It’s late afternoon on a beautiful fall day in Collingwood, Ontario and Sass Jordan is, well, anxious to move things along.

“As soon as you and me are done here, guess what happens … I get to have my glass of wine,” she laughs, seemingly unaware of the pressure she has put on her interviewer to move things along.

But then the conversation touches on her reincarnation of her groundbreaking 1992 album Racine and suddenly there’s plenty of time to chat. That glass of wine can wait.

“I’m excited as all get out,” says the rock singer of recently released Racine Revisited and the associated new tour that kicks off Thursday, November 2nd at 8 p.m. at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre (140 Charlotte Street, Peterborough, 705-749-1146). “You know why? I have never done this show in the format that I’m doing it in. So, yeah, I’m really excited but I’m absolutely freaking terrified at the same time.

“Racine is French for roots. We’re 25 years on. At that time (of the original recording), I was exploring my own roots musically. Now, for people coming to the show, that album is part of their roots. Now we’re looking at collective roots, not just mine. It’s powerful, it’s exciting and I couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Producing the hit singles “Make You A Believer”, “I Want To Believe”, “You Don’t Have To Remind Me” and “Goin’ Back Again”, Racine was Jordan’s second studio album. It was released four years after her debut record, Tell Somebody, and three years after her 1989 Juno Award as Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year. Three more Juno Award nominations followed over the next five years, each in the Best Female Vocalist Category.

VIDEO: “Racine Revisited” Promo – Sass Jordan

“I don’t know if it (her Juno Award) gave me more confidence but it did set up Racine for me in Canada. It was like ‘Oh, this person won a Juno a couple of years ago. Let’s have a look at what she’s doing now.’ It did give me more of an entry into the Canadian (music) scene at that time that might not had been there.

“But I’m a little weird about awards. In my experience, it’s really who you know. There’s a lot of politics involved.”

Now age 54, simple math tells us Jordan was 29 years old when she recorded Racine. As such, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge that saw her record another five albums, sell well more than one million records worldwide, and work alongside such rock heavyweights as Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and the late Joe Cocker, to name a few.

“What’s changed? The best word for that would be everything,” assesses Jordan.

“Somebody who was born 25 years ago is now 25. That’s a big deal, right? And I’m 25 years older and all the people who enjoyed that record at that time, it’s the same thing. The only thing that’s the same is the structure of the songs and essential message of the songs. That hasn’t changed. That’s timeless.”

“I don’t think anything is the same other than the essential building blocks of the construct — ‘I was born in 1960-something’ and ‘I was born in Birmingham, England and I grew up in Montreal.’

“That’s all the same shit, but I am a different person. I have a completely different outlook on life. Life is subjective. It’s how you perceive it and that becomes your experience. My perception of life has changed dramatically over the past 25 years. If it hadn’t, I’d be dead.”

Hitting the road and sharing her music with fans, both of the longtime and new-to-the-game variety, is clearly an exciting prospect for Jordan as is her ongoing work on songs for a new album.

“It’s going to be killer,” she assures, adding, “I don’t know if people care about records anymore but I do. Do I have a preference (in terms of recording over performing or vice versa)? Do I have a preference for anything over anything? Yeah, a private plane over a commercial flight. Each of them has their pros and cons. Each one is equally important to me, and equally powerful and fun.”

VIDEO: “Make You a Believer” – Sass Jordan featuring Jeff Healey

As part of her Racine Revisited tour — the Peterborough date kicks off a stretch of eight tour stops in November — Jordan will share stories of her journey to date as well as take questions from audience members.

“I’m writing right now, and over the next couple of days, stories I’m going to share. It (telling stories) isn’t therapeutic. Wine is therapeutic. I am really excited about the Q and A but I hope they don’t ask ‘What’s your favourite breakfast cereal?'”

No doubt a few of those stories will touch on Jordan’s journey across the Canadian musical landscape and beyond, both figuratively and literally, and the success which come has her way in a business that, more often than not, sees today’s hot news turn cold in an awful hurry.

“Believe me, if it wasn’t for me, I wouldn’t be here,” says Jordan of her remaining musically relevant so many years on.

“It’s not because of the grace of anyone else. It’s because I insisted on it. I work super hard and I love what I do. My whole reason for being is to uplift and inspire people. However I do that doesn’t matter to me. I can do it through music; I can do it through words; I can do it through being there and listening to someone.

