7.3°C Partly Cloudy 
Music on the Mary,
Saturday evening, August 15th, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Camp Stone, Kimberley
Well, the short answer is that it made a brief appearance at Camp Stone for Saturday evening and most of Sunday. As for the last few weeks who knows. Judging by the weather the calendar should read anywhere from early June through to early July. In any case the organizers of the third Music on the Mary Festival were blessed with a brief two-day break in the weather for their annual fund raiser. This year it was a two day event with the louder electric bands on Saturday night scaring the bears, raising the roof, sky, whatever. As Alex Casima commented on Sunday “the bears are probably still running”. The residents of the nearby Kimberley Riverside Campground were the lucky recipients of a free sonic soundscape. Some of the featured bands included, “Checkpoint 5”, “60 Hertz”, “Elk Hunt”, “The Scars” and “Slackjaw”.
Sunday was cool, by August standards, but the sun shone brightly for a family day of more mellow sounds. The ladies of Acapella Bella opened the show and were followed by the Celtic sounds of “The Blarney Pilgrims”. For those who don’t know, “Blarney” is an Irish word that basically translates to our notion of B.S. When the band was formed a couple of years ago the members didn’t know exactly what they were doing. So what came about was full of the “Blarney”, that is mostly B.S., and when the popular Irish Jig “The Blarney Pilgrim” floated to the top in their rehearsals it seemed like an appropriate name for the band.
Despite the precedents of the last few weeks the sun did keep shining for the rest of the day. Alex Casima and his friends from “Slackjaw” took to the stage and punched out some more or less mellow songs, including a great version of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery”. The band seemed to also have a particular liking for the songs of Tom Waitts. Local troubadour Tim Ross did a solo gig that featured a far slice of his original material (“Work Time”, “Plastic Money”) plus a brilliant reworking of the old rock tune “I Hear You Knocking (but you can’t come in)”. Peter Warland and Mark Casey reworked some of Mark’s original material including “The Old Reggae Waltz”. By now the scene was set for the bands of “RedGirl”, “Gypsy Salami” and “Half Sacks” to help the patrons on the grass enjoy this briefest of brief summer breaks in the weather. The break lasted right up until the closing act when, as if on schedule, the clouds rolled in and it started to rain.
This annual benefit is run to aid charitable organizations. In the past it was for the Canadian Arthritis Association. This year the beneficiary will be Cops for Kids. That organization was ably represented by Leanne Allen from the Victim Services of the Kimberley detachment of the RCMP. Leanne is about to embark on a 1000 Kilometer bike trip from Kimberley to Kelowna and back. This will also be a fund raiser for Cops for Kids. If you want to support Leanne’s efforts contact her at 250-432-0093 or better yet, for more information and sign up check the website www.copsforkids.org.
Once again, thanks to all the musicians and volunteers who donated their time for a great cause. Of note was the great sound, provided by the crew (Lowell, Ben and James) of Just Music. Look for Music on the Mary again next year; be there and bring the good weather with you.
