Sunday
July 23, 2000
The 15th annual Fergus Truck Show feature “Music in the Park”
presented many stellar performances over the weekend long event and we were
there for the Sunday presentations of the Saltwater Kowboyz and John Landry.
With this popular show drawing thousands of people every year for the
more serious activities of competitions and judging of the most amazing trucks I
have ever seen (and heard, that much horsepower is heard no matter where you
were) the entertainment is a welcome respite from the work of getting your entry
ready for this once-a -year event. With
this years truck show including a wedding for the first time there’s no
telling how this annual event will expand in the future.
The performers for the Saturday shows were Anna Sekura and Nick Charles,
the latter being a tremendously energetic entertainer who we have had the
pleasure of seeing before. Anna,
born in Canada but raised from 9 in Holland, has had a long distinguished career
in Europe before returning to Canada to continue her music, currently having her
songs published here. Nick Charles,
a regular feature around the Golden Horseshoe area has established himself as
quite a fine vocalist and one heck of a dancer (see one of his shows to see what
I mean). He’s worked with many of
Ontario’s leading performers and is definitely here to stay.
Sunday’s showing of the Saltwater Kowboys began at 12:30 PM under a
very hazy sky with the band heading out with “Who’s Cheatin’ Who”, very
well performed and very rockin’ country.
This 5-piece band from Kitchener featured a special guest, fiddle player
Randy Morrison, who we will have more on a little later.
With all members of this band willing and able to handle vocals they have
a very good harmony thing going and give their songs a full, rich sound as was
demonstrated during their offering of “I’m From the Country”.
Another example of this sound was evident during “Carrying Your Love
With Me”, very well done and I can see why they are picking up quite a
following in their club circuit. A
unique auction performance by Kevin Westphal had the guys coaxing the audience
to make some noise. The louder the
crowd, the faster Kevin would go, promised J.R. Benoit, and the crowd did their
best to comply. Kevin did stand up
to the challenge and the result was a very entertaining conclusion that had you
wondering if it was harder for Kevin’s vocals or the guys’ playing, going
that fast.
After an interlude of “Dust On The Bottle” and “I’ll Take
Whatever Comes First”, the special guest took centre stage in an amazing
example of a fiddle solo to the accompaniment of the band.
Randy really flew and exhibited a steel control and playing ability that
I, as a very junior violin player, can only marvel at and know that I will
probably never get to that level. Thanks
for coming out Randy, we really enjoyed it!
The rest of the set was just as enjoyable, with a tribute to one of the
latest recipients of the Order of Canada, Stompin’ Tom Connors being very well
received by the crowd. The guys did an excellent job of giving the Sunday show a
good kick-off and I do hope to see them around again in our travels this year.
The anticipation of the next performance, by John Landry, had a sizable
crowd drifting up as show time approached.
However due to some of the contests going on running a little late the
decision was made to delay the start of the show for 20-30 minutes to avoid
having to compete with the loud sounds of horsepower coming from over the hill.
As we waited it seemed to get more overcast by the minute and the hazy
conditions resulted in the appearance of John onstage with sunglasses on. Leading off with the always popular “Long, Gone and
Forgotten” the guys next followed with “Fantasy Island”, John’s attire
fitting in perfectly. With his
black hat, black jeans and black boots the addition of a flowing, white,
long-sleeved, light textured collared shirt gave him a very exotic
Islands-meet-Old West look. It also
made him look extremely tall onstage.
As he introduced the next song he told the crowd that about two years
ago, as he was starting in the music business, he’d been dating someone who
complained that she felt the music was coming before her in his affections.
He said it was. And then he
wasn’t dating anymore. So the
song “There You Were” was not written for that particular situation.
As the group headed off into the song something happened that I have
always heard about from other artists. John
forgot a couple of lines in his song, to the astonished looks from the band who
soldiered on anyway and they continued to the end.
John had to laugh and told the crowd that, believe it or not, he did
write that song and even he was able to forget the words, which he always felt
bad about until he saw Trisha Yearwood do the same thing and then he felt
better. A couple of years ago we
watched Loretta Lynn start to sing the same song twice in a row, only stopping
when her son Ernest Ray whispered that they’d just done that one. She had to laugh too. It
sometimes comes with the job.
Following this interlude John dedicated the next song, “Wrong Again”,
to the fellows in the audience. After
opening for Kenny Rogers just a short time ago, John wanted to do a song of
Kenny’s that he really liked and the band gave it their own little twist and
so, John Landry’s version of “Something’s Got A Hold Of Me” was born.
“Same Old Love” and “Forever Took Too Long” precluded a treat for
the crowd. For the current CMT
favourite, “My Heart Says Yes (But the Hurt Says No)”, John brought Karla
Crawford of Midland out to do the female vocal.
A tall, lovely young lady with a very smooth voice, Carla did an
excellent job, having a very Stacey Lee quality to her voice that complimented
John’s vocal very well. They made
a very compatible looking couple onstage as well, with few women coming close to
John’s height (with the exception of the beautiful Beverley Mahood, that is). It was very nice to see Carla and she should come on down
this way more often.
Going solo once again, John and the guys headed on with “Honkey Tonk
Hell” and one of John’s favourites, “C’est Le Vie”, which John likes
to use to get the crowd up and dancing. It
always works too! The encouragement
and the prizes, John Landry hats, got the crowd up and going in front of the
stage. After the song the four
judges, recruited earlier, gave their opinions and the winners were presented
with their prizes. For the last
song the group chose “The Cowgirl Your Mama Warned You About” before leaving
the stage to the cheers from the crowd. But
wait, brought back by the heartfelt calls from the crowd (with the encouragement
from the announcer) the group returned to do an encore, “Come On and Dance”,
and old tune from the 70’s that I remember all too well. After the show, as the guys prepared to pack up and John was
meeting fans and signing autographs (and taking orders for the sold-out CD,
Calgary cleaned them out), the truck show organizers took the stage and
announced that they’d given out temporary tattoos earlier to a bunch of
attendee’s, if the first 15 people with them came up they’d win a prize CD.
One girl from behind us ran up there, to return a little crestfallen with
a CD in her hand. When she was
asked who it was, she held up an Alan Jackson CD, obviously disappointed.
Smart girl.
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