Cochrane’s music scene is surprising, at least to John White.
After arriving in the Cochrane area from England, the blues musician soon found himself on the search for bandmates.
A series of auditions/jam sessions later, the Smoking Aces Blues Band was formed, and so had White’s opinion on Cochrane talent.
“It wasn’t until I was looking to put a band together that I realized how much local talent was in this town,” said White, organizer of the Mountain Shadows Music Festival and Smoking Aces musician. “There is talent in this town that people don’t know about. This event is about bringing out the depth of entertainment in this town.”
And that’s how the idea for a local music festival began rolling. And Sept. 21, the Mountain Shadow Music Festival will get underway.
Mitford Park will be rocking to the sounds of nine bands — all with their own unique flavour.
“It’s a mixture,” said White. “You’ve got country, you’ve got folk, you’ve got bluegrass — it’s a real variety of music.”
The music festival is set to kick off at noon at the stage in Mitford Park. The first band up is the Elbow River Band, a Bragg Creek-originated Canadiana-folk group.
From there, the roster of entertainers will continue: Kaitee Dal Pra, the Roving Stones, the Allen Christie Band, Prairies Edge, the Smoking Aces, the June Bugs, Storm and the Kimberlites will all take the main stage.
Between acts, a secondary stage, dubbed the ATCO Stage, will be home to brief performances by two up-and-coming Cochrane singers: Sydney Mae and Molly Ferdinand. White said each artist will play a set of about three-songs and will alternate between the entertainment on the main stage.
“The ATCO Stage will display young talent,” said White. “These young acts have a lot to gain and a festival setting will help them develop. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of (performing) at festivals.”
The Mountain Shadow Music Festival won’t be limited to performances. White said local artists will have booths set up to display their wares — artisan products such as jewelry, art and scarves.
The all-ages event will be selling merchandise for each of the performers and the Cochrane Lions will be on hand operating their concession.
“It doesn’t matter your taste,” said White. “I know all these acts and all these people, I’ve heard them — everyone will enjoy it.”
White said he’s hoping the music festival will attract between 500-1,000 attendees.
The Mountain Shadow Music Festival is set to run at noon on Sept. 21 and wrap up around 10 p.m. that night.
Tickets for the event are $10 when purchased in advance from Bentleys Books, Legacy Guitar and Coffee House or at cochranefolkclub.com/tickets.html. Tickets can also be purchased the day of the music festival for $15.
For more details on the event, check out the Cochrane Valley Folk Club website at cochranefolkclub.com.
