Already reeling from the news of the sudden passing of club owner, DJ, and Hootenanny On Hunter founder Jonathan Hall, the Peterborough music community is now coming to grips with the loss of revered musician and highly respected mentor Joe Hall (no relation).

Longtime Toronto-based musician and 1998 Juno Award recipient Tony Quarrington posted news of Hall’s passing on Facebook.

“It is with profound sadness that I have to announce the death on Friday (March 22) of my dear old friend and collaborator Joe Hall,” wrote Quarrington.

“We just brought out a new recording in December; in his opinion and mine, the best ever. He will be missed. He was unique. He was the only Canadian songwriter I would seriously compare to Leonard Cohen.”

A fixture on the Toronto music scene for years with his band The Continental Drift, Hall called Peterborough home for the last 30 years. As highly regarded for his encouragement of, and inspiration to, young musicians as he was for his own talent, Hall worked with a number of local acts, including The Silver Hearts.

Hall recorded three albums with The Continental Drift — whose members included Tony Quarrington and his brother, the late Paul Quarrington — the first being 1976’s HJ Boenke recorded by brothers Bob and Daniel Lanois. The follow-up, On The Avenue, was recorded at the brothers’ Grant Avenue Studio in Hamilton.

Later, Hall turned more frequently to recording and producing other musicians’ work.

Reached at his home on Sunday, bassist and Tonemasters member JP Hovercraft termed Hall’s passing “an incredible loss personally … he’s been family for years and years.”

“He wasn’t just a lyricist — he was a poet cutting right to the essence, whether it was deadly serious or insanely funny. He was not afraid to put anything into words. No social pressures kept Joe from saying what he intended to say. Absolutely one of the highlights of my career in music has been the work I was able to do with Joe.”

“He enriched the Peterborough music scene incredibly. He just loved that there was music everywhere. He wanted a life full of music, not just necessarily a life full of making music. That really was a bit of humbleness on his part because he was frigging giant.”

Hovercraft learned of Hall’s passing on Friday (March 22nd) from Hall’s son. According to Hovercraft, he had been ill for quite some time.

“We were expecting it but it wasn’t supposed to be so soon. I wanted more time or even one more gig or something. We always think there’s going to be more time but that’s not necessarily so.”

“He put an awful lot of miles on his liver. He got into AA and got dry and had been that way for 20 years but it still caught up with him.”

“There’s this video that was made in Lee Morgan’s backyard. It was a party and some of the locals came and played music. There was Buzz Thompson playing Stand By Me with Lee on drums and Joe playing guitar and me on bass and Phil Marshall too was there. Here I am, the only one left from that. That’s spooky.”

To this day, Hovercraft clearly remembers the first time he heard Hall play.

“In a musician’s life, you get these experiences where somebody says ‘Go see this band,’ so you take their word for it and you go,” he says.

“Sometimes you walk in and there’s something going on that’s just so incredible that you’re left dumbfounded, thinking ‘Holy shit, I wish I was in that band.’

“That was my experience the first time I saw Joe Hall and the Continental Drift somewhere on Queen Street (in Toronto).

“I was like ‘What the hell is this and why aren’t I part of it?’ The crowning moment in my career was when I got to join that band (The Continental Drift). I was excited and I was nervous. I got to keep doing it and it was wonderful every time. It was absolute magic.

“That’s what I’m really going to miss. I’m awfully blessed to have had that happen but it’s not going to happen again.”

VIDEO: Nos Hablos Telephones – Joe Hall & The Continental Drift

According to Hovercraft, a private family service will be held for Hall, although he suggests the local music community may come together at some point to honour him in some way.

“Joe would walk down the street and there would be somebody there with their hand out. He would go out of his way to give as much as he could. It was suggested to me that if anybody asks what can they give (in Hall’s memory), just walk down George Street and give to the first person that’s looking for a helping hand.”

kawarthaNOW also reached out to Hall’s long-time friend, local artist Joe Stable, but was unable to connect with him in time for this story.

VIDEO: Joe Hall at The Joe Show at Acme Art & Sailboat Company on November 2, 2018

At the First Friday Art Crawl in November 2018, Stable held an exhibit called “The Joe Show”, featuring Stable’s artwork based on photographic portaits of Hall, with half of the proceeds going to help produce Hall’s final album.

Hall also performed at the exhibit, along with Tony Quarrington and Hovercraft.

Earlier today (March 24), Stable posted a simple message on his Facebook page, accompanied by one of his portraits of Hall:

“Mr. Joe Hall, we love you and will miss you so much.”

Others shared similar sentiments on Facebook upon learning of Hall’s death.

