It’s all about the power of two this Friday.
The second in Kelly Hopkins’ Spring Songwriter Showcase series features three talented duos – Gary Nielsen and Chris Doherty, Joanne Stacey and Sharlene Foisy and Nadeen Preedy and Jeff Person.
Doherty and Nielsen are Double Dawg Dare, a musical collaboration that has spanned more than 25 years.
It’s hard to pigeonhole the duo’s genre – an eclectic mix of folk, blues, swing and originals – but their style is always energetic and engaging.
These guys know how to have fun on stage.
The duo is well known for their sharp-witted lyrics that have made whimsical classics like Don’t and The Garden of Love (aka The Vegetable Song) favourites of audiences of all ages.
If your taste runs to ballads, you’ll find the haunting melodies of songs like Paradise and Vegas lingering in your mind days after you hear them.
Hot off the press are a batch of new songs by Doherty – influenced by his recent affair with a certain long-necked plectrum banjo named Maybelle.
The result has been several more songs with catchy rhythms and clever lyrics that instantly connect with listeners.
Describing their music as “folkish-bizzaro,” veteran performers Jeff Person and Nadeen Preedy have been writing and playing together for many years.
While much of their performing is done as a duo, both songwriters have performed with several other bands and have organized and run the Grindrod Pub Jam Sessions for several years.
Most of their songs tell stories, some uplifting and some sorrowful, and many with an engaging touch of humour.
Since arriving in the Shuswap in 1989, Person and Preedy have been inspired to write many songs about the area, including Enderby Cliffs, Sugar Lake and Twice But Nice.
Joanne Stacey has spent many years working in the music business as a performer, recording artist, songwriter, producer and manager.
She currently has a publishing deal in Nashville and radio airplay all around the world.
Stacey’s songwriting credits include two honourable mentions from the Billboard World Song Contest, an honourable mention from the West Coast Songwriters International Song Contest 2011 and was a top-10 Canadian finalist in the 2009 Mountain Stage New Song Contest.
She currently lives in Revelstoke, where she works as a private vocal and performance coach and is a founding member of the country/roots band, Sister Girl.
Also a founding member of Sister Girl, Sharlene Foisy, cut her teeth doing musicals in community theatre.
As a member of Sister Girl, she began writing songs and developing her craft. Now a seasoned performer and songwriter, Foisy continues to share her talents, making music with Stacey, as well as other band projects.
She has taken up the fiddle recently to expand her musicianship, in the hope of one day having adequate skill to take it on-stage.
A 20-year resident of Revelstoke, Foisy works as an insurance broker, raising three teenage daughters and making great music.
Hear what these three talented songwriting duos have to play at the SAGA Public Art Gallery on Friday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m.
The third songwriters showcase on Friday, May 31 at the United Church Hall will feature Jesse Mast and other songwriters yet to be announced.