
Monthly Newsletter (N/L):
$85.00 Individual;
$140.00 Family;
$20.00 N/L only

FOR Information or Emergency Contact
email info@victoriafolkmusic.ca
or  

Mail to:
Victoria Folk Music Society,
c/o 3483 Lovat Avenue,
Victoria, BC, V8X 1T8

For booking info, email featurebooking at victoriafolkmusic.ca

Email comments, updates, or queries about the VFMS website to webmaster at victoriafolkmusic.ca

Many more local folk listings on the Folk Events page…

Check out our Archive of previous VFMS features
starting with 2023
(going back to 1976!)

We have a special page
of links to performers’ websites: see Performer Links, mostly,
(a list of many folks who have featured on our stage!)

A Vancouver Island-focused IslandFolk eMail ListServ: Email about music & music events. To subscribe: go to ml.islandnet.com/mailman/list info/islandfolk/

View in your browser or download the VFMS June 2023 Newsletter
(PDF)

Departed Friends and Musicians

Live-Music Event Venues Facebook Events shared on the VFMS Facebook webpage in the past four years (250+ venues)
 

May 28 ’60s Folk Music Revival, Part Two
 Jun 04 KSAR
 Jun 11 Multi-Feature: Group Therapy; Beautiful Luck; Joy Kruger and Nobuo Kawaguchi
 Jun 18 Bijoux Du Bayou
Jun 25 Russell Wellner and Friends

June 04 KSAR

KSAR is a highly eclectic original music quintet based in beautiful Victoria BC.

Come prepared to experience an invigorating and vibrant fusion of Balkan Folk, Indie Rock, Afro-Psychedelia, Golden Era Bollywood, ’80s New Wave, Hip Hop, as well as cinematic Chamber Folk and Contemporary Pop.

Feeling both new & familiar at the same time, KSAR explores profound lyrical themes and fearlessly probes the emotional depths of the human experience.

Accordion, trumpet, guitars, double bass, synth, glockenspiel, electric bass, mandolin, drums and the human voice make up KSARs musical palette.

You will be moved to dance…and to feel, hopefully, more alive…

June 11 Multi-Feature: Group Therapy; Beautiful Luck; Joy Kruger and Nobuo Kawaguchi

• 8:45 pm: Joy Kruger and Nobuo Kawaguchi: This duo started singing songs together 7 months ago, and the two haven’t stopped yet having fun bringing songs to open mics around town, including here at Norway House. Nobuo and Joy each have colorful and lengthy music histories, Nobuo having played and sung with various bands including Collage in his former home town of Calgary, and Joy who in pre-pandemic years was regularly gigging or busking downtown Victoria with The Big Weee.

• 9:10 pm: Group Therapy is Kathy and Al Planiden and Linda and Eric James. They have been neighbours for over 35 years in East Sooke - that’s ‘East’ Sooke! They have played music together in various formations for many years, playing various genres - Folk, Country, Rock ’n’ Roll.

• 9:35 pm: Beautiful Luck is an Indie Folk duo from Victoria BC made up of Sue Black (vocal, guitar) and Carl Lefebvre (vocal, ukuleles). They have been playing together for 7 years in and around Victoria, Vancouver Island and San Miguel de Allende. They will be accompanied by Josh Miszczak on violin, Brad Hawkes on percussion, and John Hewson on bass.

They have recorded an EP entitled ‘Moonwish’ which features six original songs, plus four more originals available online.

Beautiful Luck pride themselves on choosing an eclectic mix of harmony inspired songs. They cover artists such as Blue Rodeo, Dan Hicks, The Ramones, Sons of Pioneers, Kathleen Edwards, Cole Porter, and Brandi Carlisle.

With a variety of tempos and styles, Beautiful Luck brings a little something for everyone.

June 18 Bijoux du Bayou

Now going on 26 years old Bijoux could credit longevity with a strong initial mission of bringing Cajun · Zydeco · New Orleans styles to our area but, that mission has expanded to many more styles (TexMex · Canadiana · Latin · Reggae, etc.), that still honour the ‘good times’ of their origins. New instruments, new members, new songs all keep it interesting, fun and uniquely memorable.

Over the years, the Victoria Folk Music Society has enjoyed Sam Torrance’s many 10 minute sets on our open stage as well as Bijoux du Bayou’s ten feature sets starting in 2001 – their roster has included Sam Torrance, Mike Regimbal, Will Winter, Robert Cromwell, Rod Grey, Roger Plant, and Wayne Briscoe – in 2014, our March 13th feature was “Bijoux du Bayou with Mike Raymer & Joy Kruger”!

So come on out for some big fun with Jewels of the Swamp, AKA Bijoux du Bayou – they are great!

June 25 Russell Wellner and Friends

Russell Wellner is a singer-songwriter and guitarist who grew up writing music and busking on the streets of Toronto from a young age. Graduating theatre school only months before the start of the pandemic. Russell fled quickly to the west coast, where tall trees and ocean would be a temporary replacement for live music and performance. On the coast, he found greater inspiration than he ever could have imagined. Russell had the pleasure of living in Tofino for 2 years and spent time volunteering at the Fairy Creek old-growth logging blockades. He recently moved to Victoria to pursue his music with greater zest! As a songwriter, Russell draws great influence from artists such as Neil Finn from Crowded House, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Petty. You can find Russell on Spotify and all other streaming platforms. Be sure to stay tuned for the upcoming release of his debut album! He is joined on stage by Max Mackrill (guitar, piano) and Josh Miszczak (fiddle) and is forever grateful to them for being a part of this journey!

Upcoming Features:

Sundays in June 2023 —


Guitar Fingerboard, Standard Tuning: notes of the D major scale:

D major scale—2 sharps—F# and C#.

six strings, 22 frets. Note: image is 300 pixels per inch, so you can zoom in on it…

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