Bragg Creek Performing Arts (BCPA) is bringing Shaye Zadravec to the Bragg Creek Snowbirds Chalet for an intimate dinner concert on April 1.
Zadravec is a recording artist from Calgary. In the fall of 2018, she recorded Norway, a five song EP. The collection contained the song, “Lilac Wine,” which was written in 1950 and previously recorded by a number of artists, including Nina Simone, Jeff Buckley, and Jeff Beck.
The artist's repertoire is familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, including songs written by Bobby Darin, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Lynn Miles, Willie Dixon, Shelby Lynne, Chip Taylor and Doc Pomus.
The spring of 2020 found Zadravec back in the studio as she was recording a follow-up to the Norway EP. This follow-up album, Now and Then, was recorded and released just as the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The album contained two songs written by Ian Tyson and a duet performance on his song “Silver Bell” would be his last recording before his passing in December 2022.
Zadravec interprets country and roots songs in the vein of traditional singers such as Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. She said she has always liked Ronstadt.
“I like her because she was so honest, and you don’t see that a lot. I think people are kind of scared to do that these days, so I can appreciate that about her,” Zadravec said.
When it comes to her own music, Zadravec said she’s working on being true to herself, and not confining herself to any particular genre.
“I guess the best way to describe it is, a little bit of everything,” she said with a laugh.
“I try not to limit myself to one specific genre because I don’t think anyone listens to just one specific genre. I pick songs that speak to me, and I try not to label it right off the bat.”
In describing the Bragg Creek venue, she said the cozy setting for the upcoming concert is just right for the type of music she’ll be playing.
“I’m looking forward to it – with the stuff I like to sing and play, it lends itself to an intimate concert, where I’m singing to those people,” she said.
In a press release promoting the concert, Clint Docken of the BCPA called Zadravec “an exceptional singer” and a throwback “to the era when great singers lent their voices to the best material and built careers on these great songs.”
To see and hear Shaye Zadravec in concert is “like listening to the greatest radio show you ever heard,” according to the release.
After a 31-show European tour, which was booked and scheduled for the fall of 2021, was cancelled eight days before the tour was to begin because of COVID, Zadravec was finally able to hit the road in the summer of 2022. Festivals, including the prestigious Vancouver Island Music Festival and the Canmore Folk Festival, along with nightclubs, folk clubs and house concerts put her in front of new listeners and fans.
She remained on the road performing until the end of the year, culminating with a sold-out tour of the Netherlands in December 2022.
Zadravec said she enjoyed playing for Dutch audiences.
“The crowds are very appreciative, very attentive. People go knowing they’re there to listen to music,” she said.
“People respect music and the arts in general, I think, they really give you their attention.”
Along with her live performances, streams and views of her music are approaching 400,000.
She will be recording new music before the summer is out and will continue touring Canada throughout the year, with plans already underway for a return to Europe in the future.
Tickets for the concert on Saturday, April 1, at 7 p.m. are available online at bcpa.ca. Prices are $75 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. and performance an hour afterward.
The chalet’s seating capacity for this event is for 72 persons only. Zadravec’s EPs and other recordings will be available on location.
The Bragg Creek Snowbirds Chalet is at 19 Balsam Ave.
