One of the dreams of Wayne Tozzi and I

One of the dreams of Wayne Tozzi and I, when we started the whole ‘Opry North’ idea, was to establish a constant presence known for the promotion of Canadian country artists with a special focus on those independent artists who usually have to do such work themselves. We wanted something in a quality venue, with a well-designed show and with a variety of performers to show the fans who is out there and what they’re doing. We wanted the various forms of conventional media to be aware of where we were and what we were doing, in case they wanted to check out the outstanding artists we have here. And we wanted to encourage friendship, support and brotherhood between the artists themselves, because they’re all in this together. We were delighted to find many exceptional people who were willing to work with us on this project, some being almost more excited than we were. We were humbled and thrilled when the artists backed our idea wholeheartedly, even though we’d never tried anything like this before and gave us all the help they could to pull this together. So while it’s the Opry North name on the top of this page, it really is a whole group effort that is responsible for the first of what we hope will be many, many shows. The artists we have in this country are second to none, and they deserve to be front and centre. I hope you agree and will join us, as we present to you the following report on Opry North’s Country Music Showcase.

Joel Christie from 820 CHAM was our MC for the day and we were so happy to have him. Joel is one of the busiest people we know and he does so much more than man the microphone at CHAM in the morning…I think he’s even busier than we are. With a welcome to the crowd and his explanation of what we were up to and our plans for the show in the future he did a great job of ‘filling in the blanks’. Our house band for the Showcases will be The Bareback Riders, and they kicked off the show with a suitably Canadian hit, recorded and written by some wonderful friends of ours, “Long, Gone and Forgotten”. “Slave To The Habit” was their next song and they followed this up with another Canadian hit, “Your Love Is Sugar To Me”. “Live, Laugh, Love” is a Clay Walker song that The BBR do a great job of, especially when they have an adorable little dancer keeping up with them in front of the stage for the whole song.

Kurk Bernard announced the first performers that would grace our stage, two sisters who are simply wonderful. Jaclyn and Cassandra have had a lot of shows this summer and we were so delighted when they agreed to perform for us. They started off their set with “No Need For Sayin’ Goodbye”, which really had their front-of-the-line dancing partner trying to keep up with them. “How Do I Let Go” was a tribute to the many people who were touched by the horror that occurred in New York during the week. “Country Comin’ Out In Me” is a very hot, ‘tellin’ you like it is’ type of song and it definitely ended their spot on a high note. With each of the songs on their CD having some choreography to match it makes for a very enjoyable show.

Joe Allain took over to announce our next guest, Tara Nicole Oram. Tara is currently working with producer Jim Hopson out in Oshawa and has a lot of projects on the go so it was a lucky break that she was able to agree to appear for us. Her first song would be the popular “Believe Me Baby, I Lied”, which I’ve always thought was a great song. “Why They Call It Falling” was her second choice, and I’d never heard this song until after Tara had chosen it…and all I have to say is Leanne Womack better watch out. The last song would be a Canadian choice, “When Boy Meets Girl”, and was delivered with all of the power you’d expect it to have. She’s a vibrant performer and I know that if you haven’t seen her yet, you will very soon. By the way, she estimates her first CD to be out about “mid 2002” so you won’t have long to wait.

Joe announced the format we’d be using for the intermissions to the crowd, to explain the literature found on the tables. Along with the introduction sheet listing the day’s performers there was a program sheet, which not only listed the lineup for the day but what music would be played during the intermissions. Each of the two intermissions would feature independent Canadian artists that were either going to be on an upcoming show or had fantastic material out there that deserved to be heard. They had the track title, the artist or group name and their website address for those who wished to learn more about that particular artist. That way even artists who couldn’t be present that day or had their turn coming up would be promoted as much as we could.

Diana Jade was the jewel in the crown for us when she agreed to appear and we were delighted that she wanted to bring her band with her to help us celebrate the first show. As the first artist after the intermission she brought everyone back on line with her rousing stage presence. “Mi Vida Loca” was a great choice and was delivered with all of the energy and power that is should have, and from such a petite little lady you wonder where she keeps it all. Our little dancer was really hopping around for this song too, and she was thanked afterward for her own performance. “In My Life” was dedicated to her husband since they’d just had their anniversary (Congratulations guys!) and it’s a song that Diana had written that’s also on her CD. The last song was a very rockin’ song that went by the peculiar name of “The Cure”. Thanks for the great time Diana, everyone loved it.

