Okotoks `Western Wheel`

Okotoks Western Wheel • Wednesday January 07, 2015 • 29
Double bill features popular duos
Music: Wildflower and PEAR performing at RPAC on Jan. 10
By Tammy Rollie
Staff Reporter
An Okotoks concert
series is starting off the
new year with some old
favourites this weekend.
A Room Full of Sound
Concert Series is bringing country roots duos
Wildflower and PEAR
back to the stage on Jan. 10
at 7 p.m., with the expectation that the performances
will be better than ever.
“Wildflower has really made a substantial
improvement from the
first time to the second
time they came (on stage),”
said Rick Harding, the
series’ concert promoter.
“Their song-writing skills
and their on-stage performance skills – harmony
and things like that – have
been so much better.”
Harding said this seems
to be the case for many
southern Alberta musicians who perform for
A Room Full of Sound
Concert Series.
“We’ve had three of the
four acts this season play
with us previously,” he said.
“It’s really neat to see the
progression, see how much
they’ve improved over the
last three years.”
Wildflower
singer/
songwriters Dean Selby,
of Okotoks, and Jennie
Clarke, of Calgary, cover
a range of musical genres
from folk and roots to
country and rock.
The duo released their
first full-length 12-track
album Long Road last summer and will perform some
of the songs at this weekend’s concert.
“There will be a good
mix of what’s on the album
and a couple of new tracks
that we’re really enjoying,”
said Selby. “Whenever
you write an album, the
songs that hit the album
were really written over
the course of the last two
years. As musicians you
never stop writing, never
stop creating. We’ve added
a few more in the last little
while.”
Selby said this weekend’s concert marks their
third with A Room Full of
Sound. The added bonus
is the duo is opening for
PEAR.
“We’re absolutely thrilled
to be playing with PEAR,”
he said. “They’re a duo that
we’ve known for a couple
of years. Denis (Dufresne)
actually played on our
album on one of the tracks
Hey Mama and also played
on a track we released on
our EP. We’ve known Denis
and Lynae (Dufresne) for
quite some time and are
big, big fans of theirs.
“When we were given
the opportunity to play we
absolutely jumped at it. We
are as excited to play as we
are to watch them because
they are absolutely fantas-
tic.”
Wildflower is not new
to the music scene in
Okotoks. In fact, they are
regulars at Rylie’s Cattle
Barn Cookhouse and
Saloon.
“We play a lot in the
foothills,” he said. “Rylie’s is
a bit of a home base for us
for the last couple of years,
which is great and we continue to play there. We’re
definitely keeping busy and
looking forward to more
and more shows in the new
year and really starting to
push the new album quite
a bit.”
Selby said they’re also
excited to play at the
Rotary Performing Arts
Centre (RPAC). A Room
Full of Sound concerts
were previously held at the
Okotoks United Church
before partnering with the
Okotoks Arts Council last
summer.
“I’ve seen a couple artists play there and we are
incredibly excited to play
in that venue,” Selby said.
“The acoustics in that place
are fantastic. We just hope
that folks come out and
enjoy the music and enjoy
the venue and continue to
support us like they have
in the past.”
Harding said the other
reason behind bringing
some old favourites to
the stage is so the concert
series can now pay the performers what they deserve.
Photo Submitted
Wildflowers’ Dean Selby and Jennie Clarke will perform for A Room Full of Sound at
the Rotary Performing Arts Centre on Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.
As an independent organization, ticket proceeds
were the only source of
funding. Since partnering with the Okotoks Arts
Council last year, more
funding and grant money
is available to pay the artists, he said.
“Now we can offer them
what they deserve to play,”
he said. “I wanted to have
some people back that we
had before and we didn’t
give much money to.”
See Concert
on page 30
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30 • Wednesday January 07, 2015 • Okotoks Western Wheel
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Photo Submitted
PEAR’s Denis and Lynae Dufresne, of Calgary, will perform their country-roots songs
at the RPAC in Okotoks on Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.
Concert, from
page 29
Harding said he’s always
been impressed with
Wildflower and PEAR, and
is glad to see both return to
kick off the new year.
He added the last time
PEAR performed in
Okotoks, both Dufresnes
were nominated for the
Canadian Country Music
Awards Fiddler of the Year,
which in the end was presented to Denis.
“They are just outstanding musicians and they
put on a great show,” said
Harding. “To me, having
musicians like that as a
part of our concert series
ups the level of our concert
series. It makes it a better
series.”
Having both duos perform at the RPAC will add
a new element to the performance, said Harding.
“That little venue is an
amazing little room with
great acoustics,” he said.
“The fact that it’s licensed,
you can have a glass of
wine, and they have padded seats, it’s a pretty good
experience for most people
who come. The crowds
have been really responsive to the musicians – the
cheering and the applauding and the standing ‘o’s.
It’s been really great.”
Tickets to see Wildflower
and PEAR perform cost
A Room
Full of Sound
Wildflower and PEAR
Where: Rotary
Performing Arts Centre
When: Jan. 10, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $30 in
advance, $35 at the
door. www.okotoksculture.ca or 403-938-3204
$30 in advance and $35 at
the door. They can be purchased by calling 403-9383204 or at www.okotoksculture.ca
[email protected]
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