A concert featuring talented singer/songwriter Matt Masters held last Monday at the Beatty House was well received, and both the entertainer and the crowd seemed to enjoy the evening.
“It went really well and everyone who attended seemed pleased,” said Bronwen Jones, a member of the Beatty House Society Cultural Committee. “He (Matt Masters) had a lot of energy and seemed to engage well with the audience.”
The concert attracted about 30 people and the musician said he really felt a strong connection with his audience.
“They gave me a standing ovation and it was great. When I sang the last song, Alberta Bound, they all sang along. It was nice. It was like we were all in this together.”
The talented Calgary singer and guitar playing songwriter has performed throughout Canada and internationally.
His album All-Western Winners was on the national folk/roots/blues charts top ten, peaking at number four.
As well as being a talented musician Masters also has been featured in film and television and had a supporting role in the feature film, A Legend of Whitey, directed by Canadian director Dave Lawrence.
In 2008 Masters premiered his first full-length musical play, Don Coyote. He took the show to London, England, Calgary’s High Performance Rodeo and also performed a live radio broadcast on CIUT, Radio Toronto.
In 2009, Masters was awarded the Telus Arts Award for Artistic Innovation at the mayors evening for business and the arts in Calgary.
His international tours have included Mexico, Qatar, Germany, Turkey, England the U.S. He performs frequently on the west coast along with the Grand Cariboo Opry.
He has shared the limelight on stage with such musicians as Corb Lund, Paul Brandt, Blue Rodeo, Prairie Oyster and many others.
Masters will perform in Calgary at the Ironwood Club on Nov. 28 and on Nov. 29 he will be on stage at Bragg Creek, Community Hall. He will be in Edmonton on Nov. 27 at a location yet to be determined.
The Rimbey concert was the first in a series brought to the Beatty House by Home Routes, a non-profit house concert organization.
Home Routes was created to promote talented musicians in the folk-blues-roots-instrumental-alt country music genres by pairing them with volunteer hosts who stage small concerts in their homes.
“In Rimbey it’s our Beatty House that will be the venue for these events,” said Jones. “We are one stop on one Alberta route called Big Horn.”
The other stops on the Big Horn route are Camrose, New Norway, Red Deer, Priddis, Water Valley, Spruce Grove, Valleyview, Manning, Grande Prairie, Sherwood Park and Edmonton.
Masters was the first of six performers who are included in the route and will perform each month in Rimbey.
On Tues., Oct. 21 Last Ditch on the Left will perform at the Beatty house. On Wed., Nov. 19, David Celia will perform, Thurs., Feb. 5 will see Mel Parsons on stage and Fri., March 6 Kim Dunn will be featured.
Cassie & Maggie MacDonald will be the star performers on Sat., April 11, 2015.
All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. and tickets can be purchased at Stationery and Sounds in Rimbey or through the Beatty House Society (call 403-843-6497).
Only 40 tickets per concert will be sold and space is limited.