Courtney Wells in 2011

Band: Courtney Wells
Year: 2011
Genre: Motown, Rock, Soul, Pop
Resides: Toronto

Chatham Connection: Courtney lived in Chatham from 1999 to 2005. During that time she was an active member of Theatre Kent.  Courtney worked for them for several years teaching drama courses and their amazing TK Wings Summer Camp. She acted as a councillor and and then graduated to take on the Co-ordinator position. It wasn’t until her recent move to Toronto, that she began to pursue music. Her talents in stage and dance will lend a great hand in her music.

See her return to Chatham in 2011.
Jan 7 (Fri) Courtney Wells @ Encore.
Jan 8 (Sat) Courtney Wells @ PURE Black Box Theatre.

Band Members:
Courtney Wells -vox
Scott Baragar – low end
Sasha Siegel – beater of skins
Reuben O’dell Barkow – melody maker

Links:
http://www.courtneywells.com/

Listen to her music online at http://www.myspace.com/courtneywellsband
Visit her on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/CourtneyWellsVideo

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Jade Lester CD 2010

Singer: Jade Lester
CD Release: Love’s Funny That Way
Year: 2010
Home: Chatham Ontario
Genre: Country/Pop

Notes: Jade Lester (19) Just released her first album in April 2010. She performs with the local crew ‘The O’Hara Brothers Band’. Material for this album was written by top songwriters from Ontario, to Nashville to LA. Jade is currently attending high school at Chatham-Kent Secondary School.
 Jade began singing country music at age six, winning many awards through out the years since then. She has also become active as an actress in many local theatre productions in the past few years.

Produced by Will Haas at Willyboy recording studios in London.

Visit her website here or here.

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Black Box Theatre in Chatham

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Venue: PURE: Black Box Theatre
City: Chatham Ontario
Year: 2010
Address: 121 Heritage Road
Phone: 519-352-5000
Website: http://www.pureacademy.ca/

  The Black Box Theatre at the PURE Academy in Chatham, ON is a brand new concert venue, with a hip vibe and fantastic events.  The Black Box Theatre is a 90 seat venue with state of the art sound and lighting design, top amenities and a great location.

  Events at the Black Box Theatre range from cool jazz concerts, rock concerts, plays, comedy nights, multimedia presentations, choir concerts and so much more.  One of the best kept secrets in Southwestern Ontario, the Black Box Theatre is one of the best intimate theatres in the region. It is used during classes as a premium teaching space, but it is also a highly versatile meeting and event space, and an incredible, intimate performance venue. It has a large stage, 10 foot wide HD video screen, intelligent lighting system, and exceptional sound.

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Chatham Music Archive Article 2009

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‘BAND’ING Together
Posted By ELLWOOD SHREVE
Chatham Daily News Nov.14th 2009

If you have a favourite local band still playing or from when you were younger, try checking out the website www.chathammusicarchive.com created by Shawn Beaulieu.
In a short period of time, the 35-year-old Chatham resident has compiled an impressive amount of information on local bands and musicians, including photos and small biographies, which are listed by both name and year released.
Beaulieu began the project about four or five years ago as a blog, but since being laid off six months ago, he has been able to devote several hours a day to the website.
“All of a sudden it turned into more than a hobby and all of a sudden it got bigger and bigger,” Beaulieu said.
He has been a part of the local music scene as a member of the band Foster Child, which became the Janet Theory.
Beaulieu credits the help he has received from Jeff Mifflin, who works at Strings N’ Things and is the guitarist with The O’Hara Brothers band. He said Mifflin was able to access photos of several local bands that have been displayed at the local music store over the years. He also noted the members of the 1980s group Manpower, which have teamed up again this year, “got me into a lot of this.” Beaulieu said the website is getting the attention of several local musicians, past and present, noting people have been coming to him with information. Beaulieu is impressed with the wealth of musical talent and the wide range of genres that has come out of the Chatham-Kent area, and wanted a way to show that to the world.
He has done extensive research at the Chatham Public Library, gathering information dating back to 1889 with the formation of the Chatham City Band. There is plenty of interesting information on well-known older bands, including the Melody Ramblers, which once boasted current country music star Michelle Wright as its lead singer. When Wright left to pursue a solo career, she was replaced by Wendy Jenkins, who also enjoyed success with the popular band. Then there is The Missing Links, including members John, Fred and Eddy Larson and Bill McGrath, whose 1966 album “It’s Link Up Time,” was produced by Paul Shaffer, best known today for his long stint with the David Letterman Show.

