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For the past 18 years, Canadianand her husband Randall Prescott have produced musical shows on the
Their company,, led by Prescott 鈥� a Grammy-nominated recording engineer 鈥� 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鈥檝e welcomed several Juno award winners: the 鈥� headed up by Port Moody native Craig Northey 鈥� country crooners and of Great Big Sea and of Blue Rodeo. And they鈥檝e also programmed entertainment on the CP Rail Holiday Train that snakes its way through the northeast U.S.
This year, they have their daughter, , 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鈥� a Canadian rock powerhouse known for such songs as Brother Down, We鈥檙e All In This Together, Them Kids, Detroit 鈥�67, Where Have All the Good People Gone? and Don鈥檛 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, , Prescott and Brown will play 21 gigs.
Prescott told The Tri-City News last week from Moose Jaw it鈥檚 a gruelling schedule, performing up to seven times a day in the cold 鈥� and sometimes, wet 鈥� weather.
鈥淚t can be really tough and exhausting 鈥� and there鈥檚 been times when your face freezes 鈥� but we have fun, too,鈥� Prescott said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 work but it鈥檚 for such a worthy cause.鈥�
Since the 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.
鈥淚鈥檝e known a lot of people who have had to rely on food banks,鈥� Prescott said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not their fault that they鈥檝e fallen on hard times鈥�. It鈥檚 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.鈥�
The train tour can be beneficial as well for the entertainers. Last year, Prescott said she 鈥渉it it off鈥� with Clark and the pair wrote a tune, Sister Christmas, with 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 鈥渕ay never have happened.
鈥淏ecause you鈥檙e living in a tiny little place, it brings you together,鈥� Prescott said.
As for , she鈥檚 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鈥檒l 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.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just always so special,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e look at each other and say, 鈥業t can鈥檛 be over already!鈥� We have a wrap party with the staff and the next day, we鈥檙e back at home.鈥�
Brown added, 鈥淲e tell the musicians, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e never going to have a tour like this.鈥� 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鈥檚 kind of a magical thing, too, to see the country in this very special way.鈥�
鈥� Also appearing for the Port Moody and Port Coquitlam stops is Port Moody resident , 13, who this past spring, was a featured performer on NBC鈥檚 Little Big Shots.
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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. 鈥� with a 5:45 p.m. performance for 30 minutes 鈥� 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 food bank shelves, or a new unwrapped toy for its annual toy drive.
