Have you noticed the rather awesome calibre of musical talent that we have here on the East Shore? How about the stellar skills of those travelling minstrels who grace our pubs and restaurants with their lyrical stylings?
Recently, a handful of us attended a night of music at Newkey’s Pub where Picture The Ocean http://picturetheocean.com/ (a band of wonderful talent who have been getting pretty frequent airtime on CBC Radio One) played us into the night. They were phenomenal, and the only problem with the evening was how few people were present to enjoy their beautiful sound. Also appearing in early June at Newkey’s Pub is The Rob Funk Band, FUNKBOAT – a funk/Reggae project with a blend of the Maritimes.
That night of Picture the Ocean, a friend across the table said to me that he has been to many bars and musical events in his years of living in Europe, but has never seen such startling musical talent as he does on a regular basis here in the Kootenays. I will give a brief rundown of the shows I’ve taken in in the past few weeks, but know that I’m missing some doozies and that the opportunities for musical entertaiment are persistently and gorgeously on-going.
On any given Wednesday, you can visit Junction Creek Hub to listen to our pool of local talent get together to jam and generate. This group nearly always features local talents Howlin’ Dan http://howlindan.com/, Robbie Roots, Andy, Brent, Ted http://tedwallaceart.com/ and many more. The Hub also recently shared a sweet piece of floor space with the super talented Scott Cook http://www.scottcook.net/press.php (Edmonton prairie balladeer) and a great band called Double Fuzz http://doublefuzz.bandcamp.com/ a few weeks before that. They’ve had one performer after the other at The Hub, and Newkey’s, Bob’s Bar, Boccalino, Kokanee Springs, Black Salt and many other local establishments boast frequent and highly talented musical guests on a regular basis. How about the Many Bays Band who do regular gigs around town? What a spectacle and what talent! Or how about the locals nights at Boccalino? A meal AND entertainment?
Coming up this weekend (June 2) is the Rembetika Hipsters http://rembetika.com/ at the Greek Gala Dinner at the Crawford Bay Hall. Do you have your ticket yet? Did you go and was it fabulous? (Questions dependent upon when you are reading this post…) I’ll bet it will be fantastic; I’m going.
How about the ever-stupendous Starbelly Jam http://starbellyjam.org/ … Ahhh…. Starbelly – a sweet dose of “Seriously? We live here? And we get this? And how flipping blessed and lucky are we?” This year’s lineup looks great, as always. (I’m especially looking forward to seeing Shari and Rick and crew in Pied Pumpkin again…
We are lucky folks. We live on a musical freeway and we’re catching the big acts and the up and comers on their way from one major centre to another. Watch for those posters and advertisements and come out. The small band you see today at a local bar, restaurant or festival might be the huge name of tomorrow… and even if they aren’t, it’ll be worth your time. Rock on.
4 Responses
You are so right Ingrid. The quality of performance is great and sometimes the turnout is embarrassing. I’m kicking myself for missing picturetheocean, they changed their name from Jesse Dee & Jacquie B and i missed it.
great write up, need to get the word out there, about all the great performance going on at the east shore, really wanted to see picturetheocean, but went for a wallpaper change that evening to sirdar performance that night.
Not to mention The Arcane Garden. I know that we can’t seem to get a slot @ Starbelly the last couple of years, but we do write, record and perform our own original material, play gigs in Vancouver, sometimes locally, etc., work with other professional recording musicians, put out cd’s, and both Michelle and I have dozens of years of experience in the music industry… Sorry to blow our own horn, but after volunteering to play at various local events and fundraisers, I’m trying not to feel overlooked.
;0)
Absolutely The Arcane Garden! My only concern with writing this article was overlooking the dozens of other musicians and artists out there who grace us regularly with their beautiful sound. Thanks for reminding us all and endless props and love to you both! Feel free to toot your own, or another’s horn… all we can do is celebrate!