Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Napanee’s Star Stop Concert Series’ pandemic induced hiatus will come to an end on Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. when Rob Lutes takes to the stage at Ellena’s Café.
Fresh off a Maple Blues Awards nomination for Acoustic Act of the Year, Lutes returns to Napanee for his second appearance in the Star Stop series. He was among the five artists lined up to play the series in 2020 before COVID-19 forced the cancellation of all live music performances.
Cliff Trott, one of the founders of the Star Stop series, says Lutes approached him with the idea of holding a show in December.
“Folk can be a little bit deceiving,” Trott said when describing the kind of music Lutes plays. “I think just about anybody that plays an acoustic instrument is classified as folk. He’s really like an Americana type, sit on the porch, Bluesy-Americana-Roots guy.”
Lutes applies his background as an English major when crafting his song lyrics, which have been covered by several other artists.
“He’s also got a very unique style of guitar playing, kind of a claw hammer style that’s very unique,” added Trott. “He’s combined some unique vocal skills with his guitar playing and his lyrics and I think he’s starting to get more and more recognition.”
His latest album, Come Around, was nominated for four Canadian Folk Music Awards, including Album of the Year, Contemporary Singer, English Songwriter and Producer of the Year. His 2017 release Walk In The Dark earned him the Contemporary Singer of the Year Award at the 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Tickets for the Dec. 3 show in Napanee, which sell for $25 each, will be limited to a maximum of 25 people. Though the venue has the capacity for more, Trott wanted to keep it simple for their first show in over a year and a half.
“I think it’s a good thing for the people of Napanee to know that maybe life is getting a little bit back to normal,” said Trott. “We are taking all the precautions in terms of keeping in safe and maintaining social distancing, over and above the fact that people need to be vaccinated in order to attend.”
Trott admits there was times during the pandemic when he thought it might be easier to just conclude the series. After a bit of reflection, he decided that’s not how he wanted to see it end.
“I don’t like the idea that the pandemic stopped me from doing what I was doing,” said Trott. “This is a good test to see if there’s actually an appetite for shows.”
Tickets, as well as a link to some of Lutes’ songs, can be found at https://www.starstop.ca/rob-lutes-2. Ellena’s Café is located at 16 Dundas Street E.
Star Stop was first launched in 2016 and has featured several award winning artists such as the Ennis Sisters, Jadea Kelly, Ken Yates and more.