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Mark (left) &
Tom (right)
Norigen Stage,
Harbourfront, Toronto
Supporting the teachers at
Queen's Park
At the Sick Kids'
Telethon
As part of "Mark Haines
& the Zippers"
At the Wye Marsh
Festival
Supporting the teachers at
Queen's Park
You want us to play
where?!
With the Kingston Symphony
Orchestra
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News
A note from Mark
here (Feb 1st/05).
Saturday night,
January 29th, a circle of friends from Fortune
Prince Edward Island, held a fund raising dinner
and dance, called "Hands Across the Water" in aid
of the Tsunami Survivors . Having only been in
preparations for three weeks, it was a whirl wind
affair and a real roller coaster ride to the end.
The success of the event was the result of many
hands making light work.
The dinner
was produced by five star chef Michael Smith who
has a cooking show with The Food Channel called
"Chef At Large". He stands 6' 9" at least. He
maintains a very busy schedule. On January 24th,
six days before "Hands Across the Water", he was
suppose to be in New York filming his show only he
was storm stayed on PEI like everyone else. Nothing
was moving due to heavy snow and heavy drifting. No
snow ploughs, no air port, no nothin'! He was
notified by his producers that he would have to
stay in NYC over Friday and Saturday to complete
the shoot. He said he couldn't do this because of
obligations to his community. His producers said,
that being the case we will come to Fortune Prince
Edward Island and film the event and it will be the
final show of the season!!! A crew from New York
and a crew from Halifax showed up Thursday night
and the cameras started rolling. They filmed the
planning meeting, the prep meeting, and the trip to
the grocery store. They filmed the volunteers and
the volunteers cousins. They went everywhere and
talked to every one that donated something or gave
of their time. The list was long. In the end we
paid for nothing and received help from people like
the Delta Hotel, the IGA, the PEI liquor commission
and local wineries, Colville Bay Oysters, Fortune
Community Centre, and the list goes on and on and
on. They filmed through the hall set up Friday and
the final preparations on Saturday and right
through the dinner, Saturday night. The film crew
did their job well, for even the most camera shy of
islanders did not seemed bothered by their presence
at the dinner. Quite a feat for all concerned I'd
say!!!
100
tickets were sold at $50.00 a head and donations
were collected. A fabulous three course dinner was
served, complete with wines and Grand Marnier. A
silent auction was held and the items up for grabs
included the complete recorded works of Haines
& Leighton which sold for $65.00 and a dinner
for 8 prepared in your home by Michael Smith which
sold for $6500.00 After the meal, music for dancing
was provided by Mark Haines & The Big Bang
Boom, the band consisting of Reg Ballagh on drums
and Jon Rheder on Bass. Fabulous players, and great
guys who also donated their time and talents to
this worth while cause. The evening was highlighted
by the presentation of a cheque to the Red Cross in
the amount of, drum roll please
budrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrdr CRSHHHHHH!!!!!!
$14000.00 Which by the way was part of the gumment
program that said, "What ever $$$ you raise for the
tsunami relief, we will match it. So our little
rural community of Fortune PEI is proud to
sending.........well you do the math, to help
brothers and sisters clear on the other side of the
earth.
Church was
a little tough the next morning but not impossible
and later
that day every
one of the "Hands" showed up to tear
down!!!!
For those of you
with televisions that get The Food Channel and can
find he "Chef At Large" watch for us in about 5
weeks time. I will try to post again to let you
know.
A note from
Mark: June 11, 2004
Mark here, -
I've been having a great time these last couple
days giging with Tom around the south of the
province and the GTA. June 4th we performed in Van
Kleek Hill., (near Montreal), in the pm. for
Pleasant Corners Public School teaming up with
their 80 voice Choir. A thrill for all involved!
The evening had us at the Arbour Gallery for a
successful house concert to an entusiastic crowd.
We anticipate more dates in The Hill in the
future!
Saturday night
we played Jake's Boathouse, a great place to eat,
drink, and enjoy live music!!! Jake's has been a
huge supporter of live music for absolutely years.
Needless to say, we go way back. Thanks again to
Mike Cuttle for havin' us and to the staff at the
"Boat House" for making us feel at home.
Sunday matinee
we travelled to a far off land called Dundas where
we were treated royally at the backyard borad and
bar of Peter and Ireen Brechmanas, who with Karl
and Sandy Whalen and their accopmodating crew
hosted a bar-b-que, poolside, patio concert for
friends and folk enthusiasts from their area and as
far away as Buffalo! A glorious afternoon and an
inspired concert, the folks enjoying a rare Spanish
rendition of Under The Boardwalk and and even rarer
Celtic Rock Rant that sounded something like Born
to be Wild.
Sunday night we
played for the Acoustic Harvest concert series at
Birchmount United Church in the Beaches. Again the
audience was treated to a Mark & Tom evening of
favourites, surprises and requests. Everyone stayed
way longer than they should have and left with
smiles all around. The Acoustic Harvest is to be
appl;auded and supported for their commitment to
support live folk music. Thank you.
