Join Mallory Johnson, Dave Whitty, Jerry Stamp, and Kelsey Arsenault for an intimate songwriter circle at The Ship Pub in St. John’s, NL.
$15 in advance – $20 at the door
Four songwriters share stories behind the songs and the songs themselves on stage together.
Got some time to kill?
We are deep in a thickening haze of pumpkin spice and fog as autumn does its ramp up to the yule season. Before the Christmas rush and the impending winter of discontent fells us all with seasonal affective disorder come on out and celebrate some of what our coastal paradise has to offer. Four different songwriters share the stories behind their songs; the tales of where they came from, the missteps along the way, and the eventual hard-fought finished dirges we’ll hear on Thursday Nov 2nd at the Ship.
Mallory Johnson
Mallory Johnson is a 4x East Coast Music Award winner, a 4x CCMA nominated artist and 2022 semi-finalist for the prestigious SiriusXM Top of the Country competition. It’s no wonder that her latest album ‘Surprise Party’ soared to #2 on the iTunes Country Chart on the day of its release, took home “Country Recording of the Year” at the 2023 ECMAs and is currently nominated for 6 MusicNL Awards including Album of the Year.
Produced by Grammy-nominated producer Kent Wells and Canadian producer Dustin Olyan, ‘Surprise Party’ features Mallory’s Billboard charting single “Married,” an acoustic version of her critically acclaimed song “Wise Woman,” as well as collaborations with some industry heavyweights like Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Charlie Worsham. The award-winning album has already garnered attention with tastemaker press like PEOPLE magazine and CMT, and has landed her the cover of Amazon Music’s “Just North of Nashville” in both Canada and US markets. Songs from ‘Surprise Party’ have also been added to an array of other editorial playlists across digital streaming platforms.
Dave Whitty
Dave Whitty is a singer/songwriter from St. John’s, NL. Dave has released 3 solo albums since 2012 and is currently in the studio working on his 4th. If you listen to Dave’s music, it won’t take long to hear the pride he has for his home province, capturing Newfoundland’s joie de vivre and beauty. Dave writes and sings about real-life experiences; his folky storytelling style tells tales woven through playful lyrics and infectious melodies about his relationships and his unique perspective. One minute, Dave is cracking the audience up with tales of misadventures with friends, and the next he’s conjuring profound feelings of nostalgia or pain with stories of love, friendship, and the things that make Newfoundland special. With over 15 years of experience playing live shows, he has molded a one-of-a-kind vibe. His songwriting combines a distinctly East Coast sound with modern themes that resonate with audiences. Dave’s guitar style is another part of his music that makes him unique. Self-taught, he uses a mixture of strumming, flat-picking, and fingerpicking, which, after just a couple of notes, is immediately recognizable as Dave’s.
Jerry Stamp
Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Jerry Stamp (He/Him) has had a wild ride. In 2015 he was forced to lay down his guitar and step away from the microphone due to a painful and debilitating auto-immune disease. Up until then he was a prolific song-writing, incessantly-touring, record-producing, inexhaustible musical engine. 4 years later he began dipping his toe back in with the occasional performance. With his catalogue of songs spanning 20+ years, 12 albums and thousands of kilometres toured, the hardest part was figuring out which of the glut of tunes would make it back into the set. Perhaps due to the time away Stamp’s classically trained voice is even more dynamic and intense than before. The perspective he has gained from being forced to quit what he loved and now being given the opportunity for an encore makes every performance extremely intimate and moving. The new songs hewn from the adventures of the last several years are begging to be recorded soon.
Kelsey Arsenault
Kelsey Arsenault (she/her) is a singer-songwriter and certified music therapist. From the small town of Ferryland at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, she grew up steeped in stories and songs. For the last 3 years, she has been crafting a songbook of original music, sketching scenes of contentment, indecision and overcast weather. Kelsey’s output is carved both by the waves of contemporary pop harmony, and tides of Newfoundland folk. A recent MusicNL nominee, her debut album “Gallery Walls” was released this past October.