“Money is lovely, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not my motivation. If it were, I wouldn’t be doing this for a living. I’m grateful to myself for hanging in there.”

That said, Jordan is cognizant of the fact that music “is a collaborative effort”, noting her rebirth of Racine is a clear example of that.

“A song is a song. I could do a song by Tom Petty, which I do, and it’s going to have a completely different energy than when Tom did it with Stevie Nicks. It’s exactly the same thing with my songs. I get to recreate them with musicians that weren’t there when I wrote them.

“But the most important ingredient is the people that are in attendance at a particular performance. It’s the collective that makes the thing what it is. As crazy and weird as that sounds, it’s the God’s honest truth. When I’m doing a song, its effect depends on who is there to listen to it and how it’s affecting them.

“That’s what we’re here for — to have a lot of fun and get our minds off the bullshit for two hours. Sass Jordan is an entertainer. I know her personally.”

Tickets to Racine Revisited, a Market Hall Presents event, cost $38 ($43 for floor seating) and are available in person at the box office, by phone at 705-749-1146, or online at markethall.org. Tickets are also available (cash only) at Moondance (425 George St. N., Peterborough, 705-742-9425).

VIDEO: “You Don’t Have To Remind Me” – Sass Jordan

On Saturday, November 4th, the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra (PSO) opens its 51st season with “Step Into the Light”, a concert at Showplace Performance Centre sponsored by Bryston, featuring beloved Canadian violinist and Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) Concertmaster Jonathan Crow.

Step Into the Light will explore the contrast between the works of German composer friends Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann. Jonathan Crow will perform Mendelssohn’s light but innovative Violin Concerto — the perfect foil for Schumann’s stately Symphony no. 4.

A native of British Columbia, Jonathan earned his Bachelor of Music in Honours Performance from McGill University in 1998, at which time he joined the Montreal Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Violin. Between 2002 and 2006, he was the Concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra — making Jonathan, who was 25 years old in 2002, the youngest concertmaster of any major North American orchestra at the time.

In 2005, Jonathan joined the Schulich School of Music at McGill University as an Assistant Professor of Violin and was appointed Associate Professor of Violin in 2010. His current and former students have received prizes at competitions around the world.

Jonathan performs as guest concertmaster internationally, and has performed as soloist with most major Canadian orchestras. He is an avid chamber musician and has performed at chamber music festivals throughout North America, South America, and Europe.

VIDEO: Jonathan Crow, Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Jonathan was a teenager when he first met current TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian, who describes him as “incredibly versatile, a great teacher and a top notch soloist (with) the highest musical standards” in a 2014 feature story in the Toronto Star by writer Trish Crawford.

Now in his seventh season as TSO Concertmaster, the 40-year-old virtuoso has become almost as well known for his humble and easy-going nature as he is for that fantastic musical talent.

In the Toronto Star’s story, Crawford painted a picture of Jonathan as a modest man who uses public transit and takes his lunch to work in a brown bag (and at least once his daughter’s cast-off pink lunch pail).

In the same story, fellow musician Eric Nowlin called him “low maintenance and clearly extremely intelligent.”

Although he has a reputation as a relaxed person off-stage, Peterborough concert-goers shouldn’t expect an unemotional presentation from Jonathan on-stage with the PSO on November 2nd.

At a recent TSO performance, I had the chance to witness his playing style for myself, and he is a musician who seems to embody the tone of a composition. It was a pleasure to see how deeply he feels the notes, through his violin, but also in his presence as he meticulously and elegantly executes the music.

His chamber music teacher at McGill, Andre J. Roy, says in the aforementioned Toronto Star story that Jonathan’s beautiful playing “doesn’t have the ‘harsh’ attack of many North American players, but is more ‘suave’, like Europeans.”

So it will be a treat for audience members to see and hear this musician perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in Peterborough.

VIDEO: Jonathan Crow plays an excerpt from the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto

“We are greatly looking forward to making music with Jonathan Crow, one of Canada’s foremost violinists,” says PSO Music Director and Conductor Michael Newnham. “The Mendelssohn Violin Concerto is one of the most balanced, sunny, and perfect pieces ever written.”

Concert ticket holders are invited to attend Meet the Maestro, a popular pre-concert chat with Maestro Newnham, in the Showplace theatre at 6:40 p.m. before the concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

Single concert tickets for Step Into the Light cost of $48.50, $38.50, or $20 for adults, and $10 for students. Single tickets can be purchased now for all PSO concerts this season.

