EPK
Sticks and Stone is a percussion trio from Edmonton, Canada centered on a marimba-band concept. They perform upbeat, feel-good music with groove including pop, rock, jazz, classical, video-game, Disney and world music. They share joyful music-making with a touch of humour, while playing on the "grand-piano of xylophones".
Sticks and Stone, founded by Stephen Stone, grew out of series of percussion ensemble experiments through time at the University of Alberta, Grant MacEwan, freelance performances and busking. The concept morphed into a regular band in April 2017 when Stephen was asked to play for the Ford World Curling Championship, the Edmonton Motor Show and the Festival City Winds Ragtime and Riffs concert. At that time, the group consolidated its other regular members, Jayden Beaudoin and Dale Osbaldeston. Jayden and Stephen had known each other through summer work with the Band of the Ceremonial Guard in Ottawa as early as 2009. Dale and Stephen had performed together regularly while studying at Grant MacEwan University from 2014 to 2016.
Since that time, Sticks and Stone has performed at markets, schools, festivals, corporate events, community events and even birthday parties. Notable performances include performing for the 2019 CBC Turkey-Drive wrap-party as the house-band, the 2019 Epcor Christmas Gala, the opening reception of the 2019 Alberta Showcase, the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Italian Centre Shop in Edmonton and Calgary, the (Feb 2020) Go West conference for event organizers, City of Edmonton "Arts on the Square" and "Festival in a Box" events, the Kaleido Festival and the Northern Alberta International Children's Festival.
When Covid became a concern in Canada in March 2020, Sticks and Stone kicked off livestreaming at the renowned Starlite Room in Edmonton, being the first group to host a stream there since the initial shutdown. At this time of writing, this is the furthest-reaching livestream from that venue on social media. The group then went on to pull off 30 Physically Distanced Community Concerts in communities across the Edmonton area through the summer.
Sticks and Stone released its debut album, "Marimba Around the World" on September 12th, 2020, which blends folk music of 15 nations with pop, rock and jazz. Beyond exciting performances in the 2021 reopening of things, the group is working towards its second album "High Information Music for Children" which will be released at the MacLab Theatre in Leduc on 20 February, 2022.
CBC Radio Active Interview, with Adrienne Pan 11 Sept 2020
02 TsumaileRomani Traditional
00:00 / 02:58
09 Ey Yare JaniPersian Traditional
00:00 / 03:48
"Your performances at the city market this morning were awesome! As an international music examiner, I loved hearing you. My house guest is a fantastic percussionist from Indonesia and he was also very impressed. You play with such skill, enthusiasm and musical integrity. Wow!"
Dr John Hooper