What do you get when you throw three of this province’s best-known singer-songwriters together with two from Cape Breton in an intimate venue above a bakery?
Local music lovers will have the chance to find out Thursday evening.
Andrew James O’Brien, Sean Panting and Séan McCann will perform alongside Cape Bretoners Carleton Stone and Dave Sampson at a songwriters’ circle Thursday evening at The Rocket Room, above Rocket Bakery on Water Street.
The five musicians have been working together in St. John’s for the past few days, in a sort of songwriting boot camp. The idea started as a way to bring Stone to this province, O’Brien explained.
“Myself and Carleton have gotten to know each other over the past few years at the East Coast Music Awards, and I’ve been trying to get him to Newfoundland,
St. John’s in particular, to give him a taste of the music scene here,” he said. “I figured it would be a nice idea to get together here to write some songs.”
Stone is a multiple ECMA nominee, with an independent 2009 record, and a recent self-titled album produced by Hawksley Workman.
O’Brien and McCann have developed a friendship over the past couple years and had already been penning a few tunes together. O’Brien said he invited Panting in because he’s one of his favourite local songwriters. Stone rounded up Sampson from home.
To make the week even more inspiring, the group decided to share their new collaborative songs — and some of their individual tunes — with a small show.
Each of the singer-songwriters will take turns performing songs and talking about the stories behind them.
O’Brien, not long home from a tour of the U.K., reckons Stone will fit in with local music fans just fine.
“I think he’s a great writer, a great performer. He’s got charisma and an appeal to him, and he has the potential to catch on over here,” he said.
Tickets for the Newfoundland-Cape Breton songwriters’ circle are $20 and are available at Fred’s Records and O’Brien’s Music, as well as at the door.
Doors open at 7 p.m.; show time is 8 p.m.
tbradbury@thetelegram.com
Twitter: @tara_bradbury
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