Blues guitarist Jack de Keyzer will be playing the final concert in this season’s Music at the Elks next Wednesday, May 2. (Publicity photo)
The final show of this season’s Music at the Elks takes place next Wednesday, May 2 with blues guitarist Jack de Keyzer.
“He combines really good guitar playing with really good singing,” said Earl Krushelnicki, organizer of the Music at the Elks concerts. “Not often do performers come with both.”
Krushelnicki said he’s seen de Keyzer performing live at least seven times both in B.C. and at a blues event in Toronto.
De Keyzer will be the first double Juno winner the Elks have brought to Osoyoos, he said. De Keyzer won Junos for best blues album of the year in 2003 with 6 String Lover and in 2010 for The Corktown Sessions.
He’s also won seven Maple Blues Awards and a host of other recognitions.
British-born de Keyzer is based in Hamilton, Ontario.
In his career of three decades, he was a member of Hamilton rockabilly group The Bopcats in the 1980s and later joined The Rock Angels.
As a session guitarist, he has performed with such diverse musicians as Etta James, Otis Rush, John Hammond Jr., Ronnie Hawkins, Duke Robillard, Robert Gordon, Willy Big Eyes Smith, Bo Diddley and Blue Rodeo.
“He’s bringing an exceptional base player named Owen,” said Krushelnicki, who has seen Owen play, but knows him only by his first name.
The de Keyzer show caps off a series that has been running since September with a different blues concert roughly every month.
“It’s been pretty good,” said Krushelnicki, who spoke with the Osoyoos Times last week at a sellout concert with Sherman “Tank” Doucette and Graham Ord.
There have been four such sellouts, Krushelnicki said, although some shows have not sold out.
“Basically, what happened is if a band isn’t very well known, people don’t take a chance and don’t come out,” he said. “But generally speaking, it’s been pretty good.”
Krushelnicki, who moved to Osoyoos from Prince George, began doing the concerts last spring.
“I wanted to demonstrate to the Elks that something like this would be worthwhile doing,” he said.
He put on a couple shows in which he took the gate, but broke even, though the Elks made money on both shows from bar sales.
The Elks are happy with the way the shows have gone, he said, adding that they’ve always made money on bar receipts.
Audiences like them too, he added.
“The audience is really happy with the quality of the music that we’ve had,” he said. “We often get comments about, ‘keep this up, I’m glad you’re bringing this quality of music.’ We’re bringing in some of the best Canadian blues performers.”
De Keyzer plays the Dream Café in Penticton the night after his Osoyoos show.
Krushelnicki said Osoyoos is becoming a destination for performers, who book with the Elks first. Then Krushelnicki connects them with other promoters throughout the Okanagan Valley and out to Grand Forks.
“I’ve got contacts all over the place, so we can try to put three or four days of shows together,” he said. “That way everybody benefits, and it saves us some money.”
Krushelnicki expects the series to resume in October.
De Keyzer’s website is www.jackdekeyzer.com.
Concert details: Jack de Keyzer with Owen, Osoyoos Elks Hall, 8506 92nd Ave., Wednesday, May 2, doors open at 7:30 p.m., music starts at 8 p.m. Tickets for $20 are available at Mills Office Productivity or call Ken at 250-495-3936.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
