Fans of Crystal Plamondon who may have missed her on Stuart Maclean’s Vinyl Café, Peter Gzowski’s Morningside, or, (wait for it, time travellers) The Tommy Hunter Show, can take comfort in the fact the musical troubadour is on her way back to Cochrane.
Anyone looking to laugh, tap their toes, dance or just sit back and listen to some great tunes could do a lot worse than to come and share in Plamondon’s homecoming concert on Sep. 30 at the Lions Event Centre.
Reached at her home in Plamondon, a town in Northern Alberta founded by her Franco- American great grandfather in 1908, the country/roots performer sounded like she couldn’t wait to tackle the six or seven hour drive to come and bring some smiles to the town she called home for 13 years. She moved to Ghost Lake in 1995.
In all that time she never played a concert in Cochrane, so she decided it was time.
Plamondon has been on stage since she was 13 and just recently got back into touring mode after a COVID-induced hiatus.
“In June I was really wondering if I could do it again, I was terrified,” she said. “I really wanted to do Cochrane – I’m an Alberta girl and my heart’s so much in the mountains.”
She promises an evening full of joy, laughter and a few sentimental moments, and always hopes people leave her concerts happier and lighter than when they arrived.
Her message for anyone contemplating coming out to the show is simple.
“Oh my god, they can’t miss it, it’s crazy. You’re gonna laugh, dance, forget your problems and just have a great evening of country, Cajun, zydeco, English, French . . . We have a lot of fun.”
Plamondon added her concerts are the perfect antidote for people of all backgrounds who maybe haven’t had many laughs for the past couple of years.
“Everything is so serious. My music is for having fun and I don’t care what colour you are, I really don’t give a s**t – just have fun and love each other, that’s it, that’s all we are,” she said.
Plamondon is a talented bilingual singer/songwriter/performer with a 35-year track record of consistently delivering passionate concerts that cover an emotional range from heart-warming ballads to jazz classics to her rockin’ country, Cajun, roots style.
Her forte is connecting with her audience because of her warmth and wit.
She has toured extensively in live music venues, theatres, and festivals throughout North America and Europe.
Plamondon has received the Molson Canadian ARIA (Alberta Recording Industry Association) Performer of the Year Award.
In 2004 she was awarded “Prix Sylvie Van Brabant” for Excellence in Artisque Creation in Alberta. In 2009 she was honoured with “prix CHFA de la chanson albertaine” for excellence in Alberta French Culture. Her second independent release, CarpeDiem! (1993) yielded two #1 hits in France.
She released two other independent CDs – La Rousse Farouche (1996) Plus de frontières/No Borders (2002), both full of her bilingual original material. She has performed twice in Ottawa, for Canada Day celebrations where she performed for Queen Elizabeth.
In addition to hosting numerous television and radio programs and live events she has an acting career including performances in TV productions, movies, and theatre.
She appeared in the Brad Pitt starring “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” and has also appeared on numerous episodes of Heartland and has produced songs for the popular CBC TV show.
She describes her role in one episode of “Heartland” as “the memory of grandpa Jack’s dead wife.”
It wasn’t the most glamorous role.
“I’m a dead grandma,” she laughed. “I was not looking good.”
She released her seventh studio album of original material with a few spiritual covers, “Half Gospel, Half Heartbreak" produced by herself and her band leader Gord Matthews, who was a guitar player for k.d. lang and Ian Tyson, both of whom he was with for 10 years.
All proceeds from the Sep. 30 concert go to the Cochrane Lions Club.
Doors and the cash bar open at 6:30 pm and the concert starts at 7:30. There will be no opening act.
Tickets are $35 at the door, $30 online at Eventbrite.com.
