Yukon musicians will be entertaining Vancouverites this week, which is nice, but …
“I see this as a huge marketing initiative,” says Debbie Peters of Magnum Opus Management, the event producer.
“A lot of these performers see this as a launching pad.”
And such a nice launching pad it is, too. The Railway Club is an always-hopping 750-seat venue that routinely draws scouts who are looking for new acts.
Pulling together Yukon acts – Speed Control, Twisters, The WiskeyDicks and Ben Mahony – Peters says they will get maximum exposure on the Friday night, Sept. 25.
A Vancouver publicist has been hired to get them onto breakfast television and other media events. And music-industry people and the media have been invited to the event as well.
Some of the bands, too, have been trying to interest certain agents and managers. So they have been invited, too.
But Yukon music is too big for for just one venue. Besides the punk/rock/blues being played at the Railway Club, roots music will be played at the Rogue Folk Club Sunday, Sept. 27.
There, Vancouverites will hear the Done Gone Stringband, Kim Barlow and her band, Annie Lou and Ryan Enns.
Together, the weekend of Yukon music is called, YukonFest. It is a name that Steve Silman came up with. He’s the booker for the Railway Club who came up to the Yukon last February for a music showcase conference organized by MusicYukon and the Yukon Film and Sound Commission.
Randi Austring, born and raised in the Yukon, is now working in the Artist and Repertoire Department at Nettwerk Music Group. She will be emceeing the “Railway gig”.
“I’m really excited about it,” she says over the phone.
“I know these bands; I grew up with these guys.”
