Summer Sundays: Musical evenings at the tennis club

Who would have thought that our local tennis club could become such a great new venue for live music? Well, it has. “Summer Sundays” launched its first season in late May with an outstanding line-up of Canadian talent.

The shows began this year at the end of May and continued into June, with musicians – including award-winners such as Celtic fiddler and singer, Anna Ludlow, and JUNO nominee JW Jones – playing to sell-out crowds. The series is continuing into July and beyond, so if you missed those headliners or Suzie and the Sunbeamz, you get another chance. Susan Yungblut and her band are returning in August, along with a line-up of wonderful musicians through to the end of summer.

A long-time resident of Old Ottawa South, Paul Sutcliffe, is the musical director of Summer Sundays. As designer, initiator and organizer, he is the driving force behind the program. “We are doing something different with this series,” he says, “in bringing together both established artists and lesser-known talent in a non-traditional space that is proving to be a really ‘cool’ venue.” Summer Sundays is creating artistic opportunities as it contributes to the summertime “vibe” in Ottawa.

The Cameron restaurant, where the series takes place in a relaxed milieu, is fully open to the public. It offers pub fare – including half-price nachos with a beverage! – on Sundays while the singers deliver delight in a wide range of musical genres – country, folk, Celtic and blues, along with some familiar, feel-good music from the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Consider also that all but two of these shows in July and August are offered on a pay-what-you-can basis, with all monies collected going straight to the musicians. Tickets for “Featured Artists” – Lynn Miles (six-time winner of a Canadian Folk Music Award) and Amanda Rheaume (many-time CFMA and JUNO awards nominee) – are $25 each. For lesser-known but still outstanding artists, please pay what you can at the door. How’s that for affordable entertainment? Seats are limited and it’s first come-first served, so be sure to book your tickets ahead of time and get there in good time for the 7 pm show.

So, what brings a tennis club into the music business, other than a desire to make its community happy? The Ottawa Tennis Club (OTC) has a wonderful, century-old Clubhouse, and it welcomed the series as a way to use the building in a new and imaginative way. The program is also helping the club to keep an important promise. Several years ago, OTC approached the Department of Canadian Heritage, asking for a major grant to help fund restoration of the heritage Clubhouse. Part of the case the club made to the government back then was the potential of the building as a venue for cultural events.

Summer Sundays is helping the club to fulfil that undertaking. OTC is also looking to develop something similar in other areas of the arts, the idea being to use the club for art exhibitions, book launches or theatrical productions. Other ideas are percolating.

The life of an artist is a hard one, especially for newcomers to the music scene, and yet as a society we need to find ways to nurture new talent. Some of the artists performing at the club this summer – the likes of Lynn Miles, Amanda Rheaume and Annie Sumi – are well known and have been recognized with awards or nominations. It’s a thrill to know that they will be playing in our own neighbourhood. Others in the line-up are just starting out or they practice their art in tandem with other pursuits. We take pride in helping to foster those artistic journeys.

The program in July has a lot of variety, not to mention quality.

• July 6 – Deep Fried and Countryfied will be bringing us the real Nashville sound, featuring the music of George Jones, Conway Twitty, Dwight Yokum and more.
• July 13 – For a change of pace, the Acacia Lyra Celtic Harp Quartet offers up a variety of original and traditional songs with glorious vocal harmonies accompanied by harp, guitar, flute and percussion.
• July 20 – The ethereal-folk music of Annie Sumi has been getting the attention it deserves. She has been nominated by the CFMA as Emerging Artist, Female Vocalist and Songwriter of the Year.
• July 27 – It’s time to time travel. Land Lady is coming round in late July to take us back to the Magical Mystery Tour and the psychedelia-and Lennon-inspired Beatles music, as well as other famous tunes from the Woodstock era.

Summer doesn’t end in July, of course, and the program continues into August with Lynn Miles (August 3), the Nova Scotian balladeer, Bill Jardine (August 10), Suzie and the Sunbeamz (August 17), and Amanda Rheaume (August 24). For more details on the series, visit the OTC website and look under “Calendar and Events / OTC Music Series 2025” (ottawatennisclub.ca).

The OTC is a busy place in summer, and Summer Sundays is just one of many programs that keep the joint hopping with everything from summer camps for the kids to swimming memberships or lessons. OTC is proud to be part of the neighbourhood here in Old Ottawa South, and the door is open.

OTC Summer Sundays music series

Janet Uren is a professional writer who lives in Ottawa.

Featured in the July-August 2025 OSCAR.