If you’ve been to a folk festival, an art crawl, a theatre, a songwriter circle, or a backyard party in Canada over the past 15 years, you’ve likely heard talk of The Vaudevillian.
Known for their commitment to their signature 1930s ragtime sound, members Norah Spades and Jitterbug James keep a range of unique tools in their arsenal, such as: spoons, washboards, resonator guitars and banjos, that move crowds all over Canada and the US. Through their expressive storytelling, and eccentric demeanour, they are incredibly memorable performers, and their escapades as intensive tourers throughout the country make them one of those acts that sticks with you in a way that makes you want to tell your friends about them.
The group became known to me very early on in my career as a singer-songwriter, when sharing a bill at Summerfolk Music Festival. Since then, I’ve seen their names plastered in poster-form in bars, halls, green rooms, and on local walls of fame; in every corner of the country I’ve visited.
With such extensive touring comes a nice collection of stories, too. When I ask them about a recent tale I’d heard of their life on the road, they recall their 34-foot long 1989 Fleetwood Pace Arrow RV, dubbed “Norah’s Ark” breaking down while on tour in the Maritimes. Through some “fast friends” and some East Coast hospitality, they found a mechanic who also worked as “a lobster fisherman, and… a stripper” to fix their mobile home. A venue owner, too enthused to let them miss their set, picked them up and delivered to their show in Salisbury, NB.
Needless to say, it was a memorable night, filled with a warm New Brunswick audience, sing-alongs, and even a bar-top performance. Once the show wrapped, they returned to their RV and drove the 29 hours back to Ontario, making it to their next show with “2 hours to spare before hitting the stage.”
After so much time spent touring, The Vaudevillian now call Port Elgin home. The two love the slow pace of the beach town during the off season, and call it the perfect place to hang out with their cats, their pup, their birds and their bunny, while getting a break from the “busy time on the road and the wild moments on stages, entertaining,” they say. They tell me about their love of playing pool at the local branch 340 Legion, biking through the Lake Shore South sunsets, and cruising in their daily driver, a 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale. They also mention their local inspiration in acts like JD Crosstown, and their aspirations to host floating shows on a sailboat.
Although the area has its obvious perks, their pull to it is deeper than that. Having met long ago while busking at the Port Elgin Flea Market, The Vaudevillian started out, splitting their time performing new songs there, and at the Keady Market. They take stock of the rich artistic opportunities in this area in their reflection of those times, and how the area has played a role in shaping them. Over time, Grey Bruce Simcoe continues to provide ample opportunities for them as this year they’ve performed locally at the Paisley Blues Festival, Summerfolk Music Festival, Pumpkin Festival and the Tara Fair.
The duo encapsulates what it means to write songs that come from the heart. They tell me about their nightly rituals of singing improvised songs with their parrot, Margie, and about how they find constant inspiration in each other. They explain that whether it’s a love song being constructed from the foundation up, or the late addition of some cheeky innuendo, the “songs just come when they choose to.”
The Vaudevillian is a band that steers clear of trends and pays no mind to the modern metrics of some “success formula”, but instead chooses to pursue sincerity through art and life.
By focusing on forms of true inspiration, paying homage to the past, and living a balanced creative life; this act that, to me, is the breath of fresh air that we sometimes need more than we realize.
To hear more about their on-stage ruckus, new album of “Hokum tunes”, leatherwork, the interactive washboard workshops they host, their stories from the road, and much more; head to Rrampt.com and read our full interview.
Written by Marshall Veroni
The Full Interview
Rr: So you two are, to me, some of the most notable road travellers in the country. Wherever I have traveled in this to perform, “The Vaudevillian” comes up as not only an act that people happen to know, but one that is attached to some account of an incredibly memorable good time.
The most recent was from a couple in Salisbury NB who remembered picking you up from a broken down RV to drive you to their bar venue. They described the energy, the stories and the fun you brought to their space. It clearly made a lasting impact.
