St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Concert with Rant Maggie Rant at Toronto’s Hugh’s Room March 15

From left to right: Barry James Payne, Lindsay Schindler and Glen Dias.

Rolling out the green carpet for the fourth consecutive year!

Stratford, ON – The always-popular Rant Maggie Rant returns to Toronto's equally-popular, prestigious, folk-roots venue Hugh's Room – for the fourth consecutive year – to perform a spirited St. Patrick’s Day Celebration concert on March 15, 2014.

This is the perfect opportunity for revelers of Irish heritage and the Irish at heart to enjoy a not-to-be-missed evening by a band that likes to mischievously colour outside the prescribed lines of Celtic music.

The repertoire will include selections from the band’s latest self-titled CD, which was recorded at last year’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration concert at Hugh’s Room by sound engineer and inadvertent record producer John Hazen. The band celebrated their brand new rant with a CD launch party and concert on September 22, 2013 at Hugh's Room.

A joyful melting pot of sound, Rant Maggie Rant is loved by traditionalists, who enjoy their time-honoured approach and style, while listeners of other musical genres are drawn to the band's fusion of punchy roots/blues/rock guitar and the syncopated World influences of hand drumming spiced with Latin, Middle Eastern and African rhythms.

The core band is the Stratford-based trio Lindsay Schindler (fiddle, background vocals), Glen Dias (lead vocals, recorders, percussion) and Barry James Payne (guitars, harmonica, background vocals). Biographical information at: www.rantmaggierant.com. London-based Rob Larose (drums, percussion) and Steve Clark (bass), as well as Daev Clysdale (Irish whistle, Irish flute and accordion) from Toronto, will be supplementing the sound as guest artists. The result: a first-class combination of talent.

Rant Maggie Rant took home hardware at the 2013 Jack Richardson Music Awards gala in April 2013. The band received a Jack Richardson Music Award in the Traditional Folk/Roots category. The awards recognize musical excellence in the City of London, Ontario, where all of the members of the band have London connections, and continue to contribute to the vibrant music scene in that city.

The hard-working trio has covered a lot of ground over the last two years performing throughout Newfoundland, on Canada’s west coast, in Quebec and south of the border in Chicago, Illinois and Saline, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, Michigan and many venues in between. Earlier this year the band performed in Sarnia and Port Huron, Michigan with the International Symphony Orchestra and is scheduled to play Ottawa’s National Arts Centre in April. Also, they will appear for the first time at the Goderich Celtic Roots Festival in August, as well as with the highly regarded Windsor Symphony Orchestra in November.

The band has three CDs to their credit: self-titled (2013), Frost & Fire: A Celtic Christmas Celebration (2011) and World’s Edge (2009).

JUST THE FACTS

Event: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration concert at Hugh’s Room featuring Rant Maggie Rant

Date: Saturday, March 15, 2014

Time: 8:30 pm

Location: Hugh’s Room, 2261 Dundas St. West, Toronto, ON

Admission: $25 advance or $27.50 at door

Tickets: 416-531-6604 or info@hughsroom.com

More information: http://hughsroom.com/

ACCOLADES for live performance

“And there was a terrific Celtic band, Rant Maggie Rant, that I should (have) heard ages ago -boy, they are GOOD!” - Richard Flohil, Richard Flohil & Associates, Toronto, ON

“The show was wonderful. RMR's repertoire moved through engaging, energetic, eclectic, inspiring and hilarious with nary a skipped beat. What a serendipitous search so many months ago... ” - Jennifer Ives, Artistic Director, Orillia Folk Society, ON

“RMR is a great band. They packed the house and the audience left dancing. I can't wait to have them back.” - Holmes Hooke, Hugh's Room, Toronto, ON

ACCOLADES for latest, self-titled (live) CD

“... a solid reputation for razor-sharp stage shows... Happily, both their current and future fans can enjoy this crystal-clear document of the beautifully performed show RMR put down that night (at Hugh's Room, Toronto)... the level of delighted engagement by the audience is obvious throughout. Recommended.” - Rod Nicholson, Scene Magazine, London, Ontario

“... an album brimming with high energy ... If you want a taste of Rant Maggie Rant live, this is the sonic dram for you.” - Robert Reid, Waterloo Region Record, Kitchener-Waterloo, ON

“Rant Maggie Rant CD is the BEST live Recording in Years! They play so tightly and perfectly that you would wonder if this is really a live recording. Only when you hear the enthusiastic cheering of the audience then you know it’s really live.” - Baxter Labatos, The Celtic Music Fan, On-line Review, The Philippines

– 30 –