Concert calendar - Photos - Stage plot (pdf) - Contact FK
Click on the play button to hear some samples of Finest Kind's most recent CD, "For Honour & for Gain" More details on the recordings page.
...Finest Kind's set on the Saturday night was a
flawless piece of work, an extraordinary melding of history and
song. Three of the finest voices in Canada singing about our past
and filling the dark and still air with soaring, glorious harmonies.
In a set of splendid songs, Shelley Posen's "No More Fish, No
Fishermen" was, for me, the standout. I have a recording of the song
but to hear it sung from that stage, to that crowd, was to
understand the passion behind the piece. A very remarkable band...
David Francey, at the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival 2002
Finest Kind is the
remarkable folk trio from Ottawa, Canada whose exquisite harmony
singing and brilliant vocal arrangements are bringing a fresh sense
of excitement and discovery to the performance of old songs. The
trio's glorious sound, served up with easy-going humour, has won a
devoted following across North America.
Thrills and Chills...Finest Kind's vocal arrangements are a creative tour de force. Tradition-based yet curiously modern, the trio's harmonies are an enchanting feast of opulent chords and ever changing textures. The trio's amazing vocal blend has been called "molecular bonding" by one reviewer: "Any closer," he says, "and they wouldn't be allowed to do it in public." Audiences invariably mention "goosebumps."
Who
we are...Finest Kind was formed in Ottawa, Canada, in 1991
by Ian Robb, Ann Downey, and Shelley Posen. Ian, originally from
London, England, is renowned as one of North America's most gifted
performers of British folksong, a concertina player extraordinaire,
charter member of Toronto's Friends of Fiddler's Green, and composer
of folk standards such as "The Old Rose and Crown." Ann, who hails
from the southwestern U.S., plays guitar, banjo, and bass, and has
performed in bands playing old-time and cowboy music, bluegrass,
klezmer, jazz, and swing in North America and Europe. Shelley, a
professional folklorist from Toronto, is a versatile singer and
multi instrumentalist who has spent a lifetime researching,
teaching, writing about, performing, and sometimes composing songs.
The trio is often joined on stage by fiddler and mandolinist James
Stephens, a master of styles ranging from Irish to Cape Breton,
bluegrass to swing.
Surprises...The variety of these individual musical backgrounds makes for one of the distinctions of a Finest Kind performance -- the exhilarating mix of repertoire. British, American, Irish, and Canadian traditional ballads keep company with gospel rousers, drinking songs, sea shanties, and pop oldies. The timeless works of the Carter Family, the Copper Family, Rudyard Kipling, and Hank Williams mingle with originals by Ian or Shelley. Unencumbered by allegiances to any one style, Finest Kind presents the hand-picked best of many genres, and keeps audiences wondering just what delight they'll hear next.
Recordings...Finest Kind has recorded five CDs--Lost in a Song (1996), Heart's Delight (1999), Silks & Spices (2003), For Honour & for Gain (2010) and a Christmas album with actor John D. Huston, Feasts & Spirits (2004). The trio is featured on Ian Robb's "From Different Angels" (1994) and also appears on his "Jiig" (2005). All are available from Fallen Angle Music. Shelley also has four solo releases, "The Old Songs' Home", "Manna", "Menora" and "Roseberry Road", available from www.shelleyposen.com
