Time to dust off your boots and saddle up your finest Wranglers. The Ninth Annual Cochrane and Area Humane Society (CAHS) Gala will take place June 8 at the Bragg Creek Centre and there are merely a few tickets left for grabs.
An evening of libations and nosh no doubt, the event is highlighted by the musical stylings of the Canadian Country Music Award’s (CCMA’s) 2011 and 2012 Group of the Year recipients, Hey Romeo.
It’s the fundraising event of the season for the CAHS, according to their spokesperson, Cheryl Wallach.
“We had the most amazing, remarkable event last year and raised more money than at any other event in our history — $73,000,” she said, adding that it would be tremendous to match that amount this year.
All funds raised go directly toward providing surgery, medicine, vaccines and general care for lost, unwanted or surrendered animals brought in to the CAHS.
Wallach hopes this event will inspire animal lovers to visit the shelter and get to know some of the dogs who have been without a permanent home for far too long and are in need of a family to call their own — including three-year-old shepherd-Rottweiler mix, Pickles, one-year-old heeler-cross, Donny and two-year-old terrier-Rottweiler cross, Feather.
“For live auction items, we have a Mexico vacation for two in Cancun, flowers for a year from Lil’ Pink Daisy, a Kennedy Space Center trip with astronaut training,” said Wallach, adding that the list of hot ticket items is a good one this year.
The event will be emceed by retired offensive lineman for the Calgary Stampeders, Bruce Covernton, and includes dinner, wine, a cocktail hour performance by up and coming singer/songwriter, Kaleigh Jo Kirk, and a performance by a country ensemble who have been churning records and turning heads.
Touting their country-rock sound with their third album, Twist of Fate (2012), Hey Romeo has gone from a Calgary cover band to a rising Canadian country music trio, sharing the stage with the likes of Gord Bamford, Sugarland, Darius Rucker and Johnny Reid.
For some 11 years, the trio has managed to forge their way through a competitive business and are currently working on writing their fourth album — again, a co-write among the three Hey Romeo members, Stacie Roper (lead vox), Rob Shapiro (piano, vox) and Darren Gusnowsky (guitar, vox) with the help of Nashville songwriters.
“Other songwriters can kind of mediate our thoughts…sometimes it’s hard on our own” laughs Roper.
Songwriters that collaborated with Hey Romeo on their 2012 release included Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Byron Hill, Victoria Banks and Roger Brown.
A lot of what seems to make this trio work is a clear sense of what everyone brings to the table, combined with a bond that has matured through time and experience.
“Rob is obviously the businessman in the group. He has been Piano Player of the Year for the last four years at the CCMA’s…if it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t be where we are today,” explained Roper.
“Darren…how do I describe Darren? He drives the van (she laughs) but he’s also the voice of reason in the band. He kind of looks at things with a straight eye…I sing and I bring the female perspective to the band. I don’t know…I guess you would have to ask Rob or Darren that.”
Seemingly light hearted and grateful to be able to make a living out of pursuing her passion as a country music artist, Roper takes her cues from voices such as Martina McBride and Alison Krauss. As far as Hey Romeo is concerned, Roper said their recent wins at the CCMA’s are a major highlight and the band is now focused on getting regular radio airplay.
“We’ve done a lot…we’ve won three CCMA’s – that to me, is a huge deal, where I kind of went ‘okay, now what?’ Now it would be nice to get regular airplay on radio stations. I’m hoping with this next album we put out that there will be some radio love.”
Roper said their fourth release is slated for a early 2014. The trio will be performing as a five-piece at the Gala.
Learn more about Hey Romeo at heyromeo.com.
Tickets to the CAHS Annual Gala are $125. Visit cochranehumane.ca or call 403-932-2072 for more details.
