Tickets are going fast for this Saturday’s concert featuring blues crooner Jim Byrnes, who returns to the Evergreen Cultural Centre to kick off the seventh annual Music on the Grill series.
Byrnes will appear at the Coquitlam venue July 4 and promises his show will be “all southern” to mark Independence Day in the United States.
“It’ll be a southern night: a lot of gospel and a lot of soul sounds,” he told The Tri-City News.
The St. Louis, Missouri-born Byrnes will share the stage with The Sojourners, a spiritual ensemble made up of Texan native Marcus Mosely, Will Sanders of Louisiana and Khari McClelland who moved from Detroit to Vancouver seven years ago.
Byrnes and the The Sojourners will each play solo sets before ending with a joint “extravaganza,” Byrnes said. “The energy is going to be really good.”
The Juno-award winning Byrnes, who for last year’s Music on the Grill was paired with Babe Gurr, said he enjoys playing the 257-seat theatre because of the hospitality of the centre managers and the vibrant crowd. “It’s always a really great night,” he said. “It’s an enjoyable experience for us every time.”
But while the barbecue before Byrnes’ show is already sold out, tickets are still up for grabs for the next two Grill events with the meal option.
On July 25, singer Don Stewart — another familiar name to the Evergreen — teams up with the Miles Black Quartet for a jazz gig (in 2011, Stewart played Nat ‘King’ Cole in a tribute show with Cayla Brooke as Peggy Lee).
And their concert will also feature a folk component with Celtic fiddler Kiérah and Andy Hillhouse (Mad Pudding and The McDades) opening the evening.
Finally, wrapping up the series on Aug. 8 is the folk/country group The Travelling Mabels with Rebecca Lappa, a modern folk singer from Edmonton. The Mabels — better known as Eva Levesque, Lana Floen and Suzanne Levesque (with Keith Floen as band leader) — were named the ACMA 2011 Group of the Year and draw their influences from Dolly Parton, The Eagles, Bob Dylan and Sheryl Crow.
Their Evergreen performance is The Mabels’ only B.C. date for the rest of this year.
• Tickets for the concert and BBQ are $55, or $35 for just the concert. Call the box office at 604-927-6555 or visit evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