The site is also filling up with information on several local bands from today’s era. Beaulieu said the website can also serve as a resource for bands that are looking for musicians with certain skills or local clubs that want to hire local bands to play. “I only knew about 10 per cent of the bands when I started doing this,” Beaulieu said. “There’s a big scene going on, but nobody knows each other.”

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Rachel Schwarz 2009

Rachel Schwarz
Home: Chatham-Kent Ontario
Year: 2009
Vocalist

  Rachel Schwarz is an award winning vocalist, dramatic artist, choral conductor and performer. She has starred in a variety of sold out productions from opera to Broadway cabaret, and maintains an active career as a soloist throughout the community.

  She studied choral conducting at the University of Western Ontario and has been successfully conducting concerts in Chatham-Kent for many years. In addition to her work with the PURE Youth Choir Rachel is currently the music director at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in Chatham. She is accomplished in choral conducting, singing and solo performing but she is also an accomplished pianist, organist and violinist.

  Rachel has studied singing in Canada, the United States and overseas, and is a highly sought after private voice instructor and coach. She is very excited to share her love of music, her knowledge and wide experience plus her enthusiastic approach to performance with this fantastic group of young musicians.

source: http://www.pureacademy.ca

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Capitol Theatre Opens (1930)

  When the Chatham Capitol Theatre opened in 1930, it was one of the largest and most spectacular movie houses in  South Western Ontario. Saved from  demolition in 1995, the Capitol is undergoing a remarkable transformation into a state-of-the-art, 1200 seat performing arts and entertainment centre.

   When completed, the Capitol will host a variety of national and international theatre performances, concerts, and special events. The general performance  season calendar is intended to include top calibre shows, which will cover the range from drama to comedy, to opera and to gospel, rock, country, blues, jazz, and classical music. From kids to grandparents, there will be something for everyone.

 The Capitol Theatre in Chatham was built by Harris Theatres Ltd. of Sarnia, who sold the property, building, and equipment to Famous Players in February of 1930, before the theatre even opened. The auditorium was divided in 1975 to create a dual cinema. The theatre was closed in 1995, and scheduled for demolition in 1995.

   The Chatham Capitol Theatre Coalition was formed to save the theatre, and acquired the property from the city in 1996. Renovations to refurbish the theatre as a live venue are ongoing. As of 2009, they are still not finished working on the building. This has become a big topic of debate and for the city and its people.

 

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Demo Kid – Home Demos Volume 2 (2009)

Cover

Discography

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Artist: Demo Kid
Release: Home Demos Volume 2
Release Date: July 2009
Home: Chatham Kent Ontario Canada

Track List
1. Another Stupid Love Song
2. I Give It All
3. Be In Love
4. Our Little Secret
5.  Will You Forgive Me..
6. Last Day Of Summer
7. With Every Broken Promise
8. Never Let You Go

Members: 
Shawn B. – Drums, percussion, vocals, programming, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, keyboards, harmonica and piano, except where noted by a special guest.
Jesse V. – Lead Vocal on # 3,4,5,7.

Special Guests
Andy T. – Electric Jazz Guitar #3
Sarah H. – B. Vocal #5.
Larry . – Jazz Organ #5.

Notes: This is the follow up to the 24-song debut Home Demos Volume obe CD in 2007. This collection of home recordings includes influences from dance, pop, metal and rock.
These songs are not intended to be polished releases, they are simply home recordings to share with friends.

Links: http://www.youtube.com/user/shawnbeaulieuChatham-Kent, Chatham Kent, Ontario, music, scene, song swriter, you tube video, facebook, guitar player, drummer, singer, cd, release, capital theatre, performers, demo kid, weezer, rivers coumo, collab, rock music, dance music, ok go, viral, stupid love song, demo, tour, windsor, radio, the rock, 95.1fm, cksy, musical instruments, studio musician, from chatham ontario, music producer, 89x radio, homeboy show, indie show, con

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Demo Kid singer, song writer, guitarist, bassist, songwriter, engineer, producer. Chatham Kent Ontario Canada, recording, 95.1fm, the rock, rivers cuomo, weezer, demos, cd, mp3s, free music, rock and punk, love songs, canadian country music, toronto, cfco radio. home studio, entertainer, entertainment.