Synergy Collective Society is a community-based organization that blends art with social responsibility to support and create cooperative community programming. We combine theoretical and practical training in community stewardship and planning to develop and support integrated partnerships between local charities, businesses and artisans.
Performers Info
Performers 2012
Regular Performers
Yvonne McSkimming is a singer/songwriter who speaks to the heart with lyrics that have been described as innocent and intriguing. She performs a combination of new songs and selected material from her CD, Place of Standing. Yvonne is also one of the founding promoters of Synergy. Her vision and passion shine through in her both her music and her work. To contact Yvonne, email ymuzak@telus.net
Beverley Elliott works primarily as an actress in the film and TV industry, but is also an accomplished songwriter with a country/folk flair that can be heard on her CD Yellow Dress. She considers her greatest achievement to be her young daughter Sally. To contact Bev, email bevandsally@shaw.ca
Mark James Fortin has been described as raw, powerful, and dynamic. He performs songs that speak to the heart and mind. He is also a founding promoter of Synergy and has been performing locally with Clive's Timings. To contact Mark, email markandlorna@telus.net
Show M/C
Denalda Williams "Denny" was born and raised in Burnaby. She is a founding member of Vancouver Theatresports league and worked for Second City during Expo 86. She has done TV, that is mostly boring, except for Six Feet Under and Whose line is it Anyway. She's done lots of movies and commercials, 50th birthday parties and funerals. Her motto is, if you pay, I'll show up. Voice over is her favorite work, because it requires no make up. Her hair is cut by her husband Chris. The gray is courtesy of his kids, Junior and Adam. Her dog Lullabelle....is the cutest dog in the world. To contact Denny, email denalda@shaw.ca
Featured Performers
FEBUARY 7 - 2012
Adam Woodall is a veteran of the urban folk scene and a highly celebrated songwriter with a CD entiled North Shore Songs From My Parents' House in 2000. Shortly thereafter he formed The Adam Woodall Band, and they have been performing together ever since. They recently released Silver Ring, a brand new independent CD. The new record sees the band moving forward musically, while still honouring their rock, folk, and pop roots. For more information please visit - www.adamwoodallband.com
Melanie Dekker has performed large concerts in Germany, Finland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. As well as of course Canada (where she is am from) and the USA. She's been on stage with (opened for) Diana Krall, Chaka Khan, Sos Fenger & Faith Hill. And also performed with Bryan Adams...singing about 70 concerts a year. She played for the troops in Afghanistan Christmas 2009 and since then has recorded two new albums. LEKKER DEKKER (live), & HERE & NOW (Factory Studios Vancouver). "A voice like chocolate"..."Pure Energy & Emotion"... For more information please visit - www.melaniedekker.com
Bob Stark's music has been described as 'Folk Pop'. His whole musical education and evolution has straddled and moved between the world of 'the folkies' and 'the rock'n'rollies'....add a little blues, a little country, a little soft jazz, and....well...to turn a phrase: it is what it ain't. For more information please visit - www.bobbybulgemusic.com
MARCH 6 - 2012
Sandra Bouza is is a Vancouver based musician originally from Toronto, Ontario. Her widely varied musical influences are evident in the music that she writes and especially in her improvisational performances, in which her powerful vocal and creative abilities become truly apparent. Performing as a solo acoustic artist for many years, winning the first round of 2009 Guelph singer songwriter competition, she has also been involved in collaborations in blues, rock, jazz, folk, hip hop, soul, funk. For more information please visit - www.myspace.com/sandrabouza
Karen Larson is a talented songwriter that digs deep for her lyrics and turns the personal into the universal, using firsthand incidents as launch pads to an emotional realm familiar to all. She has been performing around Vancouver and Victoria for ten years now with her own penned songs, her guitar and with her talented husband, Pat Covernton on keyboards and harmonies. In that time Karen has been invited to play many songwriter’s shows - Grrrls with Guitars, Afternoon of Music Festivals, Songwriters in the Round - as well as events like the Vancouver Jazz Festival, the Manitoba Stampede, various B.C. Music Festivals, the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. Her debut album 'Fire and Ice' includes some of Vancouver's finest musicians and showcases both her rich, soulful vocals and gift for moving seamlessly between rootsy country-tinged pop and smoldering jazzy blues. For more information please visit -www.myspace.com/karenlarsonmusic
