Stephen Fearing and Kev Corbett

I have been amiss in not keeping in touch with current cultural trends across Canada.  The activity of which I speak may well be prevalent elsewhere in the world, but I do not recall hearing of such an event since I watched the movie Amadeus and witnessed royalty sitting around watching the pianist.  The event of which I speak was a concert held in (what appeared to be) a dining room- less furniture- of a home here in Calgary.  61 other music lovers packed into the house to listen to Kev Corbett and Stephen Fearing (of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings fame).

I was invited by a friend to fill a gap created by his wife being ill, no hand holding involved.  The guests paid a modest fee, none going to Ticket Master or other mediums, all going to the musicians directly.  We brought our own chairs - stools in our case,  food - in the form of a pot luck - and alcohol.

In the pre-performance dialog, where Stephen engaged us in a humorous exchange, he mentioned that he had performed in a number of these events - house concerts that is - in small communities across the country.  These house concerts fill the days between the main events.  I had not heard of this before.

Given our proximity to Stephen and Kev, I chose not to use a flash, and simply stopped my lens down and bumped up the ISO. The photos are a little grainy, with motion blur, but they do reflect my memory of the event - a little surreal.

Great concert.  Stephen's performance reflected his experience and stage presence, and our proximity allowed me to see what ofter is not visible from a larger venue - namely his comfort on stage, his relaxed approach to audience banter, (a friends observation) his mic craft,  and his superior vocal guitar performance.

If you have not previously participated in a similar event, I highly recommend this informal setting to get to know the musician.

Kev Corbett






Stephen Fearing















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