Local Musician Reaches Milestone With Their First Big Gig

It was a surreal moment for local artist SJ Riley, performing her first large-audience show at the PTBOLive Summer Concert Series in the Peterborough Memorial Centre parking lot on Friday.

Sarah-Jayne Riley better known by her stage name SJ Riley, had her latest song “Mansion of Broken Hearts” filmed at a haunted house in Lakefield. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Riley opened the show for country music star Chad Brownlee with a six-song set — five originals and one cover song — including her signature-titled songs, “Whoever This Was Written To” and “Mansion of Broken Hearts.”

The singer/songwriter had only performed two shows prior to this performance, one at The Black Horse Pub (July 11) and The Garnet (July 17) earlier in the month.

"When you think about gigs like this, until you’re on stage doing it, how absolutely fun it is,” she said. “I had a blast.”

SJ Riley with her band, the “SJ Riley Band” performing on an overcast evening on the Enbridge Energy Stage. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Playing live was a breath of fresh air and a sign the world was giving a sense of normalcy according to Riley.

“I think it’s the first step to a time where people come together again,” she said. “There’s nothing like coming together with a group of people and sharing an experience.”

During the pandemic, SJ Riley was doing acting gigs and filming music videos at Treblecock Studios located in downtown Peterborough.

Several of her music videos were produced by the local studio to occupy her time until live concerts were allowed again due to the pandemic.

“Peterborough is fantastic,” said Riley. “The people of the city are amazing, the artists in this city here are amazing, there’s so much here so I’m just absolutely honoured to be a part of it.

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Internationally Renowned Voice Actress Pays Local Studio a Visit

Voice actress Marina Pratt made an appearance at Treblecock Studios in downtown Peterborough to record a voiceover for a client on Wednesday.

Pratt has her own Youtube channel focusing on health, wellness, spirituality and beauty. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Pratt was lending her voice for an animated marketing series for an undisclosed company in the United Kingdom (where Pratt currently resides).

The Toronto-born actress was in the area visiting family as they own a cottage in Bancroft. She sought the services of David Joyce and Treblecock Studios after finding him on as the first result of a Google search.

“I do a lot of animated series. I do video games. I do all kinds of interesting bookings that require me to be available anytime in any season,” explained Pratt.

David Joyce (left) in front of Treblecock Studios with voice actress Marina Pratt (left). Joyce got the name “Treblecock” from a small coffee-roasting company in Ajax where he was from. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Pratt is no stranger to Peterborough as she has been in town on other occasions aside from family. She has attended art shows and worked in health and wellness expos that were run by her entrepreneur friends.

“What I've always loved about Peterborough is how friendly everybody is,” exclaimed Pratt. “The arts community here is so amazing and I love that any day of the week if you want to experience live music, you can go just go anywhere downtown.”

Pratt as the voiceover for Tresemmé’s latest shampoo commercial.

Pratt has made appearances in films such as And I Feel Fine, Hitman Hobbies: The Magic of Friendship and Belushi's Toilet. She has done voiceovers for commercials and video games including the popular series, Skyrim.

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Local Recording Studio Looking to Break Out Past the Pandemic

The music industry has not been spared from the COVID-19 pandemic but David Joyce and Treblecock Studios are ready to make their mark on Peterborough as the province opens up.

Treblecock Studios is located at 159 King St. Suite 108 just off the corner of George Street in Dowtntown Peterborough. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Joyce opened the recording studio in downtown Peterborough on June 2019. He was inspired to stay in Peterborough after a second date at the downtown music venue The Garnet for a live show. He had a home studio in Ajax during the time.

“I’m a bit of an old-school guy. I grew up loving music in the ‘70s and 80’s and the music scene everywhere was enormous,” said Joyce. “When I discovered Peterborough, it was like a snapshot in time. Live music is everywhere and I was really gravitated towards that.”

He was shut down since the world went into quarantine in March last year and closed up again on Boxing Day.

During the first quarantine period, he met local musician SJ (Sarah-Jayne) Riley through a Facebook acting group. The film industry was able to operate during the pandemic according to Joyce and recruited her as an actress.

They would take part in filming short films found on the studio’s Youtube page until Joyce heard of Riley’s singing ability.

The duo have collaborated on a number of songs and videos since meeting each other as a result.

Several of Riley’s songs were produced by Joyce and Treblecock Studios such as “Mansion of Broken Hearts” and “Whoever This Was Written To.”

Riley is performing her first major live gig at the PTBOLive Summer Concert Series this Friday, opening up for country music star Chad Brownlee.

Riley has performed in Peterborough twice in local venues such as the Dark Horse Pub and The Garnet. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

When Treblecock opened back up last month, Joyce noticed a surge of musicians that wanted to record music to regain a sense of normalcy for Peterborough.

“When I was able to open again this June, it feels like everybody wants to get in here and record some music that they've been writing during the pandemic,” said Joyce.

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StoosNews Spotlight: Check Out The Business Beat This Week Featuring Imprinted Apparel/Embroidery Merger & More!

PTBOCanada is delighted to to be running StooNews columns each week here, spotlighting new businesses and startups in Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Here is this week’s edition…

Imprinted Apparel and Embroidery Plus have merged. Clinton and Lesley Smith, the owners of Imprinted Apparel, have purchased Embroidery Plus from Bob Clarke and moved the office from O’Brien Drive to the Imprinted Apparel offices on the Kingsway. The company offers branded merchandise, embroidery, screen printing to sports teams, resorts, breweries and more, as well as wholesale work for larger clients. They also remain the home of the Peterborough Curling Shop.

David Joyce has been a performing musician for more than 35 years. He recently launched his own business called Treblecock Studio—the little studio with the big strut. David offers solo artist recording with “Full band" production, Audio/Video recording, editing and mastering, Voice Over recording on music or video, full production Podcast creation, virtual tours for Real Estate or Business, and more. There is an Open House on Saturday (June 22nd) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Visit his website here.

The Peterborough Airport will be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a special two-day Air Show on September 21st and 22nd featuring the Canadian Forces Snowbirds aerial demonstration team. There will be lots of other aerial demonstrations, static aircraft displays local vendors and activities for kids. So mark it on your calendars, and if your business would like to get involved, contact Esther Juthman at The Loomex Group at 705.775.5022.

Community Futures Peterborough is introducing a new funding source for local trades and manufacturing businesses looking to hire. Called the Rural Innovation Initiative, the program provides up to $10,000 to support hiring and training high school graduates. There is a meet and greet on Thursday (June 20th) from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Venture North building. For details, click here.

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