Twin sisters Jamie and Jess Crandall will be bartending at the upcoming Duel In The Dirt in Rimbey Aug. 18-20.
They are all about working and having fun while doing it.
Originally from Golden, B.C., the sisters both work their day job at the same place, and then amp things up a bit, working their nights at the bar.
Their time working at various bars has been quite the exciting career, leading them to meeting celebrities, athletes and even making good friends.
“We started out as gogo dancers back when we were 21. We did that on and off for about 10 years,” said Jamie.
They then started at Bellinis and did strictly beer tub, and Jamie did waitressing a bit, while Jess took a step back for a few years.
They’ve mostly worked together throughout their lives, but have had times where one worked somewhere different.
“We always had this thing, which we still carry to this day, where one of us is working and the other one isn’t, she’ll text me when she gets home, tell me what her ring out was, and how much money and tips she made,” said Jess, adding that at the time Jamie made tons of money at one place, so Jess then hopped on board again, working with her sister.
About a year ago, the two got into bartending, but Jamie bartended weddings and lots of events in what was then known as The Sheraton in Red Deer. They also bartended for the Canadian Finals Rodeo event, with Jamie also having worked at the Ponoka Stampede this summer.
Jamie is currently working three jobs, working about one shift a week at a nightclub in Red Deer called The Silver Buckle and The Driftwood on weekends in Sylvan Lake.
She said it’s nice to go from one job that’s a bit more stressful to a super social job, where she gets to talk to many different people.
“It’s just a completely different job.
“A lot of times we don’t get home until four in the morning,” said Jamie, adding that it’s all about lots of coffee and Monsters the next day.
Jess, who did some work in coat check for a few months, said a lot of people have no respect for the line of work they do.
She said this is their fun, weekend job, where they can make extra money.
“So many people are really dismissive of working those kinds of jobs and we get a lot of questions like, ‘When are you guys going to get a real job?’”
Currently, both sisters work on the weekend at The Driftwood in Sylvan Lake.
“It’s so much fun and you’re constantly meeting new people and hearing new stories,” said Jess about her career.
Looking back over the years, Jess said there has been so many great moments.
“It’s fun to be recognized in your community. It’s fun to see people at the mall and say ‘oh hey I was serving you whisky sours all last night.’ Just being recognized and recognizing your clientele. You just create this bond, especially with your regulars. It’s almost like a family event though you don’t really know each other, you’re always happy to see each other,” she said.
One of Jamie’s favourite moments was bartending an event for country music artist Gord Bamford, which led her to meeting lots of other country music artists.
“It was just really fun to not only be doing something I love, which is bartending, but bartending for an event like that, which was for charity, getting to hear country music, which is my favourite, and getting to fan girl over all these country artists.”