For more than two decades, Richard Wood has impressed audiences all across Canada, as well as in the Unites States, Europe, Japan and Australia. Highlights include TV guest appearances with Shania Twain on “David Letterman” and “Good Morning America,” Carnegie Hall with Irish legends The Chieftains, a featured performer on CBC’s Canada Day on Parliament Hill, “Rita MacNeil and Friends,” and with Jean Butler of Riverdance on “Celtic Electric.”
A fiery fiddler from Prince Edward Island, Richard has played for Canada’s Prime Minister and Governor General, the Queen of England (in Toronto), and for the Emperor of Japan in Tokyo. He’s played at the Lincoln Center in New York City, Epcot at Disney World, and was a featured performer in the touring fiddle spectacle “Bowfire.” His has won three Canadian East Coast Music Awards. MacLean’s Magazine named him one of the Top 100 Canadians to watch in the 21st Century. Most recently, he performed for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge during their Canadian visit to his home Province.
Prince Edward Island’s Gordon Belsher has been entertaining audiences in Canada and around the world for more than 40 years performing at concerts, ceilidhs, conventions, and pubs. His solo CD “Past & Present,” won Roots Traditional Recording of the Year at the Music PEI Awards in 2013. He received a Music PEI Lifetime Achievement Award and has been the Artistic Director for Prince Edward Island Mutual Festival of Small Halls. Whether playing before large festival crowds or intimate folk club settings, Gordon’s engaging personality, charming voice, and versatility on a variety of instruments are a recipe for a memorable evening.
Over the last few years, Richard and Gordon have been performing and touring as a duo. Enthusiastic audiences have been taken on a roller coaster ride of exhilarating–even exhausting–jigs and reels, strathspeys and hornpipes, and beautiful airs, many composed by Richard himself. This is complimented by Gordon’s engaging songs, some humorous and some poignant, warming things up for the next fiddle blaze.
The show is co-sponsored by Nathan Drum O.D. Tickets for this exciting show are $15 per person and on sale at the Rialto Theater in downtown Lancaster or Fiddleheads, 100 Main St., in Colebrook. Tickets are also available online at www.gnwca.org and at the door on the night of the show. For more information on this and other GNWCA shows, find the Great North Woods Committee for the Arts on Facebook, visit www.gnwca.org or you can call 237-9302 or 246-8998. Online donations to the GNWCA can be made at www.givegab.com/ campaigns/support-the-gnwca.