Nadine Davenport has had a hand in bringing live music to Ashcroft for almost 20 years: first with her work for the Opera House, and then with the Winding Rivers Arts & Performance Society and through house concerts.
Most recently, Davenport has used UniTea Café and Lounge — which she opened on May 24, 2014 — as a live music venue. Her first concert there was on Aug. 18, 2014, and she says that music was always part of the plan for UniTea, although the idea was for indoor concerts, not the outdoor ones that have taken place recently because of COVID restrictions.
“Music was built into the business plan,” she says. “The model was based on house concerts, which are in more intimate spaces. Bands and musicians really like that about UniTea, because the audience is very close to the artist. It brings the artist to the audience and vice versa, which is a refreshing thing for artists because there’s very much an interaction. And the audience is amazing, because they feel comfortable enough to do that. It’s a very special thing.”
Davenport didn’t really consider outdoor shows until she was faced with COVID-19. For the last year she has been able to do outdoor shows in the parking lot beside UniTea, and on Aug. 10 she welcomes one last group — Vancouver-based Small Town Artillery — for the final outdoor concert at UniTea’s current location, before she reopens in a new spot further down Railway Avenue.
When the pandemic made indoor concerts impossible, she looked around her current venue and thought that the adjacent parking lot — where she already had a small patio area — would be a suitable place for live music.
“I thought I could have concerts there, make it movable and portable enough that the patio could become the stage. It helped me keep the entertainment going, which was my vision. The parking lot gave me room to carve out a space, the landlord has been good about it, and people have embraced it.”
Davenport — a musician herself — has built up a lot of contacts over the years. “Musicians still know about Ashcroft because of the Opera House, and I had contacts from the scene in Vancouver,” she says. When she opened UniTea, however, she realized she needed to know what was going on in the music scene in the rest of B.C.
“I went to Arts Wells to find out who the musicians were who frequent that area, and into Kamloops when I was booking through the whole year, especially for the winter months. I needed artists who didn’t necessarily want to tour in November or February, who just wanted to drive an hour away.”
That led to the opportunity to keep providing live music even during the pandemic. “During COVID, no one wanted to tour, so all the contacts I made through Kamloops and area were really beneficial for the times we’ve gone through. People who played here told their musician friends in the area. The local area, in terms of musicians for me, is the whole Kamloops to 100 Mile area, and they know about UniTea now.”
Small Town Artillery is mainly rock and roll, and Davenport says that while Ashcroft is a country music kind of town, audiences like a wide variety of music.
“People enjoy the high calibre of whatever music comes in. And I can’t over-program country. My core audience likes all different genres, and that’s the key. The support from my core audience has been great. They’ve never been disappointed, and have always embraced and loved the music. And I like to bring in something different all the time, something that’s not expected.”
She adds that her audience has always said how important it is to have live music in Ashcroft, which is why as soon as she got the green light during COVID to go ahead with outdoor concerts she did her homework and took care of all the necessary protocols.
“Nothing stood in my way except taking the chance, because only one or two others in the area were doing live music, and people were starved of music. It was amazing to see how much appreciation there was for it.
“And for musicians, it’s always great to play for a live audience. I get this from musicians all the time: that people here listen, they buy the CDs, they appreciate having such talented people coming through town.”
In addition to live music from visiting bands, UniTea has held regular karaoke and jam nights, which Davenport says have been very popular for non-performing locals to enjoy and participate in. There is one final jam night coming up at the current location, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 12, with UniTea closing on Aug. 14 to get ready for the move.
“Big changes are coming to UniTea over the next six weeks, with the change in venue,” says Davenport. “The big thing about the move for me is that there will be many different ways to present live music in a wide variety of places. Music and art will remain an integral part of UniTea.”
Small Town Artillery will be performing at UniTea on Tuesday, Aug. 10, with the concert starting at 7 p.m. The plan is for it to be outdoors, but an indoor contingency is in place in case of smoke. Tickets are $25 each, and can be purchased online by going to https://bit.ly/3eUG7rz. Tickets can be reserved by calling (250) 457-1145.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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