The Northern Arts and Cultural Centre (NACC) is looking ahead to 2021 with a new slate of performances and promotions including an an East Coast Kitchen Party with Jim Taylor on Jan. 29.
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Marie Coderre, executive and artistic director with NACC, said that the organization has aimed to start the new year off with a very familiar and appreciated artist in the community.
"Jim Taylor is someone we want to support as an artist and so well beloved in this community and so it should be a real East Coast treat featuring Irish music and warm feeling during winter time," she said.
"It is also a reminder of what he does and plays at Black Knight. We are hoping with this show to really bring some Irish roots and Scottish roots to the North and serve the big community that we have in Yellowknife who are from the east coast."
Tickets went on sale this week for the show and the live performance will be shown online for viewers on Jan. 29.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all live shows stipulate that there is a 25-person maximum with crew and people on stage and 50 people in the theatre, Coderre said. All people coming to shows have to come with masks and are screened at the door.
She added that there will be a young female fiddler who will open the show with a 20 minute performance and that is as a way that NACC is trying to to promote young talent. The name of the person will be announced the night of the show, she added.
Wesley Hardisty to release new album with show
Violin player Wesley Hardisty will be marking the release of his new six-track EP called Hittin' Home with a live performance on Feb. 4.
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This will be followed on Feb. 6 with an online showing of the performance.
Tickets are expected to go on sale next week, Coderre said.
Hardisty said on Thursday that he has not done a live performance in quite some time, although over the last year he has done some online collaborations and learning sessions with other violin players.
"I've been keeping it pretty low key and it has definitely been a while since I last performed live," he said.
"I had a performance last November that involved me and a camera for the Arctic Inspiration Prize. It was organized by Leela Gilday and will air in March."
Valentine Comedy Show
Martin Rehak is slated to return with a comedy show called the The Ever Late Show: Love Edition! on Feb. 13 to mark Valentine's Day.
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An online recording of that performance which is a multimedia stage comedy show will take place on Feb. 14.
Rehak, who is an in-house sponsored artist with NACC's mentorship program, had a sold-out show in December to mark the Christmas season. The same show featured musical guest Ryan McCord who was promoting an album at the time.
"The Valentine's show will be similar to the Christmas show which I thought went great because we had great feedback," he said. "Personally I am critical of myself but the show can always be better."
A date for ticket sales and an artist line up of comedians is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, he said.
Yellowknife Community Foundation Funding program
The Yellowknife Community Foundation funding program's deadline to apply is on Jan. 15.
Last month, NACC and the non-profit organization launched a new effort called the Losing Track of Days – NWT Artists & Covid-19 to provide funding support to northern artists.
Coderre said that the names of successful applications will be announced by the end of January.
"We will also be announcing another $5,000 to the $50,0000 which means there will be $55,0000 made available," Coderre said.
"An anonymous private donor offered the additional $5,000 during the Christmas holidays."