The Saturday night mainstage lineup at the Niverville Olde Tyme Country Fair is starting to take shape with the recent announcement that B.C.’s The Washboard Union have joined the bill.
Touted as a group that defies classification, The Washboard Union saw two singles from their 2015 E.P. In My Bones reach Top 40 status on the Billboard Canada Country chart, and later in the year it picked up the British Columbia Country Music Association Award for Roots Canadiana of the Year.
As a band generating a ton of buzz on the Canadian country music scene, they’re a perfect fit for the Niverville event, according to the fair’s mainstage coordinator, Elaine Krahn.
“They’re new and up and coming. They’re unique,” says Krahn. “We tried to get them last year, but this year we just caught them at the right time.”
Krahn points out that the fair is always in search of the next big thing in Canadian country and looking to book young acts before they hit the bigtime. “We’re always trying to do that. It’s like a jet plane taking off. We try get them when their front wheels are off the runway but the back wheels are still on.”
With the headliner still to be announced on April 27, this year’s fair promises to feature another red-hot Saturday night on the mainstage. If you’re new to Niverville, you might assume it’s always been that way, but Krahn points out that big-time Saturday nights at the Olde Tyme Country Fair are a relatively recent phenomenon.
“Friday used to be the gong show,” she says. “Saturday we had cover bands and crowds were never very big.”
That all started to change in 2008 when the fair booked hot country act Doc Walker to anchor its Saturday night lineup. Subsequent years have seen acts such as The Roadhammers, Emerson Drive, Aaron Pritchett, Tim Hicks, and Brett Kissel headline the show. Dean Brody, last seen in these parts performing on field before the Grey Cup game last November, famously took to the stage in Niverville in 2012.
“We got real lucky with Dean Brody,” Krahn says. “We booked him just before his song ‘Canadian Girls’ kind of launched his career to a new high.”
These days, the Friday night food and fireworks tend to draw in the locals while the country concert on Saturday brings in fairgoers from Winnipeg and surrounding communities.
Krahn says that in addition to revealing the Saturday mainstage headliner, the fair committee is working on a few more exciting announcements in the weeks to come. Word is that the committee is busy making plans for a new but equally impressive fireworks show. Changes in safety laws no longer permit the traditional fireworks show alongside Main Street, which led to last year’s somewhat controversial relocation of the Friday night fireworks display.
“Our hands were tied,” Krahn says. “We don't like having to move away from the up close and personal show everyone loves, but it is up to us to find a solution now. Our main goal is to provide a show that fairgoers can enjoy without having to relocate or walk halfway accross town, so this years display will be designed keeping that in mind.”
This year’s Olde Tyme Country Fair gets underway on Friday, June 10, with The Washboard Union and others taking the stage the following night.
