We sincerely hope everyone had a great holiday season and now, once again, it’s time for the Sooke Folk Music Society to begin a new year of great musical entertainment at Holy Trinity Anglican Church. For our first coffee house of the new year, on Saturday, January 18, we are very pleased to be presenting the Victoria-based group, Anjopa.
Anjopa has been performing their own brand of original folk music since 2007. Hailing from Victoria, their songs encompass a broad spectrum of genres from Canadiana to Latin, from songs of the heart and spirit to social commentary and comedy.
Anjopa is Andrew Godon on guitar and vocals, John Spooner on vocals, Paul Gatien on bass and vocals, Blair Mitchel on percussion and vocals and Craig Moddle on harmonica, mandolin and vocals.
Andrew Godon began playing guitar during the folk music boom of the 60s and was soon playing in coffeehouses around the San Francisco Bay area. Circumstances led him to relocate to Canada in 1967 where he formed a band and began playing acid-rock music around Vancouver and Victoria. Other bands and other locales followed covering different genres from rock to top 40 from Winnipeg to Seattle. Now Andrew’s musical and physical journey has come full circle, back to Victoria and back to folk music.
Born in Blind River, Ontario, John Spooner grew up singing harmony with his mother while he helped her do the dishes during the early 1940’s. Spooner tries to write “Canadiana” as much as possible but other genres of folk and country have a way of slipping through. He also performs with Easy Folk Trio.
Paul Gatien is a Victoria-based Yukoner who has been playing guitar and writing songs for the past 30 years. When not playing music Gatien keeps himself busy with other music or entertainment related projects such as live sound mixing for concerts, managing international concert tours, installing professional audio systems and trying to keep up with the housecleaning.
Forced at ruler point to play piano from a young age was, as they say, a blessing in disguise. It has given Blair Mitchel an eternal appreciation for music, but more importantly as a teen an avenue into something loud, the drums. Traveling took Blair to his ancestral home of Scotland. Having moved back to Canada Blair dusted off the old kit, brought it over to Victoria and soon after was playing with Anjopa.
As a kid, with Craig Moddle, there was music around; radio, vinyl (records, remember them?), and of course live. Church choir and family taught harmony, jamming and participating in various collaborations encouraged explorations into folk, blues, rock, and a general passion for playing. Originally from southern Ontario, Craig has spent the past 30 years working professionally in the entertainment industry, both onstage and off. So it is with great pleasure that Craig finds himself “blowing harp” with these talented gents and in return Anjopa is thrilled whenever he can join them on stage.
Please, do come out and support live music here in Sooke.
As usual, it all happens at Holy Trinity Anglican Church on Murray Road, on Saturday, January 18.
Doors open at 7 p.m. with open stage at 7:30 and our feature band Anjopa at 9.
Contributed by Dave Gallant