We're looking
forward to returning to the Oasis in Cobourg
Wednesday night and the Guild in Scarborough, on
Thjursday. A free concert the Greek Theatre
organized by Matt Bentley. For more information,
check the dates section of our site.
Saturday I will
be off back to The Island. I have been enjoying
filling my time up with music. I teach private
lessons, fiddle, guitar, electric guitar!, bass
guitar!!, drums!!!, and piano!!!! I perform in a
couple different situations and have been
developing my solo performance. I play for, and
help direct the Bay Fortune United Church Choir and
when I grow up I want to be just like
Tom.
Summer will have
us here and there, keep checking the web site, I'm
looking forward to the summer schedule of playing
and when off the road, being 'round the homestead.
There'll be fences to mend and trim to pain and
wine to rack.
Thanks to all
our fans and friends that continue to support us.
It's great to see you and we'll look for you when
ever you can make it out!
*** On Jan 3rd
Mark & Tom sat in with that wonderful band
"Melody
Ranch".
Dave
Tufford (one
of the 2 rockin' guitar players) was strapping on
his little acordion to play a Cajun' Style.
Mary
DeKeyzer
teased "aren't you nervous putting on that thing in
the presence of Mark and Tom, after all he's so
good"? Without missing a beat Dave mumbled "Bad or
Good, it's STILL an accordion"! ........
OUCH!!!
YAHOO!!
Mark and Tom have been nominated for Roots and
Traditional Group of the Year for the upcoming
East
Coast Music
Awards!
Meanwhile, Mark
has recognized by his peers down in PEI! He was
nominated for the PEI Music Awards, in these
categories:
Male
Artist Roots
Traditional
Artist Song
Writer (for "Hand To Hand"),
and Best
Song (Hand To
Hand)
...and
he won in the Song Writer and Best Song
categories!
CONGRATS, MARK!!! We'll be seeing Mark up in the
Toronto area in January 2003 and again in
March!
HAND
TO HAND
reviews!
Doug Gallant of
the Charlottetown Guardian wrote:
February 15,
2002
A
number of songs and stories have been written
about the contributions made to the cultural
development of Canada by those who came from
other lands to settle this country and build a
new life.
But few such
songs have grabbed me as much as "Hand To Hand",
the title track from Mark
Haines and Tom Leighton's third
album.
Built on a
fine rolling melody in the classic folk
tradition of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, Hand
To Hand tells of the musical traditions our
immigrants brought with them and life stories
they told through their songs--songs which, as
the title suggests, have been passed down from
hand to hand.
Hand To Hand
is a fine piece of work. Almost too fine. I
can't get the damn melody out of my
head.
Hand To Hand
may have been the one to clinch it for me but
there's no shortage of good material on this
set, released on Canada's foremost folk label,
Borealis.
Haines, who
now calls P.E.I home, and Leighton, a native of
New Brunswick, wrote just under half of the
songs featured on the album and augmented their
originals with a number of traditional pieces,
plus covers of material by Bob Dylan, John
Prine, and Stompin' Tom Connors.
The talented
duo, who showcased well at the East Coast Music
Awards in St. John two weeks ago, strikes a fine
balance here between vocal and instrumental
numbers, both of which are served up equally
well. They also demonstrate their light hearted
side with "Does This Mean It's Over", which
could have been subtitled "The Idiot's Guide To
Being Had".
Outstanding
tracks on Hand To hand include The Immigrant, My
Father's Kindness, Rummer's Homecoming, Same Old
Man, and the title track.
From the Toronto
Sun, 6 February, 2002:
From the the
"Anti-Hit List" column by John Sakamoto, under the
caption "Aggressive Dance—This Week's 10
Coolest Tunes":
#3.
Mark Haines & Tom Leighton, "When The Ship
Comes In"
A
fully-realized, accordion-led take on Dylan's
end-of-the-world sea shanty from "The Times They
Are A-Changin'." (From "Hand
To
Hand",
Borealis)
From Penguin
Eggs Mag (issue #14):
"DELIGHTFUL!!"
Sheet music published in this issue!!
www.penguineggs.ab.ca
Here is a review
of our
concert in
Greenbank
January 13th, 2002. Lillian Wauthier posted this
review.
Mark
Haines and Tom Leighton always exude a great
joie-de-vivre in their performances and
tonight was no exception. Tom is a powerhouse
one-man band (if he wanted to be); he sings and
plays bodhran, keyboards and synthesizers and
some kind of souped up accordian which I think
was supplying a good backup bass sound; Mark is
excellent on the fiddle and the majority of the
lead vocals. Bill Usher joined them to provide
some solid and complimentary percussion. Tony
Burns played a Cabasa shaker which gave a nice
sound on a couple of numbers. Their music almost
defies description but with some interesting
props and music ranging from many unusual
originals to Celtic, gospel, contemporary,
bluegrass, vaudville and swing influences—and
great exciting polkas!—their music is in a
class all its own. Their phenomenal energy,
vivacity, charm, breadth of vision and
consummate musicality results in one of the most
exciting and mesmerizing shows you'll ever hope
to see and hear. Their enthusiasm and love of
music is so encompassing and pervasive that the
audience is swept up in a contagion of joy—many
in the packed house had never heard them before
and there were constant looks of incredulity on
peoples' faces and exclamations of wonder and
amazement. With standing ovations and double
encores, Tom & Mark invited Aengus (Finnan)
back on stage and finished off the evening with
the gospel song "I'll Fly Away" and a rousing
rendition of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", with
everyone standing, singing along and being
thoroughly transported. We got back to Toronto
at 2am, but who could go to sleep, when you're
so pumped and high! On the other hand, one might
argue, you're exhausted by their overwhelming
energy! However you react, this music courses
through your veins and sure makes you feel
alive.
