CFN – This night of entertainment in Morrisburg was full of surprises. First there was the announcement of the federal grant and then 18 year old singer/songwriter Brandon Roderick started the musical program followed by the incredible Laurence Juber.
This was Brandon Roderick’s second visit to the St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage. Last year he was here as parts of an Intimate Acoustic lineup where emerging artists are highlighted. I guess you could say that he has emerged. Did I mention he is 18 years old? Brandon took the stage as a seasoned veteran and entertained us with songs from his personal catalog that he has been writing since he was 13. Brandon is truly a talent to be watched.
We were well primed by Brandon for an impressive second set. Laurence Juber is the ultimate professional musician having won two Grammy awards during his 30+ years as a guitarist with over 20 albums to his credit. Just one of his credits is that he was the lead guitarist for Paul McCartney’s group, Wings. He is also a composer and studio musician having contributed compositions or played on soundtracks from a wide range of shows and movies including Good Will Hunting and the Muppet Movie.
I was sitting in the audience listening and taping Laurence all through his performance. I was amazed a couple of times because the camera seemed to have a hard time recording everything his hands did on the guitar. He played such a range of songs with such passion and expertise that the audience was spellbound. I would try to describe what I saw but I think I’ll let the videos speak for themselves.
I am going to try to upload as many of Laurence’s songs as I can to my YouTube channel but I am only going to include three for this post. It was a hard decision which three to include because they were all jaw dropping awesome.
There is only one more concert left for the season at St. Lawrence Acoustic Stage. On May 25th the stage will be hosting another Intimate Acoustics concert featuring six artists including local favorite Roxanne Delage. Details for the Intimate Acoustics concert can be found on the stages website.
Laurence Juber is a genius, and has to be seen live to be truly appreciated. Thanks for this article!