For the very first time the Louisiana Hayride Show is giving Chestermere residents a walk down memory lane through listening to some classic tunes.
“It’s great classic music that we present on stage that people love to hear again, it just brings back great memories for them,” said Creator and Host of the Louisiana Hayride Show Lori Risling.
On Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m., classic music lovers can head over to the Chestermere Rec Centre to watch some of their favorite artists perform. Including Jerry Lee Lewis, Crystal Gayle, and Patsy Cline.
“We have a great song by Jerry Lee Lewis, and our keyboard player is phenomenal, that’s always really popular. We added Crystal Gayle into the show complete with her floor length hair, a couple of her big hits that people are just loving,” Risling said.
“It’s a combination of music from the 50’s that was on the original Louisiana Hayride show, the real classic country music,” Risling added, “We do go into the 60’s and 70’s a little bit to offer more modern rockabilly type music.”
The Louisiana Hayride Show has music for everybody, Risling added she has gotten comments from audience members at the end of the show saying they were unsure if they would like the performance, since they weren’t fans of the country music, but they ended up loving the performance.
New to the Louisiana Hayride Show is Elvis Presley, Risling added, which has been great.
“We are really careful and take a lot of pride in our sound. We’re very particular about how our music sounds, it’s never too loud,” Risling said.
She added, a lot of people go to concerts and they have to cover their ears because the music is too loud.
Risling ensures the music is at a comfortable level so that the audience can hear the music and the lyrics clearly at the Louisiana Hayride Show.
“It’s a big thing for our demographic because they don’t want that really-really loud music,” Risling said.
Audiences of the Louisiana Hayride Show can expect a lot of great entertainment, Risling added, she has gotten comments in the past about how it looks like the performers are having fun on stage which crosses over into the crowd.
It’s great music from the days gone by that you don’t hear much anymore, you can’t really get it on the radio,” Risling added, “It’s just pure entertainment from the minute it starts to the minute it ends.”
For Risling talking with the audience after the show makes all of her hard work in preparations, research, and rehearsals for the past decade worth it.
“We’re going into tenth year, it’s just getting better, our audiences are always 100 per cent, they are excited, they love the show, it’s always positive.
“Our group is just getting closer and closer, we call it our “Hayride Family,” we all get along so well, it’s a joy. Every aspect of it is a joy,” she said.
Risling always knew she wanted to create a show, ten years ago she began putting the Louisiana Hayride Show together, and she continues to write, change, and host it each year.
“I’m on stage throughout the evening, introducing the songs and giving a little bit of history on the song or the artist singing it, I’m very involved,” she said.
“Originally, I knew I wanted to put a show together and the more research I did on the songs I wanted, that’s where I found out about the Louisiana Hayride itself,” Risling said.
Rislings inspiration for the Louisiana Hayride Show for the past decade has come from hearing the cast sing. She is constantly listening to what artist the performer could do by hearing tones and inflections in their voice.
“I find them a song to try and nine times out of ten it works,” she said.
Tickets for the Louisiana Hayride Show are available at the Chestermere Rec Centre main office or can be purchased online at www.ticketseller.ca or call 1-866-311-1011.
