If you’re the type of person who gets a song stuck in your head and doesn’t mind a good Newfoundland kitchen party, Singalong Saturdays just might be for you.
Running Saturday evenings at the Pheasant and Quail Pub, the concept is the brainchild of local folk singer Andrew Smith who has been meaning to start just such an event for years.
“I suspect it’s scratching an itch,” said Smith. “People like to get together and sing and, unless you go to church every week, you don’t get to experience what’s it’s like to sit in a room full of people and just sing along.”
Smith has just returned from the Winter Folk Festival where he was performing with his son, Zachari Smith.
Zachari, known for his work with Vancouver music collective The Geese, plays drums for the singalong band, known as The Public House Band. He is joined on stage by by Sherri Funk, of Smith Funk and Strauss, Eric Dicer on keyboards, and Rob McAlpine, of the Dust Rhinos, on bass.
The songs include hits from the ’50s, ’60s even new tunes from Taylor Swift. The only criteria is that the set list must be something everyone can catch onto quite quickly.
The evening is not karaoke and the band is not a cover band; the concept is intentionally designed to get the whole room singing.
“I think it’s an idea whose time has come,” said Smith. “This is something that’s quite common if you travel around to different parts of the world, just not in Western Canada.”
Singalong Saturdays will run through mid-March Saturdays at the Pheasant and Quail Pub.
