This is the MITW news archive. To return to the main site, click here.

News:

An unshakeably dedicated crowd welcomed Ian Reid to our stage this month, and Ian and we thank them for that. Now we hope to see the same enthusiasm as Great Wooden Trio sojourn into Rockwood for us. Presenting a novel mix of inspirational story-telling, spoken and sung lyrics and top notch musicianship, the four (go figure) members of the trio hail from all across southern Ontario, and they forge ancient myth and legend, personal accounts and introspective thought into gripping tunes. You can find out more about the Trio by visiting their webpages here:

www.thegreatwoodentrio.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/thegreatwoodentrio

Come out to see them, and maybe you'll get a chance to ask them yourself why the math of their name doesn't seem to work out. The show is set for November 12th at 7:30pm. There are 25 tickets available, no more and no less. As usual, along with an excellent performance you can count on complementary coffee, tea, cookies and pastry during intermission. For more info or to pre-order your ticket(s), please phone or contact Wendi using the info provided on the Contact page.

-Mac, October 22, 2011

Back to top

We give great thanks to Katherine Wheatley and the devoted concert-goers, without whom we wouldn't have had such a lovely time on September 10th. So, great thanks, and we hope all our paths will cross again. The next concert in the series will be happening on October 8th. This month's show stars the ever-gigging and engaging Ian Reid. Ian is one of the icons of the Halton and Wellington folk scenes, known for turning our everyday happenings and emotional interactions into catchy, heartfelt music. Ian has an almost magical ability to remove the traditional distinctions between performer and audience; hearing him, you feel more like a friend trading stories of the passing days than the one-way receiver of information that many musicians expect audiences to be. Also, he probably doesn't know it, but my sources tell me that he's the patron saint of the local Cult Of Ukulele chapter, thanks to his talents on the instrument. If you'd like to know more about Ian, take a gander at:
http://www.ianreid.com

Come see Ian Reid at MITW to reduce the chances of being hexed by said cult. The concert goes forth on October 8th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20 each. Our room isn't getting any bigger, so as usual there are only 25 tickets to be had. There will be tarts, cookies, coffee, tea, conversation, and probably even some music. To pre-order your ticket(s), please phone or contact Wendi using the info provided on the Contact page.

- Mac, September 24, 2011

Back to top

Hello again, world! We haven't spoken in a little while, but it's for good reason. Unlike you lucky people who get to swim and drink iced cappucinos all summer, we've been hard at working negotiating with the House Concert beings, and after much deliberation they've decided to let us continue our Concert series. You owe us big time, world, but don't sweat it. We were happy to look after it. The upcoming house concert, on the night of September 10th, will feature Katherine Wheatley and her striking vocal style, original arrangements and, given her history in the geology field, probably an awesome rock collection. She's a fine enough performer that I'm even going to do the honourable thing and not make a horrible pun about her rocking out at MITW. To learn more about Katherine and hear what she's been up to lately, visit her website at: http://www.katherinewheatley.com/

-Mac, August 17, 2011

Back to top

Songs For Hope was, as usual, as smashing success. The Hunter family thanks all the friends and relatives who gave their time and money and endured countless tired banjo jokes to make Songs For Hope XII possible. So, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.

The concert is set right here at Music In The Wood for September 10th at 7:30, $20 per ticket. You probably know the drill by now, but it doesn't hurt to say it again - get your tickets fast; only 25 will be sold. As well as gaining you an exclusive musical experience with a musical professional, your ticket also allows you access to our renowned Intermission Refreshments, featuring some delicious locally-made snacks, coffee, and whichever of the hundred-odd teas in our drawer gets your interest.To pre-order your ticket(s), please phone or contact Wendi using the info provided on the Contact page.

- Mac, May 2, 2011

Back to top

Tickets for Songs For Hope, the family-run folk event of the year, are now on sale here at MITW! Location, prices and times are listed on the handy PDF file this link points to. This year's talent is confirmed and consists of the following:

- Mac April 6th, 2011

Back to top

September 10, 2010

We now have a dedicated showcase page for our stock of Rickard Banjos. You may reach it here or through a link on our catalogue page. Please note that all Rickard Banjos items have been removed from their original place in the Consignment Catalogue

-Mac

Back to top

August 31, 2010

Just a small update to let you know that Music In The Wood will be closed on September 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th. Normal hours will resume directly afterwards on the 8th. We apologise for any inconvenience, and yours truly extends his personal thanks for understanding that even webmasters need a break from time to time. Happy Labour Day. (Kind of oxymoronic, isn't it?)

