By Carson Ellis
For the Stettler Independent
The Stettler Variety Showcase hosted husband and wife duo CHARMS on Sunday, Jan. 28. Denis and Meg Dufresne performed two shows on Sunday, the first was a matinee and the second an evening showing.
They opened their show with two classic Canadian-style songs, before briefly joking about the next portion being a ‘free jazz’ style, but for fiddles and guitars. The duo performed their playlist with backup bass performed by Ryan Davidson, who was brought in five days earlier due to the pianist scheduled to travel with them suffering a knee injury. Davidson, who is an accomplished performer on his own, was able to perform by sight-reading the duo’s music.
The pair are celebrated vocalists and instrumentalists whose shows include classic Canadiana music and compositions described as ‘Bridgerton-type’ music. Denis explains that Bridgerton-type music is pop songs but written for quartets. The style gets its name from the music style on the Netflix show Bridgerton. The pair have scored this type of music for small movies and documentaries and was even featured by a Spruce Meadows event streaming during COVID. They performed the Ed Sheeran song ‘Shape of You’ in this style.
The musical duo also performed a Western Alberta version of ‘Country Roads’ as well as ‘Ahead by a Century’ with a portion of ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ effortlessly mixed in the middle. CHARMS also enjoys putting lyrics to some of their favourite classic waltzes and enjoys performing similar music that others have added lyrics to over the years. The evening’s playlist also included songs the pair have written themselves, influenced by the music they say they grew up with.
The Dufresnes noted that they enjoy being able to share the music they are passionate about with others, and are always grateful for the opportunity to perform. They also shared how they have all performed on the Performing Arts Stage at earlier points in their career, and how they were happy to be back on the same stage now.
Stettler Variety Showcase’s next performance is Sunday, March 3. Tickets can be purchased online or at Grate Kitchen Shoppe.
