Alan Bleiken has been instrumental in bringing live music to Osoyoos in recent years. He was of the the original Three Amigos, who started Osoyoos Music in the Park. And he’s brought live music to Jojo’s Cafe, the Wildfire Grill, the All Mighty Summit Estate and most recently the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre. He and his wife Fern plan to leave Osoyoos after this summer to move to Bear River, Nova Scotia, a place neither has ever been. (Richard McGuire photo)

Osoyoos has blossomed in recent years as a town that punches above its weight when it comes to drawing high-quality live music.

Deserving much of the credit is Alan Bleiken, who was one of the Three Amigos running Osoyoos Music in the Park in its first three years, and who has made Jojo’s Café a popular and intimate venue for live music.

But after this summer, Bleiken and his wife Fern plan to trade B.C.’s Okanagan Valley for Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley.

Bleiken has never been to Nova Scotia, but he said he now knows the geography of that province better than B.C., because it’s small and most communities are built around the coast.

“I found out that the Annapolis Valley is the Okanagan Valley,” he said, noting the similarities between the two. “It’s the warmest place out there, they grow cherries, apples and grapes. In fact, the house we’re looking at has a 15-acre vineyard right across the road.”

They’ve chosen Bear River, an artsy community close to Digby, just inland from the Bay of Fundy on an estuary.

It would be wrong to think the Bleikens are tired of Osoyoos. They moved here, with their three children, who have since left the nest, in September 2005. And their 13 years here are the longest either of them has lived in one place, except when Bleiken was growing up.

“It’s definitely a credit to the community,” he said of their long stay.

But the success of Osoyoos doesn’t filter down to everyone, said Bleiken, who works as a handyman, and the cost of living, especially for housing, is rising above what many can afford.

“In a sense we’re getting priced out,” he said, adding that land in Bear River is still affordable, and you can buy an acreage with a nice house for under $100,000.

Bleiken said he wants to live in a place that’s beautiful, warm and affordable. While Osoyoos certainly checks the first two boxes, the Annapolis Valley, he said, checks all three – even if the warmest part of Nova Scotia is cooler and has a longer winter than Osoyoos.

But until they take the plunge and move, likely in September, Bleiken plans to devote his energy to bringing more live music to Osoyoos.

He’s stepped away from Osoyoos Music in the Park this year, but now in addition to Jojo’s, Bleiken is booking music for the Lizard Lounge at the Wildfire Grill, which brings in live performers on Friday nights and features live dinner music with classical guitar or piano at other times.

Last summer, he also brought two concerts to a new venue, the Almighty Summit Estate, close to Anarchist Summit and the U.S. border. It’s a unique bed and breakfast and wedding location run by Ulric and Ghitta LeJeune, and Bleiken said some of the musicians he brings are staying there.

Those concerts featured The Good, The Bad and The Blues, from Detroit and Bella Cat from Ottawa, a blues, funk and soul act.

Most recently he’s been working with Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre to bring concerts there. The first concert in a new series was Cuban-Canadian musician Adonis Puentes on June 1. The second concert, planned for Saturday, June 23, features Tiller’s Folly, a Celtic rock group.

Although Bleiken was one of the original Three Amigos who launched Osoyoos Music in the Park in the summer of 2015, along with Janis St. Louis and Rusty Copeland, he credits St. Louis with getting it off the ground and flying it to greater heights.

“It was her dream, her ambition that made that really happen,” said Bleiken. “The first year it was really Janis. Rusty and I tagged along until we got what was going on and we were useful to her. It was her thing. She did a great job.”

Bleiken said he offered to help the new three amigos find bands this year, but they were fine on their own. Copeland was replaced last year by Roland Berg and this year the third Amigo is Debbie Dundass, replacing Bleiken.

As well as having an ear for good music and knowing what will work at the different venues, Bleiken also has contacts among the artists and their representatives. He’s also in touch with other South Okanagan venues, such as the Dream Café in Penticton, so that musicians can line up several gigs in the region and reduce costs.

Asked who will step into his shoes when he leaves, Bleiken said he’s spoken with a couple of people who are interested but aren’t yet ready to announce.

Originally from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Bleiken has also lived in many parts of Canada and abroad – Alberta, Venezuela, Switzerland, United States, New Brunswick, Manitoba and B.C.

Before coming to Osoyoos, having only visited Osoyoos once or twice before and not knowing anyone here, he and Fern lived in the flat southeast Manitoba in what he describes as “a little mosquito-infested village called Richer,” to the east of Winnipeg.

“My kids usually moved at least once for every year they were alive,” he said. “Not just a move across town, but a move across country.”

So packing up and moving to Bear River, Nova Scotia, sight unseen, is hardly new.

“We’re adventurous people,” he said.

He plans to do the same work as here, trying to get to know people and pitching in where he can. The community is already known for arts and music, so Bleiken said he may not be able to take on the same music role that he’s brought to Osoyoos.

“I don’t know if they need me at all, but I’ll be a participant, or I’ll figure out something,” he said.

“And if there’s any avenue for music out there, I’ll certainly be looking at it.”

RICHARD McGUIRE

Osoyoos Times

Alan Bleiken has been instrumental in bringing live music to Osoyoos in recent years. He was of the the original Three Amigos, who started Osoyoos Music in the Park. And he’s brought live music to Jojo’s Cafe, the Wildfire Grill, the All Mighty Summit Estate and most recently the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre. He and his wife Fern plan to leave Osoyoos after this summer to move to Bear River, Nova Scotia, a place neither has ever been. (Richard McGuire photo)