Ivalls play at Cornell's final barn concert of the year

By Dave Ogilvie
Correspondent

The capacity crowd at the Cornell Farms’ final barn concert on September 12th was promised a unique brand of “swamp-stomp” country music and they were certainly not disappointed.
The ‘Wild Turkeys’, a band of brothers formed in 2006, dazzled the crowd with their energetic style, engaging stage presence, and amazing musical skills.
Opening for the ‘Wild Turkeys’ on Saturday evening was a local family band from just outside of Rainy River. The Ivalls, a family trio consisting of Heidi, David and their youngest son, Matthew have been making music for years at various functions across the district.
The family’s love of music shone through as Heidi’s strong melodies, Matthew’s harmonies and David’s guitar accompaniment quickly got the crowd tapping their toes and singing along with well known tunes. The Ivall’s selections, which included songs by John Prine and Bob Dylan, were warmly received by an appreciative audience.
The trio concluded their opening set with two songs written by Matthew Ivall entitled “Every Day” and “You Can’t Fail Me Now”, before thanking the audience and turning the stage over to the “Wild Turkeys”.
This group of talented musicians, armed with fiddles, mandolin, guitar, bass, harmonica, a tin can percussive suitcase contraption, and their own brand of melodic four part harmony captivated those in attendance from their first musical selection to their amazing, acappella closing, entitled “Pond Water Guzzler”.
The ‘Turkeys’ have had an extremely busy schedule since forming three years ago, performing at festivals, house concerts and small venues such as the Cornell barn. They have also had the privilege of sharing the stage with such well known artists as the Cowboy Junkies, Prairie Oyster, Creaking Tree String Quartet, and Washboard Hank.
Their first independently funded, original album entitled “Unplucked”, quickly gained nominations from the Northern Ontario Music and Film in Motion Awards (MFM) for “Best Album” and “Best Songwriter”. April 2008, saw the successful release of their second, full length album, “Suspendered”.
Since then, the ‘Wild Turkeys’ have been voted the best looking and sounding new generation roots band at the 2008 Blissfest Festival.
The ‘Turkeys’ musical selections ranged from “I Shot Your Dog” by Fred Eaglesmith to original tunes written by members of the band. Titles such as “Cheap Old Truck”, “Dirty House Blues” and “Wood Burning Stove” touched on themes common to most people in attendance.
The band took a few moments to lead the crowd in a rousing version of “Happy Birthday” to Kim Cornell who was celebrating his 50th birthday, before amazing the crowd with more of their “swamp-stomp” country tunes.
“The Wild Turkeys” sang from the heart about their own lives and about living in a rural setting.
Songs such as “Walt’s Waltz” about Walter the Nubian Billy goat, written from the goat’s point of view and others entitled “Put on Some Hummus”, “A Reeking Haddock”, and “Top of Mud Creek Hill” had the audience clapping along one moment and roaring with laughter the next.
As ‘Fresh Magazine’ stated, “With sweet four part harmonies, strong lyrics that’ll make you laugh and cry, wicked playing and enough energy to power a small city...” the ‘Wild Turkeys’ will leave you wanting more. They are definitely a band on the rise; a group worth watching in the future.
The capacity crowd obviously agreed and expressed their approval by giving “The Wild Turkeys” a warm round of applause and a standing ovation.