The Lunchbox CHSR

Time after time, New Brunswickers demonstrate that we are people with songs in our souls.

My guest today is Gilbert Babin, the President of the Songwriters Association of NB. They were formed with the mission of connection music storytellers, and help them connect with their potential audience. We chat about the inspiration behind the group and how far they’ve come in the first two years since they started.

The Songwriters Association of NB has been hosted a series of showcases across the province. The next showcase is in Fredericton at Dolan’s Pub on Saturday, November 22. It’s an all-day affair, with the show starting at 12:30pm and not ending until 7:30pm. The showcase itself is a free event, so be sure to bring friends for a fantastic day of music.

My guests today are Jeff Patch and James Morrison of the local band Free To Grow. They’ve just released another studio album, Assorted Ruminations, and they join me to talk about how the album came together, some of the technical challenges of recording, and some of the myriad stories that came together in this album.

Includes the tracks Lady of the North, Tracks to Nowhere, and Eat the Freaking Cake.

The Maritimes is full of history and odd occurrences that make great stories.

My guest today is Andrew Maclean, author, historian and storyteller. The latest book in his Backyard History series arrived this year. He joins me to tell about what sorts of tales we can expect in Backyard History: Mysterious Stories from Atlantic Canada’s Past.

Look for Andrew at farmer’s markets and Christmas markets near you, or order his books through his website, backyardhistory.ca .

Stories arise from a combination of inspiration, persistence and wandering.

My guest today is Peter Hicks, well-known as songwriter and performer for Sleepy Driver and My Black Ram, but joining me today as an author (under the pseudonym “Andi Ellis”) of the romantic comedy novel Roughing It. He joins me to talk about his lifelong love of storytelling in many forms, his decision to put out a romantic comedy novel, where his inspiration came from, and upcoming writing projects.

Roughing It is set to be released in digital and paperback form on October 23, 2025. You can pre-order the digital book at Amazon, or look for it in local bookstores.

My guest today was Peter Hicks, well-known front-man for Fredericton bands Sleepy Driver and My Black Ram. He joined me live in studio to talk about the changes in Sleepy Driver over the years, and the next steps he’s looking forward to, including changing perspective from studio to live performance-oriented music. Peter also shared one of the new songs he’s working on, called Gasoline.

My guests today are all involved in the next upcoming Theatre UNB production, Stag and Doe: Maham Raza (Director); Brianna Hawkes (Technical Director); Kabilan Shanmugaraja (Stage Manager). Since I have several behind-the-scenes people with me today, we get a chance to talk in depth about setting up the location of this play, the magic of live, fake cooking, and how each of them stepped into their roles.

Stag and Doe opens at Memorial Hall at UNB on October 23 at 7:30pm, and runs nightly through October 25.

My guest today is Jared Carney, local filmmaker and organizer of the Demonic Brilliant Film Festival, the local festival of horror. We discuss some of the standout movies for each of the three theme nights.

Demonic Brilliance Film Festival ran October 2-4 at the Open Space Theatre.

My guests today are Natasha MacLellan (TNB Artistic Director) and Dean Fleming (Director) who are behind the staging of The Greatest Play in the History of the World by Ian Kershaw, a curious new production coming to the Open Space stage.

We discuss the origins of this play, Dean’s experience staging it with his wife, and some of the unusual things to watch for in this play.

The Greatest Play in the History of the World opens on the Open Space stage on October 16 in Fredericton, and runs nightly until October 18 at 7:30pm with a matinee at 2:00pm on October 19. It heads out on tour across the province before coming back to Fredericton on October 26.

Music can capture a moment in time, or influence that time and every one after.

My guest today is Richard Hornsby, organizer of the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival, an annual celebration of classical composition and performance. He joins me to talk about the inspirations behind this year’s theme: The Roaring 20’s! We also discuss musical influences, the changing landscape at the time, and the many ways that practical concerns change music.

The NBSMF runs from August 3 to 15, with the main series of concerts happening each night from August 13-15 at Memorial Hall. The first concert is coming up this weekend, with a free performance by Steven Peacock and Howard Baer at the Picaroon’s Roundhouse at 6pm. See the full lineup on our calendar, or at the NBSMF website.

Theatre is a collaborative art — sometimes incredibly so.

My guests today are all involved in this year’s Notable Acts Theatre Festival. Gillian Salmon is the playwright and plays the Narrator for 32 Short Plays About Fredericton. Naomi McGowan is the director for 32 Short Plays About Fredericton. Brandon Hicks is the playwright for Sinking (as well as another play in the festival, Don’t Shoot Your Mother). Pluto Shaw and Mimi Martin are Stage Managers and Designers for each of these plays.

They join me to give a glimpse into the challenges and opportunities in staging two very different plays back to back, as well as the creative process of writing these plays.

The Notable Acts Theatre Festival runs July 24 through August 3. Both Sinking and 32 Short Plays About Fredericton are part of the Acting Out series, which runs nightly at 7:30pm at Memorial Hall at UNB, from July 30 through August 1. A post-show reception will follow the performance on August 1 at The Grad House at UNB, and a post-show talkback conversation with the playwrights, actors and directors will take place after the performance on July 31.