Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series opens 2024-2025 season with quintet of accomplished performers

Tim Brody - Editor

The first show of the season in the Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series’ 2024-2025 line-up featured a quintet of talented performers whose music, stories, and interactions with audience members earned them a stand ovation and encore performance.
Taking place on Sunday, Sept. 22 at the Sioux North High School cafetorium, the Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series presented Allison Lupton, accompanied by Andrew Collins, Shane Cook, Joseph Phillips, and Kyle Waymouth.
The Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series shared of the artists, “Born and raised on a second generation dairy farm in Southwestern Ontario, Allison Lupton has always been immersed in Canadian folk life, but it took a love and intense study of Irish and Celtic music for her to find her way to the Canadian folk music tradition that she’s grown up around… In 2015 Lupton won Folk Music Ontario’s “Songs From the Heart” grand prize for her song “One More Day”. She has also been honoured with three nominations by the Canadian Folk Music Awards including most recently (2020) “Traditional Singer of the Year” for her CD “Words of Love”.
“Andrew Collins is a gifted multi-instrumentalist known for his mastery of mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and mandola, blending bluegrass, jazz, and classical influences in his innovative compositions. With Tongue & Groove, he adds vocals to his music for the first time, showcasing both his instrumental expertise and creative versatility.
“Shane Cook is a Canadian and US National fiddle champion known for his captivating and adventurous performances, excelling in traditional Irish, Scottish, Pop, and Bluegrass music. He is recognized as a master of the Canadian old-time fiddle tradition, demonstrating technical mastery across multiple genres.
“Joseph Phillips, studied double bass under virtuoso Joel Quarrington at the University of Toronto and has been the Principal Double Bassist with Orchestra London since 2007. He has also held principal positions with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Toronto, showcasing his expertise as a double bassist.
“Kyle Waymouth is a multi-instrumentalist and accomplished Ottawa-Valley style step dancer, having won multiple Canadian step dance and clogging championships. In 2023, he received the Canadian Folk Music Award for Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year for his debut album Inchoate, released under the artist name ‘Waymzy.”
Entertainment Series Chairperson Alyson Martin shared after the show, “Many people were walking out the door saying that was a wonderful inaugural performance to launch our 24-25 season and I couldn’t agree more.”
She added, “Allison Lupton in her own right is a phenomenal musician, and to have that group of equally impressive and accomplished artists… there were points were the music just kind of, there were layers of music and sound, it was just very moving and joyous, poignant. It just brough life to the arts and life to music and really enjoyable evening for everybody involved.”
Commenting on this year’s line-up, Martin explained, “The work that we do to create these lineups, begins a year in advance and we work closely with our NWO Presenters across the region, engaging in a “block booking process” where we try to create a tour with professional artists being able to present in three or more communities, constituting  a “block.” This allows artists to move across the Provinces and our region in particular, engaging audiences through their shows, as well as outreach opportunities, as their touring schedules allow. At the outcome of this process, if a block isn’t possible but our committee is interested in presenting an artist on their own, we look at the possible ways to make it work. This is how we have been able to present a number of phenomenal artists, over the years, even where a block was not possible.  There is a strong connection between our NWO Presenting partners as each of us comes to the table with a true commitment of ensuring the performing arts are a cornerstone in our communities.  Being able to present professional artists both seasoned and emerging, is a highlight for all of us involved and there are many “behind the scenes” steps that take place before we land on our final Series Lineup.”
Martin said the Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series couldn’t do what it does without many levels of support, “Through our grant-writing, we have been fortunate to receive funds Provincially, through the Ontario Arts Council and Federally, through Canadian Heritage.  We are members of Ontario Presents, and have a “volunteer presenters” seat at the table on their Board of Directors.  Through our annual sponsorship drive, we are thankful for our most generous Friends, Supporters and Patrons of the Arts from local organizations, businesses and individuals. And last but not least, the financial support coming in from our ticket sales both Season Passes and Single Tickets, are key in our ability to continue the work we do.   We are thrilled to have audience members who show up, engage, and celebrate alongside us.  To be able to see all of the work we do culminating in “bringing artists and audiences together,” is worth every volunteer hour we put into it. We get to create a space for a collective experience to take place between community members from all walks of life, and we are ready for whatever the artists have in store for us.  It’s a privilege to be doing this work and we respectfully acknowledge committee members who have blazed the trail before us, while those of us currently on the path, embrace it wholeheartedly.”
Martin noted, “As we all know, we were facing a different kind of challenge, with an unexpected power outage announced prior to our inaugural performance with Allison Lupton. We wanted to thank all of the people involved in problem-solving with our committee representatives, particularly Sioux Lookout Hydro, Hydro One, and members of our Municipal Leadership.  We can assure you, that we had a “plan b and c,” in the wings but were grateful that we were able to scrap those and proceed with Plan A, literally allowing the “show to go on.”
Martin said the committee is interested in volunteers who may want to join them, “as different roles often need to be filled and mentoring is possible on others.”
Anyone interested can contact Martin at 807-737-5375.
Martin concluded, “We anticipate positive sales for our next performance featuring Tim Hicks on Friday November 1st, and ask that any of our Season Pass holders and pre-paid Eventbrite ticket holders arrive at the show no later than 7:15, so we can get you seated, as we will commence with our single ticket sales at the door shortly after.”
People can stay up to date on this season’s shows and purchase tickets by visiting the Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series website at: https://siouxhudson
entertainmentseries.ca/.