Take Note! Promotion

The Take Note! Music House is back, and what a way to start the first season since the pandemic, with “Dealer’s Choice” – a triple-bill featuring three award-winning Ontario singer-songwriters: Rebekah Hawker, Sarah Hiltz, and Shawna Caspi. This will be on Tuesday, August 8 at 7:00 pm (doors – or garden gate – open at 6:30). Weather/bugs permitting, the concert will be on the back patio, or will be moved inside with windows wide open.

Suggested donation is $20 or pay-what-you-can but reservations are required – please email concerts@takenotepromotion.com or call 705-305-1687 to book your seat and get the address. (A private home, just east of Barrie City Hall.)

The first half of the show is presented in a standard songwriters-in-the-round format, with each artist taking turns swapping songs. The second set invites audience participation – During the intermission, audience members write down suggestions for song themes and put them in a hat. For the rest of the show, the artists choose themes for each round from those suggestions and play songs based on those themes. The performers have to think quickly and be spontaneous, connecting their songs to each theme, and the audience is left with a memorable evening of captivating songs and stories. It’s a fun, engaging, interactive show that’s different every time!

Rebekah Hawker (www.rebekahhawker.com)

Self-deprecating, and consistently hilarious, Rebekah Hawker smiles often and easily onstage; and it takes only one look through a typical crowd to see her energy is contagious. Her musical style moves freely between the traditional definitions of country and folk music with a powerful voice that seemingly explodes from within her and reveals the refined craftsmanship and intention of her songs. In 2020 Rebekah’s song ‘Catch You’ won Folk Music Ontario’s “Songs from the Heart” award and in 2022 she was selected as an official showcasing artist at their annual conference. She is currently working towards her sophomore release in 2023 and was recently a selected participant in RBC’s Music Entrepreneurship Program at Daniels Launchpad Toronto.

Live video: https://youtu.be/HfjKKaYCNj0

Sarah Hiltz (www.sarahhiltz.com)

Sarah Hiltz is a contemporary folk artist based in Toronto, Canada. Her newest album (CALM FURY) is a collection of songs that grew out of her research into the ways we experience, express, and repress anger as humans. Hiltz has independently released four full-length albums and two EPs since 2009. Her work as a talented singer-songwriter has landed her Folk Music Ontario’s Songs From The Heart Award, opening slots for Canadian icons Gordon Lightfoot and Ron Hynes, a Best Folk Album nomination (Toronto Independent Music Awards) and earned her an invitation to give a TEDx talk in 2014.

Live video: https://youtu.be/oFkOqV6zywI

Shawna Caspi (www.shawnacaspi.com)

Singer-songwriter Shawna Caspi takes her time crafting lyrics that are poetic and meaningful, using unusual rhymes and surprising turns of phrase. Shawna spent years on the road, playing festivals, halls, train cars, backyards, and living rooms, supporting her warm voice with intricate fingerstyle guitar accompaniment, and drawing energy from shifting landscapes and long drives through Canada and the USA. This is music that makes an authentic human connection, that conveys a sense of closeness, of being understood, of feeling less alone. Her latest album, Hurricane Coming, was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award and an Ontario Folk Music Award.

Live video: https://youtu.be/ypbsEmPuODM

Preview live performances from each singer-songwriter in this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqNEDcskfnWesUsmL-9utoKpawHhc-RbP