The July concert at Serenity Performing Arts Centre was on Saturday, July 13. It was another beautiful evening to be able to listen to some very gifted musicians and eat delicious cheesecake. Arden Dunfield was present again with all of her scarves for adults and children to dance with.
First on stage was David Blair, who played the acoustic guitar. He was with his back-up group of Bryan Deans on cello and Brad Fisher on drums. Blair was the vocalist and songwriter. The trio is from Vancouver.
Blair’s got quite a musical history. He was a semi-finalist on Canada’s Got Talent. He was asked to perform in the Olympic Village for the athletes in the 2011 Summer and 2012 Winter Olympics. He wrote a song called Stronger, Higher, Faster to inspire the Canadian athletes. He was helped out by brainstorming from students in a songwriting program that Blair had started in 2005 and teaches. He calls it Songwriters of a New Generation or SONG.
Blair tours the Okanagan a lot. In November he is going on tour to Europe.
He has four albums out and a new one was released on Monday, July 15 on a brand new digital platform called Surpass, which anyone can download for free when they sign up.
Devon Coyote performed next. He played the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, and the lap steel. He was accompanied by D’Arcy Booth, who played the bass, kick, hi-hat, and banjo. They are from Kelowna and have played together since January, 2013. Coyote tours all the time. He just got back from the Yukon and is headed for Montreal in the fall.
Coyote has got one album out called Blue, Black, and Gray and a new one is due in the fall. His music is a mixture of rock and country. His last song was dedicated to owner Shirley De Vought. Coyote has performed at Serenity four times and explained how well she looked after all the singers. The audience then called for an encore.
Coyote said that he would sing another song if Blair and his group came on stage to “jam” with him. Everyone on stage did a solo during the song. It was a great way to end the evening.
This coming Friday, Serenity will host roots singer songwriter Shannon Lyon as part of the Clearwater Kayak Festival.
The next regular Serenity performance will be on Aug. 17 with Australians Benny Walker with Tom Richardson, plus Danielle Savage and The Miscreants.