(Lillian books
the Acoustic Harvest Folk Club, and can be
contacted at lillian@interlog.com)
Tom is currently
musical director for TWO musicals by Suzanne
Pasternak and Janet Kellough. "EXILE" is based on
the diaries of two women who survived the American
revolution and the exile to Canada and "MINERVA" is
about a 17 year old hero and nautical genius who
commanded her fathers barley schooner in the mid
nineteenth century.
Also CBC fans
can hear Tom's handiwork every hour and half-hour
as he helped realize Bill Garrett's and Paul Mill's
news themes.
Following Mark
and Tom's performance on the Nova Scotia Kitchen
Party, Rita MacNeil asked for (and was instantly
given) permission to record their arrangment of
Farewell To Nova Scotia with herself and the Men of
the Deep.
Biographies
- for
more detials see our Pro Bio
Page:
PromoBio
Mark and Tom
have been at it a long time. They enjoy the success
of being two of the most regular working musicians
on earth. They entertain in a wide variety of
venues for an even wider assortment of audiences.
With their roots firmly planted in tradition, their
limbs freely explore the outer limits. Their
engaging humor and musicality have made them
popular in several circuits. Their ramblings have
led them down the highways of Ontario, through the
back roads of Britain, along the shores of the
Maritimes and into the mountains of New York. They
perform a traditional and original repertoire
influenced by Celtic, Maritime and North American
roots.
Spring '93
they released their first recording
"Foot
To Floor (Repeat On
Beat!)"
They have performed nationally on CBC
Radio
Jurgen Gothe's Disc
Drive,
Murray McLaughlin's "Swingin' On A Star",
"Morningside", locally on "Later The Same Day" and
the national broadcast of "The Canadian Old Time
Fiddler's Contest" from Shelbourne
Ontario.
In the fall of
'94, Mark and Tom toured England and Scotland. Over
three weeks they played dates from Portsmouth to
Edinburgh and Scarborough to Bath. Venues included
folk societies, coffee-houses, pubs, the Boddington
Manchester Festival of the Arts and a live
performance on BBC's "Into the Parlour".
In the spring of
'96 they were comissioned to write arrangements of
Canadian traditional music for live shows at the
Canada Pavillion, EPCOT Center, Disney World,
Florida. You'll find them stomping the hardwood and
leading the chorus where-ever tunes are played,
stories are told and songs are sung.
Independent
recording "Foot
To Floor (Repeat On Beat)"
A commission to
write arrangements of Canadian traditional music
for live shows at the Canada Pavillion, EPCOT
Centre, Disney World, Florida.
Folk and music
festivals include:
Eaglewood Folk
Festival (Pefferlaw, Ontario)
Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival (Lunenburg, Nova
Scotia)
The Vara World Music Festival, Sweden
Red Rock Folk Music Festival (Ont.)
Fox Valley Music Ferstival (Il)
Ottawa Folk Festival (Ottawa, Ont)Almaguin Music
Festival Ottawa Folk Festival (Ottawa, Ontario)
Octoberfolk (Ontario)
Horseshoe Valley Spring Music (Ontario)
Home County Folk Festival (London, Ontario)
Festival Of The Islands (Gananoque, Ontario)
Blue Skies Music Festival (Clarendon, Ontario)
Grass Roots (Pickering, Ontario)
Mariposa (Cobourg, Ontario)
Horseshoe Valley Folk Festival
Atlantic Canada Festival (Toronto, Ontario)
Molson's Fiddlin' Arround Festival (Harbourfront,
Toronto, Ontario)
Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (Toronto,
Ontario)
Woodbridge Fall Fair (Woodbridge, Ontario)
Wye Marsh Festival (Midland, Ontario)
CBC and radio
features:
"Swingin' On A
Star" (hosted by Murray McLaughlin)
"Later The Same Day" (hosted by Catherine
O'Hara)
Host band for national broadcast of "The Canadian
Open Old Time Fiddler's Contest", Shelbourne,
Ontario
"Night Side" (hosted by John Oakley and John
Hesselink)
"CHIN Points East" (hosted by Karen
Parmeter)
Here is an
advertisement:
A great friend of Haines and Leighton has started
making excellent tippers for the bodhran (the Irish
drum that Tom plays). Good tippers are really hard
to find so I'm posting
Randy
Roels phone
number. ph 613 - 478 - 3787.
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