At the St. Albert Lifestyle Expo and Sale held April 8 to 10 at Servus Place, three local singers were crowned St. Albert Idol.
Melanie Galbreath, 18, won the senior title for 18- to 30-year-olds and Kurt Drachenberg, 15, carried home the gold as Teen Idol for 12- to 17-year-olds. This year’s new title of Kids’ Idol for the six- to 11-year-old crowd went to Madison Duncan, 9.
Galbreath, a Grade 12 student at Bellerose High, mesmerized the voting audience with a jazzy version of Hallelujah. “She accompanied herself on piano and that helped to win a few points,” says Martha Livingstone of Visionary College. The college has hosted the competition for almost a decade.
Drachenberg, instead sang one of his original compositions, Baffled. “He has a warm voice. It’s a folk-rock style. He accompanied himself on guitar and had a real good rapport with the audience.
And Duncan, a Futures Fest winner, also sang Hallelujah. “Madison has a unique voice and a mature stage presence.”
The two older recipients each won a recording package to V-Studios while Duncan received a gift certificate to the Visionary Group. All finalists received a $30 gift certificate.
Livingstone added there were about 200 original competitors that were whittled down to 31 finalists.
Scott Cook, Edmonton’s self-proclaimed prairie balladeer, brings some of his songs and humour at LB’s Songwriters’ Acoustic Showcase this coming Thursday.
He is a life-long wanderer who has taken his battery of instruments — an acoustic guitar, banjo, ukulele and foot percussion — to every corner in North America.
“He’s got these really cool songs like you’d like to see in a Robin Hood movie,” says showcase co-host Kenny Skoreyko.
Cook tips his hat to such diverse influences as folk, country, blues and reggae. “He has this big guitar, this big voice and he’s very strong vocally.
“But what I really like about him is that he has a lot to say. Some songwriters write about stuff that’s already written about. Scott instead writes about what happens in his life.”
So far this year Cook has been busy with a three-month tour to the United States and across Canada. In May, he will release his third solo album, Moonlit Rambles.
The acoustic showcase is tomorrow at LB’s Pub starting at 8:30 p.m. There is no cover charge.
