Staff Photo By: Darcie Thom

John Gracie performed at the Kipling Community Centre on October 21st.

By: Darcie Thom

A little blend of country classics with a hint of Maritime folk, add in some Canadiana favorites and what ya`got….. John Gracie.

The Kipling and District Arts Council was pleased to present the first performer in the 2008/09 Stars for Saskatchewan, the international touring artist and songwriter, John Gracie originally from Cape Breton, Halifax.

Gracie, along with his band-mates, belted out a variety of (east coast) Canadiana charm and country blend to the packed audience during the evening of Tuesday, October 21st at the Kipling Community Centre featuring songs from his easy-on-the ears Album called ‘Then Again - Recollections’.

This musical trio included the talents of John Gracie himself, Gordon Stobbe, a fiddler, mandolin player and vocalist, and Greg Simm, guitarist and vocalist, with all of whom had an extraordinary talent for joke-telling or the ‘intended’ lack there of, which made them even more hilarious.

The band performed a number of ballads including one particular one written by Gene MacLellan, a gentleman who became well-known for his work by writing the famous songs ‘Snowbird’ and ‘Put your hand in the hand’, called ‘The Call’ (a touching song about a person’s persistence to make a phone call to someone he cares for). Another original ballad, Gracie’s very own country song called ‘Water under the bridge I never burned’, which he stated “this song is about as country as I’m gonna get”.

The band performed a tribute to Hank Snow, of Nova Scotia, and dazzled the crowd with some comedic music routine in which the vocalists were required to remember just five words (one, two, three, four, five) while Gracie rambled off over two hundred, and they did a fantastic job, at that! The crowd cheered for Stobbe and Simm every time they completed their part!

Two specific ‘lullabies’ were performed about Cape Breton and another about Nova Scotia, causing a few water-filled eyes in the crowd. The show ended with an extended version of ‘You are my sunshine’ with full participation from the men and women in the audience.

“We are having a wonderful time traveling Saskatchewan,” said Gracie after the show, “Kipling has been fantastic and there was excellent crowd participation”.