Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE Aug. 22 2018
Pontiac’s own brand of rock will be tearing up the main stage this year, helping kick off the Friday night festivities with their tribute to the classics of yesteryear.
Fans of hard rock music can look forward to Beyond Driven, complete with blisteringly-fast guitar solos, ground-shaking vocals and all of the theatrics that could be expected from a concert in the 80’s.
For those who haven’t seen their show before, THE EQUITY caught up with singer Erin Davis and guitarist Jeremy Williams to find out what fans can look forward to.
“Very high energy. It’s good music to party to and just all-around good times,” said Williams.
“We don’t do any slow songs,” added Davis, with a laugh.
Their mission is simple – keep rock music flowing and plentiful in the Pontiac, where stages are mainly graced by the likes of guitars that feature a bit more twang.
How do they do that? A focus of hard rock, glam and classic tunes, harking back to the days when rock stars reigned supreme on the music charts.
In their home county, they’re aware that they’ve set themselves apart from other local performers.
“Right off the bat, we’re already distinguishing,” said Davis. “Most local people think that we’re super heavy … and we play a lot of classic rock, too. I think we’ve already managed to distinguish ourselves from the rest.”
However, it’s impossible for them to completely ignore the entire genre of country, though they make sure to make any covers more in line with their style.
“We do play a couple country songs, but we do them in our style,” said Williams.
“We make them our own,” explained Davis. “When we pull from different genres we tend to make it our own because we have a distinct sound.”
For the Pontiac band, this performance is a stand out achievement. Not only will this be their biggest show yet, but they’re playing on a stage that has seen some huge names in Canadian rock perform.
“As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing bigger for what we do,” said Williams. “It’s really impressive.”
“It’ll be the biggest show we’ve ever played,” said Davis.
“It’s an honour … to play on the same stage as the guys who have played before us. There’s been some big names come to Shawville,” said Williams.
Beyond Driven will be hitting the main stage at 7:30 p.m. on the Friday of the fair, opening ahead of the evening’s headliner, The Trews. They’ll continue to keep the party rolling after the headliner, occupying the beer tent stage into the night.
