Jaydee Bixby loves Ponoka and Ponoka returned the love during the second annual Spring Twist-off Bullarama hosted by the Ponoka Agriculture Society on May 2, at the Ponoka Recreation and Culture Centre.
Bixby, originally from Drumheller and was the runner-up in the most recent season of Canadian Idol, was happy to get out in front of the rodeo crowd.
“It was really cool, just the opportunity to go and play gigs at the rodeo, I have always played at rodeo dances even before being on Idol they know how to have a good time,” said Bixby.
The 17-year old loves the rodeo lifestyle and said that the Mexican poker was his favourite part of the evening and that it looked like it would be fun. Something he thinks he has to add to his ‘bucket list’ of things to do.
Bixby went on after the bull riding and did a 30 minute set. The small square stage was set up behind the grandstand bleachers with his parents and Ponoka teacher Terry Dortman backing him up on drums.
“Dortman is phenomenal, if I would of known teachers in elementary school were like that I would have been a little bit nicer to them,” said Bixby with a chuckle.
The evening started out with Bixby heading to Dino’s Family Restaurant with the winners of the Ponoka News and Ag Society contest Tanya and Austin Lutz who had supper with him. Bixby was very happy to sit and relax with his fans before the performance started. Even before the show started Bixby was wowing the crowd as he mulled around the stage signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans young and old.
During the show Bixby was very conversational with the crowd and told a few stories about each of his songs. He mentioned how much he loved performing in Ponoka. At one point he asked for a bottle of water and a little girl brought it up to him and he said ‘Thank-you sweetheart.’
As the performance went on he introduced some of his new material from his album that will come out in mid-June. The best song out of his new material was called Cowboys and Cadillacs. The song, which he co-wrote had a very soft sound to it, yet, he continued to stay true to his rockabilly roots as it picked up describing how there is no place like the country after being in the big city.
“I was pleased with the crowd’s reaction to it. The biggest thing for me is we just got off of tour with the Tennessee Three where I was used to a big sound system and we had a small sound set. It was interesting to have the western crowd to hear it and the rodeo crowd,” said Bixby. “I’m really happy that I co-wrote some of the songs on my new album. It was a really cool experience. Next time you see me I will have a new sound but it is still rockabilly.”
Bixby thrives charming the crowd and is a natural on stage. He was well supported by family, friends and both new and old fans. He entertained the crowd with some old Elvis favourties and had the crowd singing with him. The beat was so good that he even had many couples in the background two-stepping to his country rock sound.
“I had a really good response from the audience it was just fantastic,” said Bixby. “It was a great experience I would definitely go to it again next year. Ponoka is like another home for me with my family, good friends and it is an all around great community.”