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Local young vocalist paired with Kootenay singer-songwriter

13-year-old Pyper Standing opening for Holly Hyatt Band Wednesday, April 17
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Don’t let her age fool you. Pyper Standing has been dropping jaws since she was eight years old, belting out cover songs that experienced singers wouldn’t attempt. When she draws in a breath and lets the song escape, the reaction of the audience is always the same — total disbelief followed by ear-to-ear smiles.

Standing has been singing since she could speak. She began busking at the Cranbrook Farmers Market to hone her craft and continues to be invited to perform at a variety of local venues such as the Cranbrook Multi-Cultural Festival and as a guest at Summer Sounds in Rotary Park. Most recently she was our region’s representative at the BC Performing Arts Festival in Victoria in the musical Theatre category.

She is an accomplished anthem-ist, singing ‘O Canada’ at numerous events including the Gran Fondo and Kootenay Ice Games.

“I’m sure I’ll take away a lot from this experience”, said Standing about the upcoming show. She will have guitarist Chris Moon accompanying her, who “has been amazing and super-easy to work with”. Expect to hear ‘Shallow’ by Lady Gaga, ‘Tracing Pavements’ by Adele and older favourites.

Pyper has the pleasure of opening the fourth of five Winter Ale Concerts at the Key City Theatre for Holly Hyatt and her band from the Slocan Valley. Be prepared for a dynamic live show that leaves the listener feeling uplifted and inspired!

Described as ‘Soul blues meets R&B singer-songwriter’, Hyatt is a vocalist, acoustic and electric bass player and songwriter who began singing, performing and songwriting at an early age. She got her start at local coffee houses, bars; which morphed into the last fourteen years performing in the blues and roots duo, Holly and Jon. Of four released albums, their 2016 release ‘Shufflin’ the Blues’ has received rave reviews in the blues community achieving #1 on the RMR acoustic blues charts. Their third album, ‘1929’, received international radio airplay and was included in the top 10 best Canadian Blues albums of 2013. She has shared the stage with The Brubreck Brothers, jazz pianist Taylor Eigisti, Sonny Rhodes, Russell Jackson, Roy Forbes and Linda McCrea. Holly has opened for Carlos Del Junco, Leon Russell, The Golden State Lonestar Revue and worked on the promotion team for Merle Haggard’s 2004 Canadian tour. Most recently her song ‘River Flows’ won the 2019 Kootenay Music Award for Rhythm and Blues Song of the Year.

It’s been an incredible run for the 2019 Winter Ale Concert Series, a collaboration between the Fisher Peak Performing Artists Society (FPPAS) and the Key City Theatre (KCT) and supported by the Heid Out Restaurant & Fisher Peak Brewing Company. The first three shows of the series have sold out.

The last show in this series will be Tuesday May 14, featuring the Lovebullies (Calgary) opened by the Hurricanes (Cranbrook/Kimberley) All events start at 7:30pm.

Tickets can be purchased at the Key City Theatre box office or online at www.keycitytheatre.com. The Fisher Peak Performing Artists Society is a local non-profit volunteer organization with a mission to advocate, promote and support local performers. They are the same dedicated group that brings the exceptional Summer Sounds concerts, Dancing in the Park program and the ‘PEAK’ Music Festival to Cranbrook’s Rotary Park each year.



Barry Coulter

About the Author: Barry Coulter

Barry Coulter had been Editor of the Cranbrook Townsman since 1998, and has been part of all those dynamic changes the newspaper industry has gone through over the past 20 years.
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