sound of music

Sound of Music Festival's Country Night

Friday June 16, 2000

Unfortunately, due to our arrival back from Nashville and subsequent attempt to reorganize our gear, we arrived at Spencer Smith Park in Burlington to find Young Country already on stage. The first song we were able to take in was a Canadian contribution called "Cottage Bound", a countrified account of what the title referred to. Next, they surprised us with their rendition of John Landry's "Bit by Bit" and they did an admirable job of it too. I didn't envy them on that warm summer evening dressed as they were in long sleeves, leather coats and in one case, leather pants. It wasn't as warm as Nashville had been but it was warm enough. Their set ended at 7:30 with the announcement that Robyn Pauhl would be up next, followed by "The Man" Julian Austin.

Spencer Smith Park in Burlington Ontario is situated right on the shore of Lake Ontario so there was a nice breeze attempting to cool things down. The threat of showers proved very likely as very dark clouds began to appear and we hoped it would hold off.

At 8 PM Linda Martelli of 820 CHAM took the stage to announce Robyn Pauhl, the 16 year old from Hamilton who was to be Julian's opening act. Just three years before this show both Julian and Robyn had opened a show for George Jones at the now closed Lulu's in Kitchener. "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me", followed by "Tonight the Heartache's On Me" were the first two offered up by the petite blonde power vocalist, who is another example of a huge voice coming from a delicate looking frame. "Ready to Run", a Dixie Chicks tune was next with "By Now", a tune written by Steve Wilkinson of The Wilkinson's, friends of Robyn's. Truly a beautiful song from one of the most talented songwriters Canada has currently 'lent' to Nashville. Next was "You Still Shake Me" with another Wilkinson tune, "Yodelin Blues" following. If you think you can't get Martina's volume at 16 then you haven't heard Robyn Pauhl.

A sizable crowd had gathered by the time Robyn launched into "Break It To Me Gently". Whether drawn by the sound of her voice or the anticipation of Julian Austin was hard to say, probably both. A new one for Robyn, one she admits that she'd "been practicing" was "Bobby Magee". "Why Haven't I Heard From You", a Reba tune was aptly covered as was "Second Chance", a song off of Robyn's six song demo. "Honey I'm Home" by an obvious crowd favourite Shania was well received by the crowd. For her last song of the night Robyn chose "That's What I Like About You", a very rocking Trisha tune to leave the crowd ready for Julian who was up next.

A bit of a gap before Julian appeared and the crowd filled it by chanting "Julian, Julian...". His van, filled with Austinators, had arrived and last minute preparations were underway in the trailer provided for the performers. Preparations included hat changes, as Julian had arrived riding shotgun wearing a baseball cap.

At 9:40, emerging out the purple mist onstage, came the man the crowd had waited for. Coincidentally a light rain began to fall but no one was leaving, that was obvious. "Good at Being Bad" followed by "Back In Your Life", the title track off of the latest CD were met with adoration by the mostly young female crowd in the front. If you had misplaced any girl wearing a cowboy hat that night you'd have been hard pressed to pick her out of that crowd.

This group is truly amazing and if you've never had the chance to see them you should make the effort. I feel for any group that plays with them, they really smoke on stage and that old performance rule that applies to little kids and animals should also apply to Julian and his Austinators. Not for nothing are they the reigning CCMA's Back-Up Band of the Year.

Speaking of little children, a little girl of about 3 darted past security and ran up on stage. Caitlyn wanted to give Julian a kiss and he announced it was one of the sweetest moments before she pecked him on the cheek as he crouched next to her. He asked if he could give her one and she solemnly nodded so he returned her peck with one of his own before she was returned to her parents.

Julian next paid tribute to the acts that appeared earlier, Young Country and Robyn Pauhl before declaring the next song, "Holdin' On For 8" a memorial for Canadian bull riding champ Glenn Keely, who passed away earlier this year. The band plans to perform this tribute at every show they do this year so listen for it when you see them and think how lucky we are that Julian's mishap last year didn't result in a similar tribute by someone else.

On a lighter note he mused how one question he gets a lot from fans is who's autographs does he have on his guitar? But he didn't shed any light on this question. Instead he relates how he'd been influenced by a lot of groups before he gave his life to country. Next he teases various members of the band before starting a 'guess how old he is' game regarding one of the guys. Someone finally hit it (26) before the band breaks into "Little Ole Kisses". Thanking the crowd for their support, their calling and writing radio stations and CMT to request his material, Julian remarked, "There's no other loyal, dedicated fans like the fans in country music and that's the God's honest truth." In reply to the roar from the crowd he launched into "Take The Money And Run". Audience participation was called for next and the crowd complied. The exuberance from this song caused a broken guitar string, resulting in a slight delay while Julian changed guitars. "Walls", a Pink Floyd tune was next, surprisingly. Explained by Julian later as, " Once in a while this country boys' still gotta rock." Very good job on it though you'd probably never hear it at the Opry.

"Copperhead Road", one of the crowd's favourites (and mine) is handled extremely well by this group and really gets the place jumping. Another crowd pleaser is "Diamond", with which the group finished off a fantastic show. Brought back by the chants of "Julian, Julian..." that opened the show, the boys filed back on to deliver their encore, the aptly titled "The House Is Rockin' ".

We left Fan Fair a day early and made it back to Hamilton (our stopover) in 12 hours for this show and I'll tell you it was worth every hour of that drive to see this outstanding group of Canada's best perform. I love A.J., Brad, Pam, Chely, Vince, Kix and Ronny as much as anyone but when it comes to supporting our own we hop into the truck and head home. Julian Austin and Friends, worth the drive from Nashville? Definitely!

Thanks guys!

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