Back in April of this year, The Equity was in attendance for the re-opening of the Hooley at St Paul’s Anglican Church on Main Street in Shawville. It was a welcomed return for both the musicians and their fans after a lengthy and silent lull thanks to you-know-what.

Fast forward to this just passed Saturday and The Equity was there once again as the Hooley turned up the mics and celebrated Christmas in front of an enthusiastic audience who had braved the extreme wintry weather making clamour outside.

Now, the Hooley make-up changes week to week, as that is the very nature of this kitchen-party-style gathering taking inspiration from the Irish heritage of so many in the community. The overarching and simultaneously loose rules for the evening are consistently: sing and play what you like, and we’ll join you if we can.

On stage for this Christmas version were Manuel Pottek, Celine Abbot, Paulette Gauthier, Barry Murray, Tony Mackenzie, Bobby Dale, Brent Plouffe and others joined creative and musical forces to provide an entertaining mixture of tunes for just over two hours.

There was no ceremony to the evening and before we knew it, the leafing through large binders of favourite songs, tuning of instruments and plugging of amps gave way to Pottek on stage launching into an a cappella version of Mary Did You Know. That was to be all the pre-amble we were to get.

A range of Christmas classics followed suit with the likes of Frosty the Snowman, Deck the Halls and crowd-pleaser Jingle Bells leading the way. Abbot adjusted the lyrics of Silver Bells, ensuring we knew it was Christmas “in the valley” as well as on the city sidewalks of verse. These songs were joined by country classics like Under Your Spell Again, Give My Love to Rose, Invitation to the Blues and Copperhead Road proving that the Hooley has no bounds and sports wide-ranging inspiration and talent.

The format was easy: go around the room with each artist taking turns to announce their selection and without further ado, bringing their instrument of choice to life, often starting solo and more often than not, ending with a band and the hall rich with sound.

Each artist on stage brought a different element to the fore and collectively it worked. Pottek’s self-deprecating humour generated laughter while Abbot’s enthusiasm and stagemanship elicited smiles and encouraged meek voices in the audience to sing along just a little louder.

Gauthier showed her versatility with a collection of instruments she brought on stage with her. There was a fiddle, a hand-percussion-bell-shaker and a mandolin and she handled each with subtle confidence, and, while outwardly staid, you could tell she was enjoying things.

Murray & Mackenzie were tempted more by their country roots for the evening and used their voices and guitars to bring Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, George Jones and Dolly Parton to the party.

Dale mixed Christmas with country and his own medley spread out over the five rounds of artist choices. He channeled Elvis, Merle Haggard and Ray Price and, above all else, he was smiling and laughing from the hop to the stop. His performance was joyous and he took us along with him.

Plouffe brought beat and melody to the whole ensemble and while he may not have selected every song he was integral to each. There was a familial air to things as a call would come from another artist heavy into song “Ok – Brent” and he would lay into his guitar, traversing frets with quickened ease while providing stylistic bridges across the whole spectacle.

Plouffe’s own selection included Alan Jackson, George Strait, Steve Earl and more Johnny Cash allowing him the opportunity to bring his powder blue guitar to life while propping his feet up on an old Tim Horton’s coffee tin. This was a kitchen party, after all.

The Anglican Young Women’s Association was unofficially in charge of the evening as they wrapped up their fund-drive and were more successful than they had envisioned. They had been selling raffle tickets since October and organizer Jane Hayes made occasional appearances through the evening, inviting audience members to randomly select winning tickets from individual buckets corresponding to specific items up for grabs. Most items were made of wood, donated by Bobby Dale, and crafted into emblazoned home decor by Lynne Tourangeau. A large laundry basket full of goodies valued at more than $500 constituted a final grand prize.

All in all this was toe-tapping joy mixed with exactly the right atmosphere for a kitchen party. The next Hooley will be Jan.6 and the great news is, we’re all invited.

Musicians sang & played favourites from their own personal collections

Paulette Gauthier has long been a member of the Shawville Hooley.

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