Yahoo!!!!
We have an amazing line up of Artists this year!
Today:
Ginger St. James - Happy Hour
Show at 4:00 - 7:00 pm - No Cover
With her sultry and powerful voice, her sassy and commanding stage presence, and a repertoire that blends country, rock n’ roll and blues, Ginger St. James packs a lot of entertainment into her petite frame. Following the tradition of country songbirds like Loretta Lynn, Ginger writes and sings music from real experience; growing up on the family farm, being broke, having fun, and love gone wrong. A born entertainer, St. James captivates audience everywhere she roams.
Her tongue-in-cheek songs are as entertaining lyrically as they are visually and musically. She released her first EP, Spank, Sparkle & Growl, in 2010. Independent Canadian label Let’s Riot Music signed St. James in 2012 and released her follow up EP, Tease.
This “chick from the sticks” won’t be taking any time to hang out in the barnyard in 2015 either, as she plans to tour across Canada and into Europe to coincide with the release of her debut full-length album Diesel and Peas. Independently released in September 2014, the album is a fun blend of country, blues and rockabilly.
Western Swing Project
Show at 9:00 pm - $15
This project is the musical expression of over thirty five years of friendship between Neil Bentley and Dave Hamilton and a mutual love of western swing music. Having both grown up in Calgary and travelled extensively as working musicians they were involved in many different styles of music and a variety of situations where they developed their skills and acquired respect and admiration for superlative musicianship. Meeting, speaking and working with these great musicians, vocalists, composers and producers gave them a thorough education and resulted in the nickname “The Band Doctors”. There is more history in the Bio section.
While warming up for rehearsals at Ian Tyson’s ranch in the early eighties Dave Hamilton, David Wilkie and Neil Bentley founded the Great Western Orchestra and produced an album of country shuffles, ballads, and western swing tunes featuring a selection of well known musical guests. That experience led to more involvement, recognition and appreciation by the musical community in Canada and the US.
Fast forward thirty years and the urge to form a western big band is alive and well. Opportunity knocked and with the help of some wonderful old friends and some very capable new friends they got together almost every Monday night as a rehearsal band to play some challenging, fun music and ‘hone the chops’. Gigging was never the prime motivation but soon the curiosity from many who wondered what we were up to was enough to encourage the group to look for a venue. That venue turned out to be a recording and the Stampede City Swing album was arranged, produced, performed and recorded by members of the Western Swing Project.