Celeigh Cardinal blew away the crowd of roughly 110 people at the Nancy Appleby Theatre with her powerful and soulful voice Oct. 4 to open the Heartwood Folk Club's fall 2019 season.
Cardinal, a Métis originally from Grande Prairie, is a soul and folk singer now based in the Edmonton area. She has performed across Canada, the United States and around the world, and was the 2018 winner of the Indigenous Artist of the Year award at the Western Canadian Music Awards. The same year, she was also nominated for Best Pop Album at the CBC Indigenous Music Awards.
"I've played professionally for about 20 years now, and this is the second time I played in the Athabasca area," Cardinal said after the concert. "I first played here in 2017 at the Grand Union Hotel with significantly less people at the venue. (Oct. 4) was just a wonderful experience, with a great group of people and a great venue."
Among the songs she performed on the stage included the spiritual song "Wade in the Water," as well as a hit originally released by Stevie Wonder. Other songs she performed talked about some of her past relationships with other people.
"We really love it all," Cardinal said. "I love being on the road, I love staying in hotels, and trying new foods. It really is the nomadic life that I always wanted. But it's also really good to come back home and sleep a full eight hours a couple of nights in a row and hang out with my 16-year-old son."
Another song she performed on stage had a local connection, called "Wandering River."
"When I go up to perform up in Fort McMurray, I always passed a sign pointing the way to the community of Wandering River, and I have never had the chance to actually go check it out. So I wrote a song about the curiosity about the community, and what I would imagine it would be like."
At this point, she said she is unsure if she will go up to see Wandering River or not.
"Do I really want to ruin the fantasy of what it is? What happens if I go?" Cardinal said. "Right now, it's all up in the air."
Shelly Roth, one of the spectators, said she really enjoyed how all the music flowed together.
"I especially loved how all her and her band all worked together on stage to make it all work," she said.
Her friend Colleen Heffernan said while she did not recognize most of the songs, she is now in love with all of them.
"(Celeigh) is just amazing," Heffernan said. "I also really enjoyed her rendition of the Elvis Presley song "Heartbreak Hotel.""
Eight-year-old Haddie Weber and her 12-year-old sister Allison both said Celeigh's music was just wonderful.
"I love that she is up there expressing her feelings through music," Haddie said.
"I just love how the electric guitar adds the finishing touch to all of her music," Allison added.
Local resident Rosemary Neaves said she really enjoyed all of the energy Cardinal brought to the Nancy Appleby Theatre.
"She's very talented, and has a very wonderful voice," Neaves said.
Cardinal was accompanied on stage by Regina-based guitarist Braden Treble and Peace River-born keyboardist and mandolin player Brennan Cameron.
"I've been with the band for two-and-a-half years, while Brennan joined about six months after I did," Treble said. "We all still love playing together, and we get along super well and it makes it a lot easier when we are on the road touring."
"We recently went to Germany, France, Denmark, Kansas City, New Orleans and then back to Calgary," Cameron said. "We really enjoy our time on the road."
Heartwood Folk Club President Marlin Johnson said even though they did not get as many people out as they usually do, everything still went well.
"It was all great," Johnson said. "It was a wonderful opening concert for our fall opening season, and Cardinal's versatility and voice were just superb. We had a lot of great comments after the show, and we are really happy with all of it."
The second concert of the fall season will take place Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at the Nancy Appleby Theatre. It will feature The Ennis Sisters of Cape Broyle, Newfoundland. The sisters had previously performed at the Athabasca Seniors Drop-In Centre in 2015 for a Christmas-themed event, and then made their first appearance at the Appleby in 2017.
Tickets are $31 at the door and $27 in advance for adults, and $27 for seniors and youth at the door and $24 in advance.
