Dinner Belles are a country folk group based in the Hamilton area. Performing as a six-piece band for their CMW set (guitars, bass, drums, mandolin and keyboards), they ended up playing a more electric set than usual due to technical difficulties with the pick-up in one of the acoustic guitars. It worked well, since it was Saturday night and the crowd was pretty revved up already.
Everyone was loving the music. A dance floor started up in front of the stage, led by a couple really drunk dudes who were literally falling over each other while trying feverishly to dance (it was amusing… for a while). It was incredible that they managed to fit six musicians on the small stage, especially considering the drum kit took up about a third of the available space.
Each band member brings something different and important to the mix and each is a proficient musician in their own right. Combined, their power increases ten-fold, like when the Power Rangers combine and make Megazord, an unstoppable force. Being a pianist myself, I was especially enamoured with the work of Greg Brisco, who danced across the keys like nobody’s business and is one of the most talented and FAST keyboardists I’ve seen in a long time.
The main vocals and harmonies are often shared between Brad Germain and Terra Lightfoot, though the others often assist as well (especially Scott Bell). Lightfoot is able to explore her higher (falsetto) range in this group compared with the lower range she tends towards in her solo music. Their voices complement each other like peanut butter and chocolate.
The sense of community fostered by this group is absolutely contagious. People in the audience, once strangers, began dancing together. Boys were twirling girls, girls were twirling girls, boys were twirling boys, and everyone was singing along to the choruses. We begged for an encore, but the schedule was too tight to allow any additions. I’ll post one here for you instead. My favourite song of the night was this sing-along ditty, ‘Til The Dawn’, performed in the barn they rehearse in. The lovely Kennedy Sharon Bell, young daughter of bassist/singer/songwriter Scott Bell, makes a guest appearance.
Photos by Stephanie Beatson.
