The day started cool and misty but that didn’t dampen the spirits of street vendors, visitors and hardy Vegreville folk alike. This was the third and last Street Market for the 2013 season and judging by the bustle of people downtown, it was a great day! As time progressed during the day, the weather cleared for a bit then turned to light rain in the early afternoon and still the bands played on. As all things must come to an end sometime, the street market and the music closed down about 3 pm which coincided with the start of heavier rain. Having tents provided by the Town for the performers and the audience alike was much appreciated.

Perogies and Jam thanks everyone for coming out and showing your support for these local and regional musicians. There were a great variety of song styles from blues, folk, gospel, popular, and traditional Ukrainian with over 60 songs performed – now that’s entertainment!

Music started filling the streets at 10 am with Ralph Lange and friends Rob Hughes on drums, Gordon Forbes on guitar and Ron Barr also on guitar performing Johnny Cash songs (“Big River” and “Folsom Prison Blues”) and blues songs “White Freightliner”, “Boom Boom” and “Smokestack Lightning”.

Gordon Forbes and his friend Ron Barr from Red Deer know how to please an audience and have written and performed many songs together. They sang “Rivers of Babylon”, “Wreck of Old 97”, “Yer So Bad”, “Remember” (written by Ron Barr), the Buddy Holly song “Crying Waiting Hoping”, and finished their set with a catchy “Mr. Produce Man” co-written by Ron Barr and Gordon Forbes.

Don Harfield and friends, Ralph Lange & Rob Hughes started their set with Roger Whittaker’s “The Last Farewell”, followed by three original songs written by Don titled “Don’t Give Up” (a.k.a. “Don’t Quit” poem set to music), “I Can Never Go Home Again”, and “I’m an Old Softy”. Other songs included “Blackbird” by the Beatles, and concluded with the traditional negro spiritual “Motherless Child” which has been performed extensively by folk and blues singers.

Terry Jorden (from Sherwood Park) on keyboard along with Ralph Lange on upright bass and Robert Hughes on drums played a great set of songs starting with the Lead Belly blues tune “Alberta” which is very familiar to Eric Clapton fans. A great crowd pleaser was “Lee Harvey Was a Friend of Mine”. Others included “Vulcan Girl” by Conrad Walz, and “Field Behind the Plow” by Stan Rogers. This set took us well into the lunch hour and Terry’s infectious style kept toes tapping throughout.

Country Sunshine have been playing a variety of county music in the Vegreville area for many years and we are always pleased to have Norm, Pearl, Joe and Brian be part of the Street Market music events. They started their set with the Dolly Parton tune “Silver and Gold”, followed by the Tom Jones song “Green Green Grass of Home”. Pearl sang “Kolasa Kurchacha” which is a favourite traditional Ukrainian song. Gospel songs included “I’ll Fly Away” and Amazing Grace”, and they concluded their set with the Carl Smith tune “Are You Teasing Me”.

Amy Wallish is a young promising singer song writer from Sherwood Park. She started off her set with Demons” by Image Dragons, and followed up with four of her own compositions “’Til the Sun Comes Up”, “Goodbye”, “Best Friend”, and “Flowers Fall”. Other songs included “Titanium by David Guetta and concluded with “Make You Feel My Love” by Garth Brooks.

Da’Vision by Zero is a young Vegreville band consisting of Jared, Jonas, Reggie and Matthew. Tobin was unavailable as he is attending school in southern Saskatchewan. They played four of their original songs “May the Lord Take Care of You”, ”Walk with God”, “Not Strong Enough”, and “I’m Not Shook”. They concluded with the song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.

Finishing off the afternoon was Debbie Fedoruk with four of her vocal student friends and her daughter. Bailey Stefan has a compelling powerful voice and sang “Feeling Good” and “How to Be a Heart Breaker”. Maria Taschuk sang a fun song “Never Smile at a Crocodile”, followed by Jessica Clough singing “Tomorrow” and Ken Timanson singing “Sloop John B”. Carissa Fedoruk concluded the set with “One Tin Soldier” and “Think of Me”.

Perogies and Jam thanks the Town of Vegreville and the Chamber of Commerce for providing the tents and their encouragement and support of local musical talent in the Vegreville area. We appreciate our friends and supporters as we approach our 4th season this fall.

Photo Gallery
Photography courtesy of Don Harfield, Rob Hughes, and Adam Kozakiewicz