Do-everything, play-anything Victoria musician Nick La Riviere always has a handful of projects on the go, from cover bands The Riverside and The Southern Urge to original acts such as The Yiddish Columbia State Orchestra and The Paperboys, among many others.
The popular performer will put his other projects aside for two nights next month and focus solely on the pop and jazz music he’s written for his sophomore record, Another Time Around. La Riviere and the immensely talented cast of bandmates he has put together will perform two album-release concerts July 24-25 at Hermann’s Jazz Club, it was announced this week. The performances will feature La Riviere alongside Kelly Fawcet (guitar), Aidan Miller (piano/keyboards), Sean Drabitt (bass) and Damian Graham (drums).
La Riviere, who sings and plays trombone and bass on the new recording, wrote the majority of the material for Another Time Around, save for Woohoo, which was co-written with Geoffrey Kelly from Spirit of the West. La Riviere also produced six of the eight tracks himself.
Tickets for the July 24-25 concerts at Hermann’s Jazz Club (753 View St.) are $20 ($15 for students). Reservations can be made through hermannsjazz.com. The opening act for both shows is West My Friend.
The annual Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival gets underway Wednesday with a concert featuring Mindil Beach, Kutapira, Downtown Mischief, Sweetleaf, and DJ Anger.
The event, set for Sugar nightclub, is the first of 10 events tied in with the 16th annual event, which features dozens of international acts at six venues throughout the downtown core.
Headliners this year include new-school ska legends Hepcat and The Slackers, reggae favourites Morgan Heritage and Third World, ska-punks Mustard Plug and The Real McKenzies, and eclectic-sounding DJs Stickybuds and Dubmatix, among others. Tickets for the festival’s opening night concert with Mindil Beach at Sugar are $16.50 at ticketweb.ca.
The event continues through Sunday at various locations, including Ship Point, the Tally Ho, The Mint restaurant and Distrikt nightclub.
More information is available at victoriaskafest.ca.
The University of Victoria’s Farquhar Auditorium — which has welcomed Martin Short, Margaret Cho, and Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell through its doors in recent years — announced its 2015-16 season this week.
Featured events on the schedule include circus troupe Peking Dreams (Sept. 5), folk icons The Kingston Trio (Oct. 4), comedy cavalcade The Comic Strippers (Nov. 14), six-string showcase International Guitar Night (Jan. 17), Celtic pop favourites The Paperboys (Feb. 13), Irish folkies De Danann (March 20), and big-band bastion The Glenn Miller Orchestra (March 23).
For more information on the venue and schedule, phone 250-721-8480 or visit the website uvic.ca/auditorium.
For the second year in a row, things will get kooky at the Copper Owl for the nation’s birthday.
Kanata Day, a 10-band showcase of acts covering the music of others, if not completely reinventing themselves, is on tap July 1 beginning at 4 p.m.
Everything from Wolf Charade (otherwise know as the band Island Eyes playing only Wolf Parade covers) to Formidable Liquorice and Rugged Uncle — both set to tackle Canadiana in their own, unique way — will take to the stage at the fundraiser, a benefit for the Native Friendship Centre.
Tickets are $8 at the door, or $5 with a non-perishable food item for donation.
To get involved, contact [email protected].
The Sooke Harbour House will host a series next week of live concerts and theatre performances, expected to be the last of their kind held at the resort’s summer pavilion prior to its demolition later this year.
Seasonal Sooke Stories, featuring the work of Linda Green Abraham and Katrina Kadoski, in addition to a cast of local actors, members of the T’Sou-ke Nation, and some Sooke Harbour House staff, will be presented July 4-6 at 8 p.m. nightly.
Tickets are $20 at Sooke Harbour House, Stick in the Mud and The Sooke Regional Museum. For more information, contact [email protected] or phone 250-642-3421.
Sooke Harbour House is located at 1528 Whiffin Spit Rd.
Legendary folk singer Murray McLauchlan has booked an extensive fall tour of B.C. theatres, including five on Vancouver Island, it has been announced.
McLauchlan, whose notable hit include Farmer’s Song and Down by the Henry Moore, will begin his set of dates Oct. 14 in Campbell River at the Tidemark Theatre. His tour will also include stops in Courtenay (Oct. 15, Sid Williams Theatre), Duncan (Oct. 16, Cowichan Performing Arts Centre), Nanaimo (Oct. 17, The Port Theatre), and Victoria (Oct. 18, the McPherson Playhouse).
Reserved seats are $42 to $46 each, depending on the facility. Tickets are on sale now at each location.
The esteemed folk trio of Adam Dobres, Pierre Schryer and Martin Nolan is set to play Temple Home in Sooke on July 14. The Ontario-based Schryer (fiddle) and Ireland-based Nolan (Irish uilleann pipes) will join Dobres (guitar) in his hometown of Sooke for the performance, their first together since 2013.
The concert will be held at the Temple Home, which located at 1908 Billings Rd. Doors are at 6:30 p.m., with showtime set for 7 p.m. Tickets: $15, or $5 for kids under 12.