Celtic roots band Tiller’s Folly presented Stirring up Ghosts to a well-attended concert at the the new Langley Township amphitheatre in Willoughby Community Park on Aug. 10.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the band, fronted by Bruce Coughlan, who grew up in Langley but now lives in Maple Ridge.
Tiller’s Folly launched at the PNE in 1997 with six musicians and eight Irish dancers as the Celtic Thunder show.
In the last two decades, the band has transitioned from an Irish band to more of a “songwriter-driven acoustic roots band,” featuring Coughlan, now a Maple Ridge resident, on vocals and guitar, Laurence Knight from White Rock on bass and vocals and Nolan Murray from Birch Bay, Wash. on fiddle and mandolin.
The performance was part of a summer music series that is part of the national celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary of confederation.
Performances, which are free to attend, will take place rain or shine at 7 p.m. every Thursday in July and August.
The new $260,000 amphitheatre officially opened on May 25 and has tiered grass seating for 200 to 250 people.
It was built with the help of a $130,000 contribution from the federal government’s Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program.
The amphitheatre is also a parks amenity that can be booked and rented to community organizations for hosting events. Contact parksadmin@tol.ca for more info.
The concert series is being sponsored by Long & McQuade Musical Instruments and the Langley Times. More info is available by emailing Canada150@tol.ca.
UP NEXT:
Aug. 17 | Emily Taylor Adams and Jackson Hollow
Country musician Emily Taylor Adams will take the stage with the four-piece Bluegrass band, Jackson Hollow. After having her daughter, Adams took a brief break from the stage, returning to perform at the Giving Back Christmas to Paddington Station benefit concert in Langley this past December. Jackson Hallow is a two-time winner of the B.C. Country Music Association Gaylord Wood Traditional Country Award, and features lead vocalist Tianna Lefebvre (a four-time BCCMA Award winner), fiddle and mandolin player Mike Sanyshyn (CCMA and BCCMA Fiddle Player of the Year), and a revolving cast of top-notch musicians.
Aug. 24 | Confessions of a Grocery Clerk
Musical comedy Confessions of a Grocery Clerk was written and directed by D.W. Poppy graduate Lauren Trotzuk. The show follows the lives of five female grocery store employees — the student, the vet, the rookie, the single mom and the perky one — in their true-to-life journey.