Perogies and Jam were pleased to have Terry Jorden and Friends perform at the Sunshine Club on Saturday, March 18. As sometimes happens, this weekend was filled with other great local events including a St. Patrick’s event for the Hospital Auxiliary on Thursday, for the Kinsmen on Friday and a fund raising event in Innisfree on Saturday, so we were pleased to have over 50 faithful music fans come out to enjoy a fun evening of live music. Perogies and Jam MC Don Harfield opened the evening at 6:50 pm with a warm welcome to this special event for those who just hadn’t enough of good ol’ Irish music.

Dwayne Hlady, Bob Carter and Marlene Roth, in support of Vegreville Transportation Services Society (VTSS), served up Irish stew, Irish potato & leek soup along with a traditional Ukrainian perogy & sausage meal. To add to the fun, Susheila Maistry, along with Todd & Leeanne Kermode, of the Lions Club, served refreshments including green beer and Irish coffee.

Starting off the evening, in our “Open Mic” session, was Red Front Chives with Christof Patterson (electric guitar and vocals) and Denver Balid (drums) performing “I Am” by Crowder, “Jesus in Disguise” by Brandon Heath, and “Good Fight” by Unspoken.

Performing second was Liam Bonser (flute & penny whistle) and his sister Anneka Bonser (keyboard). Their songs included Mirrlees Lane and a set of Irish jigs (Jig Runrig, Alan McPherson of Mosspark, Paddy’s Leather Breeches and Atyholl Highlanders). Anneka lives on the Sunshine Coast and was in town visiting her brother.

Next up was C.O.O.L. with Peter Arnold (vocals), Don Harfield (12 string guitar and vocals), Liam Bonser (flute & penny whistle), and Anneka Bonser (vocals). They performed four songs including “On the Banks of the Roses”, “The Unicorn” and “Whiskey in the Jar”. As fitting for the St Patrick’s theme for the evening, MC Don Harfield told Irish jokes along with a limerick and an Irish blessing.

Terry Jorden (keyboard and vocals) and friends: Ralph Lange (upright bass and fiddle), Rob Hughes (drums, cajon, and bodhran), Liam Bonser (flute) and Anneka (cajon, bodhran and vocals) performed three sets starting at 8:00 pm. The first set started with the traditional Irish song “Molly Malone” and included “To Make You Feel My Love”.

Terry and Friends continued with a full set of Irish songs and instrumentals including “Red Velvet Band”, a fiddle and penny whistle medley of “The Road to Lisdoonvarna”, “Bo Mhin Na Toitean”, and “Miss Sara Drummond of Perth”. This was followed by “Red is the Rose”, and a second fiddle and penny whistle medley of “Mist on the Mountains”, “Out on the Mountain”, and “Mug of Brown Ale”. During the first Irish medley, Rob played bodhran while Anneka played cajon, trading riffs in support of the jigs and reels. They then traded drums for the second medley.

Terry and Friends third set included a series of popular and country songs including “City of New Orleans”, Walking After Midnight”, “Goodtime Charlie’s Got the Blues”, and “Vulcan Girl”. To conclude the evening, Terry invited the audience to join in singing “When Irish Eyes are Smiling”.

We thank our volunteers in the kitchen (Dwayne, Bob & Marlene), refreshment servers (Susheila, Todd & Leeanne), soundboard (Randy Kereliuk), cash box (Ruby Kassian & Victoria Paranych), photographers (Liam, Rob, and Jeah Patterson) and MC (Don Harfield). We appreciate the joint collaboration of the VTSS, Lions Club, and the Sunshine Club with Perogies and Jam to make this event successful!

Perogies and Jam is committed to developing an enduring live music scene in Vegreville by cultivating local music talent.

It was a great evening and we all had fun. Thank you all for supporting Perogies and Jam!

Photo Gallery
Photographs by Rob Hughes & Jeah Patterson