The Abrams Brothers attract a crowd at Snow Road

Aug 28, 2014

It was not only the brothers, John and James, but three generations of the Abrams family who entertained the capacity crowd at the John Thomson Hall in Snow Road at their concert on August 24. The brothers' grand parents, Wayne and Mary Abrams, opened the show and were joined by their son Brian (father of the brothers); together they demonstrated the family's musical heritage, which is probably a huge part of why the Abrams brothers are such apt musicians and also two fine young gentlemen.

The concert is always a stellar musical treat and one immediately gets a sense that the family enjoys putting on the show as much as the audience revels in it. The music is old style country/ blue grass/gospel with John on vocals and guitar, James on fiddle and vocals huddling around a single microphone, each member of the band edging in carefully, making perfect harmonies and with the instruments taking their solo turns showing off their incredible skills.

The brothers and family were joined by accomplished banjo player Glenn MacDonald, who also contributed back up vocals, and later in the show by bass player Jason Mercer, both of whom are talented and solid players.

The brothers are truly amazing musicians, James more wild and wily on the fiddle, John more grounded and straight ahead on the guitar but with the two together demonstrating how growing up as the fourth generation in a musical family definitely can have its benefits and rewards. They put on a great show and judging by the applause in the hall their performance was more than well received.

In the second half of the show they introduced a special guest, Catherine Helferty from Kingston, who goes to church with the family and is the music director there, and who sang several stellar pieces.

I spoke to the brothers during the break and both said they love playing to the home town crowd. John said “It is completely relaxed and a great opportunity to get back to our roots and to play exactly how we started playing music in the first place.” James added, “We love to be able to play with three generations of the family and love the community here and the sense of family it brings.”

Currently the brothers are recording a new CD in Toronto with producer Gavin Brown who also produced The Bare Naked Ladies, The Tragically Hip, Billy Talent and Metric among others. John said the new record will be all originals with a focus on roots but also fused with pop and rock elements. The brothers have been touring steadily for the past two years in the US and have played also in the England and in Europe. Both are also studying at Queens University, James, biology and John, English and film. They will be playing on August 29 at the Canadian National exhibition (CNE) in Toronto. Funds raised at the concert will benefit the All Creatures Great and Small Animal Rescue, which was recently taken over by Tanya and Brian Abrams.

After the Snow Road concert there was a surprise event - an Ice Bucket Challenge that doused Brian, James and John, except that this bucket was no small cooler of water but the huge bucket of Dale Gemmill's front end loader.

For more information about the Abrams Brothers visit theabramsbrothers.ca