Additional Act Announced for Peterborough Summer Concert Series

Canadian Country Sensation Chad Brownlee will be playing the Enbridge Energy Stage at the Peterborough Memorial Centre for the PTBOLive Summer Concert Series on July 23.

Chad Brownlee is known for several hit songs such as “Dear Drunk Me”, “Forever’s Gotta Start Somewhere” and “The Way You Roll”. Photo Courtesy of Peterborough Memorial Centre.

Local artist SJ Riley willl perform on stage the same night as Brownlee.

The series will accompany other concert dates that feature acts such as The Trews and Big Wreck. The former will have special guests and former frontman Three Days Grace, Adam Gontier and cousin Cale Gontier, bassist for Art of Dying.

Actor and comedian Shaun Majumder — known for his work on YTV and “This Hour Has 22 Minutes — will kick off the first date for Jun. 4 with special guest and fellow comedian Ali Hassan.

Other acts include Splash’N Boots, Jim Cuddy Band and a Classic Albums Live night with Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album.

Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10:00 a.m. online or by phone at (705) 743-3561. The exclusive pre-sale for PMC Scoop members happens Wednesday, May 5 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and is only available online.

Tickets range from $125 per vehicle to $225 per vehicle plus fees (vehicle occupancy must be in accordance with the highway traffic act).

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Hometown PTBO: Melissa Payne Talks About Her Music Origins, Music Highlights and #StillHerePTBO

This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday speaks with local musician Melissa Payne about how she learned music, highlights of her music career, #StillHereptbo​ and finishes out with a song where Pete may or may not backup sing.

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New Live Summer Concert Series Coming to Peterborough

The Peterborough Memorial Centre, Showplace Performance Centre and Market Hall Performing Arts Centre are excited to announce the creation of the PTBOLive Summer Concert Series on Monday.

The new venture is a three-month-long live concert series that promises to showcase and celebrate the local music scene of Peterborough as well as offer the community a variety of live entertainment options in a safe and fun format.

The coalition of live music venues is excited to be able to offer the return of live music and will be rolling out event announcements throughout the day on April 12 as well as further announcements throughout the coming months according to a press release.

Tickets for all events will be on a per car basis and will be sold through the PMC’s Grant Thornton Box Office or by phone at 705-743-3561.

PTBOLive is a unifying effort of the three major live entertainment venues in Peterborough and a project that came to fruition as a result of tireless teamwork and collective problem solving.

“We are so thrilled by the opportunity to offer the Peterborough community a chance to attend real, live entertainment once again. The mandate of our organizations (PMC, Showplace and Market Hall) has always been to bring the best entertainment to the City of Peterborough and being able to continue that work through the pandemic while giving event attendees a safe and fun space to come to is a great honour,” says PMC Facility Manager Jeremy Giles. “Working with our incredible partners at Showplace and Market Hall is really helping us engage the local music scene in a big way and we can’t wait to have everyone back on site this summer! For the first time since last fall, we can finally say, Live Entertainment is back in Peterborough!”

"Showplace is excited to be working with Market Hall and the Memorial Centre to help bring live performances back to Peterborough this summer,” states Showplace General Manager Emily Martin. “Thanks so much to the City of Peterborough for supporting this great initiative and inviting us to take part!"

“We are thrilled to be working with Showplace & The Memorial Centre to bring shows back to the community. It’s been a long year for everyone and we can’t wait to experience the pure joy that is live music,” adds Market Hall General Manager Chad Hogan.

Individual shows will be announced throughout the day on April 12 and throughout the summer as more show information becomes available. All tickets will be sold as a per vehicle price with no venue imposed restrictions on vehicle capacity. Ticket prices will vary per event.

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Hometown PTBO: Washboard Hank Shares the Story of His First Gig in Peterborough With Artspace

This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday speaks with legendary musician “Washboard” Hank Fisher of his origins in Peterborough including how he got his first gig at Artspace, his family’s legacy in town and Pete might put Hank on the spot with song.

Artspace is holding a 50/50 auction where you can bid on local art virtually beginning Apr. 26 to May 6. Half the proceeds go to the artist and the other half go to Artspace.

