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Barney Bentall to play Salmon Arm’s Song Sparrow Hall

Salmon Arm Folk Music Society hosts April 16 concert as prelude to ROOTS&BLUES
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Legendary singer-songwriter Barney Bentall will play Salmon Arm’s Song Sparrow Hall on April 16. The performance is hosted by the Salmon Arm Folk Music Society. (File photo)

The Salmon Arm Folk Music Society (SAFMS) isn’t waiting until August to bring live music to the community.

B.C. singer-songwriter and rancher Barney Bentall is scheduled to play Song Sparrow Hall on Saturday, April 16, courtesy of the SAFMS.

“We are so thankful for the support and resiliency of our community and we are thrilled to welcome them back to in-person events once again,” said ROOTSandBLUES/SAFMS artistic director Kevin Tobin. “It’s been two long years, and we’re ready to celebrate the power of music with you and Barney Bentall.”

Known for his ’90s-era band Barney Bentall and the Legendary Heart, and their smash hit Something to Live For, Bentall’s music evokes the sounds of Blue Rodeo, John Prine and Tom Cochrane.

“Barney Bentall is an ambitious songwriter whose personal artistry and life as a musician, husband and father shine through his music recognized by music-lovers across the country,” said Tobin.

After winning a JUNO award for Best New Group and early success at the helm of the Legendary Hearts, Bentall stepped back from the limelight in 2000 to focus on the next phase of his career. With this wife and brother-in-law, Bentall purchased a cattle ranch in the Cariboo region of B.C.

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But Bentall always kept creating. In 2006, he released his JUNO-nominated solo album Gift Horse, and followed it up two years later with The Inside Passage and Flesh & Bone in 2012.

Bentall’s most recent album, The Drifter and The Preacher, is his most intimate and personal release yet.

“My solo work is very important to me,” said Bentall. “Right now, I’m focused on what I am doing on my own, but the other projects keep me learning, travelling new pathways and keeping music vital for me.”

For Bentall’s April 16 performance in Salmon Arm, the SAFMS will be following B.C. Provincial Health Authority directives and require proof of double vaccination. Guests must also wear a face mask throughout the concert. Vaccine exemptions and negative COVID-19 test results will not be accepted.

Bentall’s performance provides a musical prelude to the SAFMS’ main event, the 30th annual Salmon Arm ROOTSandBLUES, Aug. 18-21. Early-bird passes for the in-person festival, the first since 2019, are now available.

Doors to Song Sparrow Hall open at 6:30 p.m. on April 16, 2022, with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. Limited tickets are available online at rootsandblues.ca, or by phone at 250-833-4096 from Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The festival office is closed to visitors until further notice.



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