The debut of his new album will see local musician Sean Newton performing at The Gog Friday, June 17. Other local talents will be joining in for a house concert at the popular venue located at 1391-105th St., North Battleford.
Newton says the plans for the show so far are still rather loose, but he has confirmed Byron Olsen of Ruddell will be opening with a set of solo guitar entertainment.
Playing with Newton, guitar and vocals, will be Eddie Keller on drums and Tom Kroczynski on bass.
"I've been playing music with Eddie since being in a band with him in high school called the Cunning Men. We've been playing together for about seven or eight years," says Newton.
He also hopes to have a few more local musicians come up to play a few songs. One of the special guests he has confirmed is Jackie Kroczynski.
"Tom and Jackie Kroczynski are actually my parents, so obviously they're a huge part of my artistic development as well."
Newton is presently home in North Battleford for the summer.
"I've been living in Toronto and Edmonton this year, and I'm back home over the summer to work and play some music before I head off to school next year."
He's looking forward to the launch of his album.
"It is called Fade to Black and features 10 original tunes, written over about the past year and a half," says Newton. "A large majority of the songs come from a project that I worked on for a record label that I am a part of, called Grade School Records, where myself and another homegrown North Battlefordian, Dylan Sylvester, wrote a song every month in 2015."
Newton says, "I ended up with 12 songs, four of which were pretty bad, and eight of which I've been working on and gigging with throughout the last year."
The other two songs on the new album Fade to Black come from an EP Grade School Records released in February called An Intimate Evening with Grade School Records.
"The songs ride a line between folk, alt-rock and some more experimental tendencies," says Newton. "They all are generally a little melancholic, and look at themes of loneliness, nostalgia and hometowns – how where you come from effects the person you become."
Grade School Records is a co-op record label founded by Newton, Sylvester and Sam Burns, created so that "three like-minded artists could still make music together, no matter where in the world they may be."
Newton also spearheads the journalistic pursuits of Grade School Records, conducting interviews and writing album reviews, as well as doing all of Grade School Records' design work.
Grade School Records can be found online at www.gradeschoolrecords.ca.
While music is his muse, Newton has a technological bent as well.
While still in high school, Newton and Burns brought home bronze medals in the TV and Video Production category of the national Skills Canada competition. Twice, they made the trip to the national, Olympic-style, multi-trade and technology competition for young students and apprentices that brings together over 500 young people from all regions of Canada, along with parents and advisors, to compete in over 40 trade and technology areas.
Burns and Newton had 12 hours over two days to write, shoot, edit and produce a video on the influence of technology on the randomly assigned topic of traditional hairstyling and aesthetics.
Doors open at 7 p.m., the show is at 7:30 p.m., and the cost is $20, which goes directly to the artist. Donations will be accepted for food and drink. You can book your seat by emailing waterskelly@hotmail.com.
The modern day house concert, like the kind hosted by Kelly Waters of North Battleford, is a growing trend supported by today’s social media and tech networking. The house concert retains, however, a sense of “back to the roots of live music” as people gather in an intimate, interactive, often acoustic event that brings audience and artist together.
“It’s fun to have a vision of what that atmosphere could be like and then create it, and have people enjoy it,” says the school teacher who holds degrees in arts education, music and dance.
Waters has been opening her 1,000 square foot open plan living/dining/kitchen space to music lovers four or five times per year for most of the six years she’s resided in The Gog, so named for its original function as a synagogue.