Tickets are available in person at the Showplace box office (290 George St. N, Peterborough), by phone at 705-742-7469, or online at showplace.org. Four- and five-concert season subscriptions are also available, but these must be purchased directly through the PSO office by calling 705-742-1992 or emailing info@thepso.org.

There are thousands of Elvis tribute artists around the world, and many participate in the popular annual Elvis tribute festivals dedicated to the late King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and his music — including the Collingwood Elvis Festival, the world’s largest.

Competition at these festivals is friendly but fierce, so you know any Elvis tribute artist who is crowned champion has greatly impressed both judges and fans alike. That’s the case with Matt Cage, who will be performing “Christmas With The King”, an Elvis tribute concert, at Showplace Performance Centre in Peterborough on Saturday, December 2nd.

So far, Cage has placed first at the Collingwood festival three times, once as an non-professional in 2011 and twice again as a professional (in 2012 as “Grand Champion Professional Early Years” and again in 2016 as “Gospel/Inspirational Champion”).

He also has an impressive number of both first and second place finishes at various other Elvis festivals across North America.

It was at the Collingwood Elvis Festival (Priscilla Presley herself took part at the 20th anniversary festival in 2014), that Cage — a lifelong fan of Presley’s music — had an epiphany of sorts that set him on a life-changing course.

“I saw all the guys doing their performances and I thought to myself ‘Hey, I can do this,” recalls Cage.

“The next year I entered the contest. I dyed my hair black the night before and went for it. I didn’t win the first time out, but I did pretty well. Afterwards, my phone started ringing and I got into doing some shows and other contests. The next year, back in Collingwood, I won the non-professional division and then, the next year, I won the professional division.”

VIDEO: “Walk A Mile In My Shoes and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” performed by Matt Cage

At his December 2nd concert at Showplace, Cage will be front-and-centre doing what he loves, headlining “Christmas With The King” backed by Gerie and The Koasters and The Springtime Chordaires, with six members of the Peterborough Pop Ensemble also in the backing vocal mix. Tickets to the 8 p.m. concert, emceed by Bill Coulter, cost $36 and are available now, in person at the Showplace box office (290 George St. N., Peterborough), by phone at 705-742-7469, or online at showplace.org.

“It’s a balance of some of Elvis’ big hits, with a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll that people can shake a leg to,” says Cage of the upcoming “Christmas With The King” concert.

“I do the full range of Elvis’ music, from the early years to the jumpsuit era in the 1970s. One thing that was great about Elvis is he was such a complete performer — rock ‘n’ roll, country, gospel — but his Christmas music was very special.”

While Cage won’t reveal his age, he’s got more than a few years on the 22-year-old version of Elvis he portrays in Million Dollar Quartet, the Tony Award-winning musical that also features tribute performers paying homage to Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.

“That show has really been the biggest feather in my cap,” says Cage of the show, now wrapping up a 10-day run in Kamloops B.C. and scheduled for December at Toronto’s Panasonic Theatre.

“Before I got into doing Elvis, I used to do community theatre in Belleville,” Cage says.

“I really liked acting and performing. Then I found Elvis and his music and went that way. With Million Dollar Quartet being a theatrical production, I’m able to act and sing in it. It’s a great show, a lot of high energy, and I don’t have to do three hours of performing. It’s nice to share the load.”

VIDEO: “Trouble / Heartbreak Hotel / Hound Dog / All Shook Up” performed by Matt Cage

What sets the Toronto-born and Belleville-raised Cage apart from many acclaimed tribute artists is he entered the game with no formal vocal training experience, outside of singing at family parties and taking his turn at the karaoke microphone.

“I was actually quite shy about singing,” he explains. “If you told me I would be doing this for a living, I would have called you crazy. It started out as a bit of a side gig, a hobby type thing. I was working and doing gigs on weekends and nights. About three years ago, I ended up going to Las Vegas Planet Hollywood and working there for an extended period of time. At that point, it became either do this or keep working my day job — so I went full time with it.

“I’ve been pretty fortunate where a lot of stuff has just sort of come my way. I haven’t really had to go out and beg for shows or anything like that.”

