The Heartwood Folk Club opened the stage to a four-person act April 4, bringing Canadian folk singer-songwriter Connie Kaldor and her family for the final instalment of the club's spring season.
About 120 people were at the Nancy Appleby Theatre to hear the "family blend" of Kaldor, her husband Paul Campagne, and her sons Gabriel and Aleksi Campagne.
Speaking after the show, Kaldor said her sons had been flying since 6 a.m. April 4 their time to get to Edmonton; one had been in New York, and the other in Montreal. She also noted she had family in the area, and her cousin came to the show in Athabasca.
"This is the first in the part of the tour," she said, noting that she and her family had just toured in the United States. "We go to Calgary tomorrow. Then Swift Current, then Saskatoon."
She said her sons both have their own bands that tour, as well.
As for this concert in Athabasca, she said she felt it was good. She also appreciates when people request songs in advance.
"Every show has something that's different," she said. "No two shows are the same. Sometimes, obviously, you come out (with) the songs that are in our set all the time, for the most part. But there's always a part that comes and goes. Depends on the audience."
Kaldor also said the Heartwood group is a really good one.
"A lot of these groups — the only reason they organize is because they love the music," she said. "That's the only reason they do this. Not for the fame and the glory. They just do it."
Heartwood artistic director Peter Opryshko said it was a nice addition to have Kaldor's sons, who are quite talented, on stage.
He also said he hoped that the club provided a nice balance this year in terms of musical variety and origin of the artists.
"We have a very good audience, loyal, and we're lucky to have this theatre," he said. "Performers want to come here. They like performing here."
Some acts of the winter 2019 and even spring 2020 are already booked, Opryshko said.
"We've got to find a couple more," he said.
Dinner before the show
Before the show, 100 lucky people got a local taste of Syria at the Athabasca Athabasca United Church.
The scents of cardamom, peppers and garlic wafted from the basement church as volunteers helped the Halawa-Aldarbi family, refugees from Syria, serve traditional foods from their homeland.
"The dinner was amazing," Kaldor said, noting that the Heartwood Folk Club brought her and her family to the dinner. "This was good. This was excellent."
All profits of the event went directly back into a fund with the Athabasca Syrian Support Group to sponsor Syrian refugees in the community. In addition to the Halawa-Aldarbi family, the committee brought a man to Athabasca who has since moved to Edmonton. The committee is also in the paperwork stage of bringing that man’s brother and another member of his family.
“Of course this is a fundraiser, but also our hope is to introduce people in Athabasca to Syrian culture and to bring people together,” said support group member Shirley Stashko. “And just giving Athabasca something it’s never had before. You can tell. We were sold out within a week of getting the word out. We had so many people who wanted to come, and we had to say ‘sorry, the tickets are all gone.’”