“Such a great artist,” wrote singer-songwriter and visual artist Kurt Swinghammer. “Wish I could see him play again.”

“Whenever I bumped into him, he never failed to say something memorable, meaningful, and hilarious,” wrote local musician and artist Robert Atyeo. “He was a mentor to me, introduced me to his friend Willie P. (Bennett) one day which changed my life.”

You can listen to Joe Hall’s final album, released in 2018, on the Trent Radio / Radio Free Peterborough Local Music Archive Project website (Adobe Flash required).

VIDEO: Joe Hall in conversation with Paul Quarrington (Market Hall in Peterborough, 2009)

VIDEO: Brain Damage Blues – Joe Hall & The Continental Drift

VIDEO: We Met at The Lumsden Street Beanery – Joe Hall & The Continental Drift

VIDEO: Eva B – Joe Hall & The Continental Drift

kawarthaNOW has learned that Jonathan Hall has died.

Reports began spreading on social media on Saturday morning (March 23) that the popular local business owner and DJ had passed away.

Hall’s partner Kayley Duggan has confirmed that he died at home with her while being attended by paramedics early on Friday night (March 22).

Hall suffered a heart attack. He had just celebrated his 44th birthday on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17).

In 2018, he opened The Twisted Wheel in downtown Peterborough bar with co-owner Mike Judson.

Hall was also the former owner of Spanky’s, Splice, and Trasheteria and was the founder of the annual Hootenanny on Hunter Street music festival. As a DJ, he was known as “Jonny Trash”.

He and Duggan had just purchased Nostalgic Journey this month, an antique and collectibles store on Highway 7 at Drummond Line.

Duggan says information about funeral and service details will be made public once they are arranged.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that a donation be made to the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation at support.heartandstroke.ca/goto/JonHall.

100 Women Peterborough has done it again.

At their first meeting of the year on Tuesday night (March 19) at The Venue in downtown Peterborough, the collective philanthropy group raised over $10,200 in under one hour for Brock Mission’s Cameron House.

The concept of 100 Women Peterborough is simple but very effective: four times a year, members of the group gather to hear presentations from three selected non-profits or charities in the region about projects for which they are seeking funds. Well before each meeting, the three organizations are randomly drawn from a larger list of organizations nominated by members.

After listening to the presentations, each woman places a blank $100 cheque into a box representing one of the three organizations. The organization with the most votes receives all the donations (including later donations from members who are unable to attend the meeting).

At the March 19th meeting, the three selected organizations — Brock Mission, YWCA Peterborough-Haliburton, and the Peterborough Public Library Foundation — made their presentations to the group. When all the votes were counted, Brock Mission came out on top.

“What an incredible experience to see 100 Women Peterborough at work,” said Brock Mission executive director Bill McNabb, who made the presentation to the group. “We are encouraged, inspired, and grateful for their generous support in getting some much needed repairs and improvements for our shelter facility.”

Cameron House, which opened in October 1996, is a short-term emergency shelter for women with 12 beds that supports 250 women annually. In 2011, Brock Mission added eight bachelor units to the site to create Cameron House, Too!, which supports women who have difficulty retaining stable housing.

Women staying in these units pay a modest rent, have the support of their familiar shelter, and also receive assistance with a Life Skills program. The program is customized to suit the individual, and provides education and training for independent living.

The donation from 100 Women Peterborough will help Cameron House fund a new laundry room, as well as much-needed upgrades to their current facilities.

100 Women Peterborough was founded in February 2018 by Wendy Hill, Alyssa Stewart, Catia Skinner, and Rosalea Terry, who were inspired by similar groups in other communities.

The collective philanthropy movement began in November 2006 when Karen Dunigan of Michigan formed the “100 Women who Care” group. After that group’s first meeting, the women raised over $10,000 for the purchase of 300 new baby cribs for a local organization.

The movement has grown over the past 13 years to include almost 100 chapters in North America, including at least 15 in Canada.

Since it was founded, 100 Women Peterborough has increased its membership to well over the original goal of 100 members, allowing the group to exceed $10,000 in collective donations. Last year, 100 Women Peterborough raised almost $50,000 in donations for four local organizations: Hospice Peterborough, Peterborough Youth Unlimited, One Roof Warming Room, and New Canadians Centre.

“We are excited to see the group continuing to make a collective impact in its second year,” Terry says. “We can’t wait to see how this donation serves Brock Mission Cameron House and the women that they support.”

Women who interested in joining the group should visit www.100womenptbo.ca for more information.

Well, what can we say? Spring has sprung and we’re still posting snow pictures on Instagram! Who would have thought that there would be multiple phases of the never-ending winter?

