The Gala Vanters – Shane Swift and Luke Whittall – are happy folkies. Why? Because they have a new “folkanagan” CD entitled “On Black Sage Road”.  An album about places, it’s filled with original songs about where they live and other life experiences, “Pour Another Drink”, “That Picture” and “I Fell”, to name a few.

Swift’s introduction to music was a cardboard cutout of a guitar used to play a Beatles song in kindergarten.  Growing up, he took piano lessons and played the saxophone in high school.  The bass guitarist in The Gala Vanters, with experience playing in garage bands and a Vancouver band called “Davy’s Locker, he came to Oliver four years ago and met Whittall and his family.  It was a match made in song-writing and music heaven.

Whittall came from a musical family:  His grandmother was a professional musician and his father a music teacher. He learned to play the drums and guitar at the same time around age 10 and went on to obtain a degree in music and to play in a Vancouver band called “Blackfin”. (Hmmm…Davy’s Locker…Blackfin. Sounds kind of fishy!)  Whittall started writing and recording when he moved to Oliver and met up with Swift.  The Gala Vanters’ philosophy is that music makes the world go round, so they will keep writing songs and playing music as well as delighting audiences with their witty repartee.

Catch The Gala Vanters’ performance, along with guitarist Brian Highley, at Music In The Park this Thursday, August 9th at 6:30 pm, on the beautiful riverside patio at Oliver’s historic CPR Station – Visitor Centre.