If you missed his sold out show at this year’s folkus Concert Series, Nathan Sloniowski and his musical friends are looking forward to bringing his new album “The Lost Love Letter to a Small Town” to the Music at MERA Fall Series in McDonald’s Corners on Sunday Sept. 8th. Doors open at 1:30 and the show starts at 2PM, with tickets available on Ticketsplease.ca or at the door depending on availability.
“The MERA Schoolhouse is a cultural jewel and magical listening room in the Ottawa Valley,” says Nathan. Volunteer-powered all the way! The Ragged Flowers had one of our most memorable gigs there, I presented my first solo album at the Schoolhouse, and our family has attended many fine MERA concerts and artistic events over the years.”
Nathan will be joined by Vicki Brittle on vocals, Barry Buse on bass and Bill Serson on drums. As well as playing the new album, the band is promising a couple of tunes from Vicki’s new EP, “Acoustic Act 1” while Nathan is going to dip into the well of The Ragged Flowers new “Flying Machine” EP, which he presented with that band in a two-show sell-out at the Cedar Hill Schoolhouse in June. Barry and Bill are inveterate Ottawa Valley musicians and two-thirds of the ground-roots blues band, Redneck Limousine.
“I love how this band aims straight for the heart of every song,” says Nathan, “and every time we do it, I feel privileged to play with them.”
Initially the presenters at MERA were very impressed with “The Lost Love Letter to a Small Town”, commenting that “The quality of the compositions, lyrics, vocals, arrangement and production are all very strong. A wonderful musical ride!” Upon learning that Nathan had assembled a “pretty hot band” that had already sold out several shows, MERA jumped at the chance to have them lead off the 2024 Music at MERA Fall Series.
Fronted by Nathan’s honey-bourbon voice, his latest album is a warm-hearted musical carousel that makes stops at small town cafés, dance halls, tree-lined fields and limestone quarries, offering lyrical nods to many of his singer-songwriter heroes.
The result is a nine-song tribute to what Nathan calls “the collage of welcoming dreamers and makers who grew me up in the 1970s artistic lair of Elora, Ontario, and the many more I’ve met in other small Ontario and Quebec towns along the way.” Those towns include Almonte, Wakefield, Calabogie and now Carleton Place where he currently makes his home.
