The Caetani Centre Summer Music Series continues Sunday, July 30 with a songwriter’s showcase.
The showcase will be hosted by Andrew Mercer of Cod Gone Wild and will feature fellow songwriters Jane Eamon, Kerry Parks, and Lowell Friesen. The format will see each songwriter share several of their original songs with the audience in alternating order.
“This is a great format that allows the audience to focus on the songs, the stories, and the process behind the music,” said showcase host Andrew Mercer.
There is nothing more beautiful than a moment caught in time. That’s what a songwriter does — catches a moment like a fly in amber. Eamon is one such songwriter, encapsulating her life lyric to lyric, all the pain, the love, the joy, and the memories.
Five-time Okanagan Music Award winner, producer of six CDs of original music, long-time mentor and supporter of all things songwriting, author of a book of poetry and a songwriting book called, The Songwriter’s’ Voice, Eamon has accomplished much. But she somehow remains focused on what is essential to her: the truth in her writing.
Eamon doesn’t tour and to catch a show is a rare thing indeed. She will delight, uplift and perhaps even make you think. But above all, she will share deeply and that is what music is all about.
As a Canadian contemporary singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Friesen combines a tender-hearted sensitivity, an edgy simmering angst, and a dash of tongue-in-cheek humour to his brand of modern-folk, alt-country music. Born in Manitoba in a small Mennonite farming community, Friesen’s first influences ranged from the church choir harmonies he heard on Sundays, to the twangy country tunes his father played when no one from the church was around to listen.
Moving to B.C. in his adolescence, Friesen then discovered skateboarding and punk rock, which inspired him to get his first guitar. Fuelled by the energetic freethinking sub culture of the West Coast, Friesen spent his teenage years and 20s exploring music, writing, and art.
Parks is a singer/songwriter who uses creative plain-speak to shoot song-snapshots of life, weaving narrative and imagery around country-folk melodies that echo timeless rhythms. Parks delivers ballads, blues, and message tunes with a passion gentle or righteous in a voice that rasps or rumbles over acoustic and slide guitar with harmonica on the side.
Parks is active in the local acoustic trio Steel Wound, the Celtic group Kilt.45, as well as several other projects and also helps host coffee house and slow-jam events to support local musical development in the community.
Born and raised in Bay Roberts, N.L., Mercer has been surrounded by music his entire life and his songs certainly reflect his East Coast upbringing and Celtic heritage.
Mercer formed his first Celtic band in high school and at age 17 released his first commercial recording with the band Ocean Skye. The band was nominated for two Newfoundland and Labrador Music Industry Awards and Mercer was selected as one of the winners of a National Songwriting Competition for the song I Remember. Upon moving to B.C. in 2009, Andrew formed the Celtic-inspired band Cod Gone Wild, who just recently released their fourth studio album The Islander.
Bring your blankets, folding chairs, and even a picnic and enjoy a relaxing afternoon of stories and songs presented by the Caetani Centre. Show begins at 2 p.m., rain or shine, and a selection of refreshments will be available for purchase. Admission is by donation ($10 recommended donation for adults, $5 for Caetani members and kids). Memberships will be available for purchase at the event. Proceeds go directly to the artists and toward capitol improvement projects at the centre. Parking is not available at the Caetani Centre and patrons are asked to park off site in approved parking zones and walk to the centre.