A night of the blues

Times Reporter

 

Blues fans can look forward to a fun filled night listening to two time Juno and Maple Blues award winner Jack De Keyzer September 24. This will be De Keyzer’s first time playing in Strathmore, but he is no stranger to Alberta. He has a gig in Edmonton on the 25, and in the past he has played in Calgary. 

“I just love to play and it’s always good to come out to new places and meet the folks and have some fun. Any show where there is a lot of people and they’re all having a good time to me is a great show,” said De Keyzer. 

De Keyzer played his first professional gig in 1979 and he used to play in a rockabilly band in the ‘80s. 

“From my earliest memories, I’ve always loved music and I’ve always been enamored by the guitar. I grew up in England, I spent the first 10 years of my life in England and the biggest act in England at that time was Cliff Richard. He had a backing band called the Shadows and I think that’s where I got the love of guitar and electric guitar. A couple years later the Beatles came out and that kind of cinched the deal, I was hooked on it,” said De Keyzer. 

The Strathmore Musical Arts Society has changed things up a bit from the usual format. 

“We usually present it in a dinner theatre atmosphere and that’s gone over really well with the public,” said Linda Storkson. 

“Now we’ve started doing pub nights. They are a little bit easier, tickets are a little bit cheaper so this is why we’ve sort of expanded our number of shows,” said Lenore Stillwell. The ladies and many others are looking forward to a night of the blues. Storkson said they plan to open the night with humour, and also said to expect some dancing. 

“Our group really likes to dance and so we expect lots of dancing too, it goes with the fun of it,” said Storkson. 

There are already a few more shows planned, including one on November 6, and there will be a special guest coming in for April Fools Day. 

Cocktails are at 7:30 p.m. the 24 and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at Music Centre Canada, PJ’s appliances, Assist Business Centre and Pro Water Centre.