The Coach House Concert series welcomed artists Neil Haverty, Tim Turvey and Matt Welbanks to the Glenhyrst Art Gallery on Saturday, January 24, 2026.
Despite the cold weather, around 30 people showed up to enjoy the evening’s music.
Describing their music as old-world folk, Turvey and Welbanks took the stage first to play six songs for the audience.
While Turvey is a multi-instrumentalist who is often seen playing the upright bass, the musician opted to use his guitar throughout the evening. Accompanied by Welbanks (also known as the Freerange Fiddler) on the violin, the two had guests tapping their toes along to their music, earning a round of applause in between each song.
Following a brief intermission, Haverty took the stage next.
The Hamilton-based musician is best known as a member of alt-folk ensemble Bruce Peninsula, however he spent the night sharing nearly a dozen of his new songs, written and composed by himself, with the audience.
Before kicking off his set, Haverty shared how special it was to be able to share his music in such an intimate space, noting how infrequent it is to find such venues.
“It feels really rare to get to occupy spaces like this, and when we get to share music like this together, it’s pretty incredible,” he said.
Following his performance, which he ended with two cover songs, Bjork’s Hyper-ballad, and Land of Talk’s Some are Lakes, audience member Amanda Mersereau, said she enjoyed the event.
“This is the first time I’ve been to one of these Coach House Concerts, so it was nice to see that it’s open to all ages, and I just thought it was just so lovely and intimate,” she said. “Everyone was so attentive, which Neil did comment on, and I think that was really notable for us in the audience as well–that we were all just paying attention. I also really appreciate that it’s open to all ages too.”
When asked how she felt about both performances, Mersereau, who owns zBTFD Records with Chris George, said it was a “wow evening.”
“There were just a lot of pleasant surprises, you couldn’t help but be transfixed,” she explained.
Organizer Brian Gall, said that since he first started the bi-monthly series back in November 2023, the goal has always been to give musicians a space to share their music.
“The whole idea from the beginning was to make this series as flexible as possible,” he said. “It’s not a jazz series, it’s not a folk series, it’s not a blue grass series–it’s all of that. I try to arrange something different every time, and my taste is reflected in the roster.”
Speaking to the venue itself, Gall said he knew it was the perfect spot after hosting an artist named Bry Webb.
“When we got Bry in here and realized how good it sounded, it kind of took off from there,” he said. “…It’s nice to offer people somewhere to go and something to do, and one thing we’re short on in town is venues. The coolest thing about being here is we don’t serve alcohol, and so when people come to see the show, they’re really focused on the music. So I think the artists really appreciate having a place to play where people are coming to listen to the show, and that’s the whole point.”
“When I make my pitch to these artists, there’s no guarantee of how many people will turn out, right?” continued Gall. “I always tell people ‘about three quarters of our shows sell out, but it might not.’ And so artists that are interested in showing people their art, will do it because they’re willing to just go for it to share that.”
The next Coach House Concert, which will feature Irish Millie, a seven-time Canadian folk music award nominee, will take place on Saturday, March 28, 2026.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
