Tiller’s Folly takes the stage Friday night in Oak Bay with warmed hearts and fired up fingers.
The trio will be fresh off a half-dozen private shows at area seniors’ residences in the Health Arts Society’s Concerts in Care series.
“It’s a way for us to do some community service in and around your beautiful city,” said bass player and vocalist Laurence Knight. “It’s very rewarding.”
The concerts are offered at a small honourarium and get them geared up for the big public concert at the end; it’s a practice they’ve perfected over the past five years.
“This organization was started by some people who one of their best friends went into a home, and then she never got to see entertainment or anything like that. They thought that was a crime and they’ve gone out of their way to bring entertainment into the seniors’ homes of all types,” Knight said. “What is amazing is the joy these people get. We’ve even had it where people have been semi-comatose and part of them comes alive.”
The concerts generally feature well-known songs tailored to the minds and memories of residents, not necessarily from the Tiller’s Folly collection.
“We’re just so slick after we do a bunch of shows. Our fingers get working in high order by the time we get to Friday,” said Knight. “When we get to the concert we get to rip out on all of our own tunes.”
Tiller’s Folly – Knight, Bruce Coughlan (songwriter, vocals, guitar) and Nolan Murray (fiddle, mandolin, mandocaster) – is the Pacific Northwest’s critically acclaimed, internationally travelled acoustic power trio.
The group is known in Greater Victoria, with previous shows at McPherson Playhouse and the University of Victoria auditorium, but it’s their first visit to Oak Bay, where they’ll perform the final Upstairs concert of the season at Oak Bay Recreation Centre.
“We want to pack the place; it’s up to Victoria to pack the place and support live music,” Knight said. “We’ll play our new book. We’ve got a brand new song that we’re just working up a video for about pioneer life in B.C.”
The set will include top music from the Western Canadian Music Awards-nominated two-disc Stirring up Ghosts, including The Bitter End – with a Victoria connection.
“We just released a brand new video from a March concert that has a touch of Victoria,” Knight said. “It’s a story of prohibition and murder and the boat was brought in to Victoria harbour.”
Tiller’s Folly performs May 20 at Oak Bay Recreation Centre, 1975 Bee St. Advance tickets are $15 at Ivy’s Bookshop, the recreation centre or online at beaconridgeproductions.com.
Learn more about Concerts in Care at healtharts.org and get a taste of the trio, complete with videos and lyrics at tillersfolly.com
Coming soon
The fall series starts Sept. 9. in the lounge at Oak Bay Recreation Centre and includes: The Klez, Mike Edel, Cari Burdett, Sweet Alibi plus Jadea Kelly (double bill, both bands are from Winnipeg), Archie Fisher (from Scotland), The Sweet Lowdown, Doug Cox & Sam Hurrie, The Revelers (Cajun band from Lafayette, Louisiana), Van Django (from Vancouver), Petunia & The Vipers (from Vancouver), Big Little Lions, Christine Tassan et Les Imposteures (all female gypsy jazz band from Quebec) and The Sultans of String (from Toronto).