Canadian Folk Duo John Showman and Chris Coole will perform tonight. Photo by Jen Squires

Listening to a solo by contemporary folk and old-time artist Chris Coole, one is often fooled into thinking there are more musicians adding to the melodic frills and plunking tones. However, it is just a man and his banjo, as one can see and hear in the video for his heart-rending but bingeable song “This Old Dog.”  

During an interview with Coole on Wednesday in preparation for his upcoming show at the Fredonia Opera House tonight, as Showman & Coole with noted fiddle player and common companion John Showman, he was asked if there really was a dog the song was based on.

Sort of, he says, but it was also about his parents aging, and at heart, “it is about inevitability.” Such is the nature of a Coole song: a humility and everyday poeticism that lends itself to deeper meanings, held together by his classic vocal tones and banjo virtuosity, played in the frailing, or clawhammer, style.

For those accustomed to the fast, high-pitched dinging commonly associated with banjo playing, Coole’s style will be entirely new, almost like a different instrument. Warm, rhythmic, and mellow, Coole’s playing is banjo music for those who don’t think they like the banjo. Coupled with Showman’s excellent old-time fiddle playing and crooning, the Canadian duo has gained fans and impressed reviewers around the globe.

Although Showman and Coole have been playing together for more than 20 years, and their music can be found online as The Lonesome Ace Stringband and The Foggy Hogtown Boys, they began to reach a wider audience during sessions recorded when touring stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked about the sessions, Coole stated they began as a wider and new social media presence he had begun in the months prior to the lockdowns. The band had “a lot of momentum going into COVID,” and Coole found the weekly sessions, often just Showman and Coole playing old standards in the open air, important to keep the momentum going.

The sessions, posted on sites that included Facebook and YouTube, did help keep the momentum going while bringing solace and connection to both old and new fans alike. Now, back to touring, Coole states that he’s had fans at shows as far-flung as Idaho tell him that they found the band through the COVID sessions.

This will be their first time playing at the Fredonia Opera House, and Coole says he is looking forward to playing in the quaint village. He notes that if locals are not familiar with the duo, he hopes they will take a chance because he “guarantees they’ll be entertained.”

One can find Showman and Coole’s various albums, including Coole’s newest solo album, “The Old Man and the C Chord,” as well as touring schedules and Zoom fiddle lessons by Showman and banjo and guitar lessons by Coole on their websites.

Showman & Coole will be playing at the Fredonia Opera House at 7:30 p.m. tonight. Tickets remain on sale for the performance.