Washboard Union at the Mary Winspear Centre Wednesday, Nov. 28

Led by Aaron Grain, Chris Duncombe and David Roberts, 15-time award-winning

Washboard Union placed nine awards on the mantle in 2017, taking home their third Canadian Country Music Award, and Western Canadian Music Award for Country Artist of the Year. They received a record seven British Columbia Country Music Association Awards.

Duncombe and Grain grew up in Kelowna and eventually headed to Vancouver where they moved into a 1920s Tudor-style mansion. By coincidence, Roberts was renting in the same mansion, and it was here where they began writing and singing together. The early sessions were the bones of what would eventually become The Washboard Union. Roberts would reminisce, “it was like living in a garden gone to seed.” Grain provided guitar and vocals and Duncombe added his own voice and a banjo. Roberts, a singer and multiinstrumentalist with harmonica, guitar, mandolin and, of course, the washboard in his arsenal, became the team’s secret weapon.

Their music and their unforgettable live performances set them apart as one of the most unique talents in country music today.