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Steve Palmer performs in Hope this Friday

Concert starts at 6 p.m. at the Hope Station House
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Folk artist Steve Palmer performs at Hope Station House on Feb. 18.

Canadian guitarist and singer Steve Palmer is playing at the Hope Station House this Friday.

Raised on gospel, country and blues, old time influences combined with a love of Doc Watson made Palmer a good fit for folk-rock groups opening for legendary acts in the 1960s such as Led Zeppelin, The Who, and Cream. However, steadier income came as guitarist-for-hire in country bands working the rural Alberta bar scene.

Palmer started using his voice only in the 1980s, after he moved to the west coast to study music a bit more formally. It wasn’t until he returned home to care for his mother that he found personal respite and freedom in becoming a solo performer. Now based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Palmer travels a troubadour circuit around western Canada and Northwestern U.S.

Palmer has performed in almost every size of venue over the last 40 years as a travelling musician, from rock arenas to pubs, coffee houses and churches. He sings about life and simple pleasures with all the unhurried authority of a quiet and simple folk-singing road-survivor. Sometimes compared to Hoyt Axton, Leonard Cohen, or John Prine, the echoes of Doc Watson remain clear on Palmer’s albums, Roots and Strings and Morning Road.

The Hope concert begins at 6 p.m. Tickets include dinner and a show, and are available in advance at the Headliner Barber Shop, hopestationhouse@gmail.com, 604-869-5956 or 604-860-3126.

Proceeds will go to the roof restoration project.