When reflecting on the storied career of Canadian country music juggernaut Terri Clark, you best give Nashville-based singer, songwriter, and record producerr Keith Stegall his due.

In the late 1980s, Stegall urged the Alberta-born Clark — then performing at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, the iconic honky-tonk in downtown Nashville — to stay the course.

Traditional country wasn’t then in big demand by record executives but, assured Stegall, Clark’s time would come.

Come 1994, Stegall, an executive with Polygram/Mercury Records, made good on that prediction, signing Clark to a record deal.

Just a year later, Clark’s first single “Better Things To D”o peaked at #3 on both the RPM Canada Country Tracks and Billboard’s U.S. Top Country Songs listings.

Her subsequent debut self-titled platinum-certified album, with its high charting singles “When Boy Meets Girl”, “If I Were You”, and “Suddenly Single”, made Clark a tour de force on the exploding mid-1990s new country landscape.

Thank you very much, Keith Stegall.

VIDEO: “Better Things To Do” – Terri Clark

On Wednesday, August 15th at Del Crary Park, the pending Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductee will headline Peterborough Musicfest. Admission is free to the 8 p.m. show.

“Part of playing live for me is just to say thanks,” says Clark in an October 2017 interview with Dillon Collins of The Newfoundland Herald.

“I say at every show that I can’t believe I get to still do this and have the privilege to entertain people and see them smile. That’s the ultimate thing for me and that’s what I was put on this planet to do. I know I found my purpose and I know a lot of people never get to find that.”

VIDEO: “When Boy Meets Girl” – Terri Clark

Since her explosive debut, Clark has certainly entertained and then some.

The only Canadian female country artist to be a member of the storied Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, she has recorded 13 top ten singles with total album sales exceeding five million. Subsequent hits such as “Emotional Girl”, “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”, “Now That I Found You”, “You’re Easy On The Eyes”, “A Little Gasoline”, “I Just Wanna Be Mad”, “Girls Lie Too”, and “Northern Girl” have brought her a hugely loyal, and still growing, fan base.

Still, she continues to create new music.

VIDEO: “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me – Terri Clark

“My focus now is to say what I want to say … I’m not chasing anything anymore,” she explains.

“It’s just about scratching my creative itch and giving my fan base something new to listen to because they’ve been so supportive. I know I’m going to be playing Better Things To Do until I’m 80 and that’s fine with me, but I also have to create something new almost just for myself. But my show will never be packed full of new material because the audience wants to hear the songs they know.”

The recipient of three Juno Awards and the winner of Entertainer of the Year honours from the Canadian Country Music Association an astounding eight times, Clark certainly has nothing to prove to anyone — but she remains relentless in her pursuit of new projects.

VIDEO: “Girls Lie Too – Terri Clark

Last October, she teamed up with fellow country music artists Pam Tillis and Suzy Bogguss for the still ongoing Chicks With Hits Tour. In addition, since April 2016, she has hosted Country Gold, heard on more than 100 radio stations across North America.

“I feel like if you work really, really hard and take advantage of opportunities as they come your way you can’t really go wrong,” Clark says.

“Having a strong work ethic and not being afraid to put the time in and do something right is also key. I was taught that as a kid — if you’re going to do something do it right. I try to go at everything I do one hundred and ten per cent. I’ve been very lucky in being able to maximize my time and being able to do what I love.”

Clearly the work ethic that saw Clark put her nose to the grindstone during those pre-record deal years in Nashville continues to serve her very well. The musical influence of her upbringing in Medicine Hat didn’t hurt matters. Her grandparents, Ray and Betty Gauthier, were noted Canadian country music performers while her mom Linda was a folk musician. This apple fell very close to the tree.

VIDEO: “Northern Girl – Terri Clark

“I’m very fortunate,” Clark says.

“I think I’m the kind of person who couldn’t retire. I love to keep going, I love to have projects, try different things and branch out. I’ve been afforded a very long run at a great career and it evolved over time. You go from focusing on making hits for radio to now I have a radio show and I’m focusing on 1990s artists and interviewing them and touring and playing all of my songs people are familiar with from over the years.

“It’s been busy but in a good way. It keeps me moving forward.”

Note: For her Peterborough Musicfest concert, a guitar signed by Clark, generously donated by Long & McQuade in Peterborough, as well as cowboy boots and a hat kindly donated by Nelson Western Boots & Apparel, will be raffled off with all proceeds supporting Peterborough Musicfest programming. Tickets cost $5 each.

Peterborough Musicfest is presenting 18 free-admission concerts featuring a total of 20 acts during its 32nd season — each staged on Wednesday and Saturday nights at Del Crary Park.

