OXBOW - The Oxbow Arts and Cultural Committee had another successful Shake the Winter Blues concert at the Oxbow branch of the Royal Canadian Legion last Thursday night.
The featured groups were Chad Staples, the Harmoniously Hip, Cory Hill, and C. Hill and the Gang.
Local resident Lori Moncrief has attended countless performances in the past and offered her assessment of the evening.
“Chad Staples and his guitar started the evening off with ballads. His humble and sincere performance was well received, and the committee is pleased he agreed to perform as he hasn’t been doing public performances lately,” said Moncrief.
“Harmoniously Hip is well-known in the southeast as Erin Brown and Kathy Kyle have performed at many community events. This relaxed and talented duo doesn’t practise often – they are just too darn busy at this time of life – but they always find the right songs which complement their harmonies and please the crowds.
“Cory Hill hails from Carnduff and is new to the committee's events. He comes from a musical family and his guitar numbers and strong vocals were entertaining.
“C. Hill and the Gang has Cory as the lead singer. He was joined by Erin Brown, vocals and guitar, Quince Boutin, guitar, Hal Nielsen, drums, and Sean Brown, also on guitar. These busy fellas didn’t practise too many times before they filled the hall with a string of upbeat tunes and harmonica solos by Cory. They were pleased with the opportunity to perform and thanked the committee several times for asking them to the event.”
Sandy Dalziel is an Oxbow resident who also attended.
“The music was fabulous, and it was a fulfilled night. There was a great crowd, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The legion was a great venue to host an event such as this and the smell of freshly made popcorn was nostalgic.
“Southeastern Saskatchewan has a lot of good, quality homegrown talent. And a big shout out to all the organizers and volunteers who work so hard to have these events so all of us can enjoy.”
Brad Mayer is an original member of the Arts and Cultural Committee and was extremely pleased with the great turnout and quality of entertainment.
“The goal of our committee is to showcase local entertainment and talent. And we did it again, in a very big way.”
“Given the large crowd in attendance, it is likely that more of this type of event will be organized again. Overall, it was another great musical event,” added Moncrief.
This was the second Shake the Winter Blues event. The first one was held in Alameda earlier this year.
