Celebrate the dog days of summer with the Wheat in the Barley, Saturday, Aug. 28, at Roberts Creek Hall.
Doors open at 7:30, and the music fires up at 8 p.m. sharp with special guests, the talented local new grass group Chore Buster Ranch.
The Wheaties' music, a strange brew of world music, celtic roots and rhythm and blues, begins at 9:15 p.m. The two sets will feature tunes from their nearly completed third CD, After the Battle. Some are also previewed on their website at wheatinthebarley.com.
Advance tickets are available from Coast Books, Talewind Books and Roberts Creek General Store for $10 (adults) or $7 (seniors and youths under 14) for this all-ages event, which will have the hall jumping until midnight. Light refreshments and snacks will be available all evening. Based out of Vancouver, Maple Ridge and White Rock, this zany folk and roll band are playing right here in the Sunshine Coast, an annual event for them. The group began as a multicultural folk band (mostly from Celtic and Slavic roots) and has evolved to become one of the finest musical groups performing educational and community concerts in B.C. They achieved the highest marks for artistry (98 per cent) at the ArtStarts in Schools showcase in 2001.
The Wheaties have performed for at least 100 schools in B.C. over the past four years and have appeared in community concerts throughout the interior, the Lower Mainland and the islands. Last spring, they performed in the Pacific Contact Showcase Concert Program sponsored by the B.C. Touring Council. Their excursions into pub venues have included watering holes from Nanaimo to Nelson and everywhere in between. Their much-anticipated third CD features one of the best acoustic roots rhythm sections in the lower mainland with Steve Gidora on guitar, bazouki and mandolin, Mickey Hovan on bass and Cozy Bones drummer, Ed Johnson. Guest vocalist and rock artist Neil James Harnett joins Gidora and Nicole Scoffield on vocals on the several tracks. With all kinds of winds (harp, whistle, sax and more, blown by Mark Dowding), some of the chunkiest riffing accordion (Victor Smith) and superb searing hot violin (Nicole Scoffield), this promises to be one of the most exciting dances the venerable hall has seen in recent years.