V: Ha! Yes, a legendary tale from one of our tours to the Maritimes! On our “Squawk of the Town Tour,” from Ontario- Nova Scotia, we had a hilarious time. We were touring in our old 1989 Fleetwood Pace Arrow RV that is 34 feet long. A month in, at the end of the tour in NS somewhere along the road we were having mechanical issues and alas- the RV broke down. We had it towed to our friends in Pictou County- shoutout to Kim & Nick, (owners of the Highlander, we became fast pals the last tour to the Maritimes when we played their tavern.) Finding a mechanic who works on old carburetors is tricky, though they knew a fellow who could help us out. He was a jack of 3 trades. A mechanic, a lobster fisherman, and… a stripper. Perfect. He got to work on the RV, and it was going to take a few days meaning we would miss our gig in NB at Grady’s Pub. We called and were sad to share the bad news that we would have to reschedule. Kendra the owner- said she has so many folks coming to our show, that she was coming to get us! Holy moly! Kendra picked us up and we performed for a wonderful audience and had a night to remember. We even performed on the bar at one point and had a proper party. In retrospect, we should have called the stripper fellow to the party too!
Once Kendra kindly brought us back the next day to our RV docked in NS, the mechanic who became a fast friend of ours finished our RV 5 days later- which was JUST in time to head straight back to Ontario to our next gig! Norah’s the only driver, so Norah drank SO much coffee and drove straight from NS- Ontario, on back roads to ensure we were in the clear from mechanical issues and only stopping to top up the duelly tire that had a slow-ish/fast-ish leak. The backroad trip took 29 hours, and we made it to our gig in Ontario with 2 hours to spare before hitting the stage. The show must go on!
Rr: Having been at this for so long, can you describe for me what it is that keeps you so energized that you are able to have these wild nights of performance, time and time again? I seem to recall something about someone you once knew who made homemade whiskey. Actually, I tried some once and it was no joke.
V: We used to drink like fish, once upon a time, though we are sober these days. Both of us celebrated 3 years sober in July.
Though back in the day, we loved our moonshine, whiskey, gin & wine. Thats why we have so many drinking tunes I suppose. Our old favourite song we do is called, “Let’s Get Drunk Again.” Our new favourite song is called… “Baby You Drink Too Much.”
We have drank tons of moonshine in our day, from folks making it at home in a copper still, though the best we ever had was from Murphy’s Law Moonshine in Elmira, Ontario. We were endorsed by them years ago and they used to give us lots of shine and we loved their White Lightening and Sweet Tea the most.
Since giving up liquor, we definitely drink too much coffee now to keep us awake and alert on long tours, though what really fuels us the most is the rush we get from playing on festival stages to big audiences that dance and get rowdy. That feeling keeps us going strong.
Rr: I know outside of music, you’ve become quite a leather smith, I saw photos of a guitar Strap you made recently and it was gorgeous. Has that process helped you, as a creative, to express outside of the realms of music?
V: Ya, so in the Spring, Summer & Fall we perform at a TON of festivals and are on the road like crazy. In the Winter though, when Festival Season is slow, we turn to Leathercraft to support ourselves. Our little leather business is Woodstove Leather Goods, we started this 6 years ago when we lived in a tiny log cabin in the middle of the woods in Nova Scotia. We had a terribly old and wonky wood stove that tried its very best to keep us warm, though it had its work cut out for it as you could actually see through some of the logs and see the glistening slow from the old tattered couch. Since then, every Winter we handcraft custom leather goods such as; Wallets, Belts, Guitar Straps, Journals, Suspenders, & More.
We focus on the artistry and hand carve intricate filigree and designs into the leather and personalize each piece. Our customs fill up pretty quickly and we make every piece by hand and 1 of a kind. Having this creative outlet in the Winter keeps us creatively fulfilled as artists, though it allows us to express and create in a very diverse way then music does. This helps us to not burn out from being rubber tramps on the road touring, as some years we play over 200 shows and it could be easy enough to burn out if we didnt have a break to recharge and shift our creative gears for a little while. Our leather Season is generally October- April, unless we schedule an overseas tour.
Rr: I know you’ve lived in and out of a pretty wicked RV for the past few years while touring, does that mean you have a mobile workshop?
V: Our RV, dubbed “Norah’s Ark,” as Norah is the sole captain and we have all our pets on board when we tour; Our pup, 2 kitties, birdies and bunny.
We love travelling in our RV, we got it because we wanted our cats to come on tour with us and be comfy. Dolly our one cat, sits on Norah’s head rest while driving, and Bogie the bunny lays in a cat bed in the RV’s dash as we go down the road.
Our RV is amazing to travel in, its so comfy, fits all of our band gear and leather gear perfectly. It’s just a little bit smaller than a big school bus, so we have lots of room and can easily work on leather goods in there. Our leathercraft pieces are entirely made by hand;
Hand cut from the hide, hand carved, hand tooled, hand dyed, hand painted, hand stitched and hand assembled.
