Heather Latter
With “Tour de Fort” wrapping up its current season last Thursday night at the Townshend Theatre, the lineup for its 2013/14 was announced.
And it’s already been deemed one of their best yet.
“It’s a huge lineup,” enthused president Ken Avis.
“We went all out, spent all the money we had, so we have to sell passports and get people to come out to these shows,” he noted.
The new season will open with Canadian folk/rock artist Bruce Cockburn on Oct. 1.
“It’s huge for this district,” Avis said. “As far as I know, in his 40 some odd year career that he’s been playing, I don’t think he’s ever played here.
“Not that I’m aware of anyway.
“[He’s] a great way to start off our season,” Avis added.
Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter Rose Cousins then will take to the Townshend Theatre stage Oct. 20.
“She’s huge,” Avis remarked. “She’s winning awards all over the place and is quite large in the States.”
Then on Nov. 18, the Montreal-based Beatles tribute band, “Day Tripper,” will offer the thrill and excitement of “Beatlemania,” featuring spot-on costumes and vintage instruments for each era.
Jazz singer Jesse Peters will hit the stage Jan. 9, 2014.
“A band out of Alberta that offers up a blues, jazz sort of vocalist,” Avis said of the Jesse Peters trio.
“This guy is incredible. He’s got an amazing voice,” he added.
Meanwhile, Avis’ personal favourite, “Blackie And The Rodeo Kings,” are scheduled to perform Feb. 2.
The season then will wrap up with Canadian pop/rock artist Barney Bentall on April 6.
“Everybody knows [Bentall] from the ’90s,” said Avis, noting his band was called “Legendary Hearts.”
“He’s doing a lot of stuff on his own now,” he added.
“So it’s going to be a really great season,” Avis vowed.
This past season for “Tour de Fort” also was a good one.
“We had some great acts this year but our sales were down, though, substantially over the previous year, which kind of surprised us,” Avis admitted.
“Our turnouts were lower than what we had achieved the year previous.
“So we were hurting for funds right at the end of our season,” he remarked.
But “Tour de Fort” had a big sales blitz for its new season at the final show last Thursday and already has sold 100 passports.
“The big push we had [for passports] and the lineup for next season has been working very well,” Avis noted. “So that’s really good for us.”
He added with the big names for next season, organizers are hoping to sell out.
“We’ve been hurting financially again, so it’s really important that we do sell lots of passports for our upcoming season,” he stressed.
Passports will be on sale for $100 until at least Sept. 1.
“For $100, you get six shows, so that works out to be about $16 for each show,” said Avis.
He added “Tour de Fort” organizers also are hoping this year will be successful because it is their 20th season.
“It is a big milestone year for us,” he remarked. “We’ve had lots of changes through the years.
“Change of venues and changed our acts—the artists that we have coming in.”
Avis said “Tour de Fort” received plenty of positive feedback from this past season’s lineup and expects this coming year will be even better.
“The people that did come out to our shows, everybody loved them,” he enthused. “Everyone walked away with smiles on their faces.
“And that’s all we’ve ever tried to achieve is bringing acts in. Whether you’ve heard of them or not, it’s not relevant, just come on out.
“It’s going to be a good time. We guarantee it,” Avis pledged.
Passports can be purchased online at tourdefort.com or at 93.1 The Border.
