"It's an opportunity to provide a service and meet some new people." That is how Homer Haus Bed and Breakfast owner Code Clements is describing the upcoming Home Routes tour. Home Routes is an entertainment tour which makes stops all across Canada.
"It's an opportunity to provide a service and meet some new people."
That is how Homer Haus Bed and Breakfast owner Code Clements is describing the upcoming Home Routes tour.
Home Routes is an entertainment tour which makes stops all across Canada. These concerts are played in small venues and are used to showcase Canadian artists. The genres vary from folk music, to aboriginal, to rock. Some of the musicians even tell stories and perform comedy acts along with their music.
This year, the two local stops will be at the Homer Haus Bed and Breakfast in Cold Lake and Maguires Bed and Breakfast in Pierceland.
"How I heard about this was an article in the Reader's Digest about Home Routes. So I called Home Routes and they're more than willing to have hosts, because it's hard to find hosts," said Sharon Rawlake, who is the owner of the Maguires Bed and Breakfast.
She has been hosting this event for five years now and decided it was too much for her to do alone. Speaking with Clements, they discussed the possibility of sharing the event for the year.
"She had been doing that for a number of years," said Clements. "She was finding it a bit much."
It was decided that three shows would come to Cold Lake and three would stay in Pierceland.
Sixty-five people attended the event at Rawlake's bed and breakfast last year.
"I have to move my whole house around when I have it. I have to move my furniture all around, where as some people would host in a hall or a bar but they really like homes. The artist wants to play in a home, because it's intimate and it's just very nice for them," said Rawlake. "We had to pull out the patio furniture, it was unbelievable."
The bed and breakfasts volunteer the space for the artists to come play. All of the proceeds from the event go to the artists.
"I don't get anything from it, I am at the age where I have a bed and breakfast and I have a place and I can do this. I just feel like I am giving back. I may not be giving back to the person that helped me out but, I am giving back to the community, to the starving artists, and to the world," explained Rawlake. "They're all talented people. They may not always be your type of music, but they're so talented that you can actually enjoy what they're doing."
"It'll be hour-and-a-half to two hours of good entertainment where you can interrelate and get really close to the artist and talk and laugh with them," added Clements.
First up for the concerts is artist Ben Sures, who will be playing a mix of folk and rock music at Homer Haus on Sept. 21. Visit homeroutes.ca for more information on Sures and the other upcoming dates.