That makes creating in the Ark easy peasy, we can go here, there and everywhere.
Rr: Can you two tell me about the RV? How it came to be, how it has impacted your touring, writing, and overall creative endeavours?
V: We got our RV for our cats really. Our cats Dolly & Stetson are our world. We wanted them to be able to come on tour with us in a safe and comfy way.
Norah was taught how to drive by her bus driving Grandma, and truck-driving Grampa, and she thought what the hell, how hard can a 34 foot Rv that weighs 12,000 Lbs be. Not hard at all, turns out it’s so much fun for her to drive. We’ve been all over in it and its only broken down once!
The only other time it gave us a bit of a hard time it turned out to be a wonderfully eventful time.
In 2023, we performed at Mariposa Folk Festival and there was a huge storm and the grounds were a bit flooded and muddy. Us and 50+ other vehicles got stuck in the mud. We were stuck so bad, our frame was in the mud and our RV’s caboose was part way in the middle of the 1 way road in the middle of the festival. We put up some funny signs, such as; “YES We’re stuck in the middle of the road, we are aware.”: As well as, “1.800.Hows.My.Driving” and a few other cute signs. We ended up having a ton of folks offering to help push our RV out, so we told everyone that asked to come to our RV on Sunday night at 6pm.
We didn’t wanna put folks at risk of rocking this big ol’ RV back and forth, and instead threw them a secret concert for all the lovely folks who wanted to help us and we had a hell of a party. It was wild and we loved playing for these wonderful folks who danced up a storm. We were hired back at Mariposa for the 2nd year in a row for the Mariposa Folk Festival in 2024, and we think it was primarily because the secret show we held was such a hoot and our RV in the middle of the festival became a little bit infamous from that experience. Shout out to Greg who brought in gravel and made the road around us bigger, so vehicles could get around us.
We got out after 4 days of being stuck, it took 2 transport tow trucks to get us out, and then we were on our way down the road to the next gig!
Rr: Is there something else either of you love creating/making that is maybe less known?
V: In addition to performing our live show at music festivals, we also host incredibly unique audience-interactive workshops.
We teach our Washboard Workshops for 40 participants and we supply 40 musical washboards and 80 metal thimbles. We teach everyone how to play the washboard and it is a hilarious time and festivals have told us many members of the workshops have shared it’s been their highlight of the festival!
We also host our Spoon Workshops for 30 participants and we supply 30 sets of handcrafted wooden musical spoons and we teach everyone how to become a bonafide spoon player.
To date we have taught over 4500+ folks how to play the washboard or spoons at festivals across Canada!
Aside from music,
We’ve really been into gardening this Season, lots of veggies at our home base in Port Elgin this year.
Brendan’s also gotten into growing tobacco. He’s got a bunch of Virginia Gold plants that he grew from seed and has been harvesting the leaves and curating them. Norah has also become a keen tattoo scratcher. We’re full of tattoos and always wanting more, so on few & far between days off we have tattoo nights. She’s given herself one and given Jitterbug 13 and counting. Got the certificate and all the proper supplies & gun, and its a cute way to have a fun date night at home.
Rr: From breakfast’s whose prices haven’t changed since 1999, to honey holes of open blues jams, and the wealth of knowledge possessed by the older generations who run hardware stores; this area is packed full of hidden gems. Being newer residents of Port Elgin, can you tell me about some of the establishments/ places that standout to you?
V: We adore Port Elgin. Its where we met over a decade ago. Norah’s Mom is from Port, so its a very homey place for us.
We love playing pool at the Legion in Port. We bike down to Gobles Grove to go swimming all the time. Biking along the Lake Shore to South is always a beautiful ride. We also love Denny’s Dam for fishing, though the birds seem to catch more fish than we ever do.
Saugeen Shores Transmission helped us out rebuilding our transmission on our daily driver, our 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale.
These days,
We primarily perform at Music Festivals, and this year we’ve had a memorable time performing in this area at; Paisley Blues Festival, Summerfolk Music Festival, Pumpkin Festival and the Tara Fair!
Way back, years and years ago we got our start busking and would busk the Keady Market early on Tuesdays, and the Port Elgin Flea Market on Wednesdays, rehearsing new material. Our roots are largely in this area and it’s so neat to go from busking at 8 am at the Keady Market, to now playing the big stage at Summerfolk Music Festival on Saturday night at 9:45pm.