Now that spring is here, what we can promise is that we’ll try to post pictures of melting snow and running creeks and rapids. Luckily, the bright pink sunrises are also returning.

But as I always say, there’s astonishing beauty in the Kawarthas in every season and our top photos from February prove it once again.

Do you want to get on our photographer list? All you need is an Insta account and to tag us using our hashtag #kawarthanow when posting your photo.

We share photos from across our readership area, which is the five-county area surrounding Peterborough which includes Peterborough, Northumberland, City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, and Hastings (we sneak in the occasional Algonquin Park picture as well, particularly if it’s by a Kawartha photographer).

To see our daily shares of photos, follow us on Instagram @kawarthanow and check out our feed’s monthly highlight reels for recaps of every month in 2019.

#1. Eels Creek sunrise by Paul Hartley @paul_hartley_photo

Posted February 24, 2019. 7,837 impressions, 521 likes

View this post on Instagram

Good Sunday morning our #kawarthapeeps with some special sunrise views of #eelscreek from @paul_hartley_photo #northkawartha #winterinthekawarthas #kawarthawinter #ptbokawartha #ptbocounty #ptbo #apsley #kawarthasunrise

A post shared by kawarthaNOW® (@kawarthanow) on Feb 24, 2019 at 4:01am PST

#2. Super snow moon over Chemong Lake by Catherine Staples @terrabryn

Posted February 20, 2019. 7,675 impressions, 776 likes

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Good Wednesday morning our #kawarthapeeps with the #supersnowmoon over #chemonglake by @terrabryn #fullmoon #supermoon #winterinthekawarthas #kawarthalakes #ptbokawartha #kawarthas #thekawarthas #kawarthawinter

A post shared by kawarthaNOW® (@kawarthanow) on Feb 20, 2019 at 3:26am PST

#3. Snowy Saturday at Burleigh Falls by Russ Higgins

Posted February 23, 2019. 6,800 impressions, 554 likes

This photo has been removed at the request of the photographer.

#4. Snow storm at Cedarbank Farm by Escape Maze @escapemaze

Posted February 12, 2019. 6,648 impressions, 540 likes

View this post on Instagram

Good Tuesday morning our #kawarthapeeps @escapemaze Snow is on the way! Stay safe everyone. #ptbo #ptbokawartha #thekawarthas #kawarthas #kawarthafarms #winterinthekawarthas

A post shared by kawarthaNOW® (@kawarthanow) on Feb 12, 2019 at 4:38am PST

#5. Winter white pines on Big Bald Lake by Joe Yusiw @kawartha_joe

Posted February 21, 2019. 6,623 impressions, 567 likes

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Good Thursday morning our #kawarthapeeps from #bigbaldlake thanks to @kawartha_joe #bobcaygeon #buckhorn #kawarthalakes #winterinthekawarthas #kawarthawinter #thekawarthas #thekawarthalakes

A post shared by kawarthaNOW® (@kawarthanow) on Feb 21, 2019 at 3:38am PST

#6. Saturday morning at Roger’s Cove in Peterborough’s East City by Dan B. @backyardptbo

Posted February 2, 2019. 6,574 impressions, 446 likes

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Good Saturday morning our #kawarthapeeps from #rogerscove thanks to @backyardptbo and this is our KN backyard! #attheendofourstreet #eastcityON #peterboroughontario #ptbo #otonabeeriver #littlelake #littlelakepeterborough #trentsevernwaterway #tsw

A post shared by kawarthaNOW® (@kawarthanow) on Feb 2, 2019 at 4:49am PST

#7. Super snow moon over North Kawartha by Brett Somerville @brett_somerville

Posted February 24, 2019. 6,396 impressions, 511 likes

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Oh that #supersnowmoon this week! Photo by @brett_somerville from #northkawartha Tuck yourselves in our #kawarthapeeps we have weather on the way! #ptbokawartha #winterinthekawarthas #kawarthamoon #moonlight #countryroads #cottagecountry #kawarthas #thekawarthas #ontario

A post shared by kawarthaNOW® (@kawarthanow) on Feb 24, 2019 at 11:09am PST

#8. Beautiful Big Bald Lake skies by Joe Yusiw @kawartha_joe

Posted February 21, 2019. 6,309 impressions, 489 likes

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Hot off the @kawartha_joe feed #kawarthapeeps #happeningNOW #bobcaygeon #bigbaldlake #saturday #winterinthekawarthas #kawarthawinter #kawarthasunset #kawarthalakes #cityofkawarthalakes #cokl

