It’s a way of deeply connecting with an audience and Alberta country music entertainer Duane Steele is eager to perform his next acoustic show March 25 at the Highwood Memorial Centre in support of the High River Health Foundation.
These intimate shows are a radical departure from the full band, big venue concerts Steele played in the late 90s opening for mega country stars like Terri Clark and Shania Twain.
Steele will play in High River as a member of a trio and he said being on stage with just two other musicians, his longtime band mates John Thiel and Derek Stremel, has been highly enjoyable for him.
“We go out there with just a bass and couple of acoustic guitars,” he said. “I really like it. I come from the singer/songwriter world where I played a lot of solo acoustic shows. So for me, playing like this is a natural fit.
“I also find the audiences seem to listen more intently. They’re listening more to the songs and the lyrics and what they are about, sometimes that is lost in a band performance.”
Steele was born and raised in the northern Alberta community of Hines Creek and now resides in Red Deer. In the mid 90s he had a string of hits on the Canadian country music charts including “Anita Got Married”, which reached number one. Today the artist has six albums to his credit including “Gas & Time” which was released in June of 2010.
People who come out to the High River show will get a thorough taste of his most recent disc.
“I will be doing some new songs off that record,” he said. “We’ve got the new single the Sun Country station has been playing there locally called ‘Waste of Good Whiskey’. I also have, from my previous albums, something like 30 songs that have been released to Canadian country music radio; several of those have been hits. So I will be playing them throughout the night.”
Cathy Couey of the High River Health Foundation said she’s pleased to have Steele and company on board for the organization’s Friday night fundraiser.
“We heard some really great reviews about his trio show so we thought it would be a nice fit for the venue and for the event,” she said.
Couey added the goal of the show is to raise money to help purchase some much-needed medical equipment for the High River Hospital.
“The funds we raise will go to maternity obstetrics,” she said. “In particular it will help us purchase a piece of equipment called a Neopuff which essentially is an infant resuscitator. Often when babies are born they need some help getting those first breaths, this machine does that but with a regulated pressure.”
A Neopuff is much more precise than “bagging” a patient, where a bag mask valve is put over the person’s mouth and nose and air is squeezed in by hand. Having this new piece of equipment should allow doctors to get babies breathing quickly and safely.
The High River Health Foundation’s benefit concert featuring the Duane Steele Trio goes Friday, March 25 at 8 p.m. at the Highwood Memorial Centre. Tickets are $20 each for this family event. Ticket and concert information is available at www.highriverhealthfoundation.ca