Overseen by general manager Tracey Randall and staff, a board of directors, and numerous volunteers, Peterborough Musicfest’s stated mission is to “provide diverse, affordable live music to enrich cultural and economic prosperity in our community.”

For more information on this concert or the entire 2018 season, visit www.ptbomusicfest.ca or phone the Peterborough Musicfest office at 705-755-1111.

When opportunity knocks, you find it a stage.

Last September, after being approached by drummer David Inglis, Community Care Peterborough donor relations lead Dean Ostrander found a terrific stage for Inglis’ contemporary jazz band Zing.

The result was a benefit concert for the agency, staged last September at the Market Hall Performing Arts Centre in downtown Peterborough.

“When David came in with the idea, I was ‘Absolutely, let’s do it,'” recalls Ostrander. “When you have somebody that’s willing to do something like that and move forward with it, you take the opportunity and roll with it.”

And roll with it they did, with the concert raising $1,400 for Community Care Peterborough while bringing increased awareness to the organization’s mandate to provide essential services to seniors and physically challenged adults to allow them to stay in their homes.

So it’s no surprise that Zing is returning to the Market Hall at 8 p.m. on Saturday, September 8th to perform another benefit concert for Community Care Peterborough. Tickets for “Play It Forward: An Evening of Contemporary Jazz Funk” cost $23 for general admission or $33 for cabaret-style seating, and can be ordered at the Market Hall box office, by phone at 705-749-1146, or online at markethall.org. Tickets are also available from Ostrander by calling 705-742-7067 ext. 224 or email dostrander@commcareptbo.org.

AUDIO: “Josie” by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen arranged and performed by Zing

Formed in April 2014, each of Zing’s four members bring “some serious musical schooling” to the fore, according to Inglis.

Inglis is a retired City of Toronto Fire Department captain who, with bassist Patrick McPhail and guitarist Robert Moore, were once part of a band comprised mostly of firefighters.

The band raised some $40,000 for Toronto area charities, the set list typically comprised of songs with a connection to fire. Cue “Fire” by The Ohio Players or Talking Heads’ “Burning Down The House” and you get the idea.

“When I retired, I thought it would be nice to continue doing that sort of thing,” says Inglis, who also played percussion with the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra for 10 years.

John Ebata, a keyboardist who has worked with the likes of Buffy Sainte-Marie, Oscar Peterson, and The Alan Parsons Project, was added to the mix about a year ago, joining Berklee School of Music-trained Moore and McPhail, a 25-year member of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra who still toils as a firefighter.

Joining the band for the Play It Forward concert will be a special guest, Inglis says.

“What we’re playing is a lot more intricate and sophisticated than smooth jazz,” explains Inglis about Zing’s sound.

“We’ve had a lot of trouble trying to give it a title. For this show, it’s called contemporary jazz funk. It’s not a fusion band like Chick Corea and it’s not like John McLaughlin. It’s not heavy musical stuff that only appeals to a select audience. The stuff we’re playing, people actually got up and danced last year, which was quite surprising.”

VIDEO: “Pick Up The Pieces” by Average White Band performed by Zing

With a repertoire that features “Josie” by Steely Dan, “Fields Of Gold” by Sting, and “Full House” by David Sanborn, Zing performs music not heard often on radio or at festivals, according to Inglis.

“That’s strange because the bands that composed this music are still out there playing and putting out CDs. We’re having a lot of fun bringing this particular style of music to folks. When they hear it, they want to know more about it.

“This style of music is something I always wanted to play but never had the opportunity. I did the symphony, I did jazz recordings and rock recordings, but this particular style of music — there was no outlet for me. So it was let’s put something together and see if how it goes. It’s educational and it’s entertaining and that’s what makes it all fun.”

The partnership with Community Care Peterborough, says Inglis, formed when he learned that fundraising is integral to the agency’s ability to meet its service commitments. The show name, Play It Forward, is a reflection of the fact he may one day need the services it provides.

“We all hope to get to the point where we don’t want to need the services,” Ostrander adds, “but we also all hope to grow old enough to need the services.”

With close to 900 volunteers, Community Care Peterborough supports the health and well being of individuals, caregivers, and communities across Peterborough city and county. Last year, more than 37,000 meals were delivered by Meals On Wheels, more than 35,000 drives were provided, and more that 24,000 reassurance calls and visits were made.

In addition, the Home At Last program, offered in conjunction with the Peterborough Regional Health Centre and the Central East Local Health Integration Network, helped more than 700 people settle back into their homes after a hospital stay.

