Upcoming events

 

  • Wednesdays 1-2 pm: I’m playing solo sets of covers and originals at the Depanneur Café, 206 rue Bernard Ouest, Montreal. 
  • Third Thursdays, 7-9pm I cohost the Lawn chair soirée, a Montreal reading series. Right now the soirees take place at Christ Church Cathedral, 1444 Union, 2nd floor and on zoom. See their facebook page. In hiatus till the new year.
  • Sat., Oct. 28, 2023: brunch musical at La Place Commune, Montreal. Two sets of covers and originals between 12 and 2 in this friendly, intimate cafe. 7669 av. Querbes at the corner of rue St-Roch, Montreal. 


Past events

2023

  • Sat. Sept. 9, 2023 (rain date: Sept. 10): Hudson Porch Fest. I was once again a featured act at this outdoor festival in this charming Quebec town near the Ontario border.
  • June 25, 3pm: Côte St-Luc Allée/Driveway Music Fest. Played a 45 min. set at this fledgling fest. Actually I didn’t get word that the event was called off due to Quebec wildfire smoke, and was only one of two acts that braved the haze that day. 
  • May 24-30, 2023; vernissage Saturday May 27. Jocelyne Dubois and I shared Galerie Espace on Montreal’s Boulevard St-Laurent for a joint show of my photos and her mixed media paintings. The vernissage featured a brief set where I was accompanied by Jeff Deeprose on the fiddle. Here’s a video tour of the exhibition.
  • May 21: NDG Porchfest, Montreal: performed a full set with guest artist Jeff Deeprose on the fiddle, to a nice-sized crowd. 
  • May 3: Performed two songs, “Surprise” and “On This Shore”, at the Pub Classique, Kin Musique, Montreal. 
  • Jan. 28, Feb. 4, Apr 29, Oct. 28: Brunches musicales at La Place Commune, Montreal. Two hour sets of originals and covers at this friendly, intimate café.

2022

Saturday, Sept. 10: Hudson Porchfest. Performed a full set of songs on By The River’s Blue with Leesa Mackey, backup vocalist on the album. 

May to August: I played solo sets most weeks at the Depanneur Café, 206 rue Bernard Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, filling in for musicians who said on the cafe’s FB site that they couldn’t make it. Didn’t take a regular spot because so many friends were coming down with Covid… such are the times we live in. Now once again I have a regular spot on the rotation, Thursdays at 1, through mid-August to Sept. 

April 7: Argo Zoom Reading Series: featured musician in this Montreal literary evening. Zoom.

Jan. 19, Feb. 23, Mar. 30: Gratitude Shows #2-4, Brian Campbell Solo, Facebook Live.

2021

  • Ongoing: co-hosted the Lawn Chair Soirée, a Montreal literary reading series. 
  • August 5, Argo Zoom Reading Series. I read “The Arrow”, a poem in Shimmer Report, and played a song derived from it at this Montreal literary event. 
  • June 30-July 5: Galerie Espace, Montreal: My photographs were displayed along with paintings by Chard Chenier.  Here’s a video tour of the show
  • June 16: CKUT (90.3FM, Montreal) Interview and airing of selections of On This Shore on Wednesday Morning After (7-9am) hosted by Sheila Ferraro. It’s available in the CKUT archives, but I also made a photo montage Youtube video out of it! It’s also posted on the Video page.
  • May 28: “Shadows on Our Joy” from my album “On this Shore” was played on Just Us Folk, hosted by Jan Vanderhorst at justusfolk.com. Second song in the first hour.A fine radio show, highly recommended.
  • May 17: La Palabrava. Featured as both reader and musician at this Montreal multilingual reading series. Zoom; Facebook.
  • Apr. 27: Club Passim virtual open mic, Cambridge, Mass. Facebook Live, Youtube.
  • Feb. 17, March 17: Private Event: Vie Autonome/Independent Living, Montreal. Zoom.   
  • Feb. 4: Argo Books reading series. Featured performer. Zoom. 
  • Jan. 27: Private Event: Vie Autonome/Independent Living, Montreal. Zoom.   
  • Jan. 22: Living Room Session, an hour-long solo set at Mariposa Café, Montreal. Facebook Live. 
  • Jan 12: Club Passim virtual open mic, Cambridge, Mass. Facebook Live, Youtube.  
  • Jan. 1: Zoom launch of Jocelyne Dubois’ Memorial Suite, presented by Lawn chair soirée. Videos played of A Quiet Place, Wild and Free

2020

  • Ongoing: co-hosted the Lawn Chair Soirée, a Montreal literary reading series. 
  • Nov. 5: Argo Zoom Reading Series. Performed music and poetry at this literary event.  
  • Sept. 29 and Nov. 17: Club Passim virtual open mic. Cambridge, Mass. Facebook Live, Youtube.
  • May, June: Tuesday evenings: 45-min. shows of music and poetry, Facebook Live  
  • April 5: Virtual launch of “On This Shore”. Facebook Live.   
  • Feb. 8: Rumi Ways of Love – Meditation and Song Circle. Four Rumi poems set to music, performed with Joseph Emet. Yoga d’Eveil, Montreal. 
  • February 5: Warm Winter Wednesdays Solo Live Performance, Mariposa Cafe, Montreal

