CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Dec. 14, 2017
Several dozen people gathered at New Hope Christian Fellowship Church in Shawville on Thursday night for a night of gospel and blues influenced holiday tunes.
Mike Biggar is a highly-acclaimed East Coast musician that plays a mix of country and gospel with a touch of blues. He reached out to Dr. Tim Perry, who pastors at New Hope, to include Shawville in his Christmas tour.
“Mike and I went to college together, 27 years ago … he was doing a swing through Ontario and we’re Facebook friends,” said Perry. “He got in touch with me to see if he could stop over here to do a show.”
For his holiday tour, Biggar played an acoustic set alongside backup guitarist Sandy MacKay, featuring cuts from his 2011 Christmas album “The Season.”
“I’ve been listening to him for a while. It’s a nice kind of bluesy folk sound,” said Perry. “I think it appeals to a broad range of people, it’s not age specific.”
Like true Canadians, MacKay and Biggar started off their set by discussing the weather. Apparently, it was a little warmer and less snowy when they had departed New Brunswick at the beginning of their trek.
“We left in t-shirts,” laughed MacKay.
“You never feel more Canadian than when you tour in winter,” added Biggar.
Perry said that some sponsors in the church had generously picked up the tab for the evening, making it free for anyone to attend, however there was an offering taken up for the Blessed Cupboard Food Bank as well as New Hope’s building fund.
“You can think of it as our Christmas gift to Shawville,” he said.
