Gareth Pearson

Gareth Pearson is referred to as “The Welsh Tornado” which is particularly appropriate, seeing as this special talent combines fingerstyle pyrotechnics, with explosive lead runs making Pearson one of the most exciting acoustic musicians gigging today.

Gareth has a distinctive style that can be heard through his creative and innovative arrangements which cover a wide spectrum of genres, including country/folk/classical/pop/rock/jazz/swing and bluegrass music, along with his own beautiful and often intricate original compositions.

Drawing his playing style initially from influences such as Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Jerry Reed and Tommy Emmanuel, he has developed a style that is both inspiring and entertaining.

Within a year of taking up the guitar, Gareth was opening for Tommy Emmanuel on his 2005 UK tour. It was in Cardiff where Tommy invited Gareth to play at the CAAS convention (Chet Atkins Appreciation Society) in Nashville Tennessee.

Later that year, Gareth was performing and touring alongside Ray Davies (The Kinks), John Renbourne, and Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Jukes. During the Southside Johnny tour, Gareth was invited by Southside to be flown over to the USA to open for his annual New Years Eve concert at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey.

The following year Gareth was invited by Tommy Emmanuel to be the support act for his UK tour, following extensive UK supports to Jan Akkerman, Andy McKee and appearing at numerous Folk Festivals and Guitar workshops including the Montreal Jazz Festival.

With appearances throughout Europe and a growing reputation, Gareth was invited to perform at the 2008 Canadian Guitar Festival where he came to the attention of Candyrat Records. This lay the seed for Gareth to be the first UK guitarist to be signed by the label. On its release, Gareth’s debut album “Urban Echoes Vol 1” was selected by Acoustic Guitar editors and frequent contributors as one of the “Essential Acoustic Albums of 2010”.

With Appearances at the 2009 Montreal Guitar Festival, USA and Worldwide tours and Guitar workshops, Gareth’s reputation as a performer and teacher is constantly growing.
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“Gareth is fast becoming one of the worlds most renowned instrumental guitarists”
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Adam Walton (BBC Radio Wales)

“I really respect Gareth’s abilities. He’s a great young man and a great ambassador for the acoustic guitar”
.Tommy Emmanuel .

“I’m Gareth’s number one fan! What a guitarist! His original compositions hit the ears like cool spring water on a hot summer’s day. His stage show has everyone up on their feet. Fingerstyle guitar is in good hands for the next generation”
Stefan Grossman

“Not only is Gareth one of the most amazing guitarists around, he is a really nice guy and funny as hell!”
Andy McKee

“My friend Gareth Pearson is a huge talent and in his genre, one of the best young players around. I mean there’s many roads that lead to Rome, but this one is definitely a great one. I can see a great future for him”
Jan Akkerman

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The Wanted

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Steve Payne with guest Al Lerman

Steve Payne has been described by many as one of the most unique guitarists, multi-instrumentalists and singer/songwriter/performers of the modern day Blues/Roots genre. He has joined the ranks of the “almost legendary” in the Roots/Blues community, and has shared the stage and bill with many of the greats of the Blues and Folk world, including BB King, Dr John and countless others. Starting off in the UK Blues and Folk clubs in the mid 70’s Steve P has swerved, never bypassed, contributing musically through decades of musical trends. Throughout he has managed to retain his fresh and unique style as a player performer and composer. 

Al Lerman is no stranger to the Old Church Theatre. Outside of his 2X Juno Award winning band Fathead, Al has built a solid career touring as an solo blues/roots artist, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and rack harmonica. Considered among the top harmonica players in the country, his prowess on the instrument has earned him several Maple Blues nominations.

Note: Our patio concerts will be held outdoors with wood fired pizza available. Gates open at 5  for the 6pm show. In the event of bad weather we will be able to move the concert indoors. The show must go on, but pizza may not be available.  Check in with us on the day.

Emily Burgess

Emily Burgess is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter based in Peterborough, Ontario. As a freelance guitarist, Emily has worked for a wide variety of artists and groups, including The Weber Brothers, The Women’s Blues Revue Band, The 24th Street Wailers, Rita Chiarelli, and Sue Foley. Fronting her own trio (with Marcus Browne on drums and Dawson McManus on bass), she won the Best New Artist Maple Blues Award in 2018. As a member of The 24th Street Wailers, she and her band mates were nominated for a JUNO award for their 2014 album ‘Wicked’.

As an independent artist, Emily has recorded 3 studio albums: Are We in Love? (2017), Never-Ending Fling (2019), and Arrow (2023). Of Arrow, CBC music journalist Bob Mersereau writes “It’s a well-rounded, skillful showcase, with Burgess stepping up as a songwriter, singer, and player. The songs switch from acoustic to electric to eclectic, confident, and really well-crafted.”

On May 25th at the Old Church Theatre, Emily will be joined by the dynamic rhythm and voice section of Marcus Browne on Drums and Rico Browne on Bass.

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Solar Eclipse Viewing Party

Come on out to the Old Church and enjoy the once in a life time total solar eclipse.  We have Ontario’s most sought after  host, Rick Zimmerman and the required solar eclipse glasses to witness the event for a VERY limited number of guests.  We urge you to book your tickets now as we may not be around for the next one in 375 years.  Bar will be open prior to darkness and Rick will surprise and delight us throughout the fun. 

See you there.

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Josh Piché & Sandra Bouza

Josh Piché is a Toronto based singer-songwriter, guitarist & producer. Born & raised in Winnipeg, he learned playing, singing, songwriting & performing from some of the city’s best musicians, eventually moving east to Toronto for a taste of the big city.

