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Do you love the music of Nick Drake? Ever wish you could have seen him live? Well, unfortunately that is not possible, but you can still check out the gorgeous music he did create and check out some of the artists who are determined to introduce new listeners to his music. The Songs of Nick Drake tour visits Guelph on Friday November 16 2012 for a show at Dublin St United Church.

Featuring Oh Susanna (Suzie Ungerleider), Kevin Kane of The Grapes of Wrath, and the tour’s organizer, British-born Luke Jackson, along with a distinguished backing band featuring guitarist Kurt Swinghammer, drummer Don Kerr (Rheostatics, Ron Sexsmith), and double-bassist Jason Mercer (Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, Ani DiFranco). The string section includes Sahra Featherstone, Alex Cheung, Johan Lotter and Wendy Solomon. There will also be some special guests for the Guelph show including Rich Burnett, Matt Masotti, Amy McCann and David Matheson. The Songs of Nick Drake was first produced by Jackson at Toronto’s Trinity St. Paul’s United Church in November 2010. It was a tribute both to Nick Drake and Robert Kirby, with whom Jackson had collaborated on his last album. Apparently Kirby had planned to fly to Toronto to conduct the string section at a similar concert a year earlier, but passed away unexpectedly a week before the show was to be announced.

To coincide with the tour, Kurt Swinghammer is releasing Two Portraits, a limited edition 12″ single of his version of Nick Drake’s “River Man” backed with a version of Donovan’s “Sunny Goodge Street.” The sleeve features Swinghammer’s painted portrait of Nick Drake.