-Mac

Back to top

August 05, 2010

No updates in a while, but well worth it: the previous month brought us many shiny new thing. Principal among them is the Elle 5 Archtop, our latest consignment instrument courtesy of Dave Stewart. It sports top notch workmanship, beautiful wood staining and crystalline high frequency response. Check it out in person in the store, or right here in our Consignment Catalogue. You can take a look at the Stewart Archtops website as well. We also now have some fine ukeleles and mandolins on sale for those of you who like your instruments travel-sized.

On the gig front, Jenikz, Blue Yonder and Second Wind all have gigs lined up in the near future. Jenikz will be on live, Mississauga-local TV (Rogers Cable 10) on August 6th at 11:30. Blue Yonder Will be at the Shepherd's Crook on the 20th, and Second Wind will be making a long-awaited return to the same venue on the 27th. They will be playing at 8pm on their respective days.

Finally, we now offer a 15% discount on a new CD every month, as listed in our newsletter. This month we chose Annabelle Chvostek's Resilience. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as we have.

-Mac

Back to top

May 04, 2010

The glorious return of Songs for Hope is nigh. This very weekend, in fact: May 8th at the Roxy Coffee House in Acton. For those not in the know, Songs for Hope is a charity concert put on every year by the Hunter family and friends with the objective of raising funds for cancer research at Sick Kids Hospital. Every year we get several local performers, artisans, and big meaty/vegetable-y lasagnas, stick them all in one venue and let the good times roll. Last year due to a few large drains on our time and energy (mostly that of setting up a certain music store) we had to put the concert on hiatus, but now that we’re settled in we’re proud to announce its triumphant return. Announcing it with us will be Ablett & Cooper, Jenikz (also celebrating a CD release, see reverse), and Second Wind. Don Ablett will also be acting as MC. Other attractions include a silent auction, whose proceeds will go entirely towards the Sick Kids Foundation, the aforementioned lasagna dinner, and desserts and sweet drinks served by the Roxy, who I can say from experience make a chai latte which ranks among the best in Southern Ontario. If you wish to come enjoy the spectacle, please note that there are two different kinds of tickets - Dinner & Show, and Show Only. Accordingly, prices and times vary between the two. The details follow. This is always the highlight of our musical year, so we hope you can come out and share it with us.

Dinner & Show - Dinner served at 6:00pm
Adults: $20
Kids (ages 5-13): $15
Kids under 5 years: $5

Show Only - Show starts at 7:00pm
Adults: $15
Kids (ages 5-13): $10
Kids under 5 years: Free

Elsewhere, Guelph-based artist Jenikz is a woman of healthy passions and outspoken opinions. In fact she’s so outspoken that she’s made a CD to express them. If you’re an admirer of freedom, beauty, truth and love (how many times have you watched Moulin Rouge?) you’ll love the music that Jenikz and company have brought into the world. I have the distinct pleasure and honour of playing bass in said company, so you can consider currying my mightily influential favour a bonus for attending. The concert will take place May 6th (this Thursday) at 9pm, at Manhattans Music Club in Guelph. $20 at the door, which gets you a show and CD. Bring the significant other and you only need pay $25 in total. Check out some sample tracks at http://www.jenikz.com, and thanks in advance for supporting us.

And finally, I’m happy to report that Second Wind’s CD release a few weeks ago was a smashing success, packing the room and receiving the more than enthusiastic approval of all who attended. For the sake of reminiscence or in case you missed it, we’ll have photographs, audio and even some videos of the event posted on the website and Youtube before the month is out. The band would like to express their heart-felt gratitude to everybody who attended, as well as all the hard-working folks who helped them make the new CD a reality. Here’s hoping for ten more. Second Wind’s CD is now on sale here at MITW.

-Mac

Back to top

April 19, 2010-

Second Wind's CD release went beautifully, with lots of new and familiar faces to be seen in the nearly sold-out room. Our most heartfelt thanks go out to everybody who came and who made the whole project possible. Expect to see photos and video links of the release show sometime soon.