Piché’s early career saw him cutting his teeth as a sideman, playing with bands all over Toronto. He eventually landed the position as guitarist & musical director for award winning blues/soul band Irene Torres & The Sugar Devils. With Torres he wrote two studio albums, toured internationally, & showcased at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. They soon found themselves opening for Gino Vanelli, New Orleans pianist Jon Cleary, performing with Downchild Blues Band & playing some of Canada’s biggest blues festivals.

Their second album featured collaborations with organ legend Ike Stubblefield & electric bassist/TV actor Cornell Williams.
Josh also performed & recorded with Juno nominated troubadour Julian Taylor, appearing on his album Desert Star, including his UK hit single “Just A Little Bit”. In 2020, Piché found himself on the Canadian Country Music Awards performing with Canadian country superstar Brett Kissel.

Josh can also be seen playing with blues singer songwriter Sandra Bouza, Country music frontwoman Angela Saini, Country/rocker Ty Wilson, rising country star McKenzie Leigh Meyer.  Piché’s 2021 self titled EP garnered play on Jazz FM91.1 & CBC Radio. The disc features Steve Pelletier on bass (Colin James, Jarvis Church, Matt Andersen, Julian Taylor), drummer Don Pham (Jarvis Church, Jacksoul), Eddy Ruyter on Keys (Shawn Mendes), guitar session master Mitch Lewis (Prof. Piano, Chuck Jackson, Raffi), Pat Rush (Jeff Healey, Johnny Winter, The Allman Brothers) & guest singer Irene Torres.

As a dedicated member of Toronto’s live music community, Josh is also a founding member of
Canopy Music Theatre, an open air, socially distanced venue formed in Toronto for musicians
during the COVID19 pandemic. The project was featured on CBC National Radio, Blog TO &
went on to win NOW Magazine’s Best Live Music Venue.

2024 will see the track by track release of Piché’s new full length studio album Strobo. Featuring
collaborations with Steve Pelletier, Mitch Lewis, Miles Gibbons (Serena Ryder, Aysanabee , The
Strumbellas) Kurt Nielsen (Noah Reid, Banners ), Sandra Bouza and cowrites with Derek
Downham (Andy Kim, Broken Social Scene, Serena Ryder).

Sandra Bouza is an award winning Independent Soul Blues artist with decades of live
performance experience. She cut her teeth performing in Toronto and Vancouver clubs
and then spent three years honing her craft overseas in Europe and North and West
Africa.
Upon returning to Canada she invested in her songwriting career and immediately
received recognition winning the 2019 Toronto Blues Society Talent Search and
representing Toronto at the 2020 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
Her EP ‘Three Years’ received significant radio play in Canada, and her following
FACTOR funded album ‘Falling Away From Me” received Canadian radio play and rave
reviews in Europe.
This past year was full of night notes, performing at Massey Hall as part of the Women’s Blues Revue and being nominated for her first Maple Blues Award. Her latest album, ‘A Sound in the Dark’ is available now.

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Jerry Leger, with opening by Katie Cruel

It’s always a great time when Jerry Leger comes to the Old Church Theater  and this time he’s bringing Katie Cruel to kick off the show!

As Toronto’s music scene has grown in stature on the world stage, singer/songwriter Jerry Leger has been making his own significant contributions. A favourite of Uncut Magazine and Rolling Stone Germany, Leger has also earned the praise of fellow artists Ron Sexsmith (“he’s the real deal”) and Doug Paisley, while maintaining a long relationship with Cowboy Junkies as part of their Latent Recordings roster, with their songwriter/guitarist Michael Timmins serving as producer.

On his new album Donlands, Leger has taken a different approach, teaming up with legendary Canadian producer/engineer Mark Howard (Lucinda Williams, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Neil Young), whose trademark atmospheric sound adds an entirely new dimension to Leger’s approach. Named after the street in Toronto’s east end where it was recorded, in what once was the Donlands Theatre, Donlands presents Jerry Leger as he’s never been heard before.

On songs like “I Was Right To Doubt Her,” the film noir vibe recalls Howard’s work on Willie Nelson’s Teatro. But mostly, Leger wears his poetic heart firmly on his sleeve on “Three Hours Ahead Of Midnight” and “The Flower And The Dirt,” songs that underscore Leger’s uncommon ability to pen timeless music and lyrics. Further, as on the Roy Orbison-esque opening track “Sort Me Out,” and the heart-wrenching piano ballad “Wounded Wing,” Leger digs deep to express the strength and resolve we’ve all needed to get through the past few years. He says, “This record is a place I’ve known about and where I’ve always wanted to live, so it was a nice and rewarding visit. It’s another piece of me that floats in a dream. It’s surreal at times, just like writing can be surreal.”

For Jerry Leger, the search for the elusive creative spark remains never-ending, but there are always new routes to explore in getting to it. With Donlands, he has made an album that stands as one of the peak moments in an already towering body of work.

Katie Cruel released her debut album, Lost Vagus, in Sept 2023. Produced by Mark Howard (Neil Young, Bob Dylan, REM, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson etc) her 2 singles, Desert Valley Nights and Calling Out Your Name, received multiple plays on CBC radio, ZOOMER radio and many college and indie stations. A great start!

Music Mecca in Nashville not only called the record “strikingly unique and pristinely crafted”, they later selected Katie Cruel as #3 on their emerging artist list for 2024. Billboard Magazine called Lost Vagus, a “mesmerizing lament”.

Since releasing her debut, Katie Cruel has supported Timber Timbre on a sold out Ontario tour, and completed her own small release tour in celebration of Lost Vagus alongside Jerry Leger.

Cruel has honed her live show beautifully. Accompanied by her 1937 Gibson acoustic guitar, the performance whether solo or with a band, is honest, animal and fiercely intimate. Katie Cruel is a ghost on the move with much to come in 2024.

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