Hillside Inside returns to Guelph, Ontario this January 31st – February 2nd, along with some incredible artists, including festival headliners Logan Staats, Katie Tupper, The Vaudevillian, and Golden Feather. We wanted to get the inside scoop on how excited returning artists are about performing in Guelph for Hillside Inside, so we sat down with The Vaudevillian: award winning 1930’s duo, consisting of the old fashioned gentleman, Jitterbug James & sweet & sassy Norah Spades. These two are a hoot on and off the stage, so we know you’ll enjoy reading what they have to say and hearing their music play. Be sure to check out all the other great artists and workshops we’re hosting in downtown Guelph, and don’t forget to get your tickets here.
1. You’ve been to Guelph before and even arrived at the Delta Guelph Hotels Conference Centre in your iconic Oldsmobile Delta. What do you enjoy most about performing and spending time in this city?
“It was so funny whenever we’d go to our 1984 Delta 88 Royale to load up at the Delta Hotel, folks would stop us and ask us about our old Oldsmobile, many had thought the Guelph Delta must own it and have it parked out front as a nod to the hotel. That was a serendipitous pairing.
We adore Guelph. It’s beautiful, we’ve foraged fiddleheads in Guelph before, we’ve performed in Guelph to audiences of all ages and always love our time there. 10 years ago when we were getting started, we used to perform at the rowdy Jimmy Jazz, and would have a wild night playing our raunchiest tunes. It’s been a long time since we were at the Jazz, but we will never forget those shows.”
Editor’s Tip: If you’re planning on staying at the Delta, check out our special offering to get Hillside Inside 2025 tickets for free.
2. Are there any hidden gems or favorite spots in Guelph that you’ve discovered during your visits that you’d recommend to other travelers or musicians passing through/ favourite thing to do here?
“Guelph is a beautiful town! Our favourite festival is Hillside, our favourite coffee shop is The Cornerstone, and our favourite dive bar, Jimmy Jazz. We used to love the antique shop, “Dis-a-Ray’s,” and bought a typewriter when we were last there.”
Photo of Jimmy Jazz provided by @ijustwenttosleep
3. Hillside Inside and Hillside Festival at large has such a unique energy. What draws you back to this festival, and how does it compare to other events across Canada?
“Heck ya, we truly enjoyed our time at Hillside Festival. Our 1st performance at Hillside Festival was this past year in the Summer for their 2024 Festival and we had an unbelievably memorable time, we’re thrilled to be back for their Winter Edition, Hillside Inside. In the summer, we hosted our incredibly unique audience-interactive washboard workshop and musical spoon workshop and we had our feature performance in the afternoon at the Lake Stage. Both of our musical workshops were sold out and our performance had a full house which we created a bit of a kitchen party with; laughter, blushing, dancing and a general ruckus with a wonderful, engaging audience.
Hillside Festival stands out as their festival audience is made up of music lovers who want to participate in a memorable experience, which is our main goal with each of our shows. We want people to walk away from our show with a memory to hold onto that makes them laugh.”
4. How does performing in an intimate, community-focused festival like Hillside Inside differ from larger-scale venues or outdoor festivals?
“We perform at music festivals and small & medium theatres all over. Music festivals are incredible because the festival patrons have a wild energy the whole weekend where they are soaking up music and experiences non stop. It’s an eclectic, vibrant experience and it goes until the wee hours of the morning.
Theatres, and venues holding events such as Hillside Inside are so special as the audience is there entirely to see you and maybe a support act and have their full focus and artistic intrigue for the duration of your show.
It’s up to us to give the audience our very all to entertain them fully during our show. Theatres are more intimate with around 300 people where we can engage with the audience and lovingly “heckle” them with humor and blush inducing innuendos that land spot on. Whereas at a festival with 7000 people, engaging specific audience members in a humorous way is tricker. We love crowd work, so theatres are really special.
We also love the roar of the festival audience and enjoy both so much.”
5. You guys have such incredible chemistry on and off the stage. How/ when was this cultivated, and how have you guys grown together through music?
“Oh shucks. Thank you. Well, most days we like one another, and every day we deeply love each other. In 2025 we are on our 10-year band anniversary festival tour, called “10 Year Big Top Tour,” performing at Festivals across Canada, The USA & Europe. Our chemistry comes down to balance we think. On stage, Norah is the sassiest thing around to Jitterbug, often making the crowd laugh at her little quips, though off stage, Norah is a loving sweetie to Jitterbug. On the flip side of the coin, on stage Jitterbug is so sweet and such a gentleman, off stage he’s a sassy thing that chases Norah around the house tickling her and making fun of her bunions. (Have you heard the song, “Your Feet’s is too big?) Jitterbug sings that to Norah daily… We laugh alot. We make fun of each other. We build each other up. We challenge one another. We have a home full of rescue pets that we adore and take care of together. We balance each other out, in all ways of our life together. Each of us have diverse strengths which work incredible as a team. We have been together 10 years in May of 2025 performing full time on the road; Spring, Summer and Fall all over at Festivals and theatres. In the Winter, we have a leather business named, Woodstove Leather Goods where we meticulously handcraft custom, hand carved leather goods such as; Guitar straps, wallets, dog collars and more. We each have our strengths and they compliment each other beautifully.”
It’s easy to see, The Vaudevillian has no trouble getting their groove on wherever they go – and we’re so pleased to gather in Guelph with them and the other wonderful artists once more for Hillside Inside 2025. Join us for all the fun this January 31st to February 2nd! See you there!
