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Summers in the Border City aren’t complete without the CPCA finals, and along with the chucks comes award-winning musical talent to perform at the cabaret.
Nice Horse will open for The Washboard Union at the Lloyd Ex on Saturday Aug. 19.
“I Run on Country is on the radio right now, so it’s always fun when we play a new song in front of people for the first time and you can see them perk up and kind of give each other the elbow and start singing along,” said Washboard Union vocalist David Roberts.
Roberts said no matter where they play, they always put their all into the performance.
“Doesn’t matter if it’s a big or a small show, we put our hearts into every show we play.
“We promise that, and we’re hoping they can come there, forget about their problems for a little bit and just have a good time … and sing with us!”
Roberts and his bandmates, Aaron Grain and Chris Duncombe, have come a long way since they got their start playing out of the basement of a Vancouver mansion in 2010.
“Chris and Aaron are step-brothers … and then when I moved out west somehow we all ended up living in this great big mansion together and Chris, Aaron and myself would go down to the basement and play songs together, and out in the backyard, and then friends would come over and play … we called it ‘trucker Tuesday,’” Roberts chuckled.
“We started out as kind of an old trucker band and we were playing old trucker songs. C.W. McCall, Red Sovin—all those guys, and we were just playing them for fun.”
Roberts says it’s still surreal sometimes to look across the stage and see his best friends playing beside him.
“It’s really fun when I look across the stage and we’re playing places around the country and over in Europe and down in the States, and I have to just kind of chuckle to myself that this all started in the basement with some friends, and we’re still standing beside each other, so I think that’s what makes it really fun. We get to do this with our best friends,” said Roberts.
“When I’m standing on the stage and I look across I just think; this is pretty good for trucker Tuesday—it’s gone well.”
The Washboard Union has played in the Border City before, and Roberts said they are excited they’ve been invited back.
“We’ve played up there before and we’ve had some great times … so it’s going to be really exciting to come back and play for you guys,” said Roberts.
“We love showing up early and going to check out the events … we’ll be looking for tips on who’s going to be doing well at the chucks.”
