Robert Fry of CaribooRadio.com brought five of this year’s eight Cariboo Idol 2015 entertainers to the Aug. 13 Performances in the Park stage in Boitanio Park.
This is the ninth year Cariboo Idol has given local musicians a chance to strut their stuff in front of an audience.
This year Cariboo Idol is not a competition, explains Fry. Once the Cariboo Idol 2015 venues have all been played, all the artists will get a chance to record their work in a recording studio in late September.
Tyrell Norton of 108 Mile House led off the Cariboo Idol entertainers. Born in Chilliwack, he has been performing on stage for four years, and was part of the Cariboo Idol competition last year.
“I’ve lived in different parts of the Cariboo including Williams Lake,” says Norton. “My music is inspired by Delta rock group, Theory of a Deadman.”
Gary Seminoff of 100 Mile House was next to take the stage. He is a seasoned performer, entertaining crowds since 1988, but this is his first year in the Cariboo Idol competition. He sang two songs by Trooper, who he claims is Canada’s best rock group.
Jazmine Storvold of 100 Mile House gave a stellar performance. She only sang one song, but it was enough to convince the Boitanio Park audience why she was the worthy winner of last year’s Cariboo Idol competition.
Justine Hama of Williams Lake also gave a convincing performance.
Though she has been singing in front of an audience for as long as she can remember, this is her first year in the Cariboo Idol contest.
“I sang with my mother in church a lot,” she says.
Diane Laukkanen of Williams Lake had her own fan club cheering her on at the Performances in the Park, including her three-year-old daughter, Charlie, who had to be herded off the stage a couple of times.
“I like the oldies,” Laukkanen confessed, when asked what music venue inspires her best. “I must have been born in the wrong era.”
Anyone who missed the Cariboo Idols at Performances in the Park, can catch these gifted entertainers Aug 29 and 30 at the Garlic Festival in Lac la Hache.