11 August, 2006
Newspaper Review
The Province Thursday August 3, 2006
West Vancouver's Arts Lovers' Dream Fest
By John P. McLaughlin
Harmony offers 10 days of music, film, visual arts, theatre and more -- and it's free
Some choose not to acknowledge the truth while others will deny it vociferously but it doesn't change things a whit: Vancouver, much loved jewel-by-the-sea, is a Lower Mainland divided. There is over here: Kits, the West Side and the rolling Burb Lands out to Langley and the valley and there is over there: North and West Van….they also get the Harmony Arts Festival. This is the arts lover’s dream: a festival with film, music, visual arts and theatre components…along various perfect little venues by the lapping seaside…
…This will be the first year at Harmony Arts for the trio AUGUST, made up of veteran Vancouver singer/songwriters Rae Armour, Meg Tennant and Beverley Elliott. I actually saw them performing early on at the Merritt Fest this year and they were great, the harmonies pristine.
I’ve known Beverley Elliott since the ‘80s when she first amazed me at how easily she combined a music and acting career. On one hand she’s appeared on innumerable TV shows like The X-Files and Bordertown and movies. When Clint Eastwood won his Oscar for Unforgiven, Elliott was one of the people he thanked in his speech.
On the other, she’s a recording artist who’s released numerous singles and an album, Yellow Dress, through the years. She, Armour and Tennant got together because, in spite of their day jobs – Rae is a realtor, Tennant a gold commissioner, handling claims – they couldn’t let go of the music.
“All three of us spent years trying to make a more prosperous career out of the music business,” says Elliott, “so we’re just making our own way in it now. I love singing, I love hearing their voices with me. So it’s not about anything now but the enjoyment of it. I’m not trying to get a record deal, I’m not trying to get anything except another chance to sing. It’s so much fun. We’re coming from a purer intent, I guess.”
# posted by AUGUST @ 2:57 PM 
