Three back-to-back all-local Coldsnap shows

Neda Jelali and Eric Tompkins perform during the first of three back-to-back all-local Coldsnap shows, January 25 at Art Space, the venue above Books and Company on Third Avenue downtown. January 26 and 27 will also boast all-local shows at Art Space, beginning at 8 p.m. both nights. 

By Tyler Clarke, editor of Cutbanks - the Prince George Cultural Magazine

The first of three back-to-back evenings of local music certainly exhibited a Prince George flavour, with six local musical groups performing at Art Space, the venue above Books and Company on Third Avenue downtown. 

Festival organizer Jo Beattie put it best when she addressed the audience near the end of the evening, saying “It’s great having out-of-town artists, but in the end this is our people.”

With some of the musician’s lyrics inspired by Northern BC, others by Prince George, and specifically their personal history in the city, the evening’s talent was enough to make one fall in love with the city all over again.

The first local group to play their four-song set was Rose Wood & The Thorns. After a few upbeat songs, the band closed their set off with a negative page from Prince George’s past – about former local judge David Ramsay, who was charged about five years ago with abusing local survival sex workers. Band member Greg Beattie was inspired to write the song after reading an article in the Prince George Citizen by Frank Peebles describing the life of one of the sex workers, who just wanted to get home to her dad.

“It struck me how important it would be for one particularly young woman to have a voice,” Beattie said before launching into the catchy but dark song titled Safe. Although the song had dark undertones, the overall vibe was a positive one, exuding the overall idea of hope for one’s future.

An impressive set by local family band Stamo followed Rose Wood & The Thorns, a band whose patriarch Moses Kostamo will be recording all three evenings’ performances for a special Live at Art Space CD compilation, consisting of one song by each of the 20 musical groups. The band’s clean sound exuded the down-to-earth nature of the city, whereas local group Clann Cara, who followed, helped exemplify the more hippy-esque groovy scene.

With clear Celtic undertones, thanks mainly to member Julie O’Reilly’s work on the violin, the band launched into a number of locally-inspired songs, many of which written during yearly retreats the band takes to Barkerville each summer. The local highlight of their set came about when band member Richard sang a song highlighting his family history in the Prince George area, starting with his parents’ settling in Vanderhoof.

Local music staple Eric Tompkins, who heads the weekly Friday Night at Café Voltaire, performed with his partner, Persian singer Neda Jelali, followed by local music teacher Dawn Boudreau, who sang songs mainly inspired by local events, such as the moment when her and her former husband decided to get a divorce while eating breakfast at a local McDonald’s.

Closing off the evening by kicking things up a few notches with her jazzy full-band accompaniment was Maureen Washington. Although she has since relocated to Victoria, Washington’s set began with a couple of songs she’d written and performed with her first band, the Prince George-based BOP.

There are still two more evenings of all-local music, with an additional 14 musicians and groups performing four-song sets at Art Space.

On Tuesday January 26, under the evening’s theme of Teachers and Students, Ray Bourque, Benedict Beattie and His Delightful Gang, Kevin Hutchings, Mike Footit, 22-9, Ben Brown, and The Concerns of Royalty will perform.

On Wednesday January 27, under the theme of Motley Crew, Chris Camilli, John Rogers, Out of Alba, Shae Morin, Lee-Wai Yu, Jeremy Stewart and Erin Arding, and The 3 Amigos will perform.

Both of these final shows will begin at 8 p.m. with admission by donation.