Some of the Foothills area’s best musicians are singing for supper later this month.
And it will be for suppers that will help feed those in the community during the holiday season and well into the new year.
The 13th annual Okotoks Food Bank Christmas Concert is Dec. 10-11 at the Okotoks Evangelical Free Church.
“We’ve played there many times before,” said Keith Floen, a keyboardist with The Travelling Mabels. “There is always that Christmas connection to helping out, just growing awareness about the food bank and especially with what Alberta is all about right now. People are out there that are more in need than usual.”
The Mabels are just one of the many artists on the line-up, which includes Tanya Ryan, Michela Sheedy, GhostBoy, Taken by Sanity and others. The concert is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year for the food bank. Last year it raised approximately $60,000.
It’s an opportunity for the artists to stretch their angelic wings – playing Christmas songs that aren’t part of the repertoire say during the busy summer season.
“It’s a nice change from what we usually do,” Floen said. “We do have an original song that we are going to put forth that we’ve done a couple of times called Grandma’s Kitchen, that’s kind of a popular Christmas tunes.
“And it’s kind of nice to play some of the popular Christmas stuff that is out there. It’s a nice change for sure.”
The Mabels presently have Let It Snow, Beautiful Star of Bethlehem and an a cappella version of Children Go Where I Send Thee on their playlist.
The familiar tunes will be Mabelized.
“They will have a definite Mabel flair to it, particularly with the harmonies where they come in and support.”
The food bank concert roots go back nearly 30 years ago, with the genesis being a concert at the Black Diamond Hotel with performers such as Ian Tyson and the late Mel Wilson. It later moved to Oilfields High School.
A similar concert was started in Okotoks just over a decade ago, organized with the help John Fraser – who performed at some of the Black Diamond shows.
The original Okotoks concerts were at the RPAC, but because it became such a hot ticket it kept moving to the other venues, ultimately landing at the Okotoks Evangelical Church.
Fraser is still going strong. He helps with the Okotoks concert as John and Lady C. Fraser will perform.
“A lot of the artists have been with us before,” Fraser said. “We have a pretty good variety, but it’s not the same line-up on both nights.
“They are absolutely terrific.”
It’s not just a case of the artists coming in and fa-la-la-la-la-ing their way through it.
“They don’t just come in and sing a couple of songs,” Fraser said. “Christmas songs are often very complex. You have to rehearse, you have to get everything down pat.
“To do that and to come in and sing two songs, is really quite a commitment.”
Fraser said the Evangelical church is ideal for the concert.
“We really hit our stride with the E-Free church, a big part of their ministry is music and it is made for music, it’s wonderful.”
The concert has also hit its stride in terms of fundraising. The $60,000 last year came in large part from sponsorship, including platinum sponsor Okotoks Ford Lincoln.
“The committee decided to go after sponsorship and we’ve had a tremendous response to that,” Fraser said. “We spend a lot of time trying to give them as much exposure as we can.”
Pamela McLean, Okotoks Food Bank executive director, has put many hours in since taking over the reins in January raising awareness and funds for the bank.
She found a bonus for her work – a ticket to the concert.
“I have never been able to get tickets in time – they sell out so quickly,” McLean said with a chuckle. “That has been the story of my life with this concert.
“But because now I have to speak, I have a ticket.”
The proceeds from this concert will go towards a new fridge and freezer.
“We hope to be ordering it this week,” McLean said. “It’s four time the size of what we presently have. It (the funds) will be going into capital cost expenses.”
Food donations will also be accepted at the concert. Last year, two pick-up trucks were filled with donated food.
The line up for the concerts are The Travelling Mabels, Michela Sheedy, Tanya Ryan, John and Lady C. Fraser, Jay Burns, Dwight Forseth, Taken By Sanity, Sheep River Bandits, Mike King, Mz Behavin’, Haggis, Doc Mehl, Brettyn Rose, Over the Moon and GhostBoy. The MC’s are award-winning cowboy poet Doris Daley and Tim Coxworth, host of CKUA Folk Routes.
