FIDDLEBOOKS Gordon Stobbe Bands

"The Conference delegates could not say enough praise for your performance on Friday. They said that you were a great host, able to get people involved with the show." - Ardenne International

"Ranging from hoedowns to jazzy bluegrass and ending with a klezmer-style Bulgarian groove tune, which had the audience shouting with unbridled enthusiasm, Stobbe, Simm and Holmes created the first major mayhem of the evening." (at the Lunenburg Folk Festival) - The Halifax Mail Star

		The Gordon Stobbe Trio is a group of multi-instrumentalists with a wide interest in musical genres, specializing in North American traditional music. Each member is an active freelance musician involved in performing, touring and recording. The rich diversity of Fiddle music in North America is the inspiration for this Trio. Their repertoire begins with the fiddle's Scottish and Irish roots and ranges across many of the styles which grew out of this tradition. These include the music of French Quebec and New Brunswick, Down-East dance music of Atlantic Canada, Metis music from western Canada, southern styles from Old-Timey to Bluegrass to Texas and includes many original compositions.
The band members are: Gordon Stobbe on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and clawhammer banjo. Skip Holmes on guitar and banjo. Skip has played with Gordon for many years, beginning in 1978 with the Ladies ChoiceBluegrass Band. He has collaborated with Gordon in a number of musical projects including the Up Home Tonight Show, Those Fabulous Cliches and several recording projects. Skip recorded and toured Canada and Britain with fiddler Richard Wood, teaches at the Canadian Conservatory, and is in demand as an accompanist for Maritime fiddlers at concerts, dances, contests and recordings. Greg Simm plays acoustic and electric bass and guitar. Greg has experience as a player in many musical styles ranging from country to traditional folk. He has also appeared in productions at Neptune Theatre and the Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia where he has been musical director. He has been involved in many recording projects as a player, composer and producer. He has performed with many notable Maritime performers including Laura Smith, Natalie MacMaster, Lenny Gallant, Kendra MacGillvary and Richard Wood. Greg currently also performs with John Gracie.

The Gordon Stobbe Trio often adds vocals to the band with Jimmy Sweeney. Jimmy grew up in Ireland surrounded by traditional music, from a family with a long line of musicians. He was one of the founding members of Barley Bree which toured the USA and Canada for almost twenty years. He has a vast repetoire including Celtic as well as Canadian ballads.

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Stobbe, Trottier and Simm Trio

Band members are : Gordon Stobbe on fiddle, mandolin and vocals
Kelli Trottier on fiddle, vocals and stepdancing
Greg Simm on guitars

This new trio gives Kelli, Greg and Gordon an opportunity to blend their many talents. Kelli is a three time CCMA instrumentalist nominee and award winning French Canadian style step dancer. From fiery twin fiddles to electrifying stepdance, soulful ballads to songs of heart and country their songwriting and performance skills leave the audience spellbound. Their stage show is thought provoking, spontaneous and intensely funny, spiced by virtuosity on their instruments displaying a profound commitment to their art.

The Mighty Oak Stringband at the Lunenburg Folk Festival

"Gordon Stobbe and the Mighty Oak String Band picked up the crowd on a wave of energy and humour that built right through their set...And who with a pulse beating in his veins, can resist the headlong devil-may-care spirit of old-time string music." -- Stephen Pedersen, Halifax Chronicle-Herald

The Mighty Oak String Band is a group of musicians from the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia who are exploring the roots of early Bluegrass and Old Time instrumental and vocal music of North America. Their music is a mix of twin fiddle tunes from different parts of North America and old-timey instrumental, vocal, and gospel music in the string band tradition. This features fiddle/clawhammer banjo tunes accompanied by guitar, harmonica, bass, mandolin, tuba kazoo and jaw harp.

The band members are:

Gordon Stobbe on fiddle, banjo, mandolin and vocals.

Betty Belmore on vocals. She developed an ear for harmony and a love for old-time music while growing up in rural Nova Scotia. She has many years experience in radio, television, studio sessions and live performances touring Canada, the United States and Japan.

Doug Romans on fiddle. He developed his musical style in the 50's and 60's playing popular and old-time music in the dance halls along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia.

Fraser Martin on guitar and harmonica. He is also an accomplished fiddler, has worked in country, Newfie, bluegrass and dance bands throughout Nova Scotia.

Greg Simm on bass and tuba. (see Gordon Stobbe Trio)

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"One of my personal faves of the classical stage was Bow Ties. This hybrid mix features the classical pianist/violinist husband and wife team Timothy Steeves and Nancy Dahn (a.k.a. Duo Concertante) with Nova Scotia fiddler Gordon Stobbe and guitarist Greg Simm. Imagine, if you will, a program where these four musicians trade songs a snippet of classical violin followed by a snatch of a 15th century Irish jig. Add in a line of witty repartee and you've got a little musical magic especially when they tag team on a bluesy/trad rendition of a Ravel work segueing smoothly into the real McCoy classical version a heartbeat later."
--Mark Vaughan-Jackson, The Telegram, St. John's, NL

The group Bowties is made up of :
two performers from the traditional world in Nova Scotia, ECMA 2003 Roots nominee Gordon Stobbe and Greg Simm, together with classical musicians and ECMA 2003 classical nominees, Duo Concertante - Nancy Dahn and Timothy Steeves.

The violin and the piano. The fiddle and the guitar. These two pairs, one classically trained (Duo Concertante), one folk-oriented (Stobbe/Simm), come together to juxtapose, contemplate, and explore with the audience their seemingly disparate (or similar?) traditions and artistry. With virtuosity, insight, imagination and humour they present a thrilling musical experience spanning Bach to Benoit. Between the Duo Concertante's ravishing renditions of the traditional classics, and Gordon Stobbe's toe-tapping Metis fiddle tunes, maritime airs and his own heartwarming compositions, all musical possibilities are open to discovery.

Bowties booking information

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