Mayflower in December

There goes November - only two shows! My December was busier (really, how could it not be?). First up, Sarah Burton at The Rainbow December 3. Burton comes from Ottawa originally, but is now based in Montreal. It's good folk-pop, at least when she doesn't have a backing band,

Miss Burton.



Blair Michael Hogan was on hand to help out. He's most frequently seen around town as an accompanist for Brock Zeman - they're playing together in Perth tonight.



Faceoff action!



The view from the staircase.



Toe-tapping action!



Singalong action!



Blair rocks the mandolin.



And there you go for many, many more photos like the one below.



Back to the mandolin.



Boot-stomping action!



Right now she's on a "Cherry Pickin' Tour" of Canada, which should put her in Vancouver around the time of the Olympics. Much American touring looms, and a full-length album, Mayflower, is also in the works.

Back in town

My November was remarkably free of show-going activity - in fact I only got out twice, what with memorial planning and doctor-seeing and whatnot. My resolution for December is to get out more, and since I went over to The Rainbow last night to see Sarah Burton I'm already half-way to fulfilling my goal. Burton was born in Ottawa but calls Montreal home; her music sits somewhere at the nexus of singer-songwriter, country and folk. She has a somewhat tart lyrical sensibility as demonstrated by the title of her latest EP, Love Is For Pussies. Burton also introduced one song with "This one is about what you learn as parents ... it's called One-Way Ride To Hell." She frequently performs with a full band, but for this show was accompanied by Blair Hogan on mandolin and guitar. She finished her first set with a cover of Poor Wayfaring Stranger.


Sarah Burton at The Rainbow, Dec. 2, 2009

It was pretty entertaining and the friends-and-family crowd was duly appreciative. She'll be back at The Rainbow, band in tow, Dec. 13. Hogan will be up at the Black Sheep Inn with Brock Zeman Saturday.

• Show reminder: Jill Zmud, Megan Jerome and Amanda Bon perform at the Elmdale House. Contrary to early reports, Despised Icon, Cryptopsy, Acacia Strain, Trapped Under Ice and Blind Witness destroy eardrums tonight at Babylon.