聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Residents of Kamsack were treated to a concert at the Playhouse Theatre on February 11 by a performer who has been getting rave reviews while on tour for the Stars for Saskatchewan Concert Series.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淧lease give a warm Kamsack welcome to a performer who has gotten rave reviews so far at every stop on his Saskatchewan tour, including Humboldt, Melville, and Yorkton,鈥� said Nikki Lachambre of the Kamsack Arts Council as she introduced Eric Harper, award winning Flamenco guitarist.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Those who were in attendance were treated to a rather different kind of concert, as Harper combines his self-styled 鈥渉eavy metal, trained classical guitarist, faking it as a flamenco player鈥� style of music interwoven with a narrative dialogue of his life story.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Harper said that during his formative years, he, along with his family, moved around the globe a lot, so he was heavily influenced by the music of the different countries he lived in while growing up in Portugal, Brazil and especially Italy.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Harper seemed very much at ease performing his distinctive brand of music on stage, and encouraged audience participation in both his dialogue and songs.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Harper鈥檚 affable, congenial delivery of his life story during his performance proved to be a stark contrast to the intensity he displayed while playing his flamenco-influenced musical numbers. His right hand moved with lightening speed and absolute intense control and his feet moved along with the beat. During the concert Harper explained that the intensity of his music style was why his guitar looked 鈥渟o beat up.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Kamsack crowd gave Harper a standing ovation and he rewarded them by performing the song he had written for his son, Shiloh, entitled Boy to Man, a soulful tune filled with a father鈥檚 reluctant sentiment at seeing his young son grow up too quickly.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Before leaving the stage Harper thanked the audience.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 great that people are open-minded and courageous enough to actually come out and see a musician they鈥檝e never heard of before,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hank you for your support because without your support I wouldn鈥檛 be able to do this.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The Kamsack Arts Council will be presenting The Middle Coast in concert on March 10 as the last performance in the 2066-2017 Stars for Saskatchewan concert series.
