Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

Good old country music at Lanka’s premier country show
Let the good times roll
By Feizal Samath
During a recent visit to Nashville, Tennessee, I walked into a pub to listen to some good old country music. Three piece/four-piece bands play at bars even at 12 noon!

“Could you play ‘Have you ever seen the rain’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival?” I asked the band while sipping an American beer. “I am sorry, we only play traditional country music,” the drummer replied. The 1970s band Creedence or CCR with hits like “Who’ll stop the rain”, “Midnight Special”, “Lodi” or “Proud Mary” belong to a generation led by country greats like Willy Nelson who were called the outlaws of country music for introducing rock and pop into traditional country sounds. Live bands in Nashville pubs prefer to play traditional country music.

Back in Sri Lanka, some of those great old sounds will come alive at the Country Road concert, the 12th in the series organized by the Country Music Foundation. The concert organized annually in association with UNICEF will be held from 5 p.m. onwards on January 11 at the lagoon side of the Taj Airport Garden Hotel, Seeduwa.

The main sponsors are Emirates, the award-winning Dubai-based international airline and Cargills (Ceylon) Ltd., owners of ‘Food City’ the country’s largest supermarket chain.

Held annually since October 1988, the concert is dedicated to raising funds for underprivileged children in Sri Lanka through projects initiated and run by UNICEF. This year’s event will be in a Wild West format with horseback riders, hawker street stalls and barbecues adding to the ambience. Proceeds from the concert will be donated to UNICEF’s child-friendly schools programme, under which the CMF hopes to contribute to the construction of a reading room/library facility in the southern town of Hambantota.

While this is Bob Livingston’s first trip to Sri Lanka, for Dirk and The Mavericks from Germany it’s like coming home. The German band - now a regular feature at the Country Road - has been performing here since the mid-1990s. The band has performed free in keeping with the charitable spirit of the show.

Also returning to the Country Road stage is Tyronne Peiris and the Cosmic Rays, Sri Lanka’s best-known exponents of country music. Add to that a mixture of Sri Lankan musicians for a sing-along - and this concert and Wild West show is not to be missed.

Ted Chaiban, UNICEF Resident Representative in Sri Lanka, said UNICEF is delighted to be associated with the CMF in this annual event that “provides not only an evening of accomplished musical entertainment but also an opportunity to raise funds that will help some of Sri Lanka’s vulnerable children.”

Emirates Sales Manager Colombo Devika Ellepola said the airline - which is sponsoring the Mavericks band for the second successive year - has a strong commitment to the welfare of children around the world.

Performances to look out for
Bob Livingston (jointly hosted by the CMF and the US Embassy)

* Wednesday, January 7 – 8.30 p.m.- 9.30 p.m. - Performs at the Olympus Theatre in Male, the Maldives

* Friday, January 9 – 7 p.m.- 8 p.m. - Performs at Hotel Suisse in Kandy. (Entrance free of charge.)

* Sunday, January 11 - 5 p.m. onwards - Performs at COUNTRY ROAD concert at Taj Airport Garden Hotel, Seeduwa.

* Monday, January 12 - Performs at Clancy’s in Colombo (evening).
The Mavericks (sponsored by Emirates/Taj Airport Garden Hotel)

* Saturday, January 10 - Perform at Clancy’s in Colombo (evening)

* Sunday, January 11 - Perform at COUNTRY ROAD concert at Taj Airport Garden Hotel at Seeduwa (after 5 p.m.)

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