Moving on to upcoming events, Songs for Hope XI is fast approaching, and ticket reservations are now on sale. This is no sales scheme, but solid fact: tickets sell exceptionally fast. Links to the participating talents' websites are listed below this news post as well as a shiny new poster detailing the event. If you're in volunteering spirit, feel free to print out a copy of the poster and post it where you think it might get some attention. Thanks in advance, and see you May 8th!

Artists:

Ablett & Cooper
Jenikz
Nabi Loney
Second Wind

Click here for the poster (PDF).

-Mac

Back to top

April 06, 2010 -

You’re probably aware that the Academy next door to us has been open for some time, but timing didn’t allow for much fanfare. Now owners Dwayne and Michelle are rectifying that with a proper opening party on April 10th, beginning at 10am. There will be live entertainment featuring some local bluegrass talent, as well as jam sessions with the academy instructors. Later in the day a draw will be held for one our Beaver Creek guitar packages, as well as a few other pieces of musical loot. It promises to be a fine shindig. For further details, contact Dwayne and Michelle at 519-856-1325.

In other news, Friends of the Hunter family know all about our yearly charity concert to raise funds for cancer research. And you probably also know that it was put on hiatus last year so we could get settled into Rockwood. Now it’s our pleasure to announce that Songs for Hope is returning this year, to the Roxy Coffee House in Acton. The event will be held on May 8th. For those who’ve never been, it’ll be an evening chock full of music, creativity, inspiration, lasagna (yes, there is a full lasagna dinner provided) and above all, hope for a cure. We’ll give you further details as they come. For inquiries about tickets, e-mail us via the website or call us at the number above. For details concerning the Roxy, they may be found on Facebook here.

-Mac

Back to top

March 03, 2010 -

We hope you're enjoying the thaw, Rockwood, be it temporary or no. We know we are, and we've got a bunch of updates to show it. First of all, we have several new Beaver Creek guitars in stock and on display. We've heard your requests for guitars for beginners, and these are the response.

For anybody still looking for premium calibre instruments, our consignment catalogue still has a full selection - two of which are Robert England's handmade classical guitars, the prices of which we've just reduced significantly. You can check them out here. We've also lowered prices on Jacqueline England's artwork, which may be found here.

Now onto news of events. First of all, vocals-based folk band Second Wind (of which MITW co-owner Wendi Hunter is a member) will be celebrating the release of their eponymous debut CD at Hugh's Room on Sunday, April 11th. The doors will open for lunch at noon, and the music will start an hour afterwards at 1:00. If you wish to make reservations, please do so through Hugh's Room, linked above. If you'd like to check the band out before committing to the drive (in case you don't take my testimonial of quality as reason enough) you can check out their Myspace page here.

Next, thinking more locally, here at MITW we're ready to start putting this stage space to use, so check back here soon for notices of upcoming musical workshops. We have several accomplished musicians in mind at the moment, and they'll be teaching various topics such as playing styles, upkeep and purchasing of instruments, and more. We're also open to suggestions for topics, so if there's something you'd like to see taught, drop one of us a line with the Contact link, and we'll see if we can work it in.

Also, time is running out to complete the "Passport to Businesses in Your Own Backyard". In order to be eligible to win the grand prize draw, you'll have to complete your passports and deliver them to the Village Sweet Shop by March 16. The draw itself will take place the day afterwards, which happens to be St. Patrick's Day. Happy hunting.

Finally, looking to Brampton, renowned folk singer/songwriter James Keelaghan will be appearing on March 19th at St. Paul's United Church. Check out the Brampton Folk Club's Upcoming Events list for more information on what promises to be a great way to start that weekend.

