On Fri., Sept. 8th, 2023, the crowd in the Mary Webb Centre for the Arts enjoyed the beginning of its 2023-24 season with Chatham-born Aaron Allen who was performing the final show of his season. To start off the evening, our regular sound technician Joel Morningstar, playing bass guitar, brought his band TruckStop Super Friends to play 30 minutes of their own material. All are excellent musicians and certainly started the MWC season off with a bang. Lead singer Ken Phelps was the first performer ever on the MWC stage to do so in bare feet! The band was well received by the audience and will continue to do very well in their performing careers.
After a short intermission to change the stage setup, Aaron and his wife Aimee entertained the audience with a great mixture of various Canadian artists and their own country rock material. In between songs, Aaron told the story of his and his wife’s 20 year career in music and as tattoo artists. At one point, Aaron sang a wonderful song that he wrote just for Aimee. Aaron and his wife had the audience singing along to many of his songs which they did so with enthusiasm. All of the band dazzled with their musical skills: pedal steel guitar, bass guitar, drums and lead guitar. One audience member in particular commented on what a great show they had enjoy and saw Aaron and Aimee on their way up the musical ladder. As they certainly deserved, Aaron and crew received a standing ovation and they ended the night by playing Neil Young’s “Rockin in a Free World”. It was interesting to note how far away some of the audience had come to see Aaron and crew. Definitely followers of the band. The band interacted with the audience and thanked both the audience and the many volunteers who dedicate so much of their time to the Mary Webb Centre for the Arts. A very nice group of musicians to work with throughout the day and evening.
TruckStop Super Friends
l-r: Matt Wellman, Ken Phelps, Scott Sherman and Joel Morningstar
Aaron Allen and Band
l-r: Kevin Neal (The General), Chris Bray, Dereyk Goodwin, Aaron Allen, Joey DePaiva and Aimee Allen