Darlene Ketchum Quartet Summer 2016 Tour

The DK Quartet Summer 2016 tour was a great success again this year.  We started off in Kelowna playing at the House of Rose Winery for an enthusiastic crowd that starting arriving at 5pm for a 6:30 pm show.  House of Rose is situated on the hillside above Kelowna and the owners are music lovers who want to provide a venue for friends and family to come and enjoy eating together and listening to good music in a relaxed outdoor setting.  They have wine (of course), fresh grapes to eat…there are lights strung around, big Adirondack chairs, picnic tables around the grounds … a festival atmosphere.The following day the Quartet was off to the Music in the Park event in Osoyoos where the vintage band shell has great acoustics and overlooks the lake…we definitely had the best view.  We played and sang many standards and well-known covers that had the crowd singing along and tapping their fingers and toes.The weather cooperated for most of the time except in Salmon Arm where we were hit by a thunder and lightning storm.  But the listeners persevered and brought out umbrellas and coats while continuing to listen to our tunes.  There was a point during the show where I was wondering about the wisdom of standing there holding a metal mic in the middle of a lightning storm.  Then, Gerry got attacked by a spider in the middle of one of the songs but he soldiered on, not missing a beat as his other hand ‘beat’ down the spider.Before moving on to the Kootenays, we played at the beautiful Fairhaven Retreat centre which overlooks the city of Vernon and the two lakes.  Then, it was on to Castlegar and Trail.  We had rain in Castlegar so we moved into the beautiful community centre there and had a wonderful crowd of appreciative listeners.  In Trail, we overlooked the ‘mighty’ Columbia River (Kelvin’s love) and played to a good crowd at their Music in the Park.Back in the Okanagan, our final venues were in Penticton as we performed Friday evening at the Gyro Park band shell (Joe, the sound tech, was amazing) and then Saturday morning and afternoon at the bustling Penticton Market.  There were lots of locals and tourists at both places listening to our music and cheering us on…plus some familiar faces.On the two Sundays, we played our gospel repertoire at the Penticton Nazarene Church and the Oliver Alliance church.  We enjoyed the warm and friendly people at each of the churches and were very grateful for those who came out to see us again at some of the other concerts!A huge shout out goes to our own Gerry Teichrob, who not only kept the funk and groove happening on the bass but who was also our sound whiz!    He set up and ran the sound while he played.   A big thank you goes out to our friend, David Holliday, who lent us his sound equipment.Tyler Friesen kept our rhythm in the pocket and belted out tenor harmonies with me (even with my wacky chordal arrangements).  Tyler’s wife, Nicole, joined us on the last weekend and added the 3rd part … she just blended right in!  It sounded so great to have the full harmonies!Kelvin was solid on the piano making up stuff that sounded amazing even when he had forgotten the intro to a particular song!  He was also the road and financial manager … so thankful to him for handling all of that…and being my grammar editor.Thanks, to Ruth (Gerry’s wife), who sat through every concert!  That is dedication.We also want to thank our generous and hospitable friends, the McAllister and the Watsons, who provided accommodation for us.I am very grateful to all the organizers of these events and for everyone who came to the concerts!  There is nothing like live music and we so appreciate your support!  Let’s all continue to encourage and support live music!!Love,Darlene