Southwest musicians to perform at Telemiracle 43
Four musicians from southwest Saskatchewan will be part of the talented cast of performers from across the province who will be on stage during the main show for Telemiracle 43.
The group Laureen Kress and Friends is set to perform just before noon on March 3, but there will be an opportunity to see them in action at a Telemiracle talent night fundraiser in Rush Lake on Feb. 15.
Laureen Kress, who lives on an acreage northeast of Waldeck, is the band’s lead vocalist. The other members are Swift Current’s Ed Doyle on upright bass, mandolin player Gord Nodge from Stewart Valley, and Mark Penner from Herbert, who is playing guitar and also sings harmony.
They got together to audition for Telemiracle 43 after Kress decided it was time to try to get accepted to perform at the 20-hour telethon.
“It's been my mom that has wanted me to do this for many years and I just didn't do it,” she said. “I kept forgetting when the audition was and so this year I just said OK, I better make an effort, because my mom is going to be 93 in the first part of March. So I decided that I would try to audition.”
Her mother has watched the Telemiracle broadcasts since 1977 and she is thrilled that Kress will finally be making an appearance on the show.
“I don't think she has missed a year out of 42 years it's been on,” Kress mentioned. “She's watched every year and she know I like to sing. I started singing when I was four. So she just thought it was somewhere that I would maybe like to sing and then she can watch me on TV.”
She takes her mother along when she goes to The Meadows long-term care facility in Swift Current to perform for residents.
“She supports my singing and I take her along, because she just likes to listen and she likes to watch the people dance,” she said. “My mom has always been a music lover and she sang a bit when she was younger and my dad as well. So I come from a musical family.”
She also performs at the Lyric Theatre’s Open Stage, where she met the other three musicians who will be playing with her at Telemiracle.
“I'm so grateful that they were willing to help me out,” she said. “They're good musicians. I sometimes feel that I'm not the adequate one, because I don't play an instrument. I play my guitar here at home, but I'm not good at it. It's just to learn the keys and play at home. So I think they're wonderful guys to back me up and help me out.”
Doyle and Penner performed with her at the Telemiracle audition, but Nodge was unable to be there. A fiddle player from Regina stood in to help them out.
Kress is excited to sing at Telemiracle and nervous at the same time, because she has never been on television before. Their appearance is set for 11:54 a.m. on March 3.
“I get butterflies once in a while thinking about it,” she said. “I'm sure I’ll be a bit nervous going up there. Even at the audition I was pretty nervous until they called us up there and then I just heard my song, because the sound was so good where we were auditioning. So as soon as I heard my voice coming back to me and it sounded really clear and crisp, I felt really quite confident singing the song.”
She grew up just north of Bracken and she has always loved to sing. She sang at a Christmas concert when she was four and thereafter started to perform at local talent nights. She sang with a band when she lived in the Mankota area and later sang with two different bands in the Saskatoon area.
“I've been singing a long time, but not so steady,” she said. “I sang with a husband and wife up by Hanley. We sang at a lot of different get togethers and both of them passed away. So I lost all interest in singing. I didn't sing for two or three years. I didn't feel happy when I sang, because I lost them both. So that was just since I moved back to the Swift Current area that I started to sing again.”
Now she will sing whenever she can to practice songs and to keep her vocal chords strong. She will sing while driving her truck or when she is riding her mule. She participated in barrel racing for 40 years, but now she only watches her daughter and granddaughter when they barrel race.
She prefers to sing old country or bluegrass songs. Emmylou Harris is one of her favourite singers and she is also a fan of Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt.
Kress has organized the talent night in Rush Lake to raise funds for Telemiracle. It is open to anyone who wants to sing, dance or play an instrument in support of a great cause. Will Ballantyne, a country and bluegrass artist from Unity, will attend, if the weather allows him to get there.
The Telemiracle talent night takes place at the Rush Lake Hall on Feb. 15, starting at 7:30 p.m. Admission is $5 per person and free for children 12 and under. Coffee and cake will be served. For more information or to sign up to perform, call Kress at 306-227-3072.