Still going Big, 20 years later
Jamboree’s ‘musical journey’ all about balance
PREVIEW
The Big Valley Jamboree runs today through Sunday at the Exhibition Grounds in Camrose.
For Big Valley Jamboree producer Larry Werner, each year’s programming of the Camrose country music festival is all about balance.
“I’ve always claimed that it’s like we’re taking people on a musical journey,” he says, taking a moment to chat as he firms up final details for the annual festival, which starts today.
“Good festivals do that well, and there is so much great music out there that if we stick to one format, we do a disservice to country music fans. What we try to do is give them a wide range of what’s being written and produced, a good selection of various kinds of roots music.”
For Werner, that includes the unabashedly retro Texas swing of Asleep at the Wheel, bluegrass from Alberta’s own High Valley, traditional numbers played by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Bakersfield sound courtesy of Dwight Yoakam and an impressive number of current chart-toppers, including Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith and Blake Shelton.
One half of the biggest country music duo of the past 20 years will also be showing up on Sunday night: Hot on the heels of Ronnie Dunn’s performance at the Jubilee Auditorium is a Big Valley appearance by his for- mer musical partner, Kix Brooks. “We had Ronnie in last year and he did a marvellous job, so when we had the opportunity to bring in Kix I figured it would be pretty cool,” Werner says. “Those guys collectively had an amazing career, and now it’s interesting to see what they do as solos.”
The lineup of headliners has made an impression on the bottom line — the festival is close to selling out. As of mid-week, there were about 100 three-day passes, 300 reserved seats, and a few single-day tickets still available for purchase at the gate. This is a gratifying situation for Werner and his crew at Panhandle Productions.
With Big Valley turning 20 this year, it seems somehow fitting that they’re near to selling out before the gates are even open. This puts them somewhere in the range of 100,000 visitors for the weekend, with 25,000 country music fans passing through daily. From humble beginnings, they’ve grown to the point where the Canadian Country Music Association has voted Big Valley Jamboree Canada’s country music event of the year in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2009.
“We’ve taken 20 years to get there, but it looks like we may be achieving something that we’ve worked very hard to get to from the very beginning,” said Werner.
The fast-moving wind storm that resulted in several injuries and the death of a fan after the mainstage collapsed in 2009 is still a fresh wound, but organizers have responded to safety issues by putting more ballast on the stage, as well as 45-degree braces.
From the very beginning, Big Valley has also been conscious of the need to nurture Canadian talent, and it’s no different this year, with up-and-comers like Jordan Doell, Sean Hogan and Pear given the opportunity to perform on side stages and even as lead-ups to the heavy hitters. The Edmonton mother-and-daughter act Myrol, who will be playing Friday at 2 p.m. on the mainstage, are one such act, and they’re grateful for the chance.
“I think it’s really telling of a festival of this calibre that local Alberta artists get to share the stage with the more high-profile acts,” notes Haley Myrol. “It’s always a rush playing the big stage even though I miss being close to the players in our band. It just means you have to have longer cables to get to them.”
Not much else has changed as Big Valley sticks to the formula that’s made it the biggest country festival in Canada, with the Canadian Finals Rodeo Wild Pony Show and the Marketplace Tradeshow among many non-musical attractions. One new event will be the Wakeboard Rail Jam Thrill Show.
“It’s these guys out of Florida who have two large pool. Looks like it’ll be pretty fun to watch these wakeboard athletes who take off from one pool, hit the rails, do flips in air and land in another pool.”
Most important for Werner is that Alberta’s country music fans have been supportive of the festival’s efforts. “I just can’t say enough how happy I am that people come out and support us every year. They’re the ones that make it work, and if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be doing this.”