Jam organizers gear up for seventh annual event this weekend
Posted Jul 29, 2010 By Jeff Maguire
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Tweet ThisEMC Events - The planning is finished, the set-up is complete and now organizers are anxiously watching the weather forecasts as the seventh annual 'Riverside Jam on the Mississippi' begins a three-day run tomorrow (Friday).
The host committee for the country music festival is hanging its hat on the weather, hoping the warm, humid conditions which have prevailed for weeks will stretch through Civic Holiday weekend.
Members of the host Diamond Foundation have been disappointed by pre-event ticket sales. But they're hopeful good weather will mean a better than average walk-up crowd. "All of the logistics are in place," says Jam chairman Bud MacMillan. "Now it is up to the weather and the walk-up (crowd) to make this year's Jam a success.
"Ticket sales have been steady but not overwhelming yet. Certainly the Hoedown in Ottawa the following week has hurt us to some extent," he adds.
Next weekend a new country music show entitled 'Capital Hoedown 2010', will be staged at Rideau-Carleton Raceway and Entertainment Centre in Ottawa.
While Riverside Jam will feature mainly Canadian country stars and local talent, the Ottawa program features three of the biggest names in Nashville, Alan Jackson, Dwight Yoakam and Vince Gill.
The Carleton Place extravaganza is held annually in beautiful Riverside Park on the banks of Canada's Mississippi River.
MacMillan says that while the local line-up doesn't feature the big names slated for Capital Hoedown, the Riverside Jam does offer a complete experience for fans that travel long distances and camp on site, some for up to a week.
One of the Jam's main selling points is the more than 400 serviced camp sites available to recreational vehicle (RV) enthusiasts.
In the park proper 120 available sites have all been rented. But there is space available in Bodnar Park, just across Lake Avenue West from the concert site. Bodnar Park features more than 300 RV spaces.
"Both Bodnar and Riverside look fantastic," MacMillan notes, saying workers have carefully manicured both RV sites.
"With the weather we have had this year they are looking great. I'm sure the campers will be impressed with the layout and all the green grass."
GOOD LINE-UP
This year's Jam is heavy on Canadian, eastern Ontario and local talent.
But American country music legend Stonewall Jackson will give the event some important "Nashville flavour." He is one of two headline acts who will close the festival Sunday night. The other will be popular Maritime-born, Canadian performer George Canyon.
Friday's headliner is Bracebridge, Ontario native Deric Ruttan.
Now based in the American country music capital, Ruttan is well known for his 2008 album 'First Time in a Long Time' which yielded four hit singles. His newest recording 'Sunshine' was released in January. Ruttan will be on stage from 9:30-11 p.m. to close the opening night performances.
The first act of this year's festival will be Ottawa-based band Silver Creek. They have wowed crowds at Bluesfest in Ottawa for the past four years and in 2009 they opened for Blue Rodeo at the popular event in the nation's capital. Silver Creek will hit the Jam stage at 7 p.m. for one hour.
They will be followed by always popular Ottawa country-rock trio Ambush, who also played on opening night last year.
Saturday, July 31 the onstage action begins at 1 p.m. with a performance by the Jam's house combo, nicknamed Riverside All-Star Band.
"It (band) is made up of Valley musicians who play together on and off," MacMillan notes.
Winners of the Youth Talent Show, held as part of the second annual 'Lambs Down Park Festival' in Carleton Place on June 12, will be inserted between acts throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday.
There are seven youth acts with three scheduled to perform Saturday and four on Sunday. Each will sing one song as a reward for winning the highly contested talent competition.
At 1:30 p.m. Saturday the Triple K Klickers (the three Brunton sisters from Carleton Place) bring their stepdancing act to centre stage for 30 minutes.
From 2-2:30 p.m. Saturday Ompah native Neville Wells, a major force on the Ottawa Valley country music scene for years, will perform. Wells will be followed (from 2:45-3:45) by area entertainer Johnny Spinks, known for his classic country repertoire.
Saturday afternoon's entertainment concludes between 4-5 p.m. when Carleton Place's own Brea Lawrenson plays the Jam for the first time. She will be backed up by Juno award winner Keith Glass (of Prairie Oyster fame) and his band.
The Saturday night line-up includes rising Carleton Place family band the Bowes Brothers. They'll take centre stage from 6:30-7:30. The Bowes boys will be followed by top-flight Canadian female country stars Carroll Baker and Michelle Wright who are both returning to the festival. Baker performs from 7:45-9:15 while Wright wraps up the night with a 9:30-11 p.m. show.
The 2010 Riverside Jam concludes Sunday with another jam-packed list of performers.
Four-piece Celtic band Corkery Road opens proceedings from 1-2 p.m. At 2:15 Brett Baker entertains for an hour, followed by a half hour performance by Ottawa Valley musician Rob Dillon.
Sunday afternoon concludes with Gary Fairburn playing from 4-4:30 and Darlene Thibault, the first winner of Valley Idol at the inaugural Jam (in 2004), entertaining from 4:30-5 p.m.
The final evening opens with another Eastern Ontario band, Printer's Alley, playing from 6:30-7:30.
Then it will be the 77-year-old Grand Ole Opry legend Jackson taking centre stage.
The final performer of the event is George Canyon. A native of Fox Brook, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, he now lives in High River, Alberta.
Canyon, 39, has a long list of awards to his credit including Maritime and Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) honours.
Some major changes, which were introduced last year in an effort to lower security costs, will be retained in 2010. The refreshment tent (beer garden) will once again close earlier (11 p.m.) and there will be no "Picker's Pit" (post-concert jam sessions).
There will not be a breakfast offered on the grounds this year because of new entrance requirements put in place by organizers.
For complete information on ticket sales, camping opportunities and general information about Carleton Place and district visit the event website at: www.riversidejam.ca
The EMC is an original major sponsor of the Riverside Jam on the Mississippi. Watch for coverage of this year's event in next week's newspaper.
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