If you can’t make it to Nashville to see the Grand Ole Opry, Leisa Way is bringing the Opry to Haliburton County.
The Canadian concert producer and songstress is presenting Opry Gold as part of the Highlands Summer Festival Aug. 4 to 8. The show features the Wayward Wind Band, which consists of award-winning Canadian musicians, including Bruce Ley, a pianist and the musical arranger, who has played piano for The Tommy Hunter Show and The Ronnie Prophet Show. There will be five performances.
Brant Garratt, a lead vocalist and guitarist with a passion for acoustic guitar, said he’s excited to come to the Highlands to play Opry Gold because of the proximity to nature.
“My family used to own a cottage on Miskwabi Lake. I spent a lot of time there during the summers, and it fostered my love of nature, and of canoeing, camping,” Garratt said.
He added, “I love the theatre there, the festival theatre, and it’s just a great meeting of two things that I love. It’s kind of a dream, like getting to go up to Haliburton to play music for a week, like come on. I’m probably bringing my canoe, that’s for sure.”
He can’t wait for audiences to hear the ripping guitar solos, not by him, but by the other guitar player, Jack Gaughan. “I know there’s just a lot of cool musical showcases of all different performers in the show, like our fiddle player, Alex George, incredible fiddle player. Just everybody gets their own feature, and it’s always a lot of fun.”
Garratt grew up listening to country music and credits his mom, who grew up in Newfoundland, for that. “I was exposed to people like Shania Twain, Garth Brooks, Brooks & Dunn, that kind of stuff. My parents are listening to that, I’m just saying they’re really into Gordon Lightfoot. I grew up listening to those genres,” said Garratt.
On being part of the group, Garratt said, “it’s been a great opportunity for me. And really, it’s been a dream come true to be part of a group like this, it’s an actual professional working band, and especially under somebody like Leisa.”
Opry Gold is a toe-tappin’, roofraisin’ salute to the greatest music in the history of country music. It’s a vibrant celebration featuring a rich mixture of classic Grand Ole Opry masters and the next generation of breakthrough country artists. The show highlights all the amazing artists that have played the Opry stage over the years and tells the stories about their connections.
Garratt will be singing in a four-part harmony, detailing he’ll be doing a lot of singing. Garratt says he’s done other shows where it’s been a three-part harmony, but never a four-part harmony.
“It’s really nice to be able to blend voices like that, because it’s not really something that happens a lot in normal bands. You have a nice two-part, two voices, but have four harmonies, it’s pretty cool.”
