Canadian Country Christmas Brings A Little Festive Cheer to Sudbury

2016 marks the 13th Season for Sean Hogan’s Annual Canadian Country Christmas Tour. One of the Ontario stops this year occurred this past Friday night, November 25th, at Cousin Vinny’s Restaurant & Bar in Hanmer – part of the Greater Sudbury area.

The line-up included the key three artists for this tour, Sean Hogan, Jamie Warren, who has been apart of almost every tour, and Thomas Wade, who is back for his second year. Special local additions were Mike Trudell and Celine Tellier. This same group also performed at The Lester B. Pearson Theatre in Elliot Lake the night before. Trudell and Tellier are both originally from Elliot Lake and now reside in Sudbury.

Tellier recounts; “Sean contacted me and asked if I would like to be a part of the tour in my hometown Elliot Lake, and in Hanmer. I jumped at the chance! I was very excited and nervous, having only met Jamie once before and never having met Thomas yet, but being a big fan of both their work! They were amazing to work with! They made me feel comfortable, and a part of the group. It was also fun to perform with Mike. I don’t think we’ve ever performed together before. I’m excited at the chance of working with them again soon. I could have sat there for a week listening to Mike, Sean, Jamie and Thomas play guitar together. I was truly honoured to be a part of it and help the Elliot Lake Food Bank and raise money for KICX for Kids.”

Trudell adds; “Having had the opportunity to take part in this Christmas show with this amazing Canadian talent has been great. These are a bunch of grounded people that are so much fun to be around and plain to see from the amazing audience response. I’m already looking forward to next year.”

The first half of the evening each individual artist took to the stage to perform a couple of their own tunes; some with back-up from the other artists. It was a great way for the audience to get to know a bit about each of the performers.

After a short break, and a quick set change, all five artists returned to the stage for the Christmas portion of the concert. With humour and banter, you could feel the camaraderie. They all took turns singing a few of their favourite holiday songs. Jamie Warren and Celine Tellier each sang an original tune. Tellier’s was very emotional, as she told the story of how her Grandmother would knit socks for her every Christmas. It was a gift she truly appreciated. The song is called “Wollen Socks”. There were a few moist eyes in the house before she finished.

The evening wrapped up with the song that inspired the tour over a decade ago, “It’s Christmas Time”, written by Sean Hogan in 2004. He had the thought of recording the song with some of his musician friends. By the end of recording the project, the idea for Canadian Country Christmas was born. Over the past 13 years, Hogan and friends have toured from coast to coast, raising nearly $200,000 for local charities in each town plus thousands of pounds of food. They also sponsor several dozen kids in third world countries.

The tour is moving west. If it stops in your town, please support it.

See more photos on our Facebook page. All photo credit Linda Heldman

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