Country Roads returns with music and memories
When Feizal Samath began his Country Roads concert in 1988, it was meant to be a one-off effort to raise funds for refugee children in Trincomalee. Today it is billed the longest running charity concert for children in South Asia, and Feizal himself has been the driving force behind it, stepping out of his journalistic shoes to put on a Stetson and cowboy boots and croon those mellow ballads.
Many are the loyal fans who faithfully return time and again to Country Roads, as they will do on Sunday, October 19 when the concert is held, this time at an exciting new venue at Cinnamon Life.
CMF's Feizal Samath and Jury Majid. Pix by Indika Handuwala
The founders of the Country Music Foundation Feizal and Jury Majid themselves may have gone a little grey-haired now, but they can look back on years of ‘music that has healed’- for the concert had made the future brighter for countless needy children across the country, whether in Batticaloa, Ampara, Medawachchiya or Moneragala…
Support for Country Roads has always been from the heart. This year too, the evergreen German band Mavericks will fly down to perform at the show as they have been doing since 1992 (funding the trip themselves over the past few years). Also returning to the stage are the Cosmic Rays, the Country Revival Band (led by Feizal and Jury), Thilan Wijesinghe and Allan Outschoorn.
Astrid Brook, the British folk singer who has been part of the concert since 2007, will miss this year’s show – she is to tie the knot in England and has the heartiest wishes of Country Roads. Feizal promises that Astrid’s shoes will be filled by Manethree Walpola, YouTube sensation and young star.
Sounding a different note, the Navy bagpipers will add their Highland skirl to the music, says Feizal, reminding us that country music was heavily influenced by Scottish immigrants in rural America.
Many are the memories that cluster around the Country Roads’ journey of well-nigh four decades. Feizal recalls how singer Bob Livingston after singing at Country Roads visited a refugee camp. His first few songs were unfamiliar and Feizal suggested he try nursery rhymes. When he sang ‘Old McDonald had a farm’ and the young children followed him shouting ‘E-I-E-I-O’ -it was like a scene from the Pied Piper.
There are many such heartwarming memories of countless lives touched.
The concert has also been fostering new talent by giving them the platform to perform. Adds Jury Majid that the musical repertoire of the concert is wide- ranging from the ‘’fifties to now, tantalizing us with the ‘annual surprise’ the Mavericks have in store.
Amidst the charities Country Roads have helped over time are UNICEF and Save the Children. This year’s concert’s proceeds will go to Appe Lanka, whose work is mostly with children in the North. Appe Lanka is led by Shaan Corea, the patron, her uncle, the famous author Michael Ondaatje.
The Country Roads folk are obviously excited about and look forward to having the gig at ‘the Forum’ in Cinnamon Life Level 8, an elegant futuristic space in cream and wafer colours with streaks of blue glass revealing the Colombo skyline outside…
Country Roads will happen on Sunday, October 19 at ‘The Forum’, Cinnamon Life, at 6.30 p.m. onwards. Tickets, priced at Rs. 3000 and 4000 are on sale at Cargills Food City outlets in Kirulapone, Kohuwela, Majestic City and Staples Street.
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