PREECEVILLE - The Whitehawk Arts Council has announced its series of three performances in the Stars for Saskatchewan Concert Series.
“We are excited to be able to host concerts once again,” said Miles Russell, one of the Whitehawk Arts Council committee members. “We will be following COVID-19 protocols with asking patrons to wear masks and have proof of vaccination in order to attend the performances.”
The first performance will feature Martin Kerr on November 6 at the Sturgis Community Hall. Martin Kerr might be the only artist in the world to have played 300 live shows this year, stated his website.
When COVID-19 cancelled all his touring and festival plans for 2020, he launched Stay Home Street Concerts instead. As soon as the snow melted (in his adopted hometown of Edmonton) he was out on the streets every day, bringing music and hope to the masses, one block at a time. From their driveways, balconies and front lawns, every show finished with the whole street singing You’re Amazing, the uplifting, instantly singable hit from Kerr’s latest album. (It's earned radio play across Canada, the UK and the Netherlands and climbed to #4 on the Spotify Viral Chart.)
Aptly titled Everything Is Under Control, the album was released just before the pandemic hit, yet each song seems to fit the zeitgeist of 2020. Anyone sick of endless electioneering and empty political promises will relate to the foot-stomping protest song Good Old Days. Drenched in glorious pop-irony, Reason is an excoriating, cathartic rant at the death of decency in the post-truth age, with musical echoes of Pumped-Up Kicks. “You can tell me anything you want, anything you want, I will believe it” goes the singalong chorus.
Enemy - a stadium pop power-ballad that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Coldplay set - seems to be about a relationship gone wrong, but on second listen you hear the layers of social commentary, a lament to the polarized times we’re living in. Its the fourth track from this album to be picked up by CBC for national airplay, along with major playlists on Stingray, Sirius XM, Spotify and Amazon Music. You've probably heard it somewhere.
The intimate Magic Beans sounds like a lullaby for the end of the world:
"It’s been a long night, your eyes are burning. Hold tight, the sky is turning. Some lights gonna make it through the dark."
In dark times we all need to find hope. Somehow, against all the odds, Martin Kerr is bringing music to people face-to-face, building community one street, one song at a time.
His next project Grateful is a collaborations album featuring eight of his favourite local artists including CBC searchlight winner Josh Sahunta and Juno winner Celeigh Cardinal. Genre-hopping from folk to hip-hop, pop, soul, funk and back to his intimate singer-songwriter vibe, each song has a different flavour but a common thread of supporting each other through hard times, concluded the website information.
The second performance will feature Joe Trio on February 8 at the Trinity United Church in Preeceville. Joe Trio consists of band members, Cameron Wilson, violist and composer; Charles Inkman, cellist and member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Allen Stiles, pianist, stated the information by Whitehawk Arts Council. The group strives for diversity and more than a little humour and unpredictability. Their repertoire consists of the classics from Papa Haydn to Uncle Shostakovich, new works by contemporary composers and their own arrangements of popular, jazz and rock tunes. The members are fantastic performers who engage the audience and are very charming and talented.
The final concert will feature The Bromantics at the Preeceville Community Hall on March 22. The band was formed in the summer of 2013 and is Saskatchewan’s six piece that performs a sensational tribute to the 1950’s musical era. The members perform original music following similar chord progressions while working within the perimeters of the genre. The group makes use of warm brass instruments in combination with vintage guitar tones. They have recorded live sessions through Blue Door Studios and in collaboration with Nyshe Media have released several videos. The band has been performing since they formed and are gaining in popularity.
