For one night only, Dave Paddon and Kelly Russell will enchant attendees of the 2022 Storytelling Festival at The Rooms. These legendary performers will bring story and song to life as they have done for decades all over this province and beyond.
This performance part of the St. John’s Storytelling Festival taking place September 20 to October 2, 2022.
Space is limited so please ensure you reserve your ticket online or by calling 757-8090.
About the performers:
Dave Paddon is a retired airline pilot originally from Northwest River, Labrador. He grew up listening to the songs and stories of the trappers and attending many a late night “session” around many a kitchen table. In 1986 he married a Gander girl, and subsequently became immersed in island culture. As a result he accumulated a store of material which suddenly bubbled to the surface when he and Kim returned to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2005 after 20 years upalong.
He wrote his first recitation in 2007 and has now written 30. Five of these have been published in handmade chapbooks and his work is available on two CDs or through electronic download. His recitation “Ralph: Flying Hound” was recently released as an illustrated children’s book and was quickly followed by “Half the lies you tell are not true!”, a collection of 13 of his funniest recitations. Dave lives in St.John’s, and is a regular at festivals and fundraisers throughout the province.
Kelly Russell is a virtuoso of fiddle playing who first came to mass attention as a member of the Wonderful Grand Band. As an interpreter of Newfoundland song, his recordings with Figgy Duff, The Planks, and Jim Payne (with whom he recorded the first modern version of “Peter Street”), stand as a legacy for a lifetime of commitment to the folk traditions. During his career, Kelly has collected over 500 traditional tunes unique to Newfoundland and Labrador.
In addition to being a recipient of a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and a Member of the Order of Canada in his own right, Kelly comes from a lineage of storytellers that include his father, Ted Russell, whose radio broadcasts Tales From Pigeon Inlet, have been preserved and carried on by Kelly in his own performances. Kelly’s best known work has perhaps been with fellow fiddle players Émile Benoît and Rufus Guinchard