A big part of the reason for that, admits Cage, is the subject of his musical attention. Forty years after his death at age 42, Presley remains as popular in death as he did in life, arguably more so. Pilgrimages to Graceland in Memphis Tennessee are made annually by hundreds of thousands of people from around the globe, and his music continues to enjoy brisk sales. In short, people still can’t seem to get enough of Elvis.

“He really was the complete package,” assesses Cage. “He was a good looking man. He was supremely talented and his moves were dazzling. There was just a charisma about him. That’s something that nobody can truly recreate. It was almost like a mystique. This person was so incredible yet so many people in this world think they can do him justice, myself included.

“I don’t know if there’s an answer as to why. Supply and demand is part of it. People want it so there’s going to people who will do it but I don’t think any one person can fully recreate what Elvis was. What I like to do is give people glimpses of who Elvis was. If you watch my show, you’ll say ‘Ah, right there, that was like Elvis.’ I think the more glimpses you can give people, the more they’ll enjoy it.”

Staying “on top of the game” is a job in itself for Cage.

“The first few years I did a lot of YouTube video watching, watched a lot of his movies, and listened to his music all the time. I still do. I watch for little things. What he’s doing with his hands, or how does he stand, or how does he carry himself. Then I stand in front of a mirror and do the same thing. I try to basically crisp everything up.

“When I’m backstage getting ready for a show, as I’m doing my hair or putting my suit on, I start breaking into character a bit. When I’m all decked out in my clothes and my hair is done and I’m ready to go, that’s when I start feeling that Elvis persona. Offstage, I’m just regular old Matt.”

VIDEO: “Suspicious Minds” performed by Matt Cage

That said, Cage admits to eating his “fair share of peanut butter and banana sandwiches” — a staple of Elvis’ diet that Cage rates as “delicious.” And he’s made the mandatory trip to Graceland where, he says, “you can feel his presence … like you knew the guy and if he were home, he’d welcome you.”

The reigning 2016 grand champion of Rockton Kings and Classics in Rockton Ontario and the Gospel/Inspiration category of the aforementioned Collingwood Elvis Festival, Cage says while he and others compete against each other, they are, at the end of the day, “brothers in arms” who generally support one another.

“Most of us are doing this because we love Elvis and want to pay tribute to him. We’re all out there to achieve the same goal. There might be bit money on the line or opportunities but even there, you hear guys say something like ‘Oh, I forgot my belt’ or whatever. There’s usually someone who will say ‘Oh here, use mine.’ It’s like when two buses pass each other on the road, the drivers wave at each other. It’s a brotherhood.”

VIDEO: “You Lost That Loving Feeling” performed by Matt Cage

While life is good at present and he’s doing what he loves to do, Cage acknowledges there’s a shelf life to his portrayal of Elvis.

“There’s only so long a person can convince someone that they’re a certain age of a certain ability, but I do think there’s a longer life in it when you’re just doing it for fun — entertaining at old folks’ homes or at car shows. I don’t know if that’s for me, per se. I’m taking it year by year for now. As long as I can keep doing it justice the way I want to, I’m going to continue with it.

“I have long-term goals of perhaps producing shows, sort of working the back end of things that will keep me in the industry but not necessarily in the spotlight.”

Meanwhile, at the Peterborough show, if Cage offers up “Trouble” (from the film King Creole), “Suspicious Minds”, or Elvis’ version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, you’ll be hearing one of his acknowledged favourite songs to perform.

“Those are my top three … today,” he says, hinting that changes regularly.

“Elvis had a catalogue of about 800 songs, 500 of which were original or unique recordings. I have about 200 I can pull out. I try to rotate songs in and out, so no two shows are exactly the same.”

And when all is said and done — when Elvis has left the building, so to speak — Cage is clear on how he measures his performance.

“If they’re an older person and they say they relived their youth, for me that’s a great compliment because it was a great experience for them and they were able to let go and have some fun.

“On the flip side of that, when I get a younger person who doesn’t know much about Elvis come up and say ‘Wow, that was a lot of fun. I didn’t know what to expect’, that also makes me feel really good because I’m carrying the torch for what Elvis started.”

From this Sunday (October 22) until October 28th, more than 150 poets from across the country will be in Peterborough to participate in the annual Canadian Festival of Spoken Word — the biggest spoken word festival in Canada.

This is the first time the festival has been held in the Kawarthas, and the first time since 2011 the festival has been held in Ontario. Peterborough is also the smallest city to ever host the festival, which has in the past been held in major cities across Canada including Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, Calgary, Ottawa, and Montreal.

