Music @C64
Live@Studio64 - 2023 Spring Series
Upcoming Events
Jim Byrnes
April 29 - 8 pm
Centre 64
$25 members
$35 non members
Jim Byrnes was born in St. Louis, Missouri – that’s blues country. He grew up on the city’s north side. One of the neighbourhood bars had Ike and Tina Turner as the house band. As a teenager going to music clubs, he and his buddy were often the only white people in the place. “We never had any problems. We were too naïve and had too much respect for the music and culture – they knew it, they could tell.”
By age thirteen, Jim was singing and playing blues guitar. His first professional gig was in 1964. Over the years, he has had the great good fortune to appear with a virtual who’s who of the blues. From Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker to Taj Mahal and Robert Cray, Jim has been on the blues highway for 45 years.
Byrnes moved to Vancouver, BC in the mid-70s after years of drifting, working odd jobs and playing music. In 1981 he put together a band that became a staple of the local music scene. In 1986 the Jim Byrnes Band played 300 nights.
Jim Byrnes’ fame as an actor has grown immeasurably from his too-numerous-to-mention TV and movie roles, highlights including television’s Wiseguy and Highlander series, and his national variety show The Jim Byrnes Show.
Jim has proven that a serious car accident in 1972 has done nothing but hinder him. Despite two swipes with death and some pretty hard knocks, Byrnes has still managed to rack up an enviable string of credits, both on and off-screen.
You can read more about Jim's musical career on his website.
Stephen Fearing
May 10 - 8 pm
Centre 64
$25 members
$35 non-members
Stephen Fearing was born in 1963 in Vancouver, British Columbia and grew up in Dublin, Ireland where his schoolmates included future members of U2. In 1981, he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and immersed himself in the music scene, learning the fundamentals of songwriting and performing, while washing dishes to stay alive.
By 1984 he was back in Vancouver, determined to become a professional musician. In the years since, he’s been named one of the finest songwriters in Canada and has built a national – and international – audience for his music, doing it old school through countless performances at intimate venues and on the concert stages of festivals and theatres across Canada, the US, the UK, and Europe, with appearances at major events like the Reading Festival and WOMAD, to name just a few.
In 1996 he co-founded Blackie and the Rodeo Kings with Colin Linden and Tom Wilson. Originally intended to be a one-off collaboration to record a tribute album of songs written by Canadian folk music legend Willie P. Bennett, the trio quickly recognized they had created something worthy of further exploration and both critics and audiences agreed. More than 22 years later, with nine albums and a JUNO award to their credit, the band has become one of the most respected names in North American roots-rock. Their musical collaborators are many, but to name a few – Emmy Lou Harris, Nick Lowe, City and Colour, Keb’ Mo’, Jason Isbell, Lucinda Williams, Bruce Cockburn, Sam Phillips, Pam Tillis, Vince Gill, Cassandra Wilson, Serena Ryder, Holy Cole, and Mary Margaret O’Hara.
Fearing has released ten albums as a solo artist, featuring musical guests including Bruce Cockburn, Margo Timmons, Rose Cousins, Richard Thompson, Shawn Colvin, and Sarah McLachlan.
To learn more about Fearing's life and his music, you can check his website.