County Pop

Spring music event comes back to Crystal Palace

The kickoff event for the County live music season has been County Pop, typically held at the end of April or in early May in the Crystal Palace. For the past two years, however, County stages have been mostly silent while Covid restrictions were in effect. But things are returning to a semblance of normal, and the 2022 edition of County Pop is scheduled for May 7. Creator Dave Ullrich began the event in 2016, modelled to an extent on his successful Sandbanks Music Festival, held in September. He wanted to bring that same music vibe to the spring, with top-calibre Canadian music, kid-friendly activities and local food and drink, plus a good representation of County music talent. “The thing with County Pop was that I would turn up the County music element and have things like the side stage, which is 100 per cent County musicians, and try to get County musicians on the main stage as well,” says Ullrich, who also goes under the moniker of Lemonade Dave from his bottled lemonade company. Ullrich also runs a music company (Zunior) and was at one time touring in a band, so he has many contacts in the music industry. Artists such as Ron Sexsmith, Joel Plaskett and Jill Barber have been headliners at County Pop. This year’s featured performer is Charlotte Cornfield. Ullrich knows her through his Zunior website and was impressed with her talent. She was supposed to be the headliner for the 2020 edition of County Pop, and this year was the first name on his list of potential performers. The date for County Pop dovetailed nicely with her touring schedule. “The bonus is that she has a newer record out, and the fun part is that her profile has risen that much more and she’s touring more,” says Ullrich. He adds that catching a band in the middle of their tour means that they are at the peak of their game because they’ve been playing together consistently. “This is as good as you are going to see them.”

Noronha/Bozikovic/Burns will be performing on the main stage at County Pop.

County musicians Annelise Noronha, Lisa Bozikovic and Kat Burns will also be playing on the main stage. Kat Burns played County Pop in 2018 as Kashka, and Lisa Bozikovic was on the virtual stage for Sandbanks Music Festival in 2021, with supporting music from Burns and Noronha. “That got me thinking it would be a great and truly unique performance using all three of them doing their own songs and combining with the others. And then there’s just the name—Noronha/Bozikovic/Burns—I love the idea where they just take their last name and that becomes the title. So this is like the County’s Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young,” says Ullrich. There will be more County content on the second stage in the Bluebird Building adjacent to the Crystal Palace. Local artists Tony Forbes, Eden Hertzhog and Faeya will be playing on the Songwriters’ Stage. Ullrich says this will be an opportunity for them to play in front of a larger audience than they may be used to, and the performances are timed to allow people to see bands on the main and second stages. “The best thing for any musician is to get more time playing in front of people, to get real feedback. So hopefully the Songwriters’ Stage does that,” says Ullrich. There’s always a possibility that one of the second stage performers will make it onto the main stage in a future year, as happened with Grace Bongard.

The festival is more than just about music. It is very much a family event, with activities for kids. Once again Krista Dalby and the Department of Illumination will be helping kids make rock star capes, and Lemonade Dave will have his mini pedal bike available for kids (or brave adults) to take a spin on. There will be plenty of food available from Kaleidoscope, Idle Wild and Papa Ghanoush. Parsons will be serving up their beer as well as local cider and wines. Kinsip will add a touch of the decadent with their signature cocktails. For more information and to order tickets, please visit countypop.com