Our trio, The Douglastown Project (Glenn Patterson, Laura Risk, Brian Morris), is playing an hour-long free show and discussion at the Benny Library in Montreal’s NDG neighbourhood on June 5th. If you or family live around Montreal and would enjoy hearing some of the old fiddle music that used to be played around Gaspé Bay, then this is a rare opportunity to hear this music outside of Gaspé. Let your friends and family know!

Please come a little early: because this performance is happening once the library close,  the doors will be locked by about 7:15 p.m.

Date: Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Time: 7 – 8 p.m. Please come a bit early.

Location: Benny Library (6400 Monkland Boulevard, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal)

Cost: Free!

The Douglastown Project (Glenn Patterson and Laura Risk – fiddles; Brian Morris – guitar) met and began playing together in 2010 during the Douglastown Irish Week. Each with their own diverse musical backgrounds, they were brought together by their fascination with the unique fiddle music of the the eastern Gaspésie.  Melodies at once hypnotic and driving call forth the sounds of parlours, parish halls, and picnic dances that were part of the rich multi-cultural tapestry of the 19th and early 20th century Gaspé Coast, a place and time where both the codfish and the fiddle shaped the rhythms of everyday life. In this performance and presentation, the musicians will play a selection of their favourite Gaspesian tunes and tell you about the people and places the music comes from.

Here is a video of us practicing last summer. The tune is “The Donna Reel” and it was composed by Brian Morris’ father, Douglastown-born fiddler Erskine Morris (1913-1997). Erskine composed this as an hommage to his daughter, Donna Morris. We are fortunate that Brian has shared so much of Erskine’s music with us in-person and through his efforts digitizing his dad’s old home recordings for our archives.

See you on June 5!