Two talented country-roots songwriters are off to Turner Valley to share their compelling and evocative stories with the Foothills.
Toronto’s Corin Raymond and North Carolina’s Jonathan Byrd are the final act in this year’s Beneath the Arch Concert Series’ season and have planned an evening of storytelling and some rock and roll April 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall.
“People can expect an exciting and unusual show in Turner Valley in the sense that this isn’t a songwriter show,” Raymond said. “Everything in our tickle trunk we’ve just pulled it all out and we put together.”
Raymond and Byrd are spending this month touring western Canada with 16 shows.
“It’s an experience someone would have at a festival,” explained Raymond. “With different people thrown together there is a chemistry that can only happen there with those particular musicians on stage. I love this show because it’s got so much going on – it’s so rich, it’s so dynamic.”
The dynamic duo are accompanied by Brian Kobayakawa on bass and Johnny Waken on the strata caster, electric guitar and harmonica. Raymond said the tour follows on the heels of the release of his album Hobo Jungle Fever Dreams, a compilation of songs that are slightly apocalyptic and suggest criminal activity.
It was a project that took the Toronto musician more than a year to put together.
“It’s my first album in six years,” he said. “It was a long, intense process making this album. I’m so happy putting it in people’s hands and getting it played. It was the most ambitious things I’ve ever done. It’s been charting a lot, it’s getting a lot of hits.”
Raymond and Byrd have toured together for years performing their original songs. Byrd said this month’s tour was the first time Kobayakawa and Waken joined forces and he is impressed with their synchronization.
“Brian steps out and blows everybody’s mind and Johnny is like a rock and roll animal,” he said. “Watching those two guys work together with their different backgrounds is really fun and it’s fun to play with them that way.”
Byrd said the audience’s reaction exceeded his expectations.
“The show is like a Swiss army knife of shows,” he said. “Whatever you need you can find in the show - ballads, rocking numbers, drinking songs. People cry during the show, they laugh, they sing along. We come out in front of the mic and do something totally acoustically.”
Byrd said Canada holds a special place in his heart.
He finds that it’s Canadians who especially enjoy what he calls a “deep literary culture” and have accepted his talent wholeheartedly.
“Canada has been really good to me,” he said, adding he often heads north for tours once or twice a year. “I’ve seen more of the country than most Canadians have seen.”
Tickets cost $25 for adults, $10 for children seven and older and can be purchased at Coyote Moon Cantina & Espresso Bar in Turner Valley, Bluerock Gallery in Black Diamond, the Millarville General Store and Okotoks Country Florist or by calling 403-933-7040.