2019

  • Ongoing: Depanneur Cafe, played once a week for the lunch hour crowd, Jan to June; Sept to Dec. 
  • Ongoing: co-hosted the Lawn Chair Soirée, a Montreal literary reading series. 
  • Dec. 19 Argo Reading Series. Played two poems put to music, and read poetry as well.
  • Dec. 7: Launch of Ethel Meilleur’s “Funny Girl”, published by my chapbook imprint, Sky of Ink Press. Ethel read from her new book; I performed songs at this well attended event. YWCA, Montreal.
  • Nov. 19: The lawn chair soirée, a monthly reading series I co-organize and co-host. This month, performed music. Italian United Church, Montreal.
  • Sat. Sept. 14. Hudson Porchfest. Featured as a singer/songwriter in this music festival. Hudson, Quebec.
  • Aug. 17: Rumi’s Ways of Love, Meditation and Musical Circle. Performed poems of Rumi and Hafiz put to music. Montreal, Quebec.
  • Aug. 11 Lawn chair soirée/Poetry in the Park. Performed music at this event.
  • August 8: Argo Reading Series. Played music at this literary event. 
  • June 21: Montreal Serai Writers’ and Artists’ Gala. Performed music at this event commemorating 32nd anniversary of the online review, Montreal Serai, Espace Knox, Montreal. 
  • June 5: 3 Lands, 4 Voices, One Planet: played music and read poetry; featured with writers Veena Gokhale, Rae Marie Taylor, Laure Morali and Rita Mestokosho, Librarie Bertrand, Montreal   
  • May 20: NDG Porchfest. Featured performer; one hour set at Mariposa Café terrace. Montreal 
  • Mar. 8: Side Door Coffee House: Featured performance with Phil Peters, bass. Pierrefonds, Quebec.
  • March 2: Brian Campbell w/Phil Peters on bass, with JB Demouy @ Mariposa Café, Montreal. 

Recording at Studio Loco

Martin Bennett et moi at Studio Loco

Martin Bennett, sound engineer/producer/arranger at Studio Loco here in Montreal’s Mile End, and I have been doing great work together recording & arranging my songs over the past couple of months. So far, eight have been recorded; five will be released as an EP called “On This Shore”, some time early next year. It seemed time to commemorate all this with a selfie!


Pics: Mariposa Show with JB Demouy

Another highly enjoyable show, sharing the bill with the French singer-songwriter J.B. Demouy….


Myself and Phil Peters, Mar. 2/19 at Mariposa
JB Demouy at Mariposa, Mar. 2/19

Pics: Mariposa Cafe concert with Ronney Abramson

Some pics from my show with Ronney Abramson at Mariposa Cafe last Saturday night. It was an honour to share the stage with Ronney — and her set was immensely enjoyable. It was also lovely to be accompanied by Phil Peters’ fine bass playing and Cathy Watt’s excellent vocal harmonies. It was a comfortably full house — about 30-odd in attendance, and I think the pictures convey that a good time was had by all. Photos: Jacques Bernier.

 

 


Brian Campbell, Ronney Abramson & friends at Mariposa Café Sat. Apr 7

I’ll be alternating sets with Ronney Abramson at this lovely, bohemian music café Saturday night at 7.  Accompanying me will be Cathy Watt, vocals and Phil Peters, bass.  Details in the sidebar to the right.


Depannage

Most Mondays these days I play music at the Depanneur Cafe, which happens to be close to where I live in Montreal’s Mile End. It’s a homey place with a couple of decent mikes and sound system, and musicians play there throughout the day. Most of the patrons are laptop nomads or there to meet friends, write, doodle, read books — so it’s like public practice, as it were. But more often than not I earn attentive listeners, and often sell CD’s or interest them in an upcoming event. The other week a photo enthusiast named Thomas Colin took pictures with his fine Sony camera; the following week, an artist named Sophie Jama did some watercolours in her sketch pad. I gave them free CD’s. If you want to drop in and see me play, I’m there Mondays between noon and 1pm.

 


“Slick” in “Weather Watching”

The other artistic spinoff from the anthology “Refugium”, my poem “Slick” was among those incorporated into “Weather Watching”, an exhibit of sculptural coracles by artist Erika Grimm that hung from the rafters of the White Rock Museum and Archives in White Rock, BC. in February and March of 2018.


“Slick” inspires “Neverbird”

One artistic spinoff of Refugium was an exhibit of twenty-two works of art responding to specific poems in the anthology, which was held in Maritime Museum of British Columbia (Victoria, BC) late last year. I’m honoured that “Slick” was one of those chosen, and that it inspired a most haunting sculptural work by Karina Kalvaitis. From the exhibit program:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 


My poem “Slick” published in Refugium

In 2017, my poem “Slick” was published in Refugium, Poems for the Pacific, an anthology edited by Yvonne Blomer and published by Caitlin Press.  Originally published as a short prose poem in my collection Passenger Flight, it was recast here as short poem.  The poem was inspired by memories of the Valdez oil spill, although of course it could reference the travesties wreaked on animal life by any oil spill. It’s an excellent anthology, by the way, featuring fine poems by the likes of Rachel Rose, Jan Zwicky, Patrick Lane, Maleea Acker, Barbara Pelman, Steven Heighton, Lorna Crozier, Fiona Tinwei Lam, and others.  For the anthology — and for this poem in particular — there were a couple of surprising artistic spinoffs which I’ll describe in other posts. Below, a handwritten version of the poem.