22 The Whitecourt Star • Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Party in the ParkWhitecourt holds special place in musician’s heart

The Shakedowns band members Skylar Dayton, left, and Jen Perry rock the stage at Party in the Park Sunday. Brigette Jobin | Whitecourt Star

Guitarist spent much of her youth in Whitecourt and

came back to rock the stage at Party in the Park

Brigette JobinWhitecourt Star

Jen Perry has been adding new experiences of Whitecourt to her album of memories.

The 24-year-old and her band The Shakedowns graced the stage at Party in the Park on Sunday. The band was in Whitecourt on Canada Day earlier this year and played at the town’s festivals.

However, looking at Whitecourt from the stage is not the view she grew up with.

When Perry was younger she lived in Whitecourt. Her par-ents separated and she moved to Edmonton with her mom but her dad still lives in Whitecourt.

Her childhood memories of Whitecourt include quadding on her dad’s acreage, camping and hanging out with her friends.

“I have a lot of good memories of Whitecourt,” she said.

And the memories are continu-ing to add up. Not only has Perry and her bandmates played on stage in Whitecourt, but local radio sta-tion The Rig has been playing their single “Whose side.”

The Shakedowns — which also includes Skylar Dayton, Evan Cole and Colten Robert — has been together since 2008.

Perry, Robert and Dayton went to school together in Sexsmith, Alta. and had a band. Then they all moved to Edmonton and long-time friend Cole joined.

“Our music is very blues influ-enced but it definitely has a mod-ern twist,” said Perry. “It’s hard to classify sometimes.”

The Shakedowns have been well received in Whitecourt.

“There were a lot of people at Rotary Park (on Canada Day),” said Perry. “There was a good turnout and we were well received.”

The band was introduced to local organizers via the local band Joe Public.

“They’ve been really great to us,” said Perry.

The Shakedowns were asked to come back for Party in the Park and jumped at the chance.

“We’re really excited, espe-cially with the bands that are play-ing,” said Perry in an interview last Thursday.

“We all grew up listening to our parents music, which is lots of old classic rock, so we are familiar with the bands” said Perry about Party in the Park headliners Honey-

moon Suite and Sweet.“It’s an honour to be able to share the stage

with bands like that,” she added.The band goes on tour when they can but

currently have other jobs and are advancing their edu-cation. Cole has started a family recently so being on tour full-time is not in the cards right now.

When asked what the future holds for The Shake-downs, Perry didn’t have a definite answer.

“Every musician’s dream is to make it your full-time job but that requires a lot of touring and leaving your family behind.”

In the meantime, The Shakedowns are enjoying the success they’ve been having. For more information on The Band, find their website online.