Leslie Cholowsky
Editor
DaysArts Concert Series welcomed Jake Vaadeland and the Sturgeon River Boys to the Palace Theatre stage last Wednesday, Jan. 24, in a performance that wound back time to the honky tonk sounds of the ‘50s. DaysArts board member Sharon Eshpeter says the group played a great mix of bluegrass, 1950s-era honky tonk that was very well received by the Daysland audience. “We had people buying tickets especially to see this group, having either caught a previous performance or heard of one.”
Daysland Sound Technician Tom Lichak said the band’s authentic sound is partially due to the style of microphones they use, and says for him it was like being transported back to the Grand ‘Ole Opry stage of the ‘50s. “They are excellent at what they do; what a great performance.” He was wowed by the group’s expertise on their instruments, which included guitar, banjo, and upright bass.
Vaadeland, who is just 21, describes himself as a ‘Retro Man,’ in an autobiographical song of the same name and played all original music except for the encore, which was an Elvis song. “He’s totally in character all the
time,” Eshpeter says, “with his pompadour hair and ‘spaghetti legs’.” She says he even arrived wearing a suit
reminiscent of the era, before changing into the one he wore on stage. “He says the suit he wears on stage was the one worn by Wilf Carter in his final show in 1993,” she adds, saying that Vaadeland says he caught the eye of Carter’s former manager who offered to pass the suit on to him. Outside of their outstanding musical performance, Eshpeter says the band were very funny, always telling great stories in between songs, and she describes their musical performance as “very tight, very professional. This is a group of talented musicians.”
Vaadeland hails from the community of Big River, SK, from a musical family.His father, Gord Vaadeland, was himself in a bluegrass band, and as a child, Jake often attended the Northern Lights Bluegrass music festival, something he says put him firmly on the road to becoming a musician in that genre. He’s obviously doing something right. Vaadeland received two Saskatchewan Music Awards including Album of the Year for Everybody But Me, along with the Folk/Roots Artist of the Year. In addition, he earned four
Saskatchewan Country Music Awards, including Fans’ Choice Entertainer of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Alternative Country Album of the Year and Emerging Artist of the Year. His album, Retro Man, also finished at number two in fan voting for the Best Saskatchewan Albums of 2021.
Eshpeter says they received many compliments on the performance from concert-goers after the show. “They were a lot of fun on stage, and we got the feeling that people would welcome them back.” She says she sees Vaadeland on a “rising star trajectory” with a European tour planned for later in the spring.
DaysArts prides itself on bringing a wide variety of talent and musical styles to its local audience. “When someone comes up to me after a performance saying they didn’t think they’d enjoy it, but that they really did, that’s a win for me,” Eshpeter says.
Next up for DaysArts will be Christian de la Luna, a pop-latin folk performer, on Thursday, Feb. 15. “It might
be a great Valentine’s gift for a special someone,” Eshpeter says. She says the Daysland concert series
is still feeling the after-effects of the pandemic, to some degree, and has not reached the pre-pandemic numbers they’d hope for. “I think people need to get back into the habit of supporting events like this,” she adds. “We try to expose our audiences to a wide variety of entertainers, and at a very reasonable cost. We’re talking all the time about how we can build our audience base back up.”
Three acts remain in the 2023-24 series, including de la Luna in February, Illusionist Chris Funk in March, and Canadian singer and song-writer Jeffrey Straker closing the series in April.