A pair of long-time Langley musician and inherent music promoters are among 25 artists participating in this weekend’s Motown Meltdown fundraiser.
David Willis, probably best known for his vocal role with Stonebolt, will perform as well as host the show alongside Farmer’s Daughters’ Angela Kelman.
As well, fellow Langleyite Karen Lee Batten – who just released her new album Under The Covers in Muscle Shoals, takes a turn on stage.
Both are back again, each having participated before.
“It was a no-brainer,” Batten said of her return for the second consecutive fundraiser at the Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom this Saturday.
“Obviously my hear is in a place of giving back,” and she is particularly keen to participate in this fundraiser for Seva Canada, an organization that has been restores sight and prevents blindness in developing countries since 1982.
She spoke to how fortunate she another Canadians are to receive the eye care, and health care in general, that we do.
“There are places in the world where that is unfathomable,” she said, honoured to be involved.
While she was anxious to be helping the charity, she said there another smaller, but still significant bonus for her.
Any musician in the Lower Mainland would jump at the chance to perform in the Commodore Ballroom,
“Let’s just say that’s the cherry on top” of a fun night of performing with “talent musicians,” and all for a good cause.
Willis was invited out a few years back 9”fairly early into its run”) to sing a guest spot at the Meltdown.
The original host, Terry David Mulligan, was running late, so just before the first set show producer Kendra Sprinkling asked Willis to stand in.
“Whatever happened worked, as I’ve been back every year since,” Willis told the Langley Advance.
“For years there was a regular, large crowd of baby boomers who would come out and dance from the first note onward,” he recalled.
“We’d see many familiar faces every year. But in recent years there has been a lot of new people attending MM, including an increasing number of millennials who love the Motown-Memphis soul music – which has proved timeless.”
He’s recommending people from the Fraser Valley check it out, and advises them to bring their dancing shoes.
The 15th annual classic soul music event gets started at 7 p.m., and tickets are $32.75 and available ahead of the show online, or at the door for $45.
The roster of performers is expected to include Kelman, Willis, and Batten, of course. But it will also feature Joani Bye, Leora Cashe, Candus Churchill, Oliver Conway, Olivia Steele Falconer, Warren Dean Flandez, Roy Forbes, Tim Fuller, Marie Hui, Linda Kidder, Jane Mortifee, Dawn Pemberton, Will Sanders, Kendra Sprinkling, Stephanie Standerwick, David Steele, Don Stewart, Garfield Wilson, and more.
