Treat At The Retreat
Sunday began and ended in a crowd.
Toward the end of a sunny afternoon, I saddled up the little car and headed west, into the sunset. Enough of playing catch with the neighbour’s dog, no matter how keen the game, or the eyes that waited for yet another chance to demonstrate recovery of an odd orange squeak-toy. I needed music.
Rock Barra Retreat has a special ambiance. It’s a safe bet that no other home on the Island has the same architectural form, and few others can boast kitchen parties with the same high level of talent. We were sixty-five, assembled on chairs of fortune, ready to listen to a range of story and song with the North Side as theme.
Jennie McQuaid took some time to remind us of the personal nature of the absentee landlord vs farmer, back in the time before Confederation. I’ve heard the stories before, but it’s good to get a new angle from time to time. She completed her set with a newly composed ballad about the local merchant and his extensive inventory.
On to the first set by the headline act: Colette Cheverie and Tim Chaisson. I’m a clear fan of Colette, and my only regret was that an evening is so short. She covers songs from artists such as Richard Thompson and Peggy Seeger, interspersed with some of her own material. The chat between songs emphasized that she was at home, with several generations of her family in the audience. Tim showed his mastery of the guitar and fiddle (after a mid-tune callout from Teresa Doyle, to assist her only number of the evening).
We also had a new composition from Henry Chapin and Betsy Blatchly, who summer in the area. So new, in fact, that the lyrics were on a Macbook.
A second set from Colette and Tim, equal to the first, and then I guided my mechanical mount back to the east, glad that I’d made it in time for a great show.
