Fraser Union is a Vancouver-based Canadian folk music group, formed in 1983.[1] CBC Radio helped bring early national attention to them on the Max Ferguson Show. For four decades their music has most often told stories of Canadian working people.[2] Their focus on labour and progressive issues drew them into collaboration with Tom Wayman,[3] Kate Braid[4] and the Vancouver Industrial Writers' Union.[5] Together they produced Split/Shift: songs and poems of the workplace[6]. Fraser Union's festival performances include the 2007 Vancouver Folk Music Festival,[7] where they presented a stage titled "Songs of the Pacific Northwest" dedicated to the work of BC folk song collector Philip J. Thomas.[8] In 2008 they returned to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival[9] to do the same for the legendary Utah Phillips. They have also performed at Vancouver Island MusicFest, ArtsWells, Filberg Festival, and the Princeton Traditional Music Festival,[10] among others throughout British Columbia. In addition to festivals, they perform regularly in folk clubs, and in concerts to benefit social causes.[11]
Their group name derives from the intersecting references to the Fraser River, Simon Fraser University, Fraser Street, etc., all significant to the band's location in Vancouver. By the time of their first, self-titled, recording in 1988[12] they were a male quartet: Roger Holdstock, Henk Piket, Dan Kenning, and Barry Truter,[13] all of whom met through and were presidents of the Vancouver Folk Song Society.[14] From 1987 until 2008 the quartet remained the same until Dan Kenning retired, leaving the trio to carry on until 2018 when they were joined by Kathy Griffin. At the dawn of 2023 Fraser Union is once again a trio, Barry Truter, Kathy Griffin, and Roger Holdstock, as they prepare to release a new EP.
Discography
editReferences
edit- ^ "Fraser Union". Fraser Union. 20 April 2020.
- ^ Gallant, Dave (September 18, 2013). "Coffee House Opener: Fraser Union". Sooke New Mirror. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
- ^ Wayman, Tom (1983). Inside Job: Essays on the New Work Writing. Vancouver: Harbour Publishing. pp. 9–32. ISBN 0-920080-46-4.
- ^ Braid, Kate (March 2, 2021). "Kate Braid: Poet, Writer Teacher".
- ^ Twigg, Alan (Autumn 1989). "How the West was sung". B.C. BookWorld: np – via ABC Bookworld.
- ^ Edge, Steve (October 1989). "Rogue Albums of the Month". Rogue Folk Review. 3 (11): 3.
- ^ Simpson, Dugg (Summer 2007). "30th Annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival". Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Thomas, Philip (1979). Songs of the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver: Hancock House. p. 111. ISBN 0-919654-89-4.
- ^ "Vancouver Folk Music Festival Archives". Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ Gregory, David (2010). "Trial Run: A Mini-festival at Princeton 2007". Canadian Folk Music. XLIV (1–2): 5–7.
- ^ Sidor, Penny (March 12, 2007). "Fraser Union--harmony, songs of social justice". The Gabriola Sounder.
- ^ Edge, Steve (October 1989). "Rogue Albums of the Month". Rogue Folk Review. 3 (11): 3.
- ^ Maike, Deb (February 7, 1990). "Fraser Union to Perform at Folk Guild". The Cowichan News Leader.
- ^ Holdstock, Roger (March 1986). "Vancouver Folk Song Society" (PDF). Canadian Folk Music Bulletin. 20 (1): 8–10 – via Canadian Folk Music Bulletin Archives.
- ^ Edge, Steve (October 1989). "Rogue Albums of the Month". Rogue Folk Review. 3 (11): 3.
- ^ Downie and Tranfield, Glen and Pam (1991). More Than Our Jobs: An Anthology. Vancouver: Pulp Press. pp. Introduction.
- ^ Gallaher, Bill (June 1989). "Split/Shift" (PDF). Canadian Folk Music. 23 (2): 17 – via Google.
- ^ Hawkesworth, Bob (February 17, 2008). "20 Questions: Alderman Bob Hawkesworth in his own words". Calgary Sun News.
- ^ Rodriguez, Robert (December 2003). "Review of Fraser Union: From There to Here". Folknik. 39 (6).
- ^ Readman, Tim (Spring 2012). "Review of Fraser Union's album "BC Songbook"". Penguin Eggs. 53: 66.