Musicians from around the Lower Mainland are banding together in Squamish for a benefit concert to raise funds for HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa on July 31.
The Mountain FM Concert 4 A Cure will feature strong vocals and feel-good vibes with a line-up that includes emerging artists such as Goodbye Beatdown, Kostaman, Rachel Thom and Ali Milner. The bands are donating their music and complete proceeds from the show will go to The Global Fund, which is a partnership between governments, non-governmental agencies and the private sector.
Performing music for a cause is nothing new to the artists. For the past four years, Kostaman has been involved with the Whistler-based Bands Against Hunger Society, which brings Sea to Sky artists together to host shows and release recorded music to raise money for local and global humanitarian causes.
The Concert 4 A Cure line-up is already tightly knit. Thom joined Kostaman as a vocalist in 2007, so she'll be playing double duty at the show. She will perform lead vocals and guitar with her band and supply backing vocals for Kostaman.
Thom released her first self-recorded album while in high school and contributed half the proceeds to children's cancer research. The death of her older brother to leukemia before she was born led Thom to start directing her talent to a cause at a young age, and it's her continued desire to help others that keeps her giving spirit alive today.
"It's really important to me to try to keep the research going and try to help save the lives of innocent children," she said, adding that it will be exciting to transition between genres during the upcoming benefit concert.
"It's the same in that the energy level is high and positive but it's different in the genre. I'm a more pop-rock Kelly Clarkson kind of deal, but with our reggae music it's roots, rock, reggae, ska, and the ska really brings out the rock in it."
Goodbye Beatdown will likely provide the most intense sound of the evening. The Langley four-piece mixes hip-hop, rock, blues, folk, soul and reggae into a self-described "manic energy."
Earlier this month, Goodbye Beatdown became one of the top three finalists in one of the country's most prestigious indie battle of the bands: the 30th Fox Vancouver Seeds competition. Previous Seeds winners include Nickelback, Default and the Matthew Good Band. Concert 4 A Cure will be a warm-up for when the Platinum Award winner will be determined at the Top 3 Showcase at the Commodore Ballroom in August.
For Whistler's Ali Milner, the benefit concert may prove to me a nostalgic affair. Milner performed her first solo singing show when she was 12 years old at the Eagle Eye Theatre, she said.
Milner is enjoying being out of high school and able to concentrate on her music career. She even found herself onstage at this year's Juno Awards after party performing with Michael Bubl茅, Ron Sexsmith and Divine Brown.
"It was really not planned at all. It was very impromptu and they didn't go to the bridge but I accidentally went to the bridge, so it was pretty funny," she said with a laugh.
But the fiery redhead's honey sweet sound and vocal depth is nothing to laugh about, and she's looking forward to returning to Squamish to join fellow musicians and the audience for the important cause.
"It's a lot of caring individuals that are a part of it and great music. I think it will be a lot of fun," she said.
Tickets cost $25 and are available at the Adventure Centre or by visiting http://euphoricevents.ca, where more information on the African AIDS crisis is also available.
The venue is intimate so tickets are expected to sell fast.
