Sarah Burton is coming to Prince George for a concert appearance after all.
The popular Ontario singer-songwriter has been riding the wave of her new album Make Your Own Bed, and was in northern B.C. for gigs at other locations like Williams Lake, the ArtsWells Festival in Wells, the Rolla Pub's 50th anniversary bash, but all her usual Prince George venues were spoken for, even though she was going to be in town on Wednesday with her band.
So, she is performing at an unusual venue: The Exploration Place.
Even more unusual is, fellow touring troubadour Madeline Tasquin was also in the area on her latest junket through the area, and had a house concert plan that fell though at the last minute.
The two chanteuses will now co-headline the Aug. 5 gig, working together at the museum's splendid panoramic great-room overlooking Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park.
Burton has earned a large following here for tours in the past. This time, she came intending to wow those old fans as well as make new ones.
"The response has been 'oh, we didn't know you rocked this hard' because I never had my band out with me," she said.
"So now we can bring the show we do in Toronto out west. I'm so grateful people have been so supportive for me out west, it's a mainstay region for me, but it's financially tight to bring a band along. Now I'm doing it so everyone can see what the show is like back home. The audiences out here deserve it just as much."
So she has the van with the new roof-box loaded in instruments and gear, making room inside for bassist Victoria Beard, Alfred Chow on guitar and drummer Scott Nickol (they each have other projects back in Ontario - they are accomplished players in their own right).
Burton is having a lot of extra fun along the now familiar roads of B.C. pointing out all the cool features to her travel-mates.
"A lot of my B.C. friends say 'why don't you live here? You fit here' and maybe there's something about me that shares that B.C. personality," she admitted. "I do feel like my music fits in a bit better out here. But I have a strong place in the scene of my hometown, which is Toronto. But it really is magical and beautiful out here.
"Oh, I'm so confused. Toronto is very nice, but it's not the same. A lot of the beauty of Toronto is in its grit, but I'm looking out the window right now and the foliage is insane, the mountains, the water. And P.G., too, if you've never been there you may not know about it, but it's gorgeous there. I love your town."
Burton has never met Tasquin face-to-face but they are the two members of a mutual admiration club for helping one another get an audience together in a town they both appreciated already. This will just add to the love.
In true house concert fashion, The Exploration Place is donating the room to the two wandering minstrels.
The full ticket price ($20 each, children 10-and-under $5) goes directly to the entertainers, as does the music and merchandise sales they will have available.
The Exploration Place will provide refreshment sales and their gift shop will be open.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and showtime is about 7 p.m. with plenty of artist interaction with the audience.