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Hometown PTBO: Dr. Eduardo Segura Shares His Love For Music and His Awesome Guitar Collection and Memorabilia

This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday talks to Dr. Eduardo “Ed” Segura of Kawartha Dental Clinic. Segura shares his love for music after coming to Canada, concert stories, a behind-the-scenes look on his guitar collection and shreds a few tasty licks on one of his axes.

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Peterborough Couple Appear in Country Music Star's Music Video

Sean Kent had no prior dance experience but stripteases for his partner, Tracy Conway in Jade Eagleson’s new music video, “All Night to Figure It Out”.

It was an unforgettable moment of fame for the Peterborough couple as they starred in the country music video that debuted on Wednesday.

The couples went to the filming in Niagara Falls during Valentine’s Day weekend. They were one of five couples that were selected to be part of the filming alongside Eagleson.

Five men performed racy yet hilarious stripteases to their significant others with help of choreographer Kae Kae Lee. The men had props and a stripper pole to aid in their routine.

The women were intentionally left in the dark until their blindfolds were removed in the music video as an unstaged reaction.

“I was laughing but I was enjoying it,” said Conway. “I was like, yeah, keep going.”

Conway has a family connection with Eagleson (pictured) but she always has been a fan of his music. Photo courtesy of Sean Kent.

Kent eagerly accepted the role during a call with the producer. He was skeptical about being selected after hearing the plot with his appearance.

“He explained what I was going to do and I asked, ‘Have you seen my pictures?’ You sure you got my pictures and not some other guy’s?’” said Kent. ”I have a solid dad bod. Emphasis on the ‘solid’”.

Filming was scheduled for late 2020 but was delayed several times due to COVID-19 putting certain cities in lockdown. Photo courtesy of Sean Kent.

Kent was no stranger to physical activity but he did not anticipate how fit you had to be to dance.

“I was down there for a good three and a half hours for the first sessions and then I went back for another two,” said Kent. “In that break, I was so sore. I was dead, I was completely drained.”

Conway (left) and Kent (right) have five sons between the two. One couple in the video had been in a relationship for two months. Photos courtesy of Sean Kent.

All men were given the same dance to perform. Kent believes he practiced the routine roughly 100 times.

“It was honestly a pleasant experience,” said Kent. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

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Local Musician Gives Parkinson's Disease a Knockout With Music Video

Peterborough Singer/Songwriter Taylor Abrahamse is ready to give Parkinson’s disease the one-two punch.

The 29-year-old is raising money and awareness for Parkinson’s disease with his music video, “Out Like a Light” on his self-titled debut album.

The song debuted on YouTube on Feb 22 which features Abahamse’s mother and other elder community members diagnosed with Parkinson’s in the “TKO” boxing program at Goodlife Fitness in Portage Mall.

“My mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s a few years ago, she was looking for things to help her with that,” said Abrahamse. “We found out about this boxing program that helps that so my father suggested making Out Like a Light at this boxing place.”

Taylor Abrahamse has professionally voice acted with roles such as Fangbone in the self-titled Disney series and Luke Stanley of YTV’s The Stanley Dynamic. Photo Courtesy of Taylor Abrahamse.

The video was made to create awareness of the disease and how Parkinson’s sufferers are socially affected. Since the disease is visible in a variety of different forms, it gets difficult to distinguish if people have it or not says Abrahamse.

“One of the hard things that affect the quality of life is the stigma around it,” he said. ”There can be a lot of frustration and shame about that.”

Abrahamse has collaborated with three different charities for funding Parkinson’s research: Michael J. Fox Foundation, Parkinson Canada and David Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s.

Taylor Abrahamse was a top 30 finalist at Canadian Idol when he was 16 years old. Photo Courtesy of Taylor Abrahamse.

The song's name came from a change up to Abrahamse’s style. “Out Like a Light” has a greater rock-and-roll feel and Abrahamse describes it as taking a break and “shutting out the light”.

His album can be bought on his official website. It took him roughly three years to complete his debut album.

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Lakefield High School Covers Hit Broadway Song on Its Anniversary

Broadway may have some new rising stars in the future after this performance.

Students of the Lakefield College School (LCS) Musical Theater have recorded their own version of the hit song, “Seasons of Love” from the Broadway musical, “Rent” by Johnathan Larsen.

The performance pays tribute to the song that celebrates its 25th anniversary this year since it debuted in 1996.

