Ann’s life in Springhill included two mining disasters that virtually ended the town as one of the province’s premier mining towns. Her father, Carson, was a doctor who toiled for a week while both wounded miners and dead ones were brought to the surface.

Not only did she graduate as a gym teacher she was a premier singer on the Halifax variety show, “Sing-along Jubilee.” This show was the platform that not only launched her career but cemented a relationship with husband-to-be Bill Langtroth.

The swan song of Murray’s life as a singer is her new autobiography “All of Me.”  The book follows a girl born Morna Ann Murray from her childhood in Nova Scotia to one the top entertainers in the world.  Her recordings sold a phenomenal 54 million copies and she was headliner in Las Vegas. In fact, Elvis Presley declared that she was his favorite female singer.

Anne Murray has a summer home in Nova Scotia and still calls it her home, although Toronto is her place of business. In fact her home is less than a half-hour from one of Nova Scotia’s premier attractions; The Anne Murray Centre.

The Lunenburg Folf Festival is held, of course,  in venues in and around the scenic UNESCO World Heritage Site of Lunenburg, NS  and takes place from August 6 – 9.

The event is produced by the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Society and features  traditional and contemporary folk music played by some the best in the business.

Headlining the show this year will be  songwriter and producer Stephen Fearing, East Coast singer-songwriter and multi-award-winner, Lennie Gallant, and the great sounds offolk-blues-jazz trio The Marigolds, featuring Canadian Maple Blues Award winner Suzie Vinnick.

Others on the Ticket

Jim Byrnes

Asani: An acappella Aboriginal women’s trio

Bette and Wallet, a Quebec-based traditional duo

Heather Kelday, a multi-instrumentalist

Jeff Davis, an Appalachian music specialist 

Kev Corbett, an experimental folk artist

Kim Beggs, a Yukon’s roots artist

Mr. Mark , a  children’s performer

Notre Dame de Grass, a  Montreal bluegrass collective

Pacific Curls. New Zealand’s eclectic world-roots music trio 

Other Additions

Pint and Dale; Austin roots-blues group porterdavis; old-time high-stepping duo Sheesham and Lotus; sisters in music Tannis Slimmon, Laura Bird and Chris MacLean; the multi-talented Steve Dawson; medieval influenced Swamp Ward Orchestra; Newfoundland folk explosion The Dardanelles; Celtic traditionalists The New Tune Society; folk sisters The Nields; fiddle-driven The Sarah Burnell Band; and Halifax’s lively old-time Smokin’ Contra Band, winner of the 2009 Folk Fiesta! competition.

All this is on the backdrop of one of the most amazing throwbacks to the days of sail, Lunenburg. So be expecting great shows, food, historic tours and a lot of fun.

Early-bird Festival passes are $85 for adults and $40 for students and youth (tax included) and are only available until April 15 by calling (902) 634-3180 or online at www.folkharbour.com

Since then he has been a ball of fire in the art world, a prolific creator that spends his working time dreaming up new art. Therefore, when he gets down-time from painting and restoring homes the ideas are already alive in his head and he just has to get them down on canvas or wood.

There’s no “artist block” in Joe Winters’ world with carving sculptures, painting scenery and assembling three-dimensional wall art. Unlike many artists in the area Joe creates multi-faceted art pieces that are directed at a certain area. His Lunenburg scene pulls in all the parts of this historic Nova Scotia town but he doesn’t paint it, he puts it together.

From the polished stones in the wharf to the sails on the schooner Joe makes them all from  scratch and then fits the together like a giant crossword puzzle. And then there are fish, fishermen and other sculptures carved from stumps and large pieces of wood.

Joe is still called “The Wizard of Wood” and he is presently uses his great restoration skills for refurbishing a house for me.

For more information on Joe Winters:

marlynjoe@eastlink.ca  of phone (902) 356-2503

In 1996 Joe retired from the naval dockyard in Halifax and returned to his native South Shore where his work became known and appreciated. From his Liverpool workshop Joe has created many great pieces including cigar store Indians, bears, cats, sea captains and fishermen. He was also commissioned by the Region of Queens to carve a member of the King’s Orange Rangers, circa, 1783, in full battle gear.

Joe creates much of his art from real life put onto original lath boards from demolished homes. He uses rocks, sand, wood and many other artifacts to adorned his original work. His works never adorn the local galleries because they sell as soon as they are hung on the walls!

In addition Joe is called “The Wizard of Wood” for his creative restoration skills on great pieces of wood that adorn older homes. A peerless painter he brings many homes in the Queens Region to life every year.

For more information on Joe Winters:

marlynjoe@eastlink.ca

(902) 356-2503

Born in Windsor, Ontario in 1941, and educated at Mount Allison University, Roger Savage has made Queens County, Nova Scotia his home since 1973. Early in his career he discovered the need to work outdoors and so has traveled extensively in search of his subject – the light and shadow of Nature. On site he prefers to work in watercolour. Occasionally he will sketch in the field, returning to the studio to create prints in silk-screen and lithography.

Within Canada, the work of Roger Savage has included the oysters beds of P.E.I., the primordial granite forms of Cadden Bay, the rhododendrons at Annapolis Royal’s Historic Gardens and the icebergs of Ellesmere Island, N.W.T. Outside of Canada, Savage has painted and exhibited in Sweden, USA, Colombia, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Canary Islands, Bermuda, Cuba and Crete. Within the Maritimes his work is included in the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia(Halifax), Confederation Centre Art Gallery(Charlottetown), and the Owens Art Gallery(Sackville).

His artwork has also been reproduced on poetry book covers and on two $100 commemorative gold coins (1978, 1981).The artist has lectured and given painting seminars to adults as well as delighted hundreds of children while teaching them the basis of screenprinting. His striking images of the seashore of his home province, translated into postcard miniatures, have brought Nova Scotia to thousands of people.