Two time Juno winning banjoist Jayme Stone makes music inspired by folk traditions from around the world and he will bring his amazing music to the Errington Hall Saturday, May 12.
The banjo virtuoso is this year’s Juno award winner for instrumental album of the year and he has been touring with his quartet, Room of Wonders. His latest album explores music from Norway, Sweden, Bulgaria, Brazil, Italy and North America.
Stone loves to experiment and thrives on unexpected inspiration and during his cross-Canada tour, a stop in Edmonton provided the musician with some new energy and ideas that led to some new songs for the tour.
Edmonton has a lively folk music scene and Stone said at the University of Alberta the music department has an unparalleled musical resource that they were able to tap into. Folkways Alive is a music museum and archive at the Edmonton campus that honors the spirit of Folkways Records, which produced over 2,000 recordings of remarkable breadth and diversity from 1946 to 1986.
Stone said they spent a day on campus going through the vast amounts of world music and found some gems.
He said the music archive is astounding with everything from Pete Seeger to early calypso music.
“We found tunes we loved. We had an afternoon to listen to them and the next morning we went in, honed in on some arrangements and performed five new pieces that evening,” said Stone.
He said they will perform the new pieces at their Saturday night show.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert are $20 at the Errington Store, Cranky Dog Music in Parksville, and Heaven on Earth in Qualicum Beach. Youth under 12 are $5 at the door, free for under five.