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Folk music in Pender

A pair of Canadian music legends is coming to Pender Harbour. Folk-singers Valdy and Gary Fjellgaard will perform at the Music School on Saturday, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m. in another Music Society sponsored event. Together, they are a near-perfect team.

A pair of Canadian music legends is coming to Pender Harbour.

Folk-singers Valdy and Gary Fjellgaard will perform at the Music School on Saturday, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m. in another Music Society sponsored event.

Together, they are a near-perfect team. Their songs touch a common ground with the affection and warmth only old friends can share - two memorable and endearing guys, two guitars and two dozen songs or more to tell you where they've been, where they're at and where they're heading.

Valdy grew up in Ottawa and now makes his home on Saltspring Island. He is best remembered for Play Me a Rock and Roll Song, his bitter-sweet memory of finding himself, a relaxed and amiable story-teller, facing a rambunctious audience at the Aldergrove Rock Festival circa 1968.

Valdy has sold almost half a million copies of his 13 albums, has two Juno Awards, a total of seven Juno nominations and four gold albums to his credit. Along the way, he's taken his music to a dozen different countries from Denmark to Australia. Valdy tours close to 200 days each year performing in theatres, community halls, school auditoriums and a string of festivals and clubs. He plays from coast to coast in Canada and continues to be an effective musical ambassador abroad.

Born on the Canadian prairies in Rose Valley, Sask., Fjellgaard moved west to Prince George as a teenager and got his first break in show business when he barnstormed with Hall of Famer Evan Kemp and his B.C. Trailriders. However, reality was a chainsaw during the week and a guitar on the weekends to support his growing family. These blue-collar years and his prairie roots became a basis for many of his songs.

Come hear Valdy and Fjellgaard together on Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Pender Harbour School of Music next to the Madeira Park government dock. Tickets are $20, available at John Henry's in Garden Bay, Harbour Insurance in Madeira Park, Talewind Books and Magic Sound in Sechelt and Coast Books in Gibsons. For more information, call 604-883-2403.