Canadian folksinger Valdy is headlining this year’s East Coulee Springfest Friday night at the East Coulee School Museum.
  Springfest organizers are busy finalizing the line up that includes Valdy, a mainstay of Canadian folk music for more than thirty years. “I’ve been lucky,” is Valdy’s reply, when asked about his career’s longevity.
  Valdy has won two Juno awards, received seven Juno nominations (Country Male Vocalist & Folksinger), and has 14 albums and four gold records to his credit.
 “I’ve worked with some amazing people, players, innovative producers, great songwriters.” He adds - “And I married the right woman.”
 Seasoned folk performers, up and coming guitarists,  and everybody in between. That’s the musical experience audiences can expect for the 20th year of the East Coulee Springfest.

   Celtic Fusion Illusion out of Edmonton, Shadowplay out of Calgary, and Fools Tongue, originally from Rosebud, are all part of the musical line up.
  Springfest runs May 2 and 3 this year. The Friday night venue is two rooms at the East Coulee School Museum, and Saturday adds two additional venues - one at the community hall and one at the East Coulee Hotel.
  The goals of Springfest are to promote up and coming artists and be a fund raiser for the East Coulee School Museum.
  The Museum’s had a challenging year: between paying for the gas blower to heat the museum and having to replace the plumbing, it’s used up a lot of the budget, said Museum Manager Barb Steeves.
  Steeves said the museum is holding an Irish-themed fund raising dinner next month to raise some operating capital. Don Howard’s band “Willow Creek” is playing at the fund raiser.
  To date, Springfest has fourteen bands confirmed. Among them is East Coulee musician Michael Dangelmaier’s band “The Bungalows” (so named because each band member was raised in a bungalow and played music in their parents’ basements).
  Dangelmaier is a commercial artist by trade and also created the poster for Springfest 2014. The poster will be printed and out the beginning of March.
Barb Steeves said Springfest really needs a Vounteer Co-ordinator. Anyone interested is asked to call Barb at (403)823-7234, or email her at ecsmuseum@gmail.com.
  Check Springfest out on Facebook or their web page at www.ecsmuseum.ca.

  It has been a while since Canadian country recording artist Sean Hogan stomped around the Drumheller area.
Hogan is playing at the East Coulee Hotel on Saturday March 1. His connection to the valley goes back to 1997 when he recorded a video for Wildrose, one of his first singles. 
  He has since gone on to a successful career in music that included CCMA awards and solid radio and CMT play. It all came close to being cut short in 2011. What seemed like chronic sore throat and tonsillitis, turned out to be stage four cancer.

  It turned out they were able to deal with the cancer without harming his voice box.
“I am singing in keys I have moved down a semi-tone a decade ago, I am singing back in those keys no problem.”
 He has soldiered on and one of his more recent projects was a single called Hell or High Water, which had gone on to raise funds for first nations flood relief following last spring’s flooding.