Our August 2024 Stage Left Open Mic features Canary & Sam (Carrie MacDonald & Joe Pesz), Friday, August 9, 2024, 7:00 pm / CDT (doors open at 6:30 pm).
Save the date, Friday, August 9! Please join us at Stage Left Cafe, 125 Van Buren St., Woodstock, on the historic Woodstock Square. Returning to Friday evenings brought back our great crowds along with wonderful music.
These monthly events offer a delightful evening of music and friendship. We hope to see you — performing or enjoying the performances.
August 2024 Stage Left Open Mic Features duo, Canary & Sam
Our August featured performance is Canary & Sam (Carrie MacDonald & Joe Pesz). Here’s a little about each performer, a new duo:
Carrie MacDonald
Carrie MacDonald is a classically trained vocalist who never actually wanted to be an opera singer. She was a self-taught guitarist until late 2022. Thousands have enjoyed and appreciated Carrie’s soaring vocals, including an audience at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Carrie lives in Woodstock with her husband, two children, two cats, and one dog.
Joe Pesz
Duke Ellington wrote the music to ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Go That Swing’ in 1931 during a set break at Chicago’s Lincoln Tavern. Joe’s parents heard it as kids, along with Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and others, music that filled their house and Joe’s formative years.
As a composer for film, stage, and radio, Joe began as a drummer in grade school because they’d overbooked the trombone section. Studies at Millikin University on scholarship, Northern Illinois University on a shoestring, and side adventures at the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, University of California Sacramento, and the Second City provided wide ranging opportunities and influences are taking a life time to play out. Joe lives with his family in Fox Lake.
Canary & Sam
Calling themselves Canary & Sam, this new duo began playing together in the Fall of 2023 after working together in a few shows at Stage Left. Carrie also performed in several guest spots with the Stage LeftOvers, a band Joe played with for many years. Joe & Carrie’s collaboration continues to develop as decades of musical influences pour through and into their musical choices.
Don’t miss Canary & Sam at Stage Left Cafe, 125 Van Buren St., Woodstock, Friday, August 9, 2024, 7:00 pm / CDT (doors open at 6:30 pm).
Enjoy a sample of Canary & Sam’s music
Want to perform? Sign up now – here’s how:
Stage Left Open Mics get better and better since we came back to Friday evenings. Spots fill quickly, so sign up early — two songs or ten minutes, whichever comes first.
If you’d like to perform and haven’t already completed your one-time informational form, please visit this page (or use the button below). Once you submit the form, then return to that page any time to request a performance spot in any of our venues.
You can also contact the event organizer directly, for Stage Left Open Mics, Keith Johnson, keith@offsquaremusic.org.
What is the Stage Left Open Mic?
These Open Mics, brought to you by Off Square Music, are monthly events on 2nd Fridays in Woodstock. Performers — musicians, singers, poets, and others — come together to connect with a live audience in a wonderful, family-friendly environment.
Whether you’re just starting out as a performer or are a seasoned veteran, our audience provides a supportive atmosphere. Stage Left, part of the Woodstock Opera House, adds to that ambiance with an exceptional performance space and sound system.
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