After spending nearly half her life dedicated to music, Jenn Beaupré knows a bit about performing.
The Drumheller-born singer and pianist will take to the stage at the Cultural Arts Theatre, accompanied by folk-country guitarist and long-time “partner in crime” Lewis Frere, this Friday evening.
“We’ll sing some originals that are my songs, and Louis will sing a few really pretty country ditties,” Beaupré said. “Together, we play a lot of oldies that hopefully bring people back a really warm place in their memory, like Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Time After Time and Field of Gold.”
Music has been a force for creating a warm place in Beaupré’s own memory for much of her life. While nobody in her family as especially musical, she discovered from an early age that singing was something she loved and something she was good at.
She recorded her first album at the Rosebud Theatre in Rosebud, Alta., when she was just 16 years old.
“I just did it for fun, but I ended up selling about 6,000 of them that my dad burned on our home computer,” she said.
Recording that album marked the very beginning of her partnership with Frere, who was the one recording the album so many years ago.
In the early part of her career, Beaupré did a lot of corporate events and has since begun to tour the province. She has even had some national television exposure on the third season of Canadian Idol, where she discovered that simply singing well was not necessarily enough.
“Music is about more than just singing — it’s about the arranging and the composition,” she said.
Despite growing up in rural Alberta, where country music is king, she always preferred the more urban sounds of Sarah McLachlan and Eva Cassidy. This is still the case, although she said she has developed an appreciation for country artists like Dolly Parton after doing so many shows for rural audiences.
“Since I started touring Alberta, I’ve had the opportunity to play in a lot of small communities and meet people. It’s very down to earth and welcoming,” she said. “I like what Alberta has done for my music. It’s kept me honest; it’s kept me playing from the heart.”
Beaupré and Frere’s show starts at 8 p.m. this Friday. Tickets are available at the Flower Shoppe in Westlock.