Rr: It seems like at this point, you two are particularly good at creating community wherever you go. Everyone who has met you sings your praises, and having met you and performed on the same bills as you, personally, I can attest that you are particularly pleasant to be around. With your pick of the litter for towns to move to, what makes Port Elgin stand out and feel like a good place to be?
V: Shucks, thank ya.
The sentimental aspect of Port Elgin is what really drew us back here. We met over 10 years ago, on a Wednesday morning when Brendan was busking by himself at the Port Elgin Flea Market held right on the Main Beach, and Norah was with her grandma at the flea market. Norah’s grandma saw Brendan first- and elbowed Norah hard in the ribs to get her attention to look at him. Norah threw in a quarter, and when we looked at each other, it was all over. Brendan screwed up the song and became flustered and fell in love right at that moment. It was the most profound moment we have ever experienced. As such, we have always been drawn here and love living here. The slow pace in the Fall & Winter is the perfect time for us to get a break from our busy time on the road and the wild moments on stages entertaining.
Rr: What is your current set up like?
V: We’re in a sweet, little home in Port Elgin and all of our pets love it, its cozy, we’ve got a great garden and porch and we’re putting roots down in this beautiful town.
We’ve got our ol’ RV to tour in, and our Delta 88 Royale as our car and we’re happy as punch.
Rr: How do you think it will affect recording and writing, being where you are now?
V: Recording wise, we record the good ol’ fashion way… on tape!
We have recorded our 3 records on 1/2′ tape on an old Teac tape machine at Box Car Recording Studio in Hamilton. Our 4th record we just recorded was also on tape and comes out this Fall! Our 4th record is all of our Hokum numbers- the tunes that make people blush. Our audiences love the dirty songs, what can we say! Some of the titles are, “Sweet Honey Thighs,” “Sellin’ Jelly,’ and “Sugar Makers Blues.” They are all sassy tunes.
In regards to writing, as long as we’re together we’re inspired.
Rr: What is your secret when it comes to telling stories with such a captivating approach?
V: We cause a bit of ruckus, often. Not intentionally, just seems to occur, whether on stage or not.
Like the time we spent the night at Washboard Hanks home and flooded his claw foot tub after making music together all night.
Perhaps thats the secret- create a genuinely wild, memorable time. Unintentionally. We don’t know how long we’ll live, so might as well live it up, have a hoot, give people a hell of an experience, and make memories that people talk about with such gusto. Well, we’re not sure how much gusto Hank talks about the clawfoot tub incident. You’ll have to ask him.
Rr: You have a signature mix of ragtime, stories, energy, and unique instrumentation, including something I remember being called a Carzoobamaphone.
When I listen to your music, I feel a sincerity that I wish showed up more often in a lot of newer music. It feels, to me, like you keep modernity at a healthy distance, one that allows you to pay homage to an old style of music, without too many of the loud influences or distractions of trends. As I think this is one of the secrets to writing from the heart, I admire this and wonder: how do you maintain this individuality, while avoiding leaning into trends?
V: Haha, we definitely are not into trends. We just do our thing and we enjoy it, and if others like what we’re doing that’s great.
We’re going to do it either way.
Trends/algorithms, Spotify plays, none of that is on our radar. That’s all about clout as far as we’re concerned.
We are focused on making music, playing music festivals, recording our albums and selling our CDS and Vinyl out of our tickle trunk at our concerts. Best way to support your favourite artists is by purchasing their merch and that keeps us going down the road.
For our instruments, we really love creating instruments in a nod of homage to homemade jug band instruments. Brendan made the first ever Carzoobamaphone, out of an old car horn from 1915 from a Model T.
Norah put together her 1936 washboard she found at a flea market, and added a brass clock face she found in New Orleans, tea kettle lids, a bell from a rotary phone, a service bell, a teachers bell and an old ornate ashtray lid.
Rr: What do you expect to come out of living in Port Elgin, both communally, and artistically?
V: One of our original tunes is, “Sail Away,” and we recently performed it on the Tall Ship, Brigs “PlayFair,” when it sailed to Port Elgin.
We had such a wonderful time, we think we are going to be writing more nautical inspired tunes living here full time.
Rr: Is there a local act you’re particularly inspired by at the moment?
V: JD Crosstown.
Rr: Is there a secret to maintaining a life as touring musicians who perform so much throughout the year?
V: We go hard in the Spring, Summer & Fall on the road on tour performing at Music Festivals all over.
