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Kuklis reunites with old bandmates for show

The lone cultured cowboy in Prince George is rustlin' up a posse. William Kuklis used to be a founding member of the Lower Mainland band Cultured Cowboy.
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Local singer/songwriter Willie Kuklis entertained the crowd at Studio 2880 on Saturday during the 42nd annual Chili Fest and Spring Arts Bazaar.

The lone cultured cowboy in Prince George is rustlin' up a posse.

William Kuklis used to be a founding member of the Lower Mainland band Cultured Cowboy. The band had some glory days, like playing for 50,000 people at the Vancouver Sun Run or doing a live set at the Vancouver International Airport as part of the CFL's official Grey Cup festivities.

They eventually ran out of momentum, as music groups often do, and Kuklis for his part moved to Prince George where his is a popular solo artist, operates a recording studio, and has also graced the acting stage in productions like Theatre NorthWest's recent production of It's A Wonderful Life: The Live Radio Play.

One of his ex-bandmates thought Kuklis was having too much fun on his own. Terry Magson is on the road heading this way for a summer visit, so he and Kuklis are putting at least two-fifths of the band back together (the other three are Aaron Burnett on bass, Matt Adolf on keys, Chris Fowlie on drums) for a concert at Nancy O's on Saturday night.

"Terry and I started our first bad together in the late '90s," said Kuklis. "We are old high school buddies, theatre geeks, and we started Cultured Cowboy on a lark and it just went on. We played together 8 or 10 years. The band had some good success down on the coast. This is our first show together in something like 15 years."

The two plan to do some recording of new material they are working on, but first they have to dig out the old material and re-listen to the CDs.

Kuklis said a lot of the conversations about the Saturday set list started out "oh, yeah, let's play that song, I loved that song" followed by "ummm, but do you remember how to play it?" They've been doing their homework to get ready.

The five have not lost touch. Every so often they manage to get together for a jam session, and Kuklis said the music flows now just like it did in their heyday. There are no plans for a Cultured Cowboy reunion, but there is also an understanding among them that the creative door is still open.

SIDEBAR

William Kuklis has a well known music career in northern B.C.

He has opened for the likes of the late John Bottomley, Shane Koyczan, The Be Good Tanyas, Craig Cardiff and Alicia Witt.

He was featured at the 2015 Canada Winter Games festival, he stirred the internet's heart with an ode to the Cariboo in the aftermath of last year's forest fires, and he now has three solo albums to his credit.

On Aug. 12 he adds a high-profile gig to his accomplishments. He will perform live at The Hard Rock Cafe, and it will be an international concert appearance. Kuklis will be on stage in Reykjavik.

It's more than 5,200 air kilometres from Prince George to Iceland's capital. This was not part of a wildly ambitious tour, but a slice of kismet.

It started when his wife Megan got an assignment as part of her Master's degree studies to put together a conference proposal.

"On a lark, she figured why not actually submit it to an actual conference in her field, and lo and behold she got a message from Iceland. 'Yes, please, we'd love to have you speak.' So since she was talking at the university there, I threw out some feelers for places to perform a concert, since I'd be there with her anyway. And lo and behold, I got a message from the Hard Rock Cafe. 'Yes, please, we'd love to have you play.'"

He toyed with the idea of what to perform there, but decided to keep it simple and give the Reykjavik audience the core William Kuklis set list. He is a Bjork fan, so it's an extra thrill to be performing in her hometown. Iceland has a robost music scene so he knows getting a gig there is not to be taken lightly.

"I'm really hoping - expecting really - that all of this is going to lead me to some song material. I'm already excited about writing about this place I've never been, so far away, that I'm so lucky to get to experience," he said.