Kicking Horse Culture (KHC) has announced it will host a Summer Kicks season, bringing live music back to Golden following the announcement last week that B.C. would be moving into Phase 3 of the province’s restart plan on July 1.
Departing from last year’s COVID-altered format with a rolling stage that would travel through neighbourhoods, bringing live music to the people of Golden from the comfort of their own homes, Summer Kicks will be held at Keith King Memorial Park for the 2021 season.
While Summer Kicks is usually held at Spirit Square, executive director of KHC Bill Usher explains the expansive park allows for better social distancing, for those who may still be apprehensive about large crowds after almost 18 months of pandemic living.
“We’ve been networking the last 14 months to try and pull something like this together, all that work in the background to pull this off,” said Usher.
“People are real excited that this is all happening.”
Usher is thrilled to be bringing back live music to Golden.
While there will be a mix of local music, he says that KHC will also be doing what they usually do – bringing touring artists to town as well.
He says they’ve been working for months now to preemptively book artists, in the hopes that B.C. would reopen in time for the summer season.
“We’re all extremely happy, this sector has been devastated by COVID, I know so many artists have had to leave the industry and found other jobs to feed their families, so we’re happy to be able to help support them and revitalize the industry,” said Usher.
So far, Usher says people are thrilled to have Summer Kicks back, with emails coming in from the moment the summer season was announced.
“There’s a real pent up desire to get out and see music and feel like you’re doing something and return to normal,” said Usher.
“We want to offer the community a safe way to get out and get close if they want, or stay a part if they want, and see some great music in town.”
Summer Kicks will be held every Wednesday, starting on July 7, from 7-9 p.m., with the following lineup:
Wednesday, July 7 – Buddy Wackett and the Floorwalkers
Wednesday, July 14 – Retrofied
Wednesday, July 21 – Moontricks
Friday, July 23 – Shred Kelly
Wednesday, July 28 – Harpdog Brown’s Doghouse Blues Band
Wednesday, August 4 – Krystle Dos Santos
Thursday, August 12 – Small Town Artillery
Wednesday, August 18 – The Static Shift
Wednesday, August 25 – Satellite & the Harpoonist
Friday, August 27 – Shaela Miller
Usher is also hopeful for a Live Kicks series to be featured in the fall as well.
