When the annual Gone Country concert aims to raise more than a half-million dollars for charity on Saturday, July 21, will be happy to play a part in the cancer-fighting fundraiser.
The band鈥檚 David Roberts says it won鈥檛 be the first time they鈥檝e been to the concert site in Cloverdale, at .
鈥淲e actually played the event a long time ago when we were kind of just starting out, early in the day one year,鈥� Roberts explained. 鈥淲e stuck around that day, and I remember thinking, 鈥極h man, it鈥檇 be so great to play here on the main stage later on in the day,鈥� and lo and behold we鈥檙e fortunate enough to be doing that this year.鈥�
The Washboard Union will share the stage with Gord Bamford, Karen Lee Batten, Rollin鈥� Trainwreck, The Tumblin鈥� Dice, Andrew Christopher, Jesse Allen Harris and JR-FM DJ Jaxon Hawks, in another 鈥淗ere for the Cure鈥� benefit concert that has a goal in 2018 of raising $580,000 for the Canuck Place Children鈥檚 Hospice in Abbotsford.
鈥� READ MORE: , from February.
Last year鈥檚 Tim Hicks-headlined party raised close to $520,000 for the cause.
Gone Country was founded by identical twins Chris and Jamie Ruscheinski, who work as realtors in the 91原创 area.
鈥淚t鈥檚 for a great cause and we鈥檙e happy to support it,鈥� said Roberts, one of three principal members of Vancouver-based Washboard Union, along with Aaron Grain and Chris 鈥淒unner鈥� Duncombe. In concert, they鈥檙e backed by a trio of Ontario-based musicians on guitar, bass and drums.
The band鈥檚 positive, feel-good music is a good fit for Gone Country, which gets going at 2 p.m. and won鈥檛 quit until 11 that night.
鈥淲e tend to write positive songs, I guess, and we鈥檝e been told that by people, which is kind of neat,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淚 have favourite bands and songs I鈥檝e listened to throughout my life, that helped me get through tough times, so when you hear that back from people who attend your concerts, it鈥檚 a pretty cool feeling.鈥�
鈥� READ MORE: , from 2017.
Signed to Warner Music Canada, The Washboard released a 12-track album called What We鈥檙e Made Of back in April. The video for the banjo-driven title song was filmed by Surrey-based director Stefano Barberis on a cold Ontario day.
鈥淚t was one of the coldest shoots I鈥檝e ever had,鈥� Barberis told the Now-Leader. 鈥淲e had to make different seasons and a slightly warm dinner celebration but it was the dead of winter in an open barn. We piped in hot air via a massive tube.鈥�
Roberts recalls feeling sorry for the cast.
鈥淚t was really cold, a blustery Ontario winter day, and everybody was wearing dinner attire, just shirts on, no jackets, and they were quite the heroes,鈥� he said.
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Last fall, The Washboard Union were a hot commodity at the B.C. Country Music Awards, where the band won seven awards, including Group of the Year, Single of the Year (for 鈥淗ead Over Heels鈥�) and Roots Group of the Year.
No question, the accolades are piling up for a band that got its start almost by accident, according to Roberts.
鈥淲e all used to live in this big mansion,鈥� he related. 鈥淚 mean, Chris and Aaron are stepbrothers, and they鈥檝e been jamming and singing since age 13 or something, and we all ended up in this big mansion by chance, out by UBC, and it was just filled with musicians 鈥� a 鈥�20s-era Tudor mansion that in no way on earth should they have been renting to a bunch of musicians. It just so happened that we lived in this beautiful place, so after work we鈥檇 pull out guitars and have campfires in the backyard. It was just such a great place to play, and this all grew from there, those campfire jams and in the living room.鈥�
Later, they formed a band called Run GMC to play their favourite trucker tunes and country songs they grew up hearing.
鈥淚t was just for fun, pure pleasure,鈥� Roberts explained, 鈥渁nd then one night we were playing a show in Vancouver and Garth Richardson was there. This guy is a major rock producer, right, and he said later that we made him smile and that he鈥檇 love to record us. He was the first guy from the industry to kind of notice us, and he loved how much fun we were having.鈥�
From there, an album was recorded, a new band name emerged, and things started happening for the trio.
鈥淲e鈥檙e as surprised as anyone by all this,鈥� Roberts said.
For tickets and other details about Gone Country, visit .
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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