Having a slower Winter Season in a quiet, sleepy beach town in the off- Season will be so lovely. If you saw us on stage, you wouldn’t know it, though we’re secretly introverts. Having a quiet Season to focus on writing and hand crafting leather goods will be so nice. Come the Spring though, we’ll be antsy as all heck and craving our festival Season.
Rr: Apart from your talents as musicians, is there anything else you’re looking to contribute to this area coming here? Or anything you’re hoping to see happen?
V: We love creating concerts/parties in unique spaces. We are in the midst of working on some special show ideas on a local Sailboat.
Rr: The last record I listened to was your 2017 18 track recording called “Oh Shuckareeroo I get To Marry You”. Can you tell me about how your songwriting process works? How you two write together?
V: We write a lot together, it just comes when it comes.
It’s funny, we sing almost nightly to our 3 parrots, we just freestyle love songs and sing to them at their bedtime, and our one parrot- Margie sings/talks back to us and she helps shape the nightly bird love songs.
That’s similar to how we write. Norah’s my muse and she’s cheeky as heck so a lot of the time I write love and hokum songs about her, and she has great lines and concepts that fit in and help shape so well. I suppose Norah and Margie our parrot are similar, squawky and cute.
Songs just come when they choose to though. When Bren’s inspired, he writes the melody and structure of the song, and Norah adds a lot of the humour or innuendos.
Rr: What were some of your early influences either musically, or through your own life experience, that brought you to make what you make?
Brendan- My grandma got me into collecting vinyl when I was younger and gave me some old Lead Belly vinyl that I loved and I went hunting for more and found; Woody Gutherie, Mississippi John Hurt, and the Mississippi Sheiks. From there, I loved ragtime and prewar Jazz and couldn’t get enough. I love the syncopation and the rawness of the recordings of that time. I found American Roots music and it was unlike anything that was mainstream and it was so intriguing to me listening to these recordings and learning the songs. It felt like real music, acoustic instruments, their foot, their voice, all their passion. No electricity, no over dubbing. How they played live is exactly how they sounded when their recorded, and thats what we do ourselves, we always record live off the floor, so that it is as authentic as it can get to our live show.
Norah- I spent a lot of time in a trailer park with my grandma, and she often listened to old old Gospels on the radio. Back then, some of the Gospel singers used to be hokum singers, and once in a while a disc jockey would accidentally play a slightly inappropriate hokum tune instead of a gospel. I LOVED those. From that taste of hokum, I found recordings from Lucille Bogan and Memphis Minnie and adored their numbers. Grandma had an old washboard because the trailer park laundry machine was often broken down. Long ago, I was a drummer with a full kit for years, in an all girls rock band, and I must say- traveling with a washboard is a heck of a lot simpler than carrying a full kit.
Rr: What was the first gig you both performed at? Where was it, how did it shape you, how did you feel?
V: Our very first gig together was at an RV Park for a private event and it was lovely. Years later, we ended up staying at that RV park in our RV for a few months and loved it there. When we first became a band we went down to New Orleans for 3 months and busked on Royal Street in the French Quarter and really cut our teeth as street performers.
Rr: A Personal curiosity for Brendan; are you still playing your yellow National resonator with the Hulu dancer painted on the back, or have you worn through that yet?
V: You bet, lots of patina, JB Weld, more rust and more dents, looks like its 100 years old but its still going strong!
Rr: What do you have in the works right now? Tell me about what is exciting you artistically, and what you hope to say with it?
V: We’ve got our focus on booking Festival Tours, here, there & everywhere. We loved performing at these wonderful festivals this year; Hillside Festival, Mariposa Folk Festival, Le Festif, Summerfolk Festival, Enchanta Festival, Southside Shuffle Festival, P.E.I Small Halls Festival, Moonshine Festival, Paisley Blues Festival, Sound Of Music Festival, OktoberFest, Stratford Festival, and Fairs while we’ve been on our “Carousel Tour,” such as; Tara Fall Fair, Ancaster Fall Fair & the Caledonia Fall Fair. Our 2025 Festival Season is in the midst of booking, and it’s shaping up to be a memorable year ahead!
We went from busking to big stages and have been having a hoot.
This year Norah played spoons on Jitterbugs shoulder on stage, with confetti flying everywhere, Jitterbug’s been belting his heart out, Norah’s been making the audience blush, everyone’s dancing and laughing and calling back to our dirty tunes and it’s been our pleasure to be on these wonderful stages making memories that we hope the audience holds dear for a very long time. Catch us at a festival near you!
Get ready to do the Skoodle Um Skoo!
Interview by Marshall Veroni