“The Lakefield College School Musical Theatre students chose to perform this song since, during this past year, we have all had to savour the little moments and make the most of them,” said Geoff Bemrose, LCS teacher. “As a Peterborough community, we have come together stronger than ever and this is a great reminder to make every second count.”

Every student was recorded individually under the school’s theatre lights to comply with the COVID-19 pandemic. Screenshot.

The video was shot and edited by local filmmaker Tyler Boyco and the music was produced by local artist Beau Dixon. Bemrose directed the video saying it took several hours to produce.

LCS uploaded the video on Wednesday and it has almost 600 views on YouTube.

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Selwyn Family Parodies Canadian Artist With Pandemic Song

“Life in a Pandemic (Don’t It Stink?)” is a parody of Alanis Morissette’s hit song, “Ironic”.

Marking the one-year anniversary of the pandemic where the whole country went into lockdown and quarantine, one Selwyn family paid tribute to the milestone parodying Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic”.

“Life in a Pandemic (Don’t it Stink?)” was created by the Kelly family featuring singer and acting student, Ashton Kelly. The video was a challenge, taking three days to film and a week and a half to produce it according to Ashton’s mother Deborah Kelly.

“Our goal was to spend some time together as a family having some creative fun during these dark times, and maybe lifting some spirits along the way,” said Deborah. “My daughter is a singer and an acting student so this is right up her alley.”

“Life in a Pandemic (Don’t it Stink?)” has already gained over 3,000 views in its first two days since being uploaded to Youtube. Screenshot.

The video copies Morisette’s, shot-for-shot with pop culture references and recognizable local spots. The Go Express Marts gas station across from the Lakefield Animal Welfare Society and the Peterborough Lift Lock canal are some localized shots taken for the parody.

“This isn’t meant to diminish the struggle many (are) facing over the state of our world,” said Ashton in a Facebook post. “This is only to spread some laughs and lightheartedness to enjoy with your family!”

The mother-daughter duo wrote the lyrics with Mark Russell, Deborah’s partner, filmed and (mostly) edited the video.

They chose “Ironic” since it was recognizable, iconic and Morrisette was Canadian.

“We really wanted to keep it lighthearted and fun to spread some cheer during these challenging times,” said Deborah.

This was the second parody video the family had created. The first copied Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” titled, “Something to Do-ah (The Isolation Song)” was released in early April last year.

The family posted a blooper reel for the filming of their first video, “Something to Do-ah (The Isolation Song)”. It was posted 10 days after the prior video was uploaded. Screenshot.

The song was shot as an original since Cohen’s version did not have an official music video and has almost 28,000 views on YouTube. The parody makes its own pop culture references such as the toilet paper shortage and the hit Netflix show, “Tiger King”.

The first video’s success inspired the family to create the second parody as they were proud and surprised at the song’s success according to Deborah.

“We had such a positive response and such a blast creating it that we decided to do another one this year,” she said.

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Watch: Fleming College Holiday Music Video Wonderful World Featuring Greg Keelor & Other Local Artists

Fleming College has released a beautiful holiday music video dedicated to all of the students, staff, frontline workers, and many local heroes who have made an untenable situation a moment of pride and reflection on the power of coming together.

The video is a collaborative project by local artists, dedicating their time and talent and most importantly, their heart. Featuring Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo and other musicians from the Kawartha region, the song is a cover of the classic song “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. Directed and produced by Michael Hurcomb, other producers include James McKenty, Melissa Payne and Kate Suhr.

Beau Dixon, Melissa Payne and Greg Keelor among the musicians covering “What A Wonderful World”

“These musicians are very special people and our community is blessed to have such passionate talent,” says Maureen Adamson, Fleming College President. “I could not be more proud of how we have led and navigated through the events of this year with safety as our guiding principle.”

Fleming College thanks all those involved in this musical gift for the holidays, including Greg Keelor, Jimmy Bowskill, Beau Dixon, Whitney Hall, James McKenty, Melissa Payne, Kate Suhr and Maureen Adamson. There are also special appearances by: Tania Clerac, Sandra Dupret, Brett Goodwin, Chandra Gupta, Blake Morris, Angela Pind, Linda Poirier, Neil Price, Elizabeth Stone, Drew Van Parys and Scott Walling.

Watch the video below…

Fleming College releases holiday music video #WonderfulWorld in support of students and local communityPeterborough ON - (December 11, 2020) - Fleming Colleg...

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