BeatRoute Magazine Alberta print e-edition - November 2016

ROOTS
BARNEY BENTALL
a warm hello from aboard the Cariboo Express
by Graham Mackenzie
CANMORE’S
BEST
LIVE MUSIC
SHOWROOM
Bentall says the Cariboo Express will go on until he has to come onstage in a walker.
From a rodeo dance in the Cariboo region
of B.C. came a musical idea that has turned
into a fundraiser tour de force in Western
Canada. From Barney Bentall, a musician that can
milk a wild range cow when he needs to, the man
behind several classic Canadian rock staples like
“Something to Live For,” and “Life Could be Worse,”
comes the Cariboo Express Tour.
Before talking about the latest edition of his celebrated
annual tour, BeatRoute checked in about what
Bentall has been up to.
Barney Bentall: Once a year I go on a trip
with Adventure Canada, a company that really
pioneered adventure travel, primarily ship travel
through the Canadian North. They have a wonderful
collective of resources: writers, filmmakers,
Inuit culturalists, geologists, musicians, zodiac
drivers, and bear guards. You find an amazing
collection of people usually going on the trip.
It’s been a wish list thing to do this; it’s amazing
to be up there, 17 days from the Western Arctic
through to the coast of Greenland.
BeatRoute: You also played at Hardly Strictly
Bluegrass in San Francisco recently with your
other project the High Bar Gang, and this
tour the Cariboo Express has a more country
and western tone as well. Do you find you are
adopting this style more and more and transitioning
away from rock ‘n’ roll?
BB: When I first started in the ‘80s I think we were
very much a rock ‘n’ roll band. I think the further
I go along, I like so many facets of popular and
modern music and old time music, I get something
from all of it. I still love to go out with my band, the
Legendary Hearts. We still plays shows each year,
and those shows are back to that more primal rock
‘n’ roll experience. I delve into bluegrass with this
ROOTS
new hobby band that is actually doing quite well,
the High Bar Gang, and that’s been a real wonderful
journey. The Cariboo Express, yeah, its kinda
country western but when Ridley Bent gets going
on “Suicidewinder,” it rocks out full bore. There’s
a real variety in the night at the Cariboo Express
and that’s what we are going for, its not strictly old
time by any means, its more an old school variety
show, we didn’t know what it would be exactly or
how it would develop but I didn’t want to control
anyone’s material choice. We go from Leeroy Stagger,
who has an old time feel but is very current,
then all of a sudden we switch into a traditional
bluegrass number, we just keep mixing it up and
it always seems to work, right from the first show
ten years ago. We also adopted from the beginning,
after watching those old Grand Ole Opry shows,
these announcements, like, “coming up next is Mel
Tillis brought to you by Gillette, closest shave you
can get.” I thought me and co-host Matt Masters
could write skits and poke fun with these type
announcements and get sponsorships and raise
money for charity.
BR: How does that work? How can someone
sponsor a song for the Cariboo Express show?
BB: Normally, the promoter in each town has
paired with a charity, and the charity goes out and
offers song sponsorships, but you can go through
the Cariboo Express website and contact the publicist
Joelle May for the whole tour and she will help
you contact Heather O’Hara, who is the liaison
with the charities.
BR: Will the Cariboo Express ride on indefinitely?
BB: Yeah, some years I’ve thought maybe it was done
but then you realize that the shows have provided
50,000 meals for the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver
each year. In Cranbrook we support an organization
called Friends of Children that helps families
with sick children fly to bigger centres for care, these
things make a difference so it becomes pretty hard to
stop. Then there’s the other part of it all: the players.
Whether it’s my son Dustin, or the regular cast of
characters - Ridley, or Leeroy or a revolving door of
guests, it’s become a highlight of my year playing with
them. When the music starts, its so much fun and the
hang is spectacular. We’re all really good friends and
it’s multigenerational too and quite interesting so I am
sure we will be continuing until I have to go out on
the stage with a walker.
BR: Where is Barney Bentall going next?
BB: A new album in May. I have never wanted to
be a nostalgia act. I like to keep doing what I do,
it’s been very inspirational hanging around my son
Dustin, and Ridley Bent, and Matt Masters - all
these people have really given me a shot in the arm
as time goes by. We all hang out together, it never
feels ageist, they’re all a bit wild but respectful.
They are everything I love and embrace about
music. It’s been real inspirational to connect with
these guys through my son, and we joke about the
family business with Dustin but he’s really just another
troubadour, another person that decided to
follow that kind of pathway. He’s a great songwriter
and entertainer, and I love watching him play
and its nice to have this month to play together. I
know it would drive him crazy if we toured all year
together but I think it is one of the aspects that
makes the Cariboo Express special.
Barney Bentall’s Cariboo Express Tour comes rolling
into Southminster United Church in Lethbridge on
November 2nd, the Max Bell Centre in Calgary November
4th, and the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver on
November 26th. There are plenty of other stops in B.C.
– check barneybentall.com for listings.
VALDY
WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 23
8PM
CORIN
RAYMOND
THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 24
8PM
RANT
MAGGIE
RANT
WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 30TH
8PM
The Creekside Villa
709 Benchlands Trail
Canmore, Alberta
403 609 5522
www.csvlive.com
BEATROUTE • NOVEMBER 2016 | 43