St. Mary’s Concert Series presents Stan Carew and the Magpies

Nova Scotians, at least those who listen to CBC Radio One, are used to being entertained by Stan Carew. For the past decade, he has been waking people up early on Saturdays and Sundays as the host of CBC’s Weekend Mornings.

The calls and stories, the dizzying selection of music from the past 100 years, a cast of characters that includes Duke the Studio Stallion and the Old Beachcomber, and Stan’s relaxed style and sense of humour have made Weekend Mornings the highest-rated program on the entire CBC network.

But what many people don’t know is there’s another side of Stan Carew. For the past 30 years he has been writing songs, quietly and strictly for his own enjoyment.

A year or so ago, he decided to share his songs with the world so he put together a band of some of his long-time friends and embarked on a concert tour to raise funds for small theatres around the Maritimes. Carew suggests people came to the concerts because they were fans of Weekend Mornings, but they went away fans of his songs.

This fall, Stan Carew and the Magpies - Eric Jones, John Sayre, Steve Brown and Richard King – are releasing their first recording, Circle the Wagons, and will be touring the Maritimes promoting the CD.

As part of their tour, this Saturday evening, Sept. 13, at 7:30 p.m., they will perform at the Aylesford Fire Hall as part of the St. Mary’s Concert Series. Tickets are $15. The concert series committee is anticipating a good crowd and encourages patrons to reserve their tickets in advance by calling 857-9056 or 847-9847.

The Magpies will take you on a journey through half a century of popular music, with whistlestops along the way at pop, folk, blues, country and swing.

The original songs are fresh and new, but the Magpies play them with an infectious energy and enthusiasm that’s hard to resist.