Dear Friends of Mundy’s Bay Folk Society:
It is with heavy hearts that we announce that the final concert of the Mundy’s Bay Folk Society will be our presentation of Greg Hobbs on November 24, 2006.
For over 16 years, the Mundy’s Bay Folk Society has been instrumental in presenting live music in Midland and the surrounding area. In the past we were active in organizing and promoting the folk music programme at the Wye Marsh Festival, at the Songs of Sail Festival in Penetanguishene, and through the concerts of our house band, The Mundy’s Bay Grog League. Through our monthly concerts, we have brought countless local, regional and national touring folk and roots music groups to Midland.
Our group is run entirely through the efforts of volunteers who book the acts and venues, sell tickets and CDs, maintain the website, design posters, ensure the concert is publicized, set up before concerts, clean up afterwards and run the lights and sound. We work hard to ensure that each Mundy’s Bay concert is a special experience. We believe that $15 for an evening of live music, is an excellent value. We owe a debt of gratitude to each one of the volunteers who have worked for our club since its inception.
The quality of the music we present remains exceptional. Over the past two years we have presented a variety of local and national touring groups, including perennial favorites- Tanglefoot, Juno winners such as Mose Scarlett and Lynn Miles, and local area performers including Don Bray and the Dave Hadfield Band.
The most important part of our group is our audience. We wish to thank everybody who has supported our club by coming to our concerts for the past 17 years. Our volunteers organize these concerts for the love of the music and to share this music with others. A special thanks goes out to anyone who has supported the club through purchasing a membership, and to the loyal audience members who have stuck with us the past few years.. Current members may note that they will be re-imbursed a portion of their membership fees to reflect that we are closing part-way through the season.
In order to sustain our concert series we require a minimum of 60 patrons at our concerts. To thrive we need an average of 75 to 100. If we wish to bring in national touring artists such as Lynn Miles, The Bills, Fred Eaglesmith and Tanglefoot, we need 100 audience members for every concert. For the past three years, our average attendance has been below 50 people, with 75 for a comparative “good night”. Along with the declining audience revenues, we have also faced increasing costs in artist and venue fees. We have been sustaining consistent losses on each concert and have gone through most of our reserves. We have kept afloat due to the support of a few of our members and an anonymous donation.
The members of the committee have met many times to discuss ways to keep the club running. However, we have decided that our last concert will be our November 24 concert with Greg Hobbs.
We will be canceling the rest of the season.
Please join us at the concert on Friday November 24 to celebrate 17 years of “keeping the music live.” We encourage all our past audience members and volunteers to come to the concert on November 24 to celebrate with us the end of an era.
the Winddrifter, 847 Vinden Street, Midland. The doors open at
6:30 and the concert begins at 7:30. Ticket are $12 for members and $15 for non-members.
Greg Hobbs is a Toronto sing-songwriter, whose music straddles the lines of folk, country, gospel and pop music.
Hobbs has been described as “down to earth bringing a fresh perspective to folk-rock and roots country genres”.
A “…hilarious cluster of self-deprecating songs chronicling absurdly dysfunctional relationships and hapless adventures…” wrote Greg Quill about Greg Hobbs’ headlining performance at a Toronto benefit www.greghobbs.com
Opening up for Greg, will be Orillia’s own Rick Kane, who writes about common people from the country to the city.
Thanks for your support. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the concert.
Sean McGaughey
Artistic Director– Mundy’s Bay Folk Society
P.S. I’ve opened up comments on this post. Please feel free to add your stories about good times at Mundy’s bay through the years, or other comments.
