The Road Poets

An afternoon of Stories and Songs with a couple of aging road poets….

Road poets Rob Watkins and John Gardiner will present an afternoon of “Stories & Songs” at the Picton Branch of the Prince Edward County Library at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 12. Singer/songwriter Watkins and short story writer Gardiner are both veterans of the road and they will make you laugh, cry and feel at this very special performance.

Rob Watkins, who hails from Napanee, is a gifted songwriter who has been performing for over 40 years and is best-known for being part of the band Watkins Harp, whose music has been listened to across Canada and Europe. He brings a rare intimacy to his music and that will be clearly on display in Picton.

Canadian short story writer John Gardiner’s work has often been compared to iconic author Alice Munro because of its small-town flavour and it has appeared alongside stories by D.H. Lawrence, Margaret Atwood and Amy Tan.

His second book, My Lefthanded, Backwards, Upsidedown Life & Assorted Short Stories, was released in the fall of 2021, and a good portion of the book is a memoir of the author’s growing up and coming of age years during the 1950’s, ‘60’s and early 1970’s – a time of significant social change. The memoir follows Gardiner from the day he’s born on a stormy December day in 1952, through to the time he marries in the mid 1970’s and includes a mostly humorous look at life events like high school Initiation Day, marching in army cadets, playing in early rock ‘n’ roll bands, learning to drink, smoke and generally misbehave. It is the story of early love and loss, the emotional problems that come with growing up and coming of age, but mostly it’s a light-hearted look at a whole other time when life was a lot different.

The two performers met on Facebook and quickly developed a sincere affinity for each other’s work. They decided early on in their friendship that they would love the opportunity to work together and the show in Picton is the first chance to do that.

This will be a very unique afternoon of Stories and Songs that will make you feel the full range of emotions. Both artists present sincere and heartfelt work and look for intimacy and warmth when they perform.

There is no admission but the hat will be passed and there will be books and music for sale.