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National rail ride ends in PoMo, PoCo

The CP Rail Holiday Train concludes its cross-country journey on Dec. 18.
roberts
The Sam Roberts Band headlines the B.C.-leg of the CP Rail Holiday Train, which ends Dec. 18 in Port Coquitlam. On Instagram on Nov. 28, they wrote: “Next stops aboard the @cpholidaytrain are in Milton at 5 pm and then in Hamilton’s Gage Park at 8 pm. Let’s see if we can break some attendance records, but more importantly let’s really try to break some donation records for the local food banks, bring as much heart health food that you can carry! #CPhasheart Also bring your dancing shoes cause we’ll be blasting some of your holiday favourites!!! Any requests?”

 

 

For the past 18 years, Canadian country musician Tracey Brown and her husband Randall Prescott have produced musical shows on the Canadian Pacific (CP) Rail Holiday Train.

Their company, Rip Roar Music, led by Prescott — a Grammy-nominated recording engineer — has brought aboard a variety of acts for the national train trip, with the aim to draw out visitors (and donations for local food banks) at each of their 80-plus stops.

In recent years, they’ve welcomed several Juno award winners: the Odds — headed up by Port Moody native Craig Northey — country crooners Dallas Smith and Terri Clark, Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea and Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. And they’ve also programmed entertainment on the CP Rail Holiday Train that snakes its way through the northeast U.S.

This year, they have their daughter, Kelly Prescott, return on the Canadian train; the country singer kicked off her journey from Montreal with Clark and Sierra Noble and, in total, will be performing 86 times before the adventure ends in Port Moody and Port Coquitlam on Dec. 18.

And, as the headliner, the company recruited the Sam Roberts Band — a Canadian rock powerhouse known for such songs as Brother Down, We’re All In This Together, Them Kids, Detroit ’67, Where Have All the Good People Gone? and Don’t Walk Away Eileen.

Their four-piece band, which started the U.S. train leg in Quebec with JoJo Mason on Nov. 25 and finished in Windsor on Nov. 30 before handing it to The Trews and Willy Porter, have their first gig on Thursday with Prescott and Brown in Cochrane, Alta.

For the final portion, the Sam Roberts Band, Prescott and Brown will play 21 gigs.

Prescott told The Tri-City News last week from Moose Jaw it’s a gruelling schedule, performing up to seven times a day in the cold — and sometimes, wet — weather.

“It can be really tough and exhausting — and there’s been times when your face freezes — but we have fun, too,” Prescott said. “It’s work but it’s for such a worthy cause.”

Since the CP Rail Holiday Train begun 20 years ago, more than $14.5 million has been raised for food banks and thousands of pounds of non-perishables are collected each year.

“I’ve known a lot of people who have had to rely on food banks,” Prescott said. “It’s not their fault that they’ve fallen on hard times…. It’s really great to hear all the food bank reps come out at each community and talk about how this [fundraiser] fills some of their pantries for six months. Plus the money that CP donates, it goes a long way for them.”

The train tour can be beneficial as well for the entertainers. Last year, Prescott said she “hit it off” with Clark and the pair wrote a tune, Sister Christmas, with Rip Roar Music producing (CP Rail included it on its Holiday Train playlist: cpr.ca/holiday-train/20-years).

Without the connection to Clark on the train, the duet “may never have happened.

“Because you’re living in a tiny little place, it brings you together,” Prescott said.

As for Brown, she’s hoping to bring some relief for her daughter as the B.C. portion can be a grind after three-and-a-half weeks of riding the rails.

They’ll be opening with a few country Christmas carols before the Sam Roberts Band appears. Brown said Roberts played at least half of his U.S. sets with crowd-pleasing, upbeat Christmas tunes.

As for their last show in PoCo, Brown said it can get quite emotional for the performers.

“It’s just always so special,” she said. “We look at each other and say, ‘It can’t be over already!’ We have a wrap party with the staff and the next day, we’re back at home.”
Brown added, “We tell the musicians, ‘You’re never going to have a tour like this.’ They get to travel by train and not have to worry about lugging their equipment from one city to another.

At the end of the day, we sit around and sing songs to each other and hang out. And it’s kind of a magical thing, too, to see the country in this very special way.”

• Also appearing for the Port Moody and Port Coquitlam stops is Port Moody resident Tyson Venegas, 13, who this past spring, was a featured performer on NBC’s Little Big Shots.

jcleugh@tricitynews.com
jcleughTC 

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THE DETAILS

Sam Roberts Band, Kelly Prescott, Tracey Brown and Tyson Venegas, a Port Moody student, roll into Port Moody (back of the Port Moody recreation complex at 300 Ioco Rd.) at 5:20 p.m. — with a 5:45 p.m. performance for 30 minutes — before heading east to the Port Coquitlam West Coast Express station (2125 Kingsway Ave.) at 7 p.m. for their last stop on the national tour, with a 7:15 p.m. show.

Bring non-perishable goods to fill the Share Family and Community Services food bank shelves, or a new unwrapped toy for its annual toy drive.