The rafters will be lifting Friday night at Silver Creek Community Hall when Canadian Country Music award-winning artist Shane Chisholm makes a surprise visit.
Chisholm is not just another guy wielding a gas tank bass; he and his band fuse elements of old-school country with a smattering of rockabilly.
Along with four Canadian Country Music Awards, Chisholm was crowned Alberta’s first Male Artist of the Year at the Alberta Country Music Awards in 2012.
In 2009, he was winner, of music publishing company Ole’s second annual Hitsville single song deal competition along with Ron McNeill for his co-write of Kickin’ up the Dust.
Chisholm has enjoyed radio success and has toured Canada as an artist with his own band as well as bassist and backup singer for many of Canada’s biggest stars (Aaron Lines, Matt Minglewood, George Canyon, Lisa Brokop, Aaron Pritchett, Julian Austin, Prairie Oyster and Beverly Mahood).
His debut album, Hitchhiking Buddha, was nominated for Country Recording of the Year through the Western Canadian Music Awards.
The singer-songwriter builds his own instruments, including an upright bass crafted from a Chevy gas tank, which won CCMA’s Special Instrument of the Year in 2010.
Other unique instruments include an electric grinder and the Stanley Cup bass, created from pots, pans and an Ikea salad bowl to resemble the NHL’s Stanley Cup.
Chisholm says, his most memorable experience was performing for Canada’s armed forces in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan.
“This is a rare opportunity for people to come out and enjoy a night of great live music for a fraction of what they would pay to see him in concert any where else,” says Jesse Mast, who will also perform Friday.
Winner of the 2013 Shuswap Idol Singer-Songwriter competition, Mast’s first instrument was the fiddle, followed by guitar.
Mast has immersed himself in learning about music masters, from guitar and banjo pickers, to amazing entertainers and vocalists with the pioneers, to the more modern icons.”
Mast is crafting song lyrics, determined to make his mark as a Canadian country music entertainer.
A Salmon Arm resident, Mast participated in the Great Canadian Song Race in 2012, and took top spot in the 2013 Our Kids Have Talent competition.
He was also the winner of the Global Country Star Search, which gave him the opportunity to travel to Nashville for an international competition as well as a performance at the annual Global Country Concert Festival Place in Edmonton.
Tickets for Friday night’s performance by Chisholm and special guest Mast in Silver Creek are $12 at the door.