Andrea Hardwick is another young woman who seems to be everywhere all of a sudden, and we knew when we first heard her that she’d soon be ‘on the rise’. Thankfully, we got our request in early and were delighted when she confirmed that she’d like to appear at the first show. “There You’ll Be” might be a daunting song to handle for some but not a problem for Andrea. This extremely statuesque performer not only has the same ‘eye view’ as the song’s originator but she has the vocals as well. Beautiful job on a song that is one of my favourites. “Big Deal” was a song that won her a contest and when you hear it you’ll know why. If you think LeAnn Rimes has power then you don’t want to stand too close when Andrea does this one, trust me. For her last song she wanted to do something a little different, so she was accompanied for their duet by Keith Thompson on acoustic for his song “Field Of Broken Dreams”. Keith explained that this song was “begging for a voice like Andrea’s” and will be her first single. I have always liked this song when I heard Keith do it alone but with Andrea it is really something. It sounded so much bigger than two voices and one guitar, that’s the sign of a great song and a good performance.

During the second intermission we featured some more selections from our independent friends and held the draw for the merchandise that our guests had donated for the day. We had given tickets out to as many people as we could during the first hour or so of the show and when the time came we drew numbers for two CD’s from Jaclyn & Cassandra, an autographed Vince Roy CD, one CD and one T-shirt from Diana Jade, one CD from Scotty Campbell and one special surprise CD from Keith Thompson. Thanks so much to all of you for giving so generously. You really went above and beyond the call for us and it resulted in lots of happy fans.

Following the intermission The BBR took to the stage again to ensure that the sound for the next performers would be adjusted correctly and they did a couple of songs to nail it down. Our next guest was accompanied by The BBR for part of his set and everyone enjoyed Vince Roy’s own composition “Don’t Drive Me Crazy”. It was hard to see who was having more fun, the audience or the guys up on stage. Excellent job to all of you, I know everyone loved it (me included). Vince’s second choice was the old Conway Twitty standard, “It’s Only Make Believe” and if you want to see a performer feeling every word than you have to see Vince doing this song. Intensity is not enough to describe it. As the band filed off stage for the next song, which Vince had decided to do alone on his acoustic, he had a little fun with the crowd by miming a ‘what, is it me?’ bit. He took a minute to advise the crowd that “the more you scream, the more I’ll wiggle” for his popular “My Heart Is Stuck On You” and he did get some takers for his challenge. And they were rewarded, in true Vince Roy style. When you see someone having as much fun up on stage as those in the audience it really shows you what it’s all about.

Our next guest was someone we’d recently come to know through a series of unique and hilarious emails, and you may know him through his recent videos on CMT or his appearance at the Canadian Country Music Awards on the previous Monday. Scotty Campbell, who had been tied up in Calgary with everyone else since Tuesday’s catastrophic events resulted in all air traffic being cancelled, had arrived back on Friday and made it to our show right on time on Saturday. Scotty is a definite one-of-a-kind personality and has more talent than you’d think possible for such a ‘normal’ guy…because when he strolls on to that stage look out! He shows you exactly why he was nominated for a CCMA award in the new “Roots” category…and why he’ll no doubt be nominated many more times to come. Backed by The BBR, he took control of the microphone and let loose with a performance that had everybody rocking and dancing in front of the stage. “Lonely In San Antone” is the latest song/video to hit the airwaves and if you want to see a ‘real, not plastic’ video call up CMT and tell them to play it…I loved it. Tell ‘em Kim & Scotty sent you. His next song slowed it down a little for the dancers who never left the floor, “Together Again” and picked it right back up for “Hillbilly Boy”. This is one artist who gets right into it, dancing and clapping to keep the crowd going and he knows just how to rile them up. I knew I’d like him and I wasn’t wrong…this is someone who is completely at home with himself and you can’t help but love that. Thanks Scotty, for the perfect ending to our first effort at producing a live show to let folks know that ours are the best out there. How could they ever doubt it now?

How do you thank the people who make your dreams come true? There aren’t words to express how much these people mean to us and how their faith and belief in us has touched our hearts. Our sponsors and friends, 820 CHAM and Country Music News, have been outstanding in their support and encouragement for our ideas for a long time now and we can’t imagine country music without them. The Bareback Riders and Professional Audio Services, you all are our family without a doubt (two for real, the rest by ‘adoption’), more brothers than I ever thought I’d have. The Stampede Corral, for being the class act that gave an idea a ‘body’ and for being so receptive to the idea of our invasion. And to the exceptional performers who gave so generously of their time and their talent, we will always be your biggest fans and loudest cheerleaders. Behind all of those ‘corporate’ names listed above are some of the best hearts in country music. They are really Nevin, Joel, Bill, Wendy, Linda, Larry, Joanne, Barb, Joe, Colin, Kurk, Chris, Mark, Bob, Andrew, Paul, Amy (and the rest of the crew), Andrea, Scotty, Diana, Tara, Jaclyn, Vince and Cassandra. We love you guys.

Written by Kim Jamieson

Photos by Wayne Tozzi