Country Legends take the stage
Published Wednesday October 21st, 2009
Riverview Arts Centre show pays tribute to the greats of country music
Country music has a long and colourful history, and the New Brunswick Country Showcase wants fans to immerse themselves in that history and get to know the stars of the past.
On Saturday, you can see them live on stage with the 'Legends of Country Music' show at the Riverview Arts Centre. The idea is to take you back to a time, "when a buck was still silver and a joint was a bad place to be."
"The traditional country music, the classics, are neverending," says Tom Hoyt, the producer of the N.B. Country Showcase. "People like to go back to nostalgia and listen to old type of music, whether it is country, rock and roll or what have you."
Between 1948 and 1969, country music was overwhelmed with "new talent," and the unique sound that each artist would bring. Singers like Hank Williams Sr., Lefty Frizzell, Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells, Eddy Arnold, Marty Robbins, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and June Carter.
"They've been doing this (show) for years in Fredericton but they wanted to bring it to Moncton and ticket sales are going really good," says Brad Lane, of the Riverview Arts Centre. "We want to make sure it sells out and then we can bring this event every year, bring a little bit more country to Moncton."
The New Brunswick Country Showcase was incorporated on February 4, 1988 by Jim Burns as a non-profit corporation to encourage the development of country music in the province, produce country music using local talent and provide a venue for up and coming, aspiring artists to perform for an audience in a professional atmosphere.
Before that time, the Showcase was known by such names as "The Co-op Jamboree" and "The Capital City Jamboree." In 1992 Jim stepped aside and passed the Showcase over to Kevin Neilson and Tom Hoyt to carry it to new heights.
The Showcase stages approximately eight shows a year throughout New Brunswick using The Playhouse in Fredericton as its home base. Several performers have appeared on the show and gone on to produce albums or sign with major record labels, making country music their career.
"N.B. Showcase has been around for over 50 years," says Tom, "and we have done a lot of the theme shows; this one was very successful in Fredericton last spring, and we decided to take the best of the best and tour it in Riverview and Saint John."
Candace Philip didn't know a lot of the music when she signed on to perform in the cast.
"I was singing new country," she says. "I applied at the Playhouse and they threw this list of songs at me and I didn't know them.
"But the more I've sung all these old songs, the more I have loved them. Now I am hooked on the legends; that's all I have sung for over a year," she laughs.
In the show Candace plays Loretta Lynn, and Donna Fargo.
One of the most popular performances of the show as it was played in Fredericton was the song "When Two Fools Collide," a duet featuring Marty Hall as Kenny Rogers and Candace as Dotty West.
"It is absolutely awesome to try to emulate somebody else's music," Candace says. "As a performer, it is something that I really enjoy doing."
"We have eight different people singing, and we have a 7-piece band with three back-up singers," says Tom. "For the shows in Riverview, we have added Ray Price and Hank Williams."
"We feel our show is not just audio, not just listening to people sing," he says. "It is also visual. We have a slideshow presentation of the actual legends, we have stage props, all kinds of things to immerse you for a little over two hours in the history and tradition of country music."
"I just love to sing, so any chance I get to sing I try to be my best, so I am looking forward to (performing in) Riverview," says Candace.
"It is a show you are not going to want to miss. They are a great bunch of artists to work with, musicians that have been playing for a long, long time."
"This show is for the diehard traditionalist," says Tom. "It is as country as it gets."
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