The Great Plains return to Chemainus for the love of music

The Great Plains — Saskia and Darrel — perform a Valentine's matinee concert Saturday, Feb. 15 in Chemainus.

The Great Plains return to Chemainus for a Valentine’s concert Feb. 15.

The Great Plains return to Chemainus for a Valentine’s concert Feb. 15.

For the love of music, The Great Plains are returning to Chemainus to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

The Great Plains — Saskia and Darrel — were in Chemainus for a concert with Gary Fjellgaard two years ago, and this weekend, they’re back for a Valentine’s concert Saturday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. at the Chemainus Seniors Drop In Centre.

“Get ready to enjoy a heart-warming evening of music, merriment, and mayhem, as Saskia and Darrel deliver a wonderful blend of folk music, an unpredictable series of songs that change every night,” states a press release. “They delight their audience with tales about Louis Riel, war brides, love, miners, and David Thompson and then surprisingly will break into Swiss yodeling, or sing in Gaelic, Spanish, Dutch, German or French.”

Saskia and Darrel are practising spiritualists, long-distance hikers and part-time vegetarians. Over the years, they have been incarnated as loggers, fire-camp cooks, real estate aide-de-campes, and gandy dancers.

“Ultimately though, despite the better advice of their children, their love of music won out and they escaped reality by promising each other that they would sustain a lifestyle by touring the world and playing folk music. And so they did,” according to their biography.

The Great Plains are a veteran touring act with a style that is described as easy and crowd-friendly.

“This is true Canadiana — real songs drenched in our culture and heritage delivered in a comfortable highly-skilled set with oodles of self-poking humour,” states the press release. “A taste of Celtic, a dab of bluegrass, and lots of engaging stories wrapped around extremely ear-wormy melodies.”

Saskia and Darrel have toured extensively with Gary Fjellgaard for the last 10 years and have also performed with Valdy and many others, and they’ve won numerous awards.

Tickets for the show are $10 in advance at the Seniors Drop In Centre or $12 at the door. For information, call 250-246-4424 or 250-246-2111.

Ladysmith Chronicle