Our OPEN MIC and music jam Wednesday March 30, 8 pm, no cover, is a Uke-Fest Special. Hosted by ukulele maestro Peter Tigchelaar, with guest Cecil Howell of Uke the Planet. Bring your ukulele! Borrow one from us! Learn how to play — hey it’s easy!
For more info, call 905-543-8512 or email artword@artword.net
Saturday March 26 at 8 pm, at Artword Artbar, 15 Colbourne Street. Tickets $15. An evening of dynamite bluegrass music with mandolinist and vocalist Randal Hill. On guitar and vocals, the rock-steady Johnny Frame. John McNaughton will provide the deep foundation, acoustic bass and vocals. On banjo, one of the finest blue grass banjoists on the planet, Charlie Street.
“PoeMagic”, spoken word event hosted by dub poet Klyde Broox, usually fourth Friday of the month at 8 pm, pwyc.
Friday March 25; Friday April 22; Friday May 20 (NOTE this is a week earlier on the third Fri)
“Steeped in oral traditions, Broox’s gesture-enabled, dance and song-oriented, performances are consistently pitched to engage, entertain, and invite audiences to experience poetry as social communion. … “
Read more…
Thursday March 24 at 8 pm $5. Concert of contemporary jazz with the Chris Platt Assemblage: Chris Platt, guitar; Mike DeiCont, bass; Lee Famelos, drums; Ryan Cassidy, tenor sax; Carissa Kimbell, vocals.
Most Tuesdays at 8 pm, Artword Theatre hosts “Theatre Tuesdays”, with readings of new plays and/or works-in-progress, readings of favourite plays we like, short theatrical presentations, films about theatre, etc. To get involved, as a writer, reader, presenter, actor, listener… contact us: artword@artword.net
* March 22: Theatre Tuesdays presents a screening of the film version of “Skinning the Cat” based on the stageplay by Kevin Land, starring Matt Willson (also a producer) and Jonathan Harrison, and directed by Jeff Santa Barbara (runs 81 mins). Also on the bill, a 12-minute short by local filmmaker and animator Alex Szatmary, “Angels of Death” shot on location in Romania and Hamilton. Alex Szatmary, Matt Willson and Kevin Land will be present to talk about the films afterwards. Cover pwyc.
* March 29: some films about the experimental theatre of the 60s and 70s.
Saturday March 19 at 8 pm, $10. Ashley Condon and Ria Mae, two wonderful singer-songwriters from Halifax on tour. Ashley tours in support of her debut album Come In From The Cold, which is nominated for a 2011 ECMA for Country Recording of The Year and Ria will showcase her 2010 Music Nova 
Scotia Award nominated EP Between The Bad.
http://www.ashleycondon.com/
http://www.myspace.com/riamaemusic Read more…
Tuesday March 15 at 7:30, at Artword Artbar: The Ides of gritLIT 2011 Fundraiser. Tickets $10 at the door. Come celebrate the Ides of March with the gritLIT Festival organizers! Join us for an evening of poetry, music, food and prizes. One lucky winner will walk away with a copy of every book featured at this year’s festival. The gritLIT, Hamilton’s Literary Festival, runs April 7 to 10 at various venues. For more information visit http://www.gritlit.ca/
Saturday March 12 at 8 pm, $10. Concert by singer-songwriter Monique Barry and her band — Marc Meriläinen on guitar, James McEleney on bass and Ambrose Pottie on drums. Special guest: Hamilton’s own wonderful singer-songwriter Kim Koren, rounding out the evening!
Well known around Toronto’s music scene, Monique Barry has performed as part of Fresh Wednesdays at Nathan Phillips Square and the Toronto Jazz Festival. Classically trained singer-songwriter Monique has a dynamic must-hear vocal range. http://www.myspace.com/moniquebarry Read more…
Friday March 11, James North Art Crawl, art exhibits at Artword Gallery. 
Janice Peshke, handmade jewelry exhibition by the well-known Hamilton jewelry maker and instructor, in the installation gallery.
Judith Sandiford, a few selections from her large-scale paintings and drawings based on physics and cosmology, from her decade as a visual artist before she became a theatre designer, in the large gallery. Exhibit up for the month of March.
SPECIAL! Friday March 11, during the James North Art Crawl, a special concert by Lake of Stew, a six-piece acoustic string band from Montreal on tour with a new CD. No cover, but we will be passing the hat through the evening to support the band. Lake Of Stew features a rotating cast of lead vocalists and full-group harmonies, with all kinds of original tunes, from waltzes to sing-alongs, barnburners to boogies. http://www.lakeofstew.ca/
The band is: Brad Levia (arch-top, slide guitar, vocals), Richard Rigby (mandolin, banjo, harmonica, vocals), Daniel Mckell (guitar, kazoo, vocals), Mike Rigby (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Julia Narveson (gut-tub bass, bass, fiddle, banjolin, vocals) and Dina Cindric (accordion, banjo, piano, ukelele, bass, vocals). Read more…
Behind the Kiln, thrilling and unpredictable evenings of real-time collaborations between dancers, musicians and visual artists. Hosted by dancer Tanis MacArthur and video jammer Judith Sandiford. Due to popular demand these are now monthly, second Thursday (day before Art Crawl).
Thursday March 10 at 8 pm, pwyc. Participants so far: Liz Bates, Maxine Heppner, Grace Loney, Jenny Rae, Jennifer Lockman, Oranbge McFarland, Matthew Van Allen, Tanis Macarthur, Justine Lanza, Alison Novak, Ron Weihs, Judith Sandiford.
Thursday April 7 at 8 pm: participants – movers: Grace Loney, Liz Bates, Jenny Rae, Laura Kappel, Victoria Slager (Runaway Brides), Tanis MacArthur. Sound makers: Jennifer Lockman (piano), Tom Shea (guitar/spoon/etc.), Orange McFarland (double bass), Jenny Rae (saw), Ron Weihs (violin), Gordon Odegaard (various). Video jammer- Judith Sandiford.
Here’s a link to one of the improvisations (sound only) recorded April 7 and posted by Tom Shea. http://soundcloud.com/trio-arjento/transformation-architecture#
What is “Behind the Kiln”? Read more…
NEWS: Sunday March 6 at 2:30 pm. A special performance of “Hemingway’s Hot Havana“, a bold rousing adventure tale brought to life by actor, director and master storyteller Brian Gordon Sinclair. The play offers rare insight into the life and times of Ernest Hemingway, his time spent in Cuba, and why he so loved the old city. All funds raised from this exciting performance will go to the Cuba for Haiti Campaign, which supports the important work of the Cuban medical relief workers in Haiti. Presented by the Hamilton Friendship Association with Cuba.
General admission $15, seniors/students $10, children under 12 $8, Pay what you can, no one refused entry! For tickets contact info@cubacanada.org or at Bryan Prince Bookseller (1060 King St. W. (905) 528-4508 Read more…
Saturday March 5 at 8 pm, $5: Stringbenders band (John Kneeland guitar, Owen Mahoney bass, Gary Mahoney drums) anchor an evening of Beatles songs “Sergeant Revolver“, featuring songs from Sgt Pepper and Revolver albums not often played. On March 5 1967, the Beatles had just released Revolver, and were in the studio working on Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Stringbenders will also support a set of “open mic” if you have a Beatles song to sing.
Friday March 4, at 8 pm, $5, at Artword Artbar. A jazz concert with Brandon Clarke Trio: Robert Chapman – guitar, Mark Ballyk – drums, Brandon Clarke – bass. Artword Artbar is delighted to be filling the place with jazz, both up-and-coming and established.
