Bluegrass and country music fans have a lot to look forward to this weekend.

The Blueberry Bluegrass & Country Music Festival is being held at Homecoming Park in Stony Plain.  The festival runs from July 30-August 1, 2010.

View from the Blueberry Bluegrass stage

This year’s lineup includes Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, Fred Eaglesmith, Dailey & Vincent and many more.

A 3-day pass is $100.  You can purchased tickets online at www.blueberrybluegrass.com.

The circus is coming back to town.

On Thursday, July 22, Doug Andrew & The Circus In Flames bring their “original sheet metal country” back to Stony Plain at the Early Stage Saloon, 4911 – 52nd Ave. as part of their western Canadian tour.

The Vancouver singer-songwriter and his band with two critically acclaimed CDs have also joined Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Blue Rodeo, Corb Lund, Gordon Lightfoot, and others on The Gift: A Tribute To Ian Tyson with the Toronto Star proclaiming their version of the classic, Someday Soon, as the Top Track on that album.

They’ll perform their gritty, hard-edged, folk music starting at 7:30 PM.  Call the Early Stage Saloon at 780-963-0120 for more details.

Houston and Weideman

Productions at Horizon Stage will benefit from a new lighting system, after  Parkland County announced they will contribute $20,050 to the project.

“Horizon Stage has seen many talented performers over the years and the upgrades to the  facility will showcase future performances in style,” said Parkland County Mayor Rob  Wiedeman.  “Parkland County and Spruce Grove residents can be proud to have this  exceptional facility in their community.”

The state-of-the-art system will include a new digital lighting console, 80 new lights and all the  rigging and hardware required to install them. The installation is expected to be complete by  the start of the 2010-2011 season.

The lighting system will complete a renovation project that began in 2008, which saw the  theatre refurbished and modernized. It will match the technical achievement of the new sound  system and allow Horizon Stage to function at the highest level of artistic and technical  proficiency.

“Parkland County has been generous in its support of Horizon Stage since its inception,” said  Spruce Grove Mayor Stuart Houston. “This is one more example of how the residents of  Spruce Grove and Parkland County benefit when we work together.”

The project has received $125,100 from the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund and $75,000 from  the provincial government’s Community Initiatives Program. The Horizon Stagelighters also  contributed $10,000.

Horizon Stage is jointly owned by the City of Spruce Grove and Parkland County, and is  located at 1001 Calahoo Road inside Spruce Grove Composite High School.

Global TV comes to Spruce Grove, October 22

This fall, Global Edmonton‘s news team is going to be touring communities around the city.  Their first stop will be in Spruce Grove, on Thursday, October 22nd at the Tri-Leisure Center.  These traveling live broadcasts will continue every Thursday, up until November 12th.

Those wishing to see anchors Gord Steinke and Lynda Steele, meteorologist Nicola Crosbie and sports anchor Kevin Karius in action should plan on being at the Tri Leisure between 6pm and 7pm, October 22nd.

Engaging the wider metro area certainly plays into the ongoing Local TV Matters campaign.  The campaign, sponsored by broadcasters like Global,  is petitioning the Government to have cable providers pay for the local content they stream to their subscribers.

The Harvesting Hell festival was denied a permit

The Spruce Grove Examiner is reporting that the Harvesting Hell heavy metal festival has been denied a permit by the County of Parkland.  The festival, which was to be hosted at Bent River Ranch, was denied the necessary permit due to security concerns and that required applications were not submitted.

However, event organizers believe that it was “the nature of the music that brought on the wave of concern within ranks of county officials and residents” and not the lack of proper planning.

With no time to reorganize, and find another open air venue, the team has relocated the festival to two days in Edmonton.  Saturday September 5th will be at the Starlight Room (10030 – 102 st.) and will feature Atheist, Gnostic, Exit Strategy, Begrime Exemious, and Lummox & Rehashed.  Sunday Setepmber 6th will start at 3pm and will take place at the New City Compound(10081 – Jasper Ave.).  This second show will feature at least 15 bands, with Montreal’s Quo Vadis as headliners.

Fuhr is possibly the most famous Spruce Grove resident

In August of 2005, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie became temporary residents of Spruce Grove.  This made me wonder: what famous people have come from Spruce Grove?  A quick search on Wikipedia reveals the following list:

• Stu Barnes (NHL centre)
• Nathan Dempsey (NHL defenceman)
• Grant Fuhr (former NHL goaltender)
• Jennifer Heil (moguls skier, Olympic gold medalist)
• Steve Regier (NHL forward)
• Grant Stevenson (NHL centre)
• Marc Tolbert (CFL Receiver)

This list is impressive, but has Spruce Grove produced only exceptional athletes?  Where are the individuals that have gone on to excel in other disciplines like theatre, music, and journalism?

Leave a comment below if you can think of anyone else that should be on this list.

Chris Layton rocks Guitar Hero on YouTube

On Tuesday, Aerosmith is coming to Edmonton. And on Tuesday, Chris Layton will get to meet Steven Tyler and co. in person. The Spruce Grove local won a contest (sponsored by Guitar Hero) after submitting this video on YouTube.

Chris isn’t just going to the show and meeting the band; he will actually be the opening act when plays a Guitar Hero song in front of the Commonwealth Stadium audience.

Despite concerns about Steven Tyler’s health (after a fall of a stage), organizers say that the show is still “a go” for August 11th.