The Heartwood Folk Club capped off its fall 2017 season with a performance by the Gadjo Collective Nov. 18.
The Balkan dance band performed a variety of music inspired by places throughout eastern Europe. The band featured 11 different musicians as well as a pair of dancers.
Heartwood Folk Club president Harvey Scott said it has been a great season, and he was excited to have an unusual style of music appear at the Nancy Appleby Theatre.
“It’s an entirely different world,” Scott said. “It’s marvelous. At first, probably people were scratching their head, but it has been great.”
Throughout the show, Cam Neufeld, the band’s lead and violinist, provided stories of his journeys throughout the Balkans, India and Europe. He spoke about how these different places inspired the songs the band played.
“Fortunate enough to spend a little bit of time in Istanbul. There’s one of my favourite neighbourhoods, Tarlibasi,” Neufeld said before one of the band’s songs, adding the place is a neighbourhood of Romani and Kurdish people. “I wrote this little piece as a tribute to that place.”
Donna Ellefson, a member of the Heartwood Folk Club and regular attendee of its shows, said she was positive about seeing a diverse range of music at the club.
“This type of music is a little bit different but it’s really good,” Ellefson said. “It’s good to see so much diversity.”
Mark Sheppard, another concert attendee, said he enjoyed the show and was consistently pleased by the music brought by the Heartwood Folk Club.
“We’re very fortunate indeed,” Sheppard said. “I have yet to be to a concert (here) that wasn’t satisfying or at least interesting.”
The show’s intermission was briefly delayed when Scott made a plea to the audience in search of new volunteers for the club.
“We need more volunteers with more energy,” Scott said. “We hope some of you who have enthusiasm and passion for this kind of music will come out and volunteer and help lead us.”
He later added that the club is in need of more youth to help direct it.
“We really need young blood. People who can tell us what type of music they’d like us to bring in. That’s one of the biggest challenges we have,” Scott said.
However, Scott said he is excited for the season ahead. The group announced some of their shows for the Spring 2017 season during the intermission, including a Celtic band coming on Feb. 3.
“I’m so excited and next season we have so many great shows setup,” Scott said.
