Music in the Park at Capilano River Regional Park, Labour Day, Monday, Sept. 5, noon to 5 p.m.
Cleveland Dam Park will play host to an influx of local musical talent on Monday, as the fourth annual Music in the Park gets underway.
Each hour from noon until 5 p.m., a new Vancouver area band will hit the stage in front of the spectacular backdrop provided by Grouse Mountain and the Cleveland Reservoir.
Viper Central, a five-piece string band, led by fiddler and vocalist, Kathleen Nisbet, will take the stage in their North Vancouver debut at 2:15 p.m.
Their upbeat, fast moving style finds its roots in American old time and bluegrass, a scene that brought the group together almost a full decade ago. Since 2008, Viper Central has released two studio albums, and are ready to drop their third in January 2017. A live album and numerous tours across Canada and abroad, round out the years in between.
Their songs tell the stories of their time on the road and the people they’ve met along the way.
“We sing about Canadian experiences,” says Nisbet. “We like stories that have some kind of connection with our lives.”
While on tour in Northern Ireland last year, the band was told an old story of the first Irish woman to come to British Columbia. The woman had been from Rathfriland in the North East of Ireland and at 16-years-old travelled to Canada and journeyed through the Rocky Mountains on foot. She was pregnant at the time, and according to legend, her baby was the first Irish child born in B.C.
“They asked us to write a song about the woman,” said Nisbet. “So, we did!”
That song will feature on their upcoming album, but those who attend the Music in the Park on Monday will get a special preview.
The new album, according to Nisbet, ventures more into the realm of country swing. On Monday, for just the second time in the band’s career, there will be a set of drums on the stage; those drums will be manned by Justin James, the band’s newest addition. The sound is rounded out by a group of highly skilled instrumentalists, who feature on numerous other musical ventures around town. Patrick Metzger sets the pace on the stand-up bass, Tim Tweedale is impressive on the steel guitar, and Steve Charles fills it out with his skillful guitar and banjo playing.
The Luke Wallace Trio, Emberfield, the Jocelyn Petit Band, and the Jen Hodge All Stars will round out Monday’s afternoon lineup. The event also features local artist demonstrations and a free children’s activity from noon until 5 p.m.
For more information about Music in the Park visit nvartscouncil.ca/events/music-park-2016 and for the band, check out vipercentral.ca.
