Jessica McDonald is a textile artist based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. A textile lover for the majority of her life, she has studied the art form at Olds College (Alberta) and The College of the North Atlantic (Newfoundland). She has since earned a BFA in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Minor in Art History, from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2019. Her undergrad thesis explored craft perceptions and their importance in social community and generational inheritance in Atlantic Canada. Additional training and professional development opportunities have extended across North America including a weaving residency in Oaxaca, Mexico, interning for the Handweavers Guild of America in Nevada, USA, and working for the Peters Valley School of Craft in New Jersey, USA. In 2018 Jessica received the Arts & Letters Award in the Senior Division for her weaving which was purchased by The Rooms Gallery. Throughout 2020, she has worked with Dale Jarvis of Heritage NL to conduct research on weaving in the province of NL. Jarvis & McDonald have collaborated on the Facebook group Weavers and Spinners of Newfoundland and Labrador, to locate existing weavers and their looms. Jessica brings the traditional craft to light through exploration, research, and teaching. She is passionate about exploring concepts of home, community, and textiles and the history in which it carries.
Jeff Pittman and Ryan Baker are folk musicians from Marystown. They have been performing together since connecting for an impromptu set at the Burin Peninsula Folk Festival in 2007. Over the years, Jeff and Ryan have traveled throughout Canada and Europe, performing along the way, and recording studio tracks and demos – some of which can be found on Jeff’s 2019 album, History and Mystery.While the duo often enjoys tunes in the shed or the kitchen, this show marks a somewhat rare opportunity to see them onstage in St. John’s. It’s their first feature performance for Folk Night in over 15 years! Come enjoy the neatly crafted original songs of Jeff Pittman combined with the splendid accordion stylings of Ryan Baker at Folk Night at the Ship.
For more than 40 years, Jean Hewson has collected, arranged, recorded and performed the folk music of Newfoundland and Labrador, and is grateful for the many opportunities the music has given her. She has had the good fortune to play and tour with some of the province’s best-known traditional musicians, and has spent most of her life teaching and working with organizations focused on music education and the passing on of the tradition. Her most recent projects include establishing and directing the Soundbone Folksong Choir, and playing guitar for Canadian fiddle supergroup, Portage.
Jeff Pittman is a folk singer-songwriter and storyteller whose style and delivery are borne of years spent entertaining in shed parties and community halls of his native Newfoundland. Coming from a long line of family poets and humorists, Pittman’s songs tell stories of time and place, ranging from pun-laden toe-tappers to quirky singalongs and heartfelt ballads.
Jason Normore is a poet, songwriter and creator that is anchored on the east coast of Canada, St. John’s, Newfoundland.
His debut album Suburban Sublime is set to be released in summer 2022. Jason began writing this project while living in Toronto, ON and moved back to Newfoundland to partner with an ever growing group of creative friends that he calls
“The Wildflowers”.
Suburban Sublime is nothing if not hopeful and in pursuit of life; it’s a revolutionist cry. Thematically it explores embracing being queer, religious trauma, addiction, mental health, the role of hope of in everyday life, falling in love, the ever changing shape of culture, light and the lack there of, and the political facades of the modern age.
Jason is consumed by metaphor and its ability to articulate the seen and the unseen. He is frequently performing and releasing spoken word poetry under the title
Words For People.
Jake and Pami have been performing as a duo over the last few years in Europe, the UK and Canada. Jake Nicoll has been a fixture in the local music scene, releasing his own solo records and producing albums for many local musicians since he moved here in 2009. His music is thoughtful and introspective yet always tinged with a playful sense of experimentation. He’ll be joined by Pami on harmonies and her classical guitar based hazy-dazy off kilter dream folk. They’ll play some of their originals and pull from the large repertoire of folk covers they’ve collected over the years.
Janaya Rose is an apparel designer in St. John’s Newfoundland. She completed the Textile and Apparel Design program at the College of the North Atlantic and uses various techniques to create custom fabrics and embellishments for her apparel line. Janaya teaches youth classes at the Anna Templeton Centre specializing in machine sewing and textile craft.
From a very early age, Jason was surrounded by a wide variety of music spanning the rock, traditional, classical and jazz genres. Starting with drums in his early teens, Jason developed a passion for learning to play other instruments, moving on to guitar and then focusing on mastering the bouzouki. Described by some as one of the best proponents of new style Irish bouzouki playing in Canada, Jason first embraced the instrument while living in Ireland in the 1990s, and has contributed its unique sound to numerous traditional recordings. Having made his first professional music appearance at 16, Jason has over 25 years experience performing locally, nationally and internationally. He has lived in Ireland and Bermuda and has traveled extensively. Over the years he has worked as a performer, composer, engineer and producer of recordings and live music projects. Through his studio, The Sound Solution, he has been involved in more than 60 CD projects and is often called upon as a session player for other artists. A founding member of iconic Newfoundland bands Connemara and The Punters, Jason has performed and recorded with some of Canada’s foremost musical talents like: Roger Howse, Pamela Morgan, The Plankerdown Band, The Graham Wells Band, The 7 Deadly Sons, Great Big Sea, Seamus Creagh, Pierre Schryer, and many others. Since 2016, Jason has been playing with Colleen Power as guitarist/vocalist in her band as well as Fiddle/Viola duo The Sizzle Sisters as well performing numerous solo concerts. For almost 20 years Jason has also worked in the telecommunications industry, having worked for Paragon, xwave, Aliant and Bell in Newfoundland, and Logic Communications, an ISP in Bermuda. He divides his time between his first love music, and his career in IT/Telecommunications. He holds the coveted Cisco CCIE designation, and an MBA from Memorial University of Newfoundland and works as a senior technical architect with Bell Canada where he builds enterprise data and voice networks for local and international companies. As a senior consultant, he is looked upon by many Canadian enterprise customers as a trusted adviser and subject matter expert. If he’s not plugging in a guitar cable, it’s probably a fiber optic cable!
