Taber’s ultimate outdoor three-day concert festival returns this weekend with the best of Canadian rock and roll.
Cornstock features Headpins, Streetheart and Kim Mitchell Friday night and on Saturday don’t miss Chilliwack, Trooper and April Wine. But the musical shenanigans start Thursday with Canada’s “Metal Queen” Lee Aaron.
“I’m excited, I love Alberta. We love it there. We’re probably there at least a couple times a year. Just fantastic rock and roll audiences,” says Aaron. “My joke is – I’m never on tour and I’m always on tour because a lot of the bands, like classic rock or legacy acts like myself, we don’t really tour the way we used to.”
There was a time when a musical artist would tour across Canada for many consecutive weeks at a time to promote a new album, but nowadays, a lot of acts tend to cherry pick the gigs they want to do.
“A lot of my work is focused throughout the summer on doing festivals and fairs. Throughout the year, I tend to do more casino showrooms across the country and things like that, as opposed to going out and doing a string of smaller club dates or something. It’s far more enjoyable and it’s lucrative,” adds Aaron.
With this kind of touring and performing at isolated dates throughout the year, Aaron explains, “it just feels fresher every time you walk on that stage and play.”
Festivals like Cornstock bring together many of Canada’s rock royalty, as they share the stage with one another to entertain the legions of loyal fans from coast-to-coast.
“It’s kind of become this Canadian rock and roll family. We all love and respect each other and support each other. It’s totally different than it was say 30 years ago when we were all playing and we were younger and everybody was more competitive. It’s not like that anymore. There’s so much love and respect and camaraderie between everyone,” says Aaron.
Aaron says she still loves making music too and her 19th album, “Tattoo Me” was released in April. Since 2016, Aaron says she has made seven albums, but went on a 12-year hiatus to raise her kids with her husband and drummer in the band, John Cody. “I went 12 years without making a recording because all of my creative energy was focused on raising our two children.”
“You can’t put a value on parenting and motherhood. I am so glad I got that time. When they were old enough to brush their own teeth and put their own pajamas on, I was like, ‘I’ve got to make another record. I miss this.’ I’ve been having a little bit of a creative renaissance since 2016 and have been pumping out albums.”
For Aaron, it’s the creative process of actually making records and exercising those creative muscles that still brings so much joy. “That’s why I continue to make music and luckily for me, I do have a dedicated core fanbase that will always buy my new vinyl.”
As for Cornstock, Aaron says fans can expect a straight-ahead rock and roll show. “My show includes some newer material, but I’m definitely playing all my old nostalgic hits.”
“I realized there’s so many fans out there, for them those songs are so meaningful still for them. They bring back memories and a time in their life when they were impactful and important to them,” adds Aaron.
According to Aaron, there’s a wonderful reciprocal thing that happens when a live audience is feeding off the energy of your performance and you feed off the energy and the joy they’re giving back to you.
One of the greatest experiences for Aaron over the past few years has been the generations of fans in the crowd, which includes moms, grandmas and daughters. “There’s just no greater thrill for me than to see that.”
Upon reflection, Aaron notes, she’s created music that has transcended three generations of people, which continues to amaze one of Canada’s rock and roll greats.
For more information about the event visit spiderentertainment.ca/shows/cornstock24.
