The eighth edition of Gone Country was supposed to happen in 2020, but COVID killed those plans, along with dreams of a return in 2021. Now it鈥檚 2022, and 91原创 twins Chris and Jamie Ruscheinski are busy lead-organizing a summer event in Surrey that promises a good time for a good cause.
Their country music-fueled event is now planned for July 23 at Cloverdale鈥檚 Bill Reid Millennium Amphitheatre, a familiar venue for a fundraiser that has helped raise close to $3.9 million through (TCF), which they launched when their mother was sick with breast cancer back in 1999.
Sold out for close to two years, Gone Country 8 will feature a slightly different lineup in 2022, with some artists, including The Reklaws, not able to make the twice-revised date due to changed travel plans.
This week, has buzzed with artist announcements for the rescheduled concert, to feature The Washboard Union, Jojo Mason, Karen Lee Batten, Tony Stevens, Dakota Pearl, Tanner Olsen Band, Dave Hartney and others.
鈥淎fter two years off, it was important for us to bring back bands that truly understand what Gone Country is about 鈥� that it鈥檚 always a cancer fundraiser more than a concert,鈥� Chris Ruscheinski said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e there to raise money, and the artist performances are obviously a bonus of all that,鈥� he added. 鈥淭hese guys get it. I mean, Jojo (Mason) shows up to help clean on Sundays after the event. It鈥檚 a grimy job and he shows up, gives everyone a big hug and high-fives, takes care of everybody and helps out for a few hours. The Washboard Union guys, they came out to the very first Gone Country and opened, and now they鈥檙e headlining, so it鈥檚 a pretty cool reunion for all of us.鈥�
People have held onto their Gone Country 8 tickets for two years.
鈥淲hen 2020 was cancelled we gave everyone a couple of weeks to request refunds,鈥� Ruscheinski recalled. 鈥淲e also said basically that people had two weeks to still buy tickets, and that we were going to cap it. We did get some ticket returns but ended up selling those, too, in those couple of weeks, and raised more money in the end.
鈥淎t this point,鈥� he added, 鈥渨e鈥檙e not planning on releasing any more tickets, just due to capacity limits that may happen come this summer. We don鈥檛 hope that happens, of course, but we don鈥檛 want to have a situation where we鈥檙e over limit if new (pandemic) restrictions are announced.鈥�
This summer鈥檚 Gone Country will be slightly smaller than in 2019, 鈥渙nly because it was a bit scary for a group of volunteers to see that many people on the field,鈥� Ruscheinski explained, 鈥渟o we鈥檝e toned it down a little bit and made sure all the people who really wanted to be there were able to get a ticket.鈥�
The 2019 concert, which featured Aaron Pritchett and George Canyon as headliners, raised close to $822,000 for . A year before, in 2018, Gone Country raised $651,000 for Canuck Place Children鈥檚 Hospice, with Gord Bamford and the Washboard Union headlining.
鈥� RELATED STORY/VIDEO from 2019: .
This time around, the twins are feeling 鈥渁 little rusty鈥� when it comes to staging Gone Country with the help of a small army of fellow volunteers.
Event organizers also face some new challenges related to increased production costs.
鈥淲e鈥檙e dusting off some rust here with organizing it all,鈥� Ruscheinski said, 鈥渁nd we鈥檝e realized that our costs have gone up on everything. The crappiest part is that we sold tickets for this two or three years ago and now all of the costs have skyrocketed, so it鈥檚 going to be a little tougher this year but we鈥檙e still going for it. Because of that, we鈥檙e hoping people donate a little more where they can. That鈥檚 all we can do at this point.鈥�
Local realtors, the twins lost their mother to cancer more than two decades ago, along with their friend Shaun G. and others close to them.
鈥淭his has only added gasoline to our fire,鈥� says . 鈥淲e are not going to stand idly by while it continues to attack the ones we love. Your generosity and continued support is greatly appreciated.鈥�
When massive floods hit B.C. last fall, TCF organized , and will again host , a Christmastime fundraiser, Ruscheinski noted. A Battle of the Bands fundraiser has also helped the cause in recent years.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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