Make Music Happen Conference 3

It's time to Make Music Happen! This conference is an opportunity for aspiring young songwriters to workshop their songs with professional artists. Because everybody involved enjoyed last year's conference so much, we decided to add a second day to the event.

With 15 of 25 slots already filled, we've only got space for 10 more students, and we sold out last year, so act quickly!

Check the Facebook event profile for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1687154588168378/

An Open Stage for the Underage: Stephenville

We are taking the show on the road! On Sunday, April 10th, for the first time ever, Mr. H Presents is going to Stephenville, and taking over the Arts & Culture Centre. 

What are the young people of the Bay St. George area up to, anyway? Who's making music? Who needs a stage? 

Aspiring musicians aged 12-18 are invited to prepare 3-4 songs (up to 15 minutes), though set times will depend on the final number of performers who sign up to play. 

Corner Brook regulars Bailey Jordan-Neil, Caylie Hopkins, and Bridget Swift & Dahlia Waller, will fill out the lineup. 

The show will run from 2-4pm, and performers should arrive by 1:45 to sign up. Admission is $5, and tickets are available now at the ACC box office. 

The new series: In Session

For years now, I have been watching for other ways to involve touring artists as they pass through Corner Brook; if I can't book them for a show, I'll try to get them into a classroom, at the very least.

Several years ago, feeling I could do more, I imagined an interactive workshop, one where students could listen to an artist perform AND talk about various aspects of live performance: practice, song selection, instrumentation, crowd banter, and so on. After numerous conversations with artists, and a handful of best-intentions, the stars aligned, and we have ourselves a show. 

(*check it: https://www.facebook.com/events/1576961372628380/)

Sunday, March 13th, at 2pm, young musicians are invited to join us at Swirsky's for the first-ever In Session event. Allie Duff and Heather Nolan are great musicians from St. John's, and I couldn't be happier to be launching this new series with them.

Admission is $10. Parents are welcome to attend (certainly welcome to pay ;) ), but everyone should please remember the event is student-oriented.

Please take some time to check them out online using the links below:

Allie: https://allieduffandthehappycampers.bandcamp.com/


Heather: http://ladybrettashley.com 

Open Stage for the Underage!

We are heading back to Swirsky's for another Open Stage for the Underage! 

Bring your songs, poems, jokes, and essays, and the mic is yours! Use your own instruments or free to use the guitars, keyboard, and drums waiting for you on stage. 

Open to performers of all types, aged 12-18. Last time, we had a PACKED lineup, so get down by 645 to sign up; you'll have up to 10-12 minutes, depending on how many performers we've got.

Admission is $2, with all funds going to offset expenses and upcoming events. 

Busy days ahead!

In the next week or so, I will be announcing three events, and two of them are new ones!

Je suis tres stoked.

First up, on March 9th, we are heading back to Swirsky's for another Open Stage for the Underage. The last one was JAM-PACKED, so if you want to play, get down early to sign up.

Secondly, on March 13th, we are having our first-ever up-close and personal event with two artists playing Swirsky's later that same night. Allie Duff and Heather Nolan are two dynamite songwriters who agreed to do an exclusive event with Mr. H performers; they'll be talking performing, recording, touring, songwriting, AND they'll be playing some songs for us as well. Stay tuned for the official announcement, and the catchy and clever name (*still working on the name...it may not be clever).

Thirdly, we are taking the show on the road! Sunday, April 10th, we are doing our first-ever show in Stephenville, at the Arts & Culture Centre. Stay tuned for the official announcement, coming soon.

All this, AND I haven't event gotten to talking about the Make Music Happen Conference (3), coming May 14-15. You'll have to wait a bit for that one though...

Circle of Love Coffee House for Isla Short

This Thursday, there's a very special night planned for a very special girl. Elwood Regional High has partnered with Mr. H Presents on this coffee house to raise funds for Isla Short's family, still living in St. John's while Isla undergoes treatment.

Prizes have been donated by local businesses and community members, which will be raffled off throughout the night (tickets only $1 each). A full list of prizes will be posted shortly.

Tea, coffee, and goodies will be provided, and donations will be accepted at the door.

With live music by student musicians, snacks and hot beverages, AND a raffle full of great prizes, this will be the best show in town.

Please spread the word, make plans to join us at Elwood Thursday night, and let's show our love for Isla and her family.

First Open Stage of 2016!

Hi gang;

Let's get back at it, shall we?

With apologies to high school students who may miss the show to study, I am excited to host the first Open Stage of the Underage for 2016.

Please check the details below and make a plan to come sing, play, rhyme, or cheer along with some of Western Newfoundland's finest young performers.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1493728834268420/

Mr. H Presents Reflections on 2015

After missing nearly a year and a half of Mr. H Presents – kept alive by my friends, Dean and Emma Peckford – I hit the frozen ground running in 2015. I re-started the monthly Open Stage for the Underage at Brewed on Bernard, hit up the Pasadena Winter Festival again, had another Make Music Happen Conference, and got back to where it all started, with the fifth End of Exams Jam. I also marked the end of the summer with a beachside show, the Back To School Special. Throw in a couple special shows at schools in Corner Brook and Deer Lake, and the final tally for 2015 is 17 events!

Hundreds of people came to our shows and saw more than forty young performers take the stage; with so many of our original group moving away in the past year, we got to see a number of new performers, many playing to an audience for the first time. In May, a full slate of 25 aspiring songwriters attended the Make Music Happen Conference, four of whom traveled from the Clarenville area! With a touch of bittersweetness, we outgrew our beloved Brewed on Bernard, and moved the Open Stage to Swirsky’s this fall.

I don’t do any of this alone, so I need to give some thanks. Firstly, thanks to Dean and Emma for keeping Mr. H Presents going in my absence. Secondly, Dave Connors has been my right hand man this year, bringing his talents and his expertise with him, and helping me relax at shows. Michael Moulton, Max Simms, and Michael McDonald have also stepped up to provide tech support this year, if Dave couldn’t make it.

I am extremely grateful to our main sponsors, Corner Brook’s three music stores – Gary Bennett Music, HM Audio, and Village Music – who contributed equipment so Mr. H could have a dedicated sound system this year.

Thanks to Brewed Awakening, for continued support – they have been with us since the beginning. Thanks also to Cole Clark Guitars, the City of Corner Brook, Rotary Arts Centre, SM Consulting, and MusicNL. I’m grateful to the host venues as well: Brewed on Bernard, Corner Brook Regional High School, Elwood Regional High School, Lillian’s Eats & Drinks, Oasis Grillhouse, and, the new home of the Open Stage for the Underage, Swirsky’s on Broadway.

Thanks to members of the press for continued coverage of the great stuff our students are doing (ie: Tom Cochrane, Wendy Woodland, and a number of folks at The Western Star). 

Finally, thanks to all of you: the performers, the cheerers, the social media-posters, and the parents, who make all the hard work worthwhile.

So what’s up for 2016? More. More of doing whatever I can do to have young people experience live music in positive ways, in positive settings.

More making music happen.