VIDEO: Zing at the Market Hall for Community Care Peterborough in September 2017

“They’re a great bunch of guys,” says Ostrander of Zing.

“The biggest thing that came out of last year’s show was everybody was extremely pleased and, in a way, surprised because they didn’t know what to expect. With the quality level of their music, everybody was very pleased.”

Audience reaction to the band’s sound and talent, says Inglis, is “the litmus test” of a job well done. On a personal level, the challenge presented by the arrangements is what keeps him intrigued.

“I’ve asked many musicians who do it for a living ‘Do you not get tired playing cover tunes?'” he says. “How many times can you play I Can’t Get No Satisfaction before you say ‘Gee, this is not doing it.'”

With all due respect to The Rolling Stones, the arrangement and execution of the jazz tunes that Zing covers are slightly more sophisticated.

“You’ve got to be really on your toes and focused, not just as an individual but also as a band. That challenge is what makes it exciting. Surviving two hours and hopefully pulling it of — that’s kind of the highlight of the night.”

For more updates on Zing, visit the band’s Facebook page. For more information about Community Care Peterborough, including the programs it offers, visit www.commcareptbo.org.

Throughout the month of August, 4th Line Theatre is presenting the world premiere of award-winning playwright Judith Thompson’s newest play Who Killed Snow White? 

Directed with brilliance and sensitivity by 4th Line’s managing artistic director Kim Blackwell, it is possibly the theatre company’s boldest production in its 27-year history.

Heart wrenching, haunting, and torn from today’s headlines, Who Killed Snow White?  could be both the most controversial and most memorable show ever to be staged at the Winslow Farm in Millbrook.

If you’re a long-time patron of 4th Line Theatre, get ready to leave your expectations behind because Who Killed Snow White?  breaks the mold of everything that has come before it. It’s not a historical play. It’s not a comedy with moments of pathos. It’s not a drama filled with good-natured laughs.

In fact, there is nothing whimsical about Who Killed Snow White?  at all. It is a modern, real-life horror story ripped from a reality that’s played out daily in the back yards, school halls, and bedrooms of youth in communities across the world.

Who Killed Snow White?  tells the story of 15-year-old Serena (Grace Thompson) through the eyes of the people who know her, primarily her mother Ramona (Cynthia Ashperger). A nice girl raised by two loving parents, Serena is perfectly normal, but is eventually singled out by the kids in her school to be the victim of their torment.

After a number of years of senseless bullying, she finds strength alongside her two pals Riley (Tom Keat) and Fancy (Cassandra Guthrie). But in the world of technology and the growing cult of brutal misogyny, things go very wrong for Serena, stripping away her innocence, her security, and changing her world forever.

Although the dramatic realization of Who Killed Snow White?  is complex, the plot doesn’t go beyond what we’ve seen in the past. It’s a familiar story we’ve seen in dramas many times, and one we can recognize from our own life and from those of people around us. Where the drama differs from what we’ve seen in the past is in its presentation.

By exposing the different shades of greys of difficult subjects such as alienation, cyber bullying, sexual assault, and suicide, Judith Thompson manages to weave together a tapestry of viewpoints and social commentary through her characters, reflecting the modern dystopia we read about in the news every day.

It’s Reteah Parsons. It’s Brock Turner. It’s Harvey Wienstein and the #metoo movement. It’s a world where a beloved sitcom dad can turn out to be a serial rapist, where the president of the United States can get away with bragging about sexual assault.

All of this makes up the world of Who Killed Snow White? . It’s a world that’s difficult to face, but one the audience will fully recognize.

At first glance, you could be worried the subject matter of Who Killed Snow White?  might become a glorified stage version of a teen drama like Degrassi Junior High. The typical after-school special of yesteryear was nothing more than an over-the-top allegory created to teach teenagers a message.

This is far from what Who Killed Snow White?  is. Thompson avoids the melodramatic tropes of teen dramas by targetting an adult audience. It avoids being preachy and it’s not written for the kids. Kids don’t need this story because they already know it — they are already living it in their schools and on the internet.

Instead, Who Killed Snow White?  is presented to the older generation so they perhaps will begin to understand the toxic world their children and grandchildren inhabit. It will open their eyes to the realities of the sophisticated struggles young people face every day.

At the heart of Who Killed Snow White?  is actress Cynthia Ashperger, who gives a commanding performance as Serena’s mother Ramona. A woman grieving for her child, Cynthia has an incredible control over the outdoor performance space at Winslow Farm, making a strong personal connection with the audience immediately and to the point where audience members feel that she is talking directly to them.

