Up Home Tonight

Up Home Tonight Photo

'Up Home Tonight' was a television show conceived and written by Gordon Stobbe (Host and Musical Director) and Barry Bramhill (Producer) for the ATV network in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It ran for eight seasons from 1982 until 1989 when, in spite of very high ratings, it was cancelled by the network to make way for a different type of show.

'Up Home Tonight" was a concept that put the music in it's natural environment. The centre of maritime social life for decades has always been the musical house party. So Stobbe and Bramhill put the music of the Maritime provinces in the kitchen, creating an informal and welcoming venue which quickly became one of the most popular shows on maritime television. The show was also carried by many TV stations across Canada. The legacy of 'Up Home Tonight' lives on in an endless variety of kitchen parties on radio, TV and live performances around the Maritimes.

Some show clips have been posted by people on YouTube.
There are no archives of the show.

 

  Up Home Tonight celebrated the virtues of acoustic roots music a decade before the 'O Brother! Where You Bound' soundtrack brought it to the masses. And Gordon Stobbe was in the centre of things as a kind of ringmaster/ master of ceremonies who kept the music flowing.

- Ron Foley Macdonald,Halifax Daily News

 Talent was drawn from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI, as well as some well-known artists from Ontario and the United States. A few of the performers include:

  •  Ralph Stanley
  •  Josh Graves
  •  Bluegrass Cardinals
  •  Buddy Mac Master
  •  Mac Wiseman
  •  Graham Townsend
  •  Helen Bergeron and
    Louise Arsenault
  •  Dave McIsaac
  •  Eddy Poirier
  •  Clary Croft
  •  Howie MacDonald
  •  Jerry Holland
  •  Earl Mitton
  •  Diamond Trio
  • Ned Landry
  •  Roger Lanteigne
  • Laura Smith
  •  Susan Butler
  •  Frank Taylor

 

  Co-creators, Gordon Stobbe (Musical Director
and Host) and Barry Bramhill (Producer)
on the set of Up Home Tonight
 

 gordon stobbe and barry bramhill

 

ladies choice bluegrass band  

 The original house band for Up Home Tonight was
'The Ladies Choice Bluegrass Band' made up of
Walter Jakeman, Bill Doucette, Skip Holmes,
Gordon Stobbe, and Trish York.
     

  Gordon Stobbe and The Boys in the Band

(Skip Homes, Alex Reitsma, Bruce Chapman and Gordon)
 

 Boys in the Band

 

 

atv up home tonight

On the Set with the Boys in the Band and Sugartime.

 

 

 Regular featured singers, 'Sugartime',
Judy McLaughlin, Karen Doubleday,
and Debbie Baker,.

sugartime
   

 ned landry
 Ned Landry from New Brunswick
 

 

 Diamond Trio
 The Diamond Trio from New Brunswick
   

 The Jarvis Benoit Quartette - Alex Reitsma,
Andrew Russell, Louie Benoit and Jarvis Benoit
 jarvis benoit quartet
   
gordon stobbe and louie benoit
  Gordon with Louie Benoit
   
 gordon stobbe and jarvis benoit
 Gordon with Jarvis Benoit

 

 

 
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