A post shared by kawarthaNOW® (@kawarthanow) on Feb 23, 2019 at 3:11pm PST

#9. A dark and stormy day on the North Kawartha highway by Jeff Teräväinen @jeffteravainen

Posted February 20, 2019. 5,936 impressions, 468 likes

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Your Wednesday afternoon photo our #kawarthapeeps thanks to @jeffteravainen from where our heart is #eelslake #northkawartha #paudashlake #apsley #ptbokawartha #winterinthekawarthas #kawarthawinter #ptbo #thekawarthas #february

A post shared by kawarthaNOW® (@kawarthanow) on Feb 20, 2019 at 1:38pm PST

Some exciting changes are in store for the 30th anniversary of the Peterborough Folk Festival this summer.

Festival board chair Malcolm Byard and vice-chair and artistic director Ryan Kemp made several announcements today (March 19) at Peterborough Subaru’s showroom on Chemong Road, the first being that the volunteer-run festival is now being sponsored by Peterborough Subaru.

Peterborough Subaru is contributing $10,000 to this year’s festival. In exchange, the festival’s main stage at Nicholls Oval Park will be known as the “Peterborough Subaru Stage” in 2019.

“Peterborough Subaru is excited to be in partnership with the Peterborough Folk Festival,” says Phillip Jolicoeur, sales and marketing specialist at Peterborough Subaru. “We are honoured to be celebrating our 35th anniversary servicing the Peterborough community, and showing our appreciation by supporting an incredible diverse music festival for our community in its 30th year.”

In addition to the new partnership with Peterborough Subaru, Kemp and Byard announced the City of Peterborough has recommended the festival receive annual funding under the city’s Service Grant program — a move the city had rejected in previous years.

Normally, not-for-profit community organizations like the festival have to apply for funding every year under the city’s Community Investment Grants program. In 2018, the festival received $15,000 under that program.

This year, the city has approved the festival being moved to the Service Grant Program. Under that program, the festival will receive $21,450 in 2019 but, more importantly, they don’t need to re-apply for the funds every year — grants are provided annually, which provides the festival with additional financial stability.

“This is huge for the festival as it will signal to provincial and federal granting agencies that the City of Peterborough recognizes the importance of the festival,” Kemp says. “The support from the city has been amazing and this new secured funding will go a long way in the continued success of the festival for years to come.”

Between the new partnership with Peterborough Subaru and the increased city funding, the festival will be expanding to four days in 2019.

As in previous years, there will be a weekend of free concerts at Nicholls Oval Park in East City, set for August 17th and 18th this year. Once again there will be artisans and crafters, food vendors, workshops, a children’s village with kid-oriented activities and performances, and a licensed beer pavilion.

A ticketed kick-off show will take place at the Market Hall on Friday, August 16th. The performer for the ticketed concert has yet to be announced, but Kemp did make two significant performer announcements.

VIDEO: “Stadium Pow Wow” – A Tribe Called Red featuring Black Bear

Ground-breaking indigenous DJ collective A Tribe Called Red (ATCR) will be performing on the Peterborough Subaru main stage at Nicholls Oval Park on Saturday, August 17th, and beloved children’s entertainer and Juno award-winner Fred Penner will return to the festival to perform on the Peterborough Subaru main stage on Saturday, August 18th.

ATCR’s unique sound is a fusion of indigenous, hip hop, and electronic music. They released their self-titled debut album in 2012, which was included in the Washington Post’s list of 10 best pop albums of 2012.

The band garnered mainstream recognition when they became the first indigenous group to win the Breakthrough Group of the Year award at the 2014 Juno Awards.

Their 2016 album We Are the Halluci Nation won the Album of the Year at the Canadian Independent Music Awards, and they won Group of the Year at the 2018 Juno Awards.

They last performed in Peterborough in March 2017 at a sold-out show at the Red Dog.

“It’s an honour to have A Tribe Called Red perform this year as we celebrate our 30th anniversary,” Kemp says. “This is definitely going to be a memorable year.”

It’s already been a memorable year so far for the festival, having held a successful Peterborough Winter Folk Festival earlier this month, featuring 30 artists over seven days at six venues. On March 25th, the festival presented acclaimed musician Bahamas at Showplace Performance Centre. The stage name for Toronto-based guitarist and songwriter Afie Jurvanen, Bahamas just picked up the 2019 Adult Alternative Album Juno for his latest record Earthtones, which was also nominated for a 2019 Grammy.

For more information about the Peterborough Folk Festival or to become volunteer, vendor, or sponsor, visit www.peterboroughfolkfest.com or email peterboroughfolkfest@gmail.com.