With her opening lines, Cynthia immediately squashes any audience expectation there will be anything to laugh about in this show. She bares her soul to the audience like an open wound, and reveals the painful drama of her daughter in a way that only a mother in anguish can give. It’s an incredible performance by an amazing actress.

The play also features a trio of wonderful young actors; Tom Keat as Riley, Cassandra Guthrie as Fantasia (“Fancy”), and Grace Thompson as Serena. Cassandra and Tom seem to shine through their performances, almost like sparkly bookends to Grace, who fades in their shadows. With big personalities, these two performers are scene stealers.

Meanwhile, the character of Serena doesn’t seem to stand out much at all. She is just a normal kid with normal looks and a normal attitude. But perhaps that is the point of the charaacter. She really is any girl from any town. She’s our daughter, our niece, our granddaughter, our neighbour. All the girls we know can be Serena.

In her big final moments of the show, Grace manages to decimate the audience with a passionate monologue that echos through the valley beyond Winslow Farm. It represents the cries of the victims of sexual violence, and it’s a powerful dramatic moment that doesn’t hold back.

Who Killed Snow White?  also reveals many different voices as a way to create a full discussion of the times in which our children live. Mark Hiscox plays Serena’s father Jay, who struggles with being unable to stop his daughter’s tormentors. Maja Ardel plays Fancy’s Aunt Babe, who believes in the status quo and bowing to social norms. Christian Lloyd plays Si, a local police officer whose examples of male testosterone corrupt the boys he helped raise.

I also want to take a moment to praise the two young men in the show: Steven Vlahos who plays Pratt, and Andrei Preda who plays his brother Dodge. Judith Thompson’s creation of these characters is unique; instead of creating stock villains, she gives these talented actors characters who are three dimensional and filled with conflicting emotions.

With young men being so easily vilified in today’s mass media (often for good reason), it is refreshing to find a character like Dodge in Who Killed Snow White? . Although flawed, he is a good kid at heart who honestly tries to do the right thing but finds himself trapped between loyalty, family, and the myths of masculinity in which he has been indoctrinated. With Dodge, Thompson shows that not all young men are out to rape and conquer.

On the other end of the spectrum is Steven Vlahos as Pratt. I can’t imagine the preparation that Steven must go through, performance after performance, to put himself into the mindset of a young man who is so smug, so insensitive, and so destructive.

Although his character is the poster boy for everything wrong with toxic masculinity, somehow Thompson manages to hint at another side to Pratt, one that lies somewhere between privileged sociopath and a screwed-up kid without the emotional maturity to understand his actions. Pratt is a completely repugnant character, but one that Steven brings alive almost too well in what cannot be an easy performance.

Who Killed Snow White?  is completed by a haunting original score by local maestro Justin Hiscox, inspired choreography by Monica Dotter, and beautifully inspired costumes by Meredith Hubbard — who brilliantly dresses all the performers in pristine whites.

Audiences attending Who Killed Snow White?  should know what they are getting into before they attend the show. 4th Line Theatre acknowledges trigger warnings within the show, and workers from the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre will be on site for each performance to provide support if needed. It’s also worth noting that 4th Line does not recommend the show for anyone under the age of 14.

Some people feel that summer theatre should consist of light and breezy comedies to enjoy on a nice evening, and avoid hard-hitting subjects or emotional turmoil. If this is your opinion, than perhaps Who Killed Snow White?  is not for you.

However, truly good theatre challenges its audience. It’s relevant to today’s society, starts discussions, and reveal truths about our world we may be too scared to look at. It is raw, controversial, uncomfortable, brave, and honest.

In this regard, Who Killed Snow White? is extremely good theatre, and it could be the most important show you’ll see in the Kawarthas this year. This is the kind of show that wins awards and changes lives. That is why you should be going to see this show.

Who Killed Snow White? runs from Mondays to Saturdays until August 25th at the Winslow Farm in Millbrook. Shows start at 6 p.m. Tickets are $38 for adults and $32 for youth and can be purchased by phone at 705-932-4445, online at www.4thlinetheatre.on.ca, or at 4th Line Theatre box office in Millbrook at 4 Tupper Street and in Peterborough at the Peterborough Museum and Archives at 300 Hunter Street East.

Every Thursday, we publish live music and performance events at pubs and clubs in Peterborough and The Kawarthas based on information that venues provide to us directly or post on their website or social media channels. Here are the listings for the week of Thursday, August 9 to Wednesday, August 15.

If you’re a pub or club owner and want to be included in our weekly listings, please email our Nightlife Editor at nightlife@kawarthanow.com.