Blake Harvard, the Vancouver singer/songwriter listens to everything, but holds a special place for those three-minute wonders that transport you to a different place. As a youngster growing up in a bedroom community near Edmonton, Havard listened to the Beatles, David Bowie, and the Rolling Stones. Havard has just completed recording some new songs new which are very organic sounding and have a lot of soul. When Havard speaks of his consuming passion for rock ‘n’ roll, he uncoils a bundle of raw energy that is matched only when he is onstage fronting his own band and playing the music he loves. For more information please visit - www.myspace.com/blakehavardmusic
APRIL 4 - 2012
Shelby Noble has been captivating audiences in the Canadian music scene for the past 11 years. Now at 19, her passion for singing, songwriting, and guitar has turned her into a talented triple-threat. Not only has Shelby performed at "The Merritt Mountain Music Festival” for 5 years running, she's also received "Peoples Choice" at “The Beat Music Awards”, and has been the anthem singer for the "B.C. Lions Football" and "Vancouver Canadians Baseball" teams. If you haven't heard her before, get ready for a powerful young lady with just a hint of country and a strong touch of soul. For more information about Shelby contact - www.shelbynoble.com
Lindsay May was selected as one of the Shore 104 FM's, 2010 Sounds of Summer Songsearch Top 10 Finalists. Thank you to everyone who voted and for your support! And, she was selected as a regional finalist in the NewSong songwriting competition! First there is her voice; with its ability to carry all the hurt and hope in the world home to a safe place in her ever hungry heart. Second; A prolific writer; she pens songs for breakfast, lunch and dinner; inviting the muse on every possible occasion. Third; She plays guitar and mandolin with flair, and is at home performing solo or with a host of talented sidemen. Now; 2011 finds Lindsay May crafting a collection of soulful songs that represent a rebirth of her creative self. The paint is still wet on this self portrait, so please stay tuned for an eventful new year for this talented west coast songbird. For more information please visit - www.lindsaymay.com
Marlee and Tully to be confirmed
MAY 1 - 2012
David Sinclair has toured extensively in North America, Europe, and Japan as a member of both Sarah McLachlan's and k.d. lang’s bands. As a studio guitarist, he has worked with artists including Sarah McLachlan, Amy Sky, Michael Buble, Daniel Powter, Gary Fjellgaard, Rita MacNeil, Valdy, Susan Jacks, Terry Jacks, BTO, and was guitarist and vocalist with CBS recording bands Straight Lines and Body Electric, composing several Canadian hits. His Acoustic Christmas CD was among the “top 5 all time Christmas recordings” on the Vancouver Province 2008 list. For more information please visit - www.davidsinclair.com
Canada’s own Don Alder is one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world, and one of Canada's premiere harp guitarists. His unique style and energetic performances have been called intense, passionate and awe-inspiring – as is his life-long friendship with Canada’s Man In Motion Rick Hansen. Don’s unique style of playing incorporates fingerpicking with simultaneous percussion on the soundboard to create a wall of sound…a unique weave of deeply textured melody and story. Lyrical and compelling, his original songs are notes of exploration – some passionate and haunting, some hard-driven, others light and teasing. In 2007 Don became the first Canadian to win the 2007 International Fingerstyle Championships. For more information please visit - www.donalder.com
A 2002 inductee into the BC Entertainment Hal of Fame, Juno award winner Shari Ulrich’s, finesse on violin, mandolin, flute, piano, sax and dulcimer was first heard in the early 70s with the Pied Pumkin. After 2 years with the "Hometown Band," Shari went on to record six solo albums of original songs as well as two with UHF (Ulrich/Henderson/Forbes) and two with the re-emergence of the Pied Pumkin. She continues to tour and record with the latter two groups, as well as with daughter Julia Graff and saxophonist Bill Runge. She also composes, produces and engineers music for television and documentaries, teaches songwriting, and produces the popular Bluebird North series for the Songwriters Association of Canada. For more information please visit - www.shariulrich.com - to be confirmed
