The Sooke Folk Music Society presents Cindy Church and Nathan Tinkham at the first performance of this season’s concert series.
Originally from Bible Hill, N.S., Church’s early sense of music was infused with acoustic country and folk traditions of the Maritimes.
Building upon these roots, during the 1980s she made forays into country music while living and recording in Western Canada, developing her repertoire within the Turner Valley, Alberta-based trio Great Western Orchestra and touring and recording with Ian Tyson as part of the Chinook Arch Riders.
Embarking on a solo career in the 1990’s with Love on the Range, Just a Little Rain and the self titled Cindy Church recorded on the Stony Plain label, Church proved to be a singer and songwriter with a distinctive voice and interpretive technique.
These vocal stylings became a key element in the formation of Quartette, the striking collaboration of Church, Sylvia Tyson, Caitlin Hanford , the late Colleen Peterson, and later Gwen Swick, that would reshape the Canadian musical landscape.
Tinkham’s first album, The Loom, is a collection of 14 songs written or co-written by him. Two songs (Alison Lives by the Big Bend and Hobo Girl) will be familiar to some as being previously recorded by Quartette.
Tinkham covers a wide range with his material - oldtime country, folk and country/blues are the prime sounds, a lot of it being an extension of sorts to the theme and concept of Ian Tyson’s Cowboyography music.
Several tracks stand out, none better than the story song South to Whitehorse, the gospel flavoured Get Thee Behind Me, and the picturesque title track, The Loom. Tinkham also adds a bit of the Australian Outback feel in his instrumental arrangement of Red Haired Boy.
A veteran of the Canadian folk and country scenes, Nathan started his career in the early 70s busking on the streets of Victoria. Over the next 40 years he worked and recorded with Tyson, Church, Quartette, Wilf Carter, Diamond Joe White, Undertakin’ Daddies, Great Western Orchestra and a host of others.
Doors open at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 28) at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church on Murray Road in Sooke. Advance tickets are available at Sooke Shoppers Drug Mart.