Butchart Gardens Summer Festival presents: Valdy and Gary Fjellgaard

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Friday, July 31st, 2015
8:00 PM

The Butchart Gardens' summer festival presents Valdy and Gary Fjellgaard, two award-winning Canadian musicians.

This open air concert takes place on the Concert Lawn stage. Come sit on a bench, or bring a blanket and sit on the lawn.

The summer entertainment program is part of your general admission ticket.

Gary Fjellgaard
Raised on the farm on the Canadian prairies this award winning singer/songwriter is a champion of vanishing values and the frontier spirit. His western heritage, cattle drives, wagon treks, and working folks with ties to the land have all been an inspiration for the lyrical imagery in his songs.

In 2005 this Juno Award winner was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Gary still tours extensively and looks back on a rewarding career and gratefully acknowledges the hundreds of town and cities and thousands of listeners who have been touched by his music. With his finger style acoustic guitar, gentle vocals, colorful stories, Gary takes his western roots music to the people with a rare sincerity. Gary and his wife Lynne make their home on Canada's west coast. His lifelong love for Lynne, their four daughters and their many grandchildren is lovingly illustrated in many of his songs.

Valdy, born Valdemar Horsdal in Ottawa, Canada has been part of the fabric of Canadian pop and folk music for almost 40 years. A man with a thousand friends, from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island to Texas to New Zealand, he’s a singer, guitarist and songwriter who catches the small but telling moments that make up life.

Remembered for Play Me a Rock and Roll Song, his bitter-sweet memory of finding himself, a relaxed and amiable story-teller, facing a rambunctious audience at the Aldergrove Rock Festival circa 1968, Valdy has sold almost half a million copies of his 13 albums, has two Juno Awards (Folk Singer of the Year and Folk Entertainer of the Year), a total of seven Juno nominations and four Gold albums to his credit.

Valdy’s recent CDs include “Contenders”, a collaboration with friend and fellow singer/songwriter, Gary Fjellgaard, with whom he has an absolute blast touring, and a solo release, “Viva Valdy: Live at Last”, a two-CD package, one live, one studio, with a total of 25 tunes, and a lyric booklet.

One of Canada’s most influential songwriters, Valdy’s composition A Good Song was recorded under the title Just a Man by the venerable Quincy Jones (he sang lead on the recording!). Play Me a Rock and Roll Song has been recorded by a few artists, including John Kay of Steppenwolf.

Along the way, Valdy has taken his music to a dozen different countries, from Denmark to Australia and been an often-invited performer at the prestigious Kerrville Festival in Texas. His past television appearances include Canada AM and Open Mike with Mike Bullard. Valdy has also been a panelist on Front Page Challenge, and played a lead role in an episode of The Beachcombers original series.