JUNE 5 - 2012
Edmonton's own prairie balladeer Scott Cook is a tirelessly traveling songwriter with heart forever on sleeve. A lifelong wanderer, he brings honesty, humor, years of roads and a deep love of humanity to his songwriting and storytelling. He has been playing full-time since 2007, and is currently touring in support of his third solo album. For more information please visit - www.scottcook.net
Marq DeSouza is a Vancouver based indie rock/acoustic musician. Currently recording new material, teasers of which this year alone have place him on Alan Cross' Explore Music Track of the Day, as well as the Georgia Straight Playlist, & the Hevy D download series in newspapers across the country. In his various incarnations, Marq has shared bills with such artists as Sir Bob Geldof, Sarah Harmer, Drive By Truckers, Ben Kweller, Martina Sorbara, Joel Plaskett, Matthew Good, & Nickelback. Sir Bob Geldof sought Marq out backstage at their co-bill at the legendary Commodore Ballroom to tell him he was reminded of a 'young Van Morrison', and Canadian rock icon Todd Kerns has called Marq his favorite Canadian songwriter, & 'Canada's Bob Dylan.' For more information please visit -www.marqdesouza.com
Angie Inglis has played many Vancouver venues including: The Railway Club, The Marine Club, The Sugar Refinery, The Silvertone Tavern, The Main and Cafe Deux Soleils (to name a few), but she is most grateful for the enthusiastic response she receives as Vancouver's Skytrain Songstress. Playing in Vancouver Skytrain stations and city streets (her original music only) has proved the most rewarding aspect of her musical career. Angie's music has been featured on UBC's 101.9 FM CITR and she has performed live and charted on Co-op Radio 102.7 FM CFRO. For more information please visit -www.angiinglis.com
JULY 3 - 2012 - 15th ANNIVERSARY SHOW
Kim Kuzma to be confirmed
SEPTEMBER 11 - 2012
Ross Fairbairn - I've grown into a full blown acoustic singer song writer playing anything from Mississippi hillcountry blues to moving ballads about getting parking tickets and up tempo diamond thief anthems. There's something for everyone. It's Foot Stomping Goodness. I don't think I really live the lifestyle of a blues man but hell, I grew up on a delta... it just wasn't "the" delta but I think it should still count for something. My style of playing is definitely in the Hill Country blues genre. For more information please visit - www.myspace.com/rossfairbairn
As a songwriter, Ross Douglas does not easily fit into one category. He fits into several. Caribou Eclectic - his last album, is an acclaimed and varied collection of songs, several of which have delighted JSR audiences in the past. His new album - The Art of You and I - continues this tradition, with a wide assortment of humorous, touching and unique tunes about love, longing, murder, possession and an unexpected meeting with The Almighty. Yikes! For more information about Ross please visit - www.rossdouglas.com - to be confirmed
OCTOBER 3 - 2012
August - BIO to follow
Chris Young - BIO to follow
Neil and Stacey - BIO to follow
NOVEMBER 6 - 2012
Andrea Menard - BIO to follow
Des Larson - BIO to follow
Jeff Standsfield grew up on the West Coast and is a regular on the Vancouver music scene, performing a lively blend of music and stories. Jeff has performed on TV, radio, at folk festivals and has hosted an open stage, showcasing new artists. He has entertained audiences at many of the top local venues including the Chan Centre, and the Yale blues tavern. He is a versatile performer supporting community events and has been recognized for providing community leadership for peer mentorship in music and sports. For more information please contact - jdstandfield@gmail.com to be confirmed
DECEMBER 4 - 2012 - ANNUAL HOLIDAY SHOW
A 2002 inductee into the BC Entertainment Hal of Fame, Juno award winner Shari Ulrich’s, finesse on violin, mandolin, flute, piano, sax and dulcimer was first heard in the early 70s with the Pied Pumkin. After 2 years with the "Hometown Band," Shari went on to record six solo albums of original songs as well as two with UHF (Ulrich/Henderson/Forbes) and two with the re-emergence of the Pied Pumkin. She continues to tour and record with the latter two groups, as well as with daughter Julia Graff and saxophonist Bill Runge. She also composes, produces and engineers music for television and documentaries, teaches songwriting, and produces the popular Bluebird North series for the Songwriters Association of Canada. For more information please visit - www.shariulrich.com
Cascadia Bell Choir - BIO to follow
