Water is Life Benefit

This is a BENEFIT for Oneida Nation’s Clean Water Distribution Program.

Presented by String Bone and The Talking Circle Group.

Five days before Christmas I received an email from local First Nations member, Todd Torresan (who runs The Talking Circle Group at Falstaff Centre in Stratford), regarding a State Of Emergency on the Oneida Nation Settlement just 30 minutes southwest of London. The community had to conserve all water use as their water tower was desperately low.

I met Todd a couple of years ago at a Multicultural Association event we were both performing at and stayed in touch through Todd’s periodic mailings about The Talking Circle Group.

Todd and I have come together to organize this event.

I want to do what I can to support their efforts and so we are going to have a night of music to bring people together to raise some funds and awareness for the cause. I really hope we can come together as a community and show the people of Oneida that we care and we are here to help.

Visit Todd’s The Talking Circle Group at: https://talking-circle.wixsite.com/perth-huron/events

Tickets are now available here: https://stringbone.ticketspice.com/water-is-life-benefit

An online silent auction is being organized by Todd with donations coming from many local merchants and will go live on Feb. 8th. Watch for it on Social Media posts.

Plus, if you cannot attend and would like to support this effort with a cash donation, please go to this GoFundMe campaign and please give what you can. Any amount is welcome.
https://gofund.me/ff67479c

All funds raised on GoFundMe will go directly to the Oneida Community Centre, which is managing the water distribution program.

If you would like to send an eTransfer directly to Oneida, please put in your subject line WATER IS LIFE BENEFIT and email to: [email protected]

Here are the details of the event:
Water Is Life – Benefit for Oneida Nation of the Thames Clean Water Distribution Program

Date: February 24, 2023
Where: Revival House – 70 Brunswick St., Stratford, ON
Time: 8:00pm

Who: String Bone featuring special guests – Upside of Maybe, Brandon Solomon, Kylar Quewezance, Todd Torresan, Glen Dias, Lindsay Schindler, James Downham, Derek Barnes, Marc Boisvert, Neil Little and Nathan James McKay

Tickets: $40+fee (Benefit Concert Only)

Dinner is separate and paid directly to the restaurant.
It is recommended to book dinner reservations by calling 519-273-3424

Net proceeds of the event will be donated to the Oneida Community Centre water distribution campaign that is looking after the temporary bottled water distribution to the community.

More Concert Details:
Payne and his band String Bone will be performing with Glen Dias and Lindsay Schindler for a reunion of the former Rant Maggie Rant members.

Local Drum&Bass producer, Nathan McKay, will join the band to perform the song he and Payne co-wrote and released in 2020 called Two Stars Collide.

String Bone will also perform with Jim Cuddy sound-alike Derek Barnes and guitarist Marc Boisvert both of whom played with Payne in a Blue Rodeo tribute band called Diamond Mine, so expect to hear several Blue Rodeo songs too.

Upside Of Maybe members will acoustically perform their hit song, the emotionally charged, Rainmaker, about residential schools and the ‘60s scoop that they released last year with Indigenous artists Okama.

Indigenous artists Brandon Solomon and Kylar Quewazance will both perform solo sets as will local country artist James Downham and local Neo-folk singer Neil Little all for this great cause and a great night of music and community.

Todd Torresan will kick off the night with a land acknowledgement and Indigenous smudging ceremony.

Don’t miss it!