Baby boomers can still rock, sing and have a good time — they just can’t do it much past 8 p.m.
So, Robb Moss presented award-winning East Coast musicians Hornell-Sneddon for a rockin’ folksy bluegrass concert and brunch at the Powderhorn Saloon in Bragg Creek March 20.
“We thought we would give it a try — people our age aren’t dancing on tables or anything anymore, but we still like to listen to good music,” Moss said with a laugh.
The Powderhorn was packed and the only downfall for Matthew Hornell and Andrew Sneddon was their own fault — they were practically the only ones who hadn’t taken advantage of the generous brunch spread at the Powderhorn.
“We haven’t even had breakfast yet,” Hornell said with a laugh during a break.
“You should see us when we have had breakfast… Back home in Newfoundland I played some bluegrass brunches. This isn’t the earliest I have played, but it’s early.”
It was while listening to the Bill-Monroe sound in the hometown of folk singers Amelia Curran and the late great Ron Hynes that Moss came up with hosting a brunch in Bragg Creek.
“Last year I was at a bluegrass breakfast in St. John’s for the East Coast Music awards and I thought this is great,” Moss said.
He saw Hornell and Sneddon play in St. John’s and when the pair was on a 21-day tour out west, they were able to work out the Bragg Creek gig.
The East Coast singers, Sneddon hails from Nova Scotia, were overwhelmed by the large crowd enjoying eggs, sausage, maybe the odd pint and some good old kitchen party music at the Powderhorn.
“When people come out like this they give you a lot of energy,” Hornell said. “It takes a community of people to get together and share that experience. If there was no one here, we wouldn’t put on the same kind of show. We do our best whether there are two or 200 people, but to have this many people to bounce that energy off, that is cool.”
Moss said the event was able to put some cash in the pockets of the musicians, the patrons heard some great East Coast music and he hopes it was good business for the Powderhorn.
Moss said he plans to have another musical brunch in the future. He said the key is to have high quality musicians.
Although getting up for an 11 a.m. gig can be tough, Sneddon said it was well worth the effort — and hey, he’s done worse.
“Back home we had a TV breakfast show where we had to be there before five in the morning,” he said with a laugh.
