Over the last several years, Bragg Creekers with an ear for the singer-songwriter tradition may have had the fortune to attend a house concert or two, featuring the acoustic stylings of former pop-rocker-turned-folkie, Barney Bentall.
But Bentall, with the help of Creeker musician, Rick Godderis (his brother-in-law), is dialing up the sound and setting the stage for the full deal – with a twist.
Barney Bentall and the Grand Caribou Opry (a small army of iconic musicians) will be putting on a fundraising performance in country-roots fashion on Nov. 30 at the Bragg Creek Centre, with a goal of raising $15,000 to go toward improvements for the Centre, which was affected by the June floods.
“In the case of Bragg Creek, why not try and support the community centre – which is the heart and the hub of the hamlet?” said Bentall, who uses a formula of sponsorship quite unique in this neck of the woods.
The model exists in the form of tiered sponsorships, which includes platinum event sponsors, gold set (three in total) sponsors and a series of silver sponsors for individual songs. All sponsorships have been sold out, although concert tickets are still available.
At first glance, it sounds like a never-ending commercial for these various businesses.
Bentall, who first adopted this model some seven years ago for major concert fundraisers for non-profits across the country, said this was his initial concern – but after sitting down and scripting this the first time, he said the end product is anything but.
“The very first time was in Winnipeg and I thought, ‘man, this isn’t going to work’…but you have to see it, it all flows great, like the music…but it’s a hard concept to get at first,” explained Bentall, adding that the main ingredient of funny keeps the audience entertained throughout the evening.
To date, the most raised through this model by Bentall and the Grand Caribou Opry has been $40,000 for the Potluck Café Society in Vancouver’s East End – an organization that serves thousands of nutritious meals and creates employment opportunities for disadvantaged living in this area.
Godderis said the response from Creeker businesses has been tremendous.
“The requests (for sponsorships) were made to Bragg-based businesses outside of the hamlet core, or to those that were high enough that they did not get flooded, but amazingly, some who were flooded still jumped on board,” said Godderis, adding that with each ticket purchase, incentives to support local businesses are being given out.
“There are four restaurants and 18 stores participating, with coupons ranging from 10 per cent off your entire purchase to 25 per cent off one item, as well as a draw for a $240 ticket package for the next season of the Bragg Creek Performing Arts.”
For Bentall, it’s a great excuse to put on what he refers to as a “musical variety show” with some of his favourite musicians.
Joining Bentall on stage will be son Dustin Bentall, Kendal Carson, Ridley Bent, Wendy Bird, Angela Harris, Matt Master, the Gold Rush Allstars, Leeroy Stagger and Neil Osborne (of Canadian alt-rock group, 54-40).
Tickets are $40 (no GST, no parking fee, no ticket processing fee) and are available at braggcreekca.com or by phoning 403-949-4277. Doors open at 7 p.m.
