Melodies at the Museum returns for a tenth season

Summer concert series features local favourites and new talent

The St. Marys Museum is hosting its tenth Melodies at the Museum summer concert series this August. A different musical performance will take place outdoors at the performance stage in Cadzow Park on Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8 p.m.

First-time Melodies performer Jesse Webber will kick the concert series off on August 2. Jesse Webber has been playing, producing, writing, performing and releasing music for the last 27 years. His latest song "Brand New Day" was released on June 20, 2021, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a song of hope and optimism and features a cast of Kitchener - Waterloo's elite musicians. Since its release, he has been sharing the profits with the Six Nations Community Food Bank and a Ukrainian Relief Fund. 

On August 9, join Meg and Brady of La Grove. Meg and Brady are a dynamic musical duo from St. Marys that perform a blend of oldies, classic rock and pop tunes from the decades. Meg’s soulful powerhouse vocals, Brady’s guitar/bass/cajon expertise, along with some vocal harmonies, are a perfect fit for all occasions.

On August 16, St. Marys duo Aimee Jesso and Chet Greason of The Bone Radlers will take the stage. Both performers are Melodies at the Museum regulars, having played with their previous bands, The Shenanigans and Corduroy Gordon. This will be their Melodies debut as a duo.

August 23 brings former Museum employee, Jaron Camp, who will take the stage with Rachael Frankruyter. After years of playing together, Jaron and Rachael created the duo project York Street Thought Process. They have collectively performed at a variety of venues throughout Southern Ontario, from restaurants to festivals. The duo creates a playful mixture of indie-folk and improvisation; from a wide range of original music to classic covers. Their debut album was released in August 2022.

The series finale will take place on August 30 with the Kintore-based jazz septet known as Jazzm@x (pronounced Jazzmatics). They were born because of big band charts received by a member of the band from Andy Hoe, a venerated bandleader and sax player from St. Marys. More of these charts were also purloined or borrowed from high schools, and the idea that they could perform this music came to be. Carol Shaw (tenor sax), Wade Whittaker (bass), the Four Irvines (Dan [drums], Barb [keyboards], D’Arcy [alto sax/flute] and Judy [trumpet]), and an import from Mitchell, Brad Carew (trombone) combined to form Jazzm@x in 2002. Since then, the group has performed in many venues, playing a range of styles from jazz standards to Bossa Nova to Funk. Music lovers may have stumbled upon them playing on the Avon River in Stratford on a barge, or in Bancroft at the annual Arts Festival, or perhaps on a patio in Tobermory.

All concerts will take place on the performance stage in Cadzow Park and will be moved to the Town Hall auditorium in inclement weather. If the weather looks questionable on the concert day, visit the Museum’s Facebook page by 5 p.m. for a decision regarding the concert location.

Admission to the concerts is by donation, with all proceeds going to the St. Marys Museum. Thank you to McCormick Canada, Andrew L. Hodges Funeral Home, and the Friends of the St. Marys Museum for sponsoring the performers.

For more information, please contact the St. Marys Museum at 519-284-3356 or museum@town.stmarys.on.ca.

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For media inquiries:
Stacey Frayne, Marketing and Communications Specialist
519-284-2340, ext. 218 | sfrayne@town.stmarys.on.ca