Jeff Breithaupt's Musical Celebration of CANADA DAY At New York's Joe's Pub at the Public Theater

Jeff Breithaupt's legendary musical celebration of Canada Day ("New York Rocks the Canadian Songbook") at New York's Joe's Pub at The Public Theater returns on July 1 for a 20th-anniversary celebration of a tradition that has seen a glittering array of NYC-based musical talent rocking the Canadian songbook. This year's show is dedicated to the late, great Canadian troubadour Gordon Lightfoot and will once again take place at The Public Theater's music venue, Joe's Pub, on Canada Day (July 1, 2023) with two performances at 7pm and 9:30pm.

"Since its inception, the Canada Day show at Joe's Pub has been a true labor of love," says Jeff Breithaupt, the New York-based, ex-pat Canadian who conceived of the show in 2003 and has produced and hosted it in the years since. "Sometimes it feels like I've spent much of my adult life parsing for my American friends which of their favorite musical artists are Canadian. This show became a musical way of setting the record straight on exactly what comprises Canada's Greatest Hits."

Among the artists whose music is represented in this year's set list: Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Harmonium, Gino Vanelli, Gordon Lightfoot (to whom the show is dedicated), Alanis Morissette, Tom Cochrane, Alessia Cara, Rush, Neil Young, The Tragically Hip, among others.

Breithaupt, the lyricist half of the award-winning Breithaupt Brothers songwriting team (the brothers are a concert staple at Joe's Pub), is a Vice President at Manhattan School of Music, one of the world's leading music conservatories, and is a long-time, stateside advocate of Canadian culture. As producer and emcee of the Canada Day show, Breithaupt - who has lived in Manhattan with his wife, Canadian actress-playwright Shelley McPherson, since 1994 - recruits each year's roster of talent: "Having produced the show now for several years, there is a kind-of rotating rep company of superb musicians and singers established. It's an international line-up that features more than a few Canucks."

The evening's Musical Direction is courtesy of Jeff's songwriting partner (and brother) Don Breithaupt, who writes most of the arrangements and leads the band from behind the keyboards. In addition to Don, this year's Workin' for the Weekend Hoose Band will include a who's-who of New York's jazz and pop scenes: Allison Miller (drums), Ben Zwerin (bass), Pete McCann (guitar), Michael Leonhart (trumpet), Dan Levine (trombone), and David Mann (saxophone).

Among the evening's all-star roster of singers: Everett Bradley, Victoria Lecta Cave, Amy Cervini, La Tonya Hall, Carolyn Leonhart, Jamie Leonhart, Shelley McPherson, Alyson Palmer, Myriam Phiro, Libya Pugh, Tyley Ross, Graham Rowat, and Matthew Saldivar. Kicking off the evening will be a special appearance by New York-based Canadian stand-up comic Ophira Eisenberg.

Malcolm Gladwell, a regular attendee of New York Rocks the Canadian Songbook over the years, says this of the show: "What Americans will never know - unless they come to Joe's Pub on Canada Day - is that so much of the best music they listen to and assume is American is actually Canadian."

From The Public Theater website:

On July 1, Jeff Breithaupt's New York Rocks the Great Canadian Songbook Canada Day Celebration at Joe's Pub celebrates its 20th anniversary! Once again produced and emcee'd by Jeff and featuring an all-star line-up of singers backed by Don Breithaupt and the Workin' for the Weekend Hoose Band, this two-decade tradition will leave no Canadian hit song safe from (northern) exposure. Join a sparkling line-up of singers as they lay down unforgettable versions of all your favo(u)rite anthems from the land of the Justins, long Weeknds, Barenaked Ladies, and Men Without Hats. From Cohen to Cockburn, Joni to Gino, Lightfoot to Lighthouse, Nelly to Neil, Gosling to Reynolds (okay not them), and beyond, you never know whose songs you'll hear.

Finding yourself anywhere else in New York City on this Canadian night-of-nights would be tragically un-hip, so knit yourself a toque, save room for the poutine, put on your skate guards (it's indoors, eh?), and come wish our neighbor(u)rs to the north a Happy 156th birthday with a bracing brew of Canada's Greatest Hits. Think you know the Great Canadian Songbook? You Ain't [Heard] Nothin' Yet.

"This year's show promises to be the best yet," says Breithaupt. "The vocal line-up comprises veterans of the NYC pop-rock, theater, cabaret, and jazz communities, and the band can peel paint. Finally, this year we have dedicated the show to the late, great Canadian troubadour Gordon Lightfoot. His music touched so many people the world over during his long career and has of course been a perennial staple in our Canada Day celebration; this year, we're carving out some extra space in the middle of the set for a very special tribute to Orillia, Ontario's favorite son."

Tickets for Jeff Breithaupt's New York Rocks the Canadian Songbook at New York's Joe's Pub at The Public Theater are $30 and are on sale now on the Public website.

There will be two performances of New York Rocks the Canadian Songbook on Canada Day/Saturday, July 1 at 7 pm and 9:30pm.

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