Live music in public spaces has long been part of the human equation, given the countless number of bandstands found in communities around the world.
There is not much that can beat the enjoyment of listening to music on a summer evening in a peaceful, beautiful surrounding with friends and neighbours. It was the old adage, “build it and they will come” that spawned the Shuswap’s first summer music series in 1994 when the Salmon Arm Arts Council began Wednesdays on the Wharf, also known as WOW at Marine Peace Park. The stage was built a year later, and the re-purposed Expo 86 gazebo installed in 1996.
Over the years, WOW has grown from a small gathering run by volunteers to a weekly festival with paid staff supported by significant grants and sponsorships that attracts from 500 to 1,000 people. The quality and diversity of the music has also improved thanks to artistic director, Tori Jewell, who brings in acts from across the province and bands that are on tour.
In addition to the subsidies, WOW also depends on the generosity of the audience as the donations often cover half the costs. Recently, a sound system was purchased to reduce expenses and a youth employment program funds the technician, who also mentors a local student. One of the unique bands playing this summer is from Australia, the fusion group This Way North on Aug. 1.
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There is live music in the Shuswap in six communities nearly every day of the summer. Enderby was the next community to host live music in the summer when it began Music by the River at Belvedere Park in 2004 and, here too, it is the arts council that organizes these five Sunday evening shows. Given the group gets funding from the regional district, it hosts one show in Grindrod during the Garlic Festival, one in Mara and three in Enderby. The most popular in the series is during the annual Enderby Arts Festival weekend and this year they are hosting bluesman extraordinaire, Sherman Doucette and his band on July 29.
It was a group of local business owners that launched the North Shuswap’s Friday Nights Live series in 2013. The event grew from a small stage in the parking lot of a shopping centre in Scotch Creek, to a larger backyard lawn area with vendors and fun dance bands, which attracted larger crowds. Thanks to a partnership with a local community organization, funding was provided from the regional district. The event has now moved to a large field behind The Hub across from the provincial park and crowds are growing much larger, thanks in part to the beer gardens and some great bands, including Jon Treichel’s Scattered Atoms on July 27.
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On Thursdays, it is Music in the Bay, which began in Blind Bay’s Centennial Field in 2015, and has grown significantly thanks to the efforts of the Arts Council for the South Shuswap and funding from sponsors, the regional district and the BC Arts Council. With professional music promoter Mark Greenhalgh on board, there are some terrific groups this year, including Locarno on Aug. 23, who play a blend of jazz, Latin and pop, and the wildly popular Shred Kelly for the Aug. 30 finale.
Two more communities began sponsoring summer music series in 2016, with the Mondays going to Sicamous for their Music in the Park and Chase picking up Tuesdays for their Music on the Lake. When Chase celebrated their centennial in 2002, the village built a magnificent stage and a festival society was organized to host the events. In 2009, the society began the popular Cornstock Festival, which this year will become part of the weekly series.
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In Sicamous it is the chamber of commerce that sponsors Music in the Park, with help from the municipality, and local businesses who sponsor the shows. When the events co-ordinator for Sicamous, John Price, books the bands, he chooses a variety of genres to appeal to different demographics, which has been successful given the expanding audience numbers. The band attracting the largest crowd is Devon Coyote and they are playing again this year on Aug. 20 and also at WOW on Aug. 29.
On Saturday evenings,the music scene returns to Salmon Arm where there are bands playing at the Ross Street Plaza stage.
As Mark Greenhalgh explained, “The Shuswap has something special and really magical,” and the music in the summer certainly helps build our community and make it even better.
@SalmonArm
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