In what has rapidly become a holiday tradition local musicians will take to the stage for the annual Okotoks Christmas Concert.
This year’s Okotoks Acoustic Christmas will be held Dec. 16 and Dec. 17 and will feature numerous talented southern Alberta musicians. The 2010 event will feature acts playing a variety of holiday favourites and some original material.
Okotoks musician John Fraser has not only been a performer the two previous years, he is also one of its key organizers.
The benefit concerts are being held in support of the Okotoks Food Bank. The show begins each night at 7 p.m. with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. at St. Peter’s Anglican Church. About 15 acts will perform each evening and the variety of music should be impressive.
Most of the musicians will include as part of their performance either a Christmas or winter-themed song which is not the easiest to thing to pull off, Fraser explained.
“One of the aspects of playing a Christmas concert that doesn’t often occur to the folks in the audience is that most musicians don’t play this music all the time,” he said. “Christmas songs tend to be quite complex. I’m not sure why, but for example, ‘Chestnuts roasting on an open fire’, ‘The Christmas Song’ by Mel Torme is one of the most challenging songs for any jazz musician, never mind the rest of us.”
As he has before, Fraser is pleased to be able to perform at the concert alongside his daughter Caroline Fraser. She will be stepping out of her preferred music genre of hip-hop, which she performs under the name of Lady C, to pair up with her dad.
“It’s just a real delight to sing with Caroline,” said Fraser, who plays primarily blues and country roots music. “She’s a pretty good sport about it. Obviously her style of music is different from mine but when she’s out there with me she really seems to enjoy herself. She’s not just doing it to keep her dad happy.”
The impressive lineup of acts playing one or two nights of the acoustic Christmas show include popular female harmonizing trio The Travelling Mabels, Red Deer folkie Donna Durand, Calgary roots performer Darren Johnson, the all-female bluegrass band the June Bugs, and Okotoks singer/songwriter Paul Rumbolt.
New to the concert this year is T. Buckley who was the winner of the 2010 Calgary Folk Music Festival songwriting contest.
“I have never been involved with it but the fellow who plays bass alongside me, Derek Pulliam, has,” Buckley said. “It sounds like a really cool event and sounds like there’s a good bunch of singers and songwriters that are lined up as part of it. It’s great to be in such good company.”
The Calgary performer is looking forward to the opportunity to participate and he revealed in addition to one of his original songs he would also be doing a cover of a somewhat off-the-beaten-track holiday song.
“We’re doing one Christmas tune, John Denver’s ‘Christmas for Cowboys,’” he said. “It’s a little bit different and probably resonates with some of the rural Alberta folks.”
Tickets for the 2010 Okotoks Acoustic Christmas are available at Music Centre Canada and Royal LePage Foothills both on Elizabeth Street in Okotoks. The cost for the show is $15 each plus one non-perishable food item for the Okotoks Food Bank.
