Coffee House featuring Julian Fauth, Ken Yoshioka, Po Cholly, & Beverlie Robertson

It’s become tradition for Charlie, Beverlie, Julian & Ken to close the coffee house season and yes, we’re delighted to play for you again this year.  There’s an addition this season, for which we asked your approval & you gave us an enthusiastic “yes!”  There will be one more coffee house on May 18 as some wonderful musicians are available then.  Details to follow! 

Julian, Ken & Mike Phillips have been playing with us for a long time & we all got together to record a CD of our music.  The studio recording is done & the CD should be available soon.  We’re excited about it & will let you all know the minute it’s in our hands!  You’ll hear a few of those tunes at this coffee house performance. 

JULIAN FAUTH is a singer & piano player whose style is based on pre-war barrelhouse blues & boogie woogie, with infusions of gospel & jazz. He writes his own songs in addition to re-interpreting traditional material. He has toured Canada, the USA, Europe, Russia & Cuba.  His 2^nd CD won a JUNO award for Blues Album of the Year & his 3^rd won Best Blues Album by the CBC. He has also won Maple Blues Awards.  He has opened for Johnny Winter, John Mayall & John Hammond. “He’s been compared to Tom Waits & Bob Dylan, but Blues singer/songwriter Julian Fauth is a true ORIGINAL” – Toronto Star; “…his music is profound & penetrating, contemporary blues at its very best” – Sing Out Magazine. www.julianfauth.com

KEN YOSHIOKA is a blues artist originally from Kamakura, Japan. He started as a harmonica player and developed into a singer, guitar player and songwriter. Ken’s harmonica playing is dynamic and lyrical. His impressive finger picking guitar style is influenced by Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker etc. Ken performs & records with Juno award winning blues artist Julian Fauth. Ken has released his 2nd CD “Underground Lonesome Blues” and toured in Japan. He performed at Winterfolk Festival and was a featured artist for the Toronto Blues Society‘s harmonica workshop. www.yoshiokaken.com

PO CHOLLY – For 45 years, Charlie has been an itinerant bluesman, traveling the globe, hosting concerts and conducting workshops. He is well-known for his blues harp styles, slide guitar & traditional blues. Charlie has performed frequently at such festivals as the Harbourfront Jazz & Blues Festival, the Mariposa Folk Festival, the Mill Race Festival of Traditional Music and in the eastern US. He has also performed at The Kitchener Blues Festival and the Fredericton Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival. He has played the blues with the Gypsy Kings in France, tango bands in Argentina, reggae players in Jamaica, and flamenco dancers in Spain, where his passion for the blues has always erased national and political borders and brought strange bedfellows together to share the music. www.reverbnation.com/pocholly

Beverlie Robertson is a singer, musician and author with a BA in French from U of T and a music minor. As a member of the trio The Chanteclairs, she travelled widely & performed at festivals such as the Mariposa Folk Festival, the Fredericton Jazz & Blues Festival, etc. & at venues from The Riverboat, to Massey Hall, Maple Leaf Gardens & the CNE Grandstand. She has performed on the CBC, CTV, BBC, US and European TV networks, British & European concert halls. She sings traditional & contemporary folk music, &“tin pan alley blues,” accompanying herself on 6 & 12-string guitars. She sings in English, French, Spanish, & other languages. Peter Gzowski called her a pioneer in Canadian music. A veteran performer, she was an early member of Mariposa-In-The-Schools, is a founding member of Kaleidoscope-in-the-Schools Muskoka & a director of Muskoka Lakes Music Festival/Muskoka Chautauqua. Her latest book, With Knowing Eyes; Canadian Women in Song includes traditional & contemporary songs, with music, chords, illustrations, etc. She has recorded a CD of selected songs. She also taught a course at Wilfrid Laurier University based on its contents. She is President of Brandy Creek Music & Publications Inc.  www.reverbnation.com/beverlierobertson