Finest Kind

Finest Kind
Ian Robb, Ann Downey, and Shelley Posen
Sat. Nov 2 1996, 8:00 p.m.
First Parish Church, 35 Church Street, Watertown, MA

Finest Kind was formed by three musical friends who discovered one night at a song circle that their voices blended beautifully in three-part harmony. That harmony has now become the touchstone of their performances, with a repertoire extending from Copper Family to Carter Family; from Stan Rodgers to Peter Bellamy; from the Santa Fe Trail to the Ottawa Valley. Casting about for a name under which to sing, they adopted a phrase used in the Canadian Maritimes to express utmost approval. Their audiences, no matter where they're from, agree that they are, indeed, Finest Kind.

lan Robb

Ian is one of North America's best- known singers of English song. He moved to Canada from his native London, England, in 1970. just in time to help found Toronto's inuch-loved and notorious Friends of Fiddlers' Green. Since then, with or without them, he has played folk concerts, clubs, and festivals from Vancouver to Bermuda. lan is known for his strong, direct singing style. He is something of a virtuoso on the English concertina, delighting audiences with hard driving reels, graceful waltzes, and luscious chordal accompaniments. Ian writes a regular column for the venerable folk magazine, Sing Out. and is co-founder and a current director of Ottawa's Old Sod Folk Music Society. His most recent recording, From Different Angels, features a number of tracks by Finest Kind.

Ann Downey

A multi instrumentalist (guitar, banjo and acoustic bass) and singer with wide musical tastes, Ann sits in comfortably wherever music is played; old timey, country, bluegrass, Celtic, English, swing, and klezmer. She has an affinity for yodels and a taste for wacky songs, but one of her great talents is the ability to find precisely the right harmony when singing with a group such as Finest Kind. Ann is originally from the southwestern United States, but she has lived and played music all over Europe and North America. In addition to performing with Finest Kind, Ann is known around Ottawa as the superb stand-up bass player with the Toasted Westerns and the Old Sod Band.

Shelley Posen

Shelley has spent most of his life either performing folk music or studying it. He sports a Ph.D. in folklore (his thesis was on singing in an Ottawa Valley community) and he performs a wide range of songs: traditional Canadian, British, and American, country and bluegrass, Sacred Harp hymns and classic rock 'n' roll. Shelley's versatility as a singer and instrumentalist (guitar, banjo, concertina, dobro) has made him welcome in traditional singers' kitchens, and in bars, folk clubs, and the odd recording studio. He is originally from Toronto, via St. John's, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn. He works as a freelance folklorist out of Ottawa.

Discography for Finest Kind

Additional Ian Robb recordings:

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