-Mac

Back to top

January 22, 2010 - New year, new stuff

There's a lot of new shinies to introduce, so we'll get right down to it. We are now the Eastern Canada dealer for the BanjoMate Thinline banjo armrest. These are probably the best looking and most comfortable armrests we have seen. Open back players as well as Resonator banjo players will find this a really cool addition to their banjo. The armrest has the warmth of wood but doesn’t get stained and beat up like wood armrest overlays do. The quality is phenomenal – the armrest is made of polished Corian® and the mounting hardware can be adapted to fit any banjo with hooks. Check them out at http://www.littlemountainmusic.com/banjomate_armrest.htm

For jam session regulars:

Wendi and Hugh attend a lot of jam sessions and truly enjoy the huge array of music we hear and play as these sessions. However, sometimes they get a little lost in chord progressions so Hugh got poking around on the Internet for some chord books. He came upon the NEMOFOTMAD Chord Book and discovered that it contains a ton of useful jam session information, chords and transposing charts. It's also luadable for its compact size and spiral binding. We brought in a number of them and they’re in stock at a very reasonable price. For details on the book you can go to:
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com/ChordBook/NEMOFOTMADChordBook.html

For fans of alternate tunings (scordiatura for you academics):

We brought in 5 Spider Capos and sold all of them in less than two weeks. You know that playing in alternate tunings is a ton of fun but constant tuning is hard on string, tuning machines and your patience. The Spider Capo is the answer to all of your tuning concerns. We have ordered a bunch more 6 string Guitar models as well as Banjo and Bass models. Give us a call if you want one put aside because they are sure to go fast. You can drop by the store and try one out – we think that you’ll love it. We may be wrong, but we think that we are the first Canadian Spider Capo dealer. Here is a link to the Spider Capo website for lots of details:
http://www.spidercapo.com/index.html

For prospective music students:

Our kind, musically-inclined neighbours Dwayne and Michelle have offered their extra space for providing Rockwood's first source of music lessons. We were happy to cede the privelege of teaching music to Rockwood's brilliant young minds. Thus, Rockwood Music Academy is now eagerly accepting resumes for instructors and signups for instructees. They may be contacted at 519-856-1325. Best of luck and have fun learning, everyone.

-The Hunter Family

Back to top

December 29, 2009 - Seasons Greetings!

We all survived the holiday rush, thanks in no small part to all the friendly customers who turned to us to provide gifts for the musicians in their lives. Thanks, folks. Now that we're past that, our hours will be returning to regular - 2pm to 6pm on weekdays, 11am to 6pm on Saturdays, and 11am to 4pm on Sundays. Now, just because gift-giving season has come and gone doesn't mean we've run out of useful stuff. For instance, we have a variety of new straps from Levy's to suit any comfort range. Even if you're playing a guitar made of cast iron (or a banjo), we've got the strap to make it a cushiony dream. We also have some gift packs from Martin left over, perfect for a budding guitarist's birthday. And at the pinnacle of versatility, we now offer the old-fashioned gift certificate in various levels of worth. These are just a few of the new items on our shelves, so drop by and see what else is new if you get the chance.

-Mac

Back to top

December 10, 2009 -

The grand opening last weekend was a smashing success. Our thanks to Rockwood and surrounding localities for helping us feel so welcome here. We just hope we can live up to your generosity and cultural wealth.

There's new visual art, handcrafted pens and glass jewelry keeping our consignment instruments company. You can show them your appreciation by checking them out here. The catalogue will open in a new tab or window.

-Mac

Back to top

 

Welcome to Music In The Wood!

Click the images above for larger versions.

We are a new music store located in the picturesque village of Rockwood Ontario. Reflecting our love for acoustic music and modeled on old fashioned service, we at Music In The Wood are committed to supplying our customers with the best in stringed instruments and accessories.

Banjos are our specialty, plus we have mountain dulcimers, guitars and mandolins. Our instruments are either built by local luthiers or being sold on consignment. We are very particular about what goes on our shelves so you are assured of the opportunity to play and purchase high quality, beautifully made and superior sounding instruments. We really want you to play the instruments for a while before you decide on making a purchase – we’ve done our best to make Music In The Wood a warm, comfortable place for you to sit a while, strum a few bars or pick a few tunes till you decide which instrument is right for you.

We carry Indie CDs and folk and roots CDs from Borealis Recording, Merriweather Recordings and others. We also have strings, picks, capos, musical instruction books and songbooks and other musical accessories. And while you’re here, have a look in our Gallery where you’ll find lovely arts and crafts created by local artisans.

So, check out our website and, better yet, drop by for a visit. We think you’ll want to stay for a while!

Back to top