Jon Hedderwick, the festival director and member of the Peterborough Poetry Slam Collective, says organizers put a bid to host the festival in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough about two years ago.

“We’re kind of a unique space in the world of spoken word poetry,” he explains in an interview with CHEX Daily on why Peterborough was selected as the host city.

“We’re recognized nationally for having a really unique sound and a really wonderful spoken word scene in the city. We’ve been growing as a community and as a scene for quite a number of years and I think people are just interested to see what we can bring.”

The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word began in Ottawa in 2004 as the Canadian Spoken Wordlympics, the first national gathering of poetry slam teams. Organizers were inspired by the success of the National Poetry Slam in the United States and decided to create a similar flagship event in Canada.

That inaugural festival included six teams of poets and, since then, the festival has grown to attract more than 20 teams from across Canada. Around 160 poets from seven different provinces will be attending the festival in Peterborough. These include poets who will be featured performers and those who will be conducting workshops and master classes and participating in panel discussions, as well as poets from 25 poetry collectives across Canada who are sending teams of five poets each to compete in the festival slams.

And it’s the slams that are at the heart of the festival. A poetry slam is a competitive event where poets stand before a mic and read their original work for no longer than three minutes. Work can include all genres, forms, and styles of poetry but no aids (music, props, costumes, nudity, etc.) are allowed. Five judges randomly selected from the audience will score the poet’s performance.

Hosted by the Peterborough Poetry Slam Collective in partnership with Public Energy and Spoken Word Canada, the festival begins on Sunday afternoon (October 22) at 1:30 p.m. with a “Play with Poetry” workshop for children at The Theatre On King. On Sunday night at 7 p.m., there will be a “Wild Card Slam”, where eight visiting poets can earn their way onto a wild card team to compete in the team slam tournament. Halifax poet, filmmaker, and activist Andre Fenton will be the featured performer.

On Monday (October 23), there will be a slam poet orientation session at 3 p.m. at the Market Hall, which will also host the opening gala of the festival on Monday night at 8 p.m.

The first four preliminary poetry slam bouts begin on Tuesday (October 24) at 6 p.m. and at 8 p.m. at The Venue and at Shots, with four more bouts happening at the same venues and times on Wednesday (October 25). The final three preliminary bouts take place on Thursday (October 26) at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at The Venue and at Shots.

The two semi-final poetry slam bouts take place beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday (October 27) at the Market Hall, with the finals and closing gala taking place at the Market Hall at 7 p.m. on Saturday (October 28), where this year’s festival champions will be crowned. Poets Mitcholos Touchie, Charlie Petch, and Rabbit Richards will also be showcased at the closing gala. An after-party at Market Hall will take place at 10 p.m., closing out the festival.

In addition to the slam competitions, there are numerous performances, workshops, master classes, and panel sessions taking place throughout the week. Every morning from Monday to Friday, Kay’la Fraser will be leading “Po-Yo”, which combines yoga with mindfulness and poetry. The Collisions Cafe Show, featuring performances from different poets, will be held daily around noon from Tuesday to Saturday at different venues. Master classes will be held throughout the week with poets Andre Prefontaine, Dan Yashinsky, Rabbit Richards, Lillian Allen, and Charlie Petch.

This is only a sampling of 50-plus events taking place during the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. For a complete listing of all the events, see our Canadian Festival of Spoken Word events column.

The cost for an all-access pass to the festival — which includes admission to all poetry slams, performances, panels, and additional events, as well as one workshop and one master class — is $40 ($30 for students or the under-waged). Pass holders also get discounted prices for additional workshops and master classes as well as the Po-Yo mornings. Passes can be purchased in advance on Eventbrite.

If you don’t want to purchase an all-access pass, you can buy tickets at the door for individual poetry slams for $10 ($5 students or under-waged), feature performances for $15 ($10 students or under-waged), master classes for $25 ($20 students or under-waged), and workshops for $20 ($5 students or under-waged). You can also purchase an evening pass for $20 ($15 students or under-waged).

All panel discussion and daytime showcases are free.

For more information about the festival, visit the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word website at cfsw.ca or follow the festival on Facebook.

Editor’s note: Several festival events were scheduled to take place at The Spill, which closed permanently on October 18. Festival organizers have relocated these events to other venues. Our Canadian Festival of Spoken Word events column includes the new locations.