Saskia and Darrel, also know as Great Plains, performed their unique blend of bluegrass, folk and gospel music for an enthusiastic audience of over 40 at St. Andrews United Church in Canora on October 17.
Even though there were only two performers on stage, it somehow seemed like more. Each of the two singer/songwriters played multiple instruments during the evening and easily transitioned back and forth between singing lead and backup in the duo’s rich harmonies.
Their easy rapport with the audience was apparent right away, as Saskia began the evening with the comment, “We’ll start with a with a song we know well, and if that at works out, maybe we’ll stay.”
That song was The Fighter writtenby Paul Simon, and the audience showed its appreciation immediately.
Darrel was born and raised in Saskatchewan, while Saskia grew up in Holland. She quickly clarified that it was “not the one in Manitoba.”
Saskia shared that she and her family moved to Dawson Creek in northern B.C. when she was a youngster. As a teenager, she had one of her first performing experiences at a talent show in Dawson Creek.
“I had written a song, but my mind just went blank, so I performed one of the first songs that I ever learned,” said Saskia.
That song was Jolene, written by Dolly Parton, and the duo performed it for the Canora audience.
They are prolific songwriters, and performed a number of their originals, including My Father’s Land, a song about Darrel going home and revisiting his roots, “To walk those green hills of My Father’s Land.”
Both Saskia and Darrel said they get the majority of their songwriting ideas from their experiences. Little Church Yard in the Pines was written after visiting a church in Saskatchewan, “Hidden away in the Pines, in that Little Country Church Yard in the Pines.”
Darrel wrote a song called The Prairie Elevator about those traditional large wooden grain handling structures that are becoming harder and harder to find these days.
“We performed this song in Northern Vancouver and I pretty much had to draw them a picture,” he said. “They didn’t know what an elevator was.”
There was no such difficulty in Canora, where grain elevators have long been part of the landscape:
“There was not a building greater, they snagged the clouds as they drifted by, Oh The Prairie Elevator. “
“And the harvest grain flowed, down from the hoppers like liquid gold, from The Prairie Elevator.”
“It was a hub of our community, it’s our national identity, Oh The Prairie Elevator.”
“Now they’re dying one-by-one, tear them down, their job is done, Oh The Prairie Elevator.”
The duo performed songs from their new gospel CD, Holy Ground¸ including Far Side Banks of Jordan, written by Johnny Cash about a couple looking forward to when their time on this world is over: “And I'll be waiting on the far side banks of Jordan. I'll be sitting drawing pictures in the sand and when I see you coming, I will rise up with the shout and come running through the shallow waters, reaching for your hand.”
The CD also includes I’m an Orphan on God’s Highway written by Gillian Welch, a songwriter from Nashville:
“But when He calls me I will be able to meet my family at God's table. I'll meet my mother, my father, my sister, my brother, no more orphan girl.”
The duo shared how they were asked to perform in Switzerland by the Canadian ambassador to Switzerland, and sang “the most Canadian song we could think of,” which was Blue Canadian Rockies, made famous by Wilf Carter.
Another memorable experience shared by the duo was being asked to perform at a Metis festival in Williams Lake, B.C. Darrel wrote a song for that occasion, Gabriel Dumont, about the prominent leader of the Metis people:
“I heard 10,000 buffalo charging through the field.”
“He said if you don’t stand for what you want, I must have died for nothing.”
“I saw the ghost of Gabriel Dumont.”
“Oh the Metis people never fit in with the red or the white.”
The duo shared that while touring in Germany, they were told that, “you’re pretty good, but you don’t play enough bluegrass.” The pair responded by playing the oldest recorded bluegrass song they could find, Bury me under the Weeping Willow Tree, recorded by Mother Mabelle Carter in 1927.
Saskia and Darrel performed a number of requests during the Canora concert, including Alleluia, written by Leonard Cohen.
Saskia displayed her vocal versatility during the evening with some Swiss yodeling, which received enthusiastic applause.
The duo has performed throughout Canada and Europe over the years, and have cultivated a loyal following.
