Jason Stockfish | [email protected]
Local musicians performed at 鈥楾he Stand Easy鈥� Jasper Royal Canadian Legion Branch 31 on Aug. 18 in support of a fundraiser for the Yellowhead Emergency Shelter for Women (YES).
The event was arranged by three friends and jam mates, Rob Gray, David McKnight and Sa拧a Jurko, who also performed an impressive set of their own during the 1960s-themed evening.
As the music began and patrons started making their way into the venue, Jurko proclaimed the trio鈥檚 happiness with the fundraiser.
鈥淣o matter what, the night鈥檚 a success.鈥�
McKnight stated the goal of the evening, in addition to raising money for the shelter, was to jam until they got the boot.
鈥淲e have enough (musicians) back-to-back, it鈥檚 just gonna be music all night for as long as we can keep playing.鈥澛�
鈥淓xactly,鈥� Jurko added.
鈥淲e鈥檒l just keep going as long as they stay open and people keep coming in.鈥�
Just as planned, the entertainment went on into the wee hours as music lovers danced the night away, singing along to renditions of 鈥�60s tunes performed by local talents.
Matricia Bauer opened the evening with a couple of hypnotic traditional Indigenous pieces, backed by Gray on tambourine and Keith Houston on drums.
For his part, Houston was a brick wall for nearly every act that performed that night.
Following Bauer was Fay Lovsky, who blew everyone鈥檚 minds with her powerful, pitch perfect voice and masterful use of the far out theremin.聽
Providing a killer interlude before the rest of his bandmates joined him on stage was Adam Ambroziak, who absolutely shredded on his electric guitar.
Jasper鈥檚 favourite band (as voted in the 贵颈迟锄丑耻驳丑鈥檚 Readers鈥� Choice Awards), Sons and Daughter, joined their guitarist, Ambroziak, and were on fire as usual, playing a great mix of tunes that included Van Morrison鈥檚 鈥淏rown Eyed Girl,鈥� Jimi Hendrix鈥檚 鈥淭he Wind Cries Mary鈥� and 鈥淭he Weight鈥� by The Band.
Before finishing their set, a supergroup of sorts formed for a dynamite cover of The Beatles鈥�, 鈥淐ome Together鈥� with Lovsky and her theremin returning to the stage, and Gray keeping rhythm, playing the bongos with his tambourine.
Next up on the bill was Stephen Nelson on lead guitar and vocals, with McKnight on bass, and Houston once again holding down the rhythm as the three had the crowd on their feet from the opening chords.
As the night turned to morning, Rory Campbell masterfully tickled the ivories, McKnight returned to the bass, Houston jumped back behind the drumset and the staple in Jasper鈥檚 music scene, Willy Saunders, blew the roof off the joint with his harmonica and groovy, gravelly voice.
Closing off the evening was the fundraising trio of Gray, Jurko and McKnight.
The trio didn鈥檛 have a band name before their set began, but after tossing around possible names such as 鈥淐osmos Factory鈥� and 鈥淟ounge Lizards,鈥� they settled on 鈥淭he Gratefully Dead Peacocks鈥� before the event came to a close.
Admission was by donation, and by the end of the night, the jar holding the charitable funds was as overflowing as the hearts of all who donated toward the $13,814 raised for the shelter.
Gray said the response from the musicians and residents exceeded his hopes and expectations.
鈥淚nitially, I was hoping to raise around $1,500 (to) $2,000 and I was thinking I might be the only performer, but all kinds of people jumped in asking how they could help,鈥� he said.
鈥淚鈥檓 damn proud of my town.鈥�
Notably, $12,000 came from the Common Connections Program, an initiative created by local employees of CN Rail in support of mental health and well-being, and the Jasper Fire Brigade and Griffiths Ford each donated $500 to help reach the impressive total.
