ATHABASCA – A widely acclaimed local talent will be returning to the region for the final show in the Heartwood Folk Club’s fall season, as part of a six-month tour she said has “revitalized” her love for the stage.
Crystal Plamondon, 60, said she’s excited to be back in Athabasca Nov. 17, for her last show in 2023, after the COVID-19 pandemic enforced a three-year hiatus on her playing.
“I’m blessed to come from a musical family, and I’m very blessed to live in Alberta,” said Plamondon in a Nov. 7 interview. “I feel like I’ve never sang better, I’ve got an amazing band — it’s hard work being on stage but it’s so worth it.”
Plamondon will be joined by her bandleader and song writing partner Gord Matthews, an acclaimed Albertan guitarist who spent a decade with both k.d. lang and Ian Tyson. Joining them will be Don Marcott, on the upright bass, and the dual fiddles of John Calverley, and Braden Gates.
Plamondon got her start playing music in a francophone family in Plamondon, the hamlet her great-grandfather helped found.
“Being francophone, I grew up with fiddle and accordion music — French people and Indigenous people love the fiddle, and I grew up with them both,” said Plamondon. “I knew when I started my career that I had to have a fiddle in the band.”
Plamondon, who picked up the nickname “The Cajun Queen” somewhere along her journey, has always had a southern influence in her music. She said her family has a mixture of American and Acadian roots, and her sound grew from there.
“I opened for a Cajun band in Vancouver near the start of my career, and they were asking, ‘Where are you from, you’re one of us,’” said Plamondon. “I knew who Doug Kershaw was, and I had been singing his songs since I was 12, but when I went there it clicked — they really adopted me as one of their own.”
All seven of Plamondon’s albums are bilingual, although she said her performances tend to be about 90 per cent in English. Besides Kershaw, she lists Dolly Parton, Sting, and Emmylou Harris as some of her musical influences, which can create a blend of musical genres.
“It’s Cajun roots, country because I’m a country girl from northern Alberta, and some folk. That’s what my show really is,” said Plamondon.
Plamondon has spent her entire life on stage — whether it’s music, acting, or live theatre, she’s done it all.
“It’s been my entire life, my family has always been asking, ‘When are you going to get an actual job,’” said Plamondon with a laugh. “I just love it, I just turned sixty and I wanted to figure out if I was going to keep playing, and I thought as long as people keep coming to see me, I’ll continue.”
As always, tickets are available at Whispering Hills Fuel, Athabasca Health Foods, and Value Drug Mart — advance tickets cost $30, and they’ll be available at the door for $35 as well.
