Friday August 17

Friday August 17, 2001

Newmarket Ontario is the home of the singing Williams sisters, Jaclyn and Cassandra, so it was only natural that their CD Release Party would be held in ‘their own backyard’, to allow friends and family to stop in. And did they ever…the party was a huge success, with the crowd enthusiastic and supportive for not only the stars of the evening but for their many talented guests that performed as well. The Lava Lounge was the setting for the multi-artist evening that featured Chad Slade & Young Country, Keith Thompson (with special guest Andrea Hardwick), Vince Roy, Julie Gibb and Jamie Warren – all of which did a great job as their tribute to Jaclyn and Cassandra. A CD Release Party is usually a forum to promote one act but this time it had been decided that it was time to provide some ‘showcasing’ to country music as a whole and I applaud this decision; it shows that there’s hope in this industry yet.

Jaclyn and Cassandra have had an incredibly busy summer, performing every weekend all across the province and opening for peers like Charlie Major, Marshall Dyllon and Sawyer Brown. They have a very fresh, unique style that is all their own and is sure to bring the younger country fans out in droves. No danger of ‘cookie cutter’ syndrome here; these girls will entertain everyone of any age with their harmonies and stage show and at 14 and 17 years of age they will only get better with time.

Before the show had even started the venue was almost at capacity and was proving to be an ‘any age’ type of crowd. That is what I like to see; it’s an example of how in country music there’s something for everyone. Speaking of something for everyone, the first performer up would be Vince Roy with his cyber-tribute song “Juliet Dot Com”. Judging by the roar from the crowd I’d say they liked it (or was that just Debbie, who’d always liked this song). A more recent composition that had been requested, “Couch Dance Romance/Honeymoon Afternoon” was dedicated to Debbie too, and as she is the manager of the stars of the evening it was Vince’s pleasure to comply. “Mr. Fixit” followed that, with “If You Ever Love Me”, a recently written ballad coming next. “I Thank You Girl”, which is a really fun ‘story’ song came just before the heart tugging “Use Mine”, chosen because he’d just found out his sister is expecting and it’s a ‘family based song’. “My Heart Is Stuck On You” was the very popular last song due to the patented V.R. hip wiggle.

Next up would be the stars of the show, Jaclyn and Cassandra; the huge crowd now present were primed and waiting. They emerged to GREAT applause and launched right into “No Need For Sayin’ Goodbye”, complete with their ‘right in vogue’ choreography and with the choreographer actually handling the job of background dancer. Now, that’s what I call supportive friends. “Givin’ You Up” was the next one and I hope young women pick up on the strength present in this song. “Because There’s Love” is full of excellent opportunities to hear the girls’ harmonies rising and falling together, showing there’s nothing to compare with what Tyler Wilkinson has referred to as “blood harmonies” – and he oughta’ know! “Lucky Star” is a song that every woman who’s ever been young can relate to and it’s presented in such a way that it takes you back…with the youthful voices singing it really sending it home. When you hear it you’ll know just what I mean. “Daddy’s Angel” is a truly beautiful song but I wouldn’t recommend trying to sing along unless you’re either a very young girl or have a voice trained to shatter glass; but listen to it anyway, it’s really lovely. “The Country Comin’ Out In Me” is a really rockin’ attitude song and I liked this one very much, plus the girls really put those feelings into it. Following their last song the applause was a wall of sound, for a job very well done and a flurry of activity began to take place as family and fans surged to the side stage curtain to try and see the girls.

Someone familiar to anyone into country music was up next, Mr. Jamie Warren. Armed with his trusty acoustic, he led off with the beautiful “Cried All The Way Home” and did his usual amazing job…Jamie has a voice that is always in top shape and sounds as good live as it does on recordings. He took the time next to say how much he’d enjoyed Jaclyn and Cassandra’s performance, he said they sang very well – high praise indeed, coming from Jamie. “Sunny Day In The Park” was a request that he was very happy to do and it’s always a popular choice. Jamie likes to draw people into his shows and now was the time for his ‘audience participation’ section. As he strummed along he waited to see if anyone would jump in and help him out. No? No takers? Okay, he’d lead them off – strumming along into “King Of The Road” which did have the crowd singing the chorus for him when the time came. Good job everybody! For his last song he wanted to do one of his favourites (and mine too), “Just The Way Love Goes” and it’s so easy to close your eyes and get lost in this song…what a voice!

Next was a special request for Vince Roy to perform “My Heart Is Stuck On You” again (must have been the wiggles that brought this on), so he was very happy to head up there again and got a lot of appreciation for the encore.

Julie Gibb was up next and she’s more than just a lovely young woman, she’s a vocal coach, a singer-songwriter and she’s currently working on a CD she hopes will be finished by the end of the year. The songs she’d decided to perform were largely self-written and very well done, “Fire In My Heart” and “Some Part Of Me” I liked very much. For a bit of fun she wanted to do “…the only song suitable for a self-respecting female to sing” from the movie “Spinal Tap”, so that was next. Very nice surprise to meet Julie and I hope we are able to run into her again.

Keith Thompson, who is one of our favourite folks to run into on our travels was the guest up next. We first saw Keith perform last February when he opened for Lisa Brokop and he was awesome then, he’s awesome now. He has a large number of well-written songs to choose from and he led off with “Summer Stars”. All of Keith’s selections were wonderful but a song I always love to hear is “Field of Broken Dreams”, and for this song he’d brought a special guest; new duet partner Andrea Hardwick. This song was beautiful when Keith would do it alone but with Andrea – look out! My second favourite K.T. song was “Cheshire Grin” and that one would be next, with lots of applause for a great spot.

Last performers we were able to see were Chad Slade & Young Country, who packs a powerhouse wallop when they’re on stage. “Hillbilly Shoes” got the crowd going due to the energy that they bring into the room…the floors were moving during this song. “Who’s Cheatin’ Who” took it down a little but proved that they definitely are a ‘country band’. An older George Strait tune kept the country coming but the next song, Canada’s own “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” is taken on a bit of a remake. It’s given a bit more feeling, a bit more country and a lot more power and I guarantee you’ll like it when you hear it. It’s going to be on their new CD, so I know you’ll be hearing it…if you like the current Canadian remake of “I Love A Rainy Night” you’ll be sure to love the C.S. & Y.C’s “…Edmund Fitzgerald”.

It was at this point in the evening that we had to head out and we’d enjoyed the show immensely, thanks very much to all of the performers who gave their all (like they always do) to make the night so successful. Our best wishes go out to the next Canadian duo to make their mark in our country music scene, Jaclyn and Cassandra Williams, who are wonderful young women that are a tribute to their parents, Rick and Carmen. You won’t find a warmer bunch anywhere. And special thanks to Debbie Dennis, who we find absolutely delightful and we love to run into…our ‘chats’ are so much fun. Thanks for having us out on your special night; we wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

Written by Kim Jamieson

Photos by Wayne Tozzi