Two well-known artists perform Western Roots music Thursday night at Art Space.
Valdy and Gary Fjellgaard present their own music during an evening filled with stories about the mountains and the sea, cowboys and fishermen, oil-well roustabouts and hard-driven loggers, sunsets and rain and the independent, rugged people that make Canada the unforgettable land that it is.
"I am looking forward to playing at Art Space with my old pal Gary," said Valdy, during a recent phone interview with The Citizen. "It's going to be wonderful. He comes from a country background, I come from a folk background but we do blend very well together."
It's been a decade that they've worked together, added Valdy.
"People of Prince George are going to get a full ten years of experience together at the show with a couple of guys who have damn near 140 years on the planet," Valdy laughed.
Valdy is a big fan of Fjellgaard's and has followed him since the early 80s when Fjellgaard was part of a local band called Bitter Wind.
The duo created an album, Contenders, with Stony Plain Records in 1999 and then came together again in 2008 for Contenders Two: Still in the Running.
They play 15 to 30 gigs every year as a duo, said Valdy, with more than 150 gigs a year for each musician.
"This is be three shows in one," promised Valdy. "The audience gets the two of us together, they get Gary alone and me alone. So three different tastes, if you will. And I get to play a little bass with Gary, which is always fun."
Valdy said he'll play material that people know him by and so will Gary.
"I have a new album that is three-quarters done so there will be some new material I will be injecting into the show as well," Valdy said. The album's working title is Read Between The Lines and he's shooting for a release date at the end of October.
"Expect to hear Play Me a Rock and Roll Song, the fans also want to hear Peter and Lou, Yes I Can and VLT, which is a newer song. The audience also wants to hear Gary and my songs Boys of Rhythm, and they know we play King Of The Road, so we still get a lot of requests," said Valdy. "And we're both healthy and we're both still eating solid food so that's lucky at our age."
Valdy said he's played many of the larger venues in Prince George as well as the smaller Art Space and he's looking forward to performing there again.
"I've always enjoyed going up to the Art Space," Valdy said. "It's a sweet place. You're close enough to see people's eyebrows. It's quite intimate."
Gary Fjellgaard and Valdy play Art Space Thursday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $28, which includes HST, at Books & Co., 1685 Third Avenue.
