Jaxon Haldane and the Carter Felker Trio wowed the crowd at the first show of the season for the Vermilion Folk Club on October 20th at the Vermilion Legion. The Carter Felker Trio opened the show performing their folk music with a touch of country and humouring the crowd between songs with comical interludes as he described the life experience in which the song came from. Felker met Jaxon Haldane a couple of years ago at the ‘Wide Cut Weekend’ and expressed his excitement to be opening for Jaxon. “I met Jaxon at the festival, and I am honoured to be here. I first became interested in playing music when I saw a guy pick a guitar when I was 17 and I wanted to write songs and play for people,” explained Felker. Felker who now lives in Calgary has been a solo artist since 2015 but recently became the Trio a year ago. “This is our first tour out and our first time in Vermilion. We are excited to be here and we are having a blast,” said Felker. Felker was joined by his bandmates Ben Longman on guitar and Ben Comeau who played bass guitar. When asked how they became interested in music their reply was similar. “My parents were musicians, so I didn’t really have a choice. It’s nice to play with other people and connect,” said Longman. “I wanted to try music in junior high, and I started on the Tuba, but switched to bass when I was 13. You hope to connect with people through your music,” said Comeau. The Carter Felker Trio will be performing their next gig in Edmonton on Oct 26 and 27, and you can check out their other tour dates on Carter Felker’s Facebook. Jaxon Haldane from Winnipeg, Manitoba was the main performer of the night and opened the evening by expressing how excited he was to have Carter and his band opening the show. Haldane first performed in Vermilion with his band, the D. Rangers, in May of 2017. “I played here with my band the D. Rangers which is more of a mutant bluegrass feel. The band has a wild personality where we like to mix bluegrass with other genres. My solo show doesn’t represent us a band. It gives me the opportunity to play some of my compositions that don’t really fit with the band. My solo performances are more a mixture of folk blues and vintage country,” said Haldane. Haldane has been performing for 20 years as a solo artist as well as with the band D. Rangers. Haldane will also be touring internationally with Gordie Tentrees; going to Europe in November and to the U.K. in January. He has also toured Australia and the southern United States. “I am excited to be here. Most of my songwriting draws from personal experiences in a mix of upbeat and down tempo songs,” explained Haldane. The audience could be seen throughout the evening tapping their hands and swaying to the music. They clapped with enthusiasm during guitar solos and after each song performed by the artists.
