Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Festival warms up with hot country trio Doc Walker, followed by tenor Mitch Seekins

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on July 15, 2009.)

By Gillian Brunette

One of North America’s hottest country acts, Doc Walker, comes to the Algonquin Theatre tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

Combining the free-spirited country-rock style of the Eagles with the blended vocal bliss of bands such as Alabama and America, this trio, with its trademark country-rock sound and pitch-perfect, high-flying harmonies, is sure to fire up all country music fans. Doc Walker band members Chris Thorsteinson, Dave Wasyliw and Murray Pulver are three childhood friends from small-town Manitoba who managed to stick it out for the long haul – through school band practices, tour after tour, marriage, children and through the good and the bad,

Three albums into their career, Doc Walker released Beautiful Life, an album that won the band a 2009 Juno Award for Country Recording of the Year, six Canadian Country Music Awards in 2008 (including Album of the Year, Single of the Year and Fan’s Choice Award) and three top-10 country singles.

On Aug. 25, Doc Walker will release their fifth, hotly anticipated, full-length album, tentatively entitled Go. The album echoes the multi-award winning Beautiful Life in a number of ways. The three band members co-wrote the majority of the album and worked with acclaimed Nashville songwriters Bruce Wallace and fellow Canadian Victoria Banks.

With a busy set of summer festival dates, a major fall tour and a brand new album, Doc Walker will drive their dream further than they imagined when they were 14 years old and just fooling around with guitars in a tiny Manitoba town.

On Saturday, July 18, the celebrated tenor Mitch Seekins brings the popular music of Michael Bublé and Andrea Bocelli to the Algonquin stage. This show makes for a wonderful evening full of energy, humour and class all at the same time with songs such as Home, Fever, Time to Say Goodbye, The Prayer, as well as hits with Tony Bennett and Josh Groban.

Mitch Seekins has, for more than 20 years, been performing pop, rock and R&B in nightclubs from coast to coast in Canada. In 1996, he was encouraged to make a crossover into classical music and has since performed in operas by Puccini, Mozart and many others.

Performing the music of Andrea Bocelli was a perfect marriage of both the pop and opera genres, showcasing Seekins’ abilities. The idea of Bublé to Bocelli was really in response to the demands of audiences wanting to hear the old standards with Bublé’s new, lively arrangements, but also with the great renditions of Andrea Bocelli’s music.

One interesting piece of trivia: Seekins is also the founder of his own vocal school, where he has instructed internationally known artists, including Huntsville’s own two-time Juno award winner Hawksley Workman.

Tickets for all festival shows are available at the Algonquin Theatre box office on Main Street, by dialing 789-4975, or online at www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca.


TRAIL BLAZERS: One of the hottest country acts
in North America, Doc Walker takes the Algonquin
stage on Thursday, July 16, at 8 p.m.