The Great Plains duo Darrel de la Ronde and Saskia will be in concert Thursday, March 21 at St. Peter’s Anglican Church.
Darrel and Saskia always combine their concerts with an awareness and fundraising campaign to help promote history, art and community.
For this Williams Lake concert they are shedding some light on the Station House Gallery.
The singer-songwriters are certainly no strangers to Williams Lake as they have played at the Gibraltar Room in past concerts with Juno Award winners Gary Fjellgaard and Valdy, and for Performances in the Park held summers in Boitanio Park.
They also have other notable entertainers such as Daniel Powter, Darby Mills, Steve Dawson, Bill Hicks (Powder Blues), and Nolan Murray (Tiller’s Folly) appearing on their 10 CD’s.
They have performed with Good Brothers, Stampeders, Emerson Drive, and many more …
Under the shelter of their newly-formed band name The Great Plains they are cultivating an immense following across Canada and Europe. This year they are touring Canada and Europe with their newest CD Songbirds.
Darrel de la Ronde played in his first working band at the age of 14 and over the years developed a unique finger and thumb picking style that is admired by guitar players everywhere, states his biography.
Although he is an accomplished lead guitarist and sought after studio musician, his work today is understated and deliberate, blending and weaving through the melody with careful precision.
Saskia comes from an old-world European classical music background, and her rich velvet alto has been described as ‘ethereal.’
Her voice is a fine instrument that has been toned by only having the very best notes emanate from it, say critics. The audience then, is delightfully shocked when she segues from an operatic version of Ave Maria to belting out some raunchy country blues.
Darrel and Saskia have earned numerous accolades and awards for their albums which have enjoyed airplay on CBC and many Indie Radio stations around the world.
Their CDs include Back in Time; Lady Luck; Family Tree; Saskia; Christmas Dream; Laura’s Kitchen; Sailing Saskatchewan; Burlap & Bindertwine; The Gift; and Songbirds.
The concert March 21 at St. Peter’s Anglican Church starts at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are $15 and available at the Station House Gallery and at the door.