By Kevin J. Sabo For the Bashaw Star
An Edmonton-based music group has a Bashaw connection.
The group, The Prairie States, filmed a music video in Bashaw in 2019, with the video being widely released in January 2020, and the reason they selected Bashaw is thanks to band-member Jeff Dick, whose father grew up in the region, and whose grandfather owned the theatre from 1948 to 1961.
“I was brainstorming with the producer of the video, Jay Sparrow, and I said that my mom grew up in Stettler, and my dad grew up in Bashaw,” said Dick.
“We (Google searched), and the theatre my grandfather owned way back when had been converted into a community theatre with a stage. We thought, ‘wow, can’t get much more perfect than that.’”
Dick describes the video, “Every Little Town,” as a tribute to small town life, and “that cast of characters” that seem to be in every town.
“There was no more perfect stage to play on than the one my grandfather owned, and my dad worked in as a kid,” said Dick. “Jay suggested including my parents, which was really special.”
The day of the shoot, Dick walked the town with his parents, with them showing him different parts of the town, places he had not been back to since he was himself an infant. He recalled his mom telling him about a wedding that they had attended when he was a baby, and his mom showed him the sidewalk she walked him on when he started fussing.
“They loved it,” said Dick.
“It was a great day.”
With the release of the video on CMT Australia, the community has now been featured on an international stage.
“We brought Bashaw to another country, which we are pretty excited about,” said Dick.
“My dad is pretty proud, I became a Bashaw ambassador. I’m pretty proud myself.”
The Prairie States was formed in 2017, and is made up of five music industry veterans, including Dick. Since they came together, the band has been finding success, winning the Rising Star and Fan’s Choice of the Alberta Country Music Association 2018 awards, and group of the year and video of the year in 2019. In 2018, the band also won the Project Wild Artist Development Program competition, which netted the group $100,000.
“It’s been quite a ride,” said Dick.
“We’ve had a lot of success in a very short amount of time.”