Get your cowboy hats, boots ready; Country Roads is back
View(s):
Sponsors and CMF officials (from left): Dmitri Cooray (Jetwing), Ms. Maljini Jayasekera (Cargills), Feizal Samath (President CMF), Susaan Bandara (LOLC), Deepal Perera (SriLankan Airlines) and Spencer Manuelpillai (Dilmah)
Country Roads is back! South Asia’s longest running charity concert for children presented by the Country Music Foundation (CMF) will return this October in an exciting new venue in the heart of Colombo giving fans the music that guarantees a swinging time – those vintage country classics and those soulful songs that tug at the heartstrings.
To be held on Saturday, October 7, at the Virticle by Jetwing (on the 30th floor of the Access Towers building in Union Place, Colombo 2), the Country Roads concert has extended over 35 years.
Addressing a press conference this week Feizal Samath, President of the CMF said, “We are looking forward to this event being held after a lapse of five years due to unavoidable circumstances.”
The concert will feature some familiar returning performers – Astrid Brook from the UK and the Mavericks from Germany, while local favourites the Cosmic Rays and the Country Revival Band, helmed by CMF founder Feizal Samath, will also take the stage.
The 35th anniversary edition of the Country Roads concert for children will be supported by official venue partner, Virticle by Jetwing, and official airline, SriLankan Airlines, as well as its other partners, Jetwing Colombo Seven, Cargills, LOLC, and Firefly. Tickets are currently available, for a charitable donation of Rs 2,000 each, at Cargills Food City outlets at Kirulapone, Kohuwela (Bernards), Majestic City, Mount Lavinia (junction) and Staples Street.
Country Roads founder Feizal Samath and organiser Jagdish Hirdramani addressing the press conference
Sending a message to his Sri Lankan fans, Dirk of the Mavericks said: “2018 was the last time we were here in your beautiful country with the Mavericks band. Then Corona came and with it a long break. I missed you very much during this time. It has now been 5 years since my last visit to Sri Lanka. A lot has changed. The sponsorship that has always made this trip possible for us is gone. But we didn’t just want to end this tradition, which we have learned to love so much since 1992.
“That’s why we’re travelling to Sri Lanka this year entirely at our own expense, because it’s an affair of the heart for us. We very much hope that it won’t be the last Maverick performance in Sri Lanka. We hope that this unique journey will continue, that there will also be a Country Roads concert in the years to come.”
Dirk also thanked CMF and its leadership for the sometimes herculean effort it takes to continue to put on the concert year after year: “Feizal Samath is the motor, the heart of the Country Roads concert. Feizal is also the man who has brought us to Sri Lanka again and again since 1992. I am infinitely grateful to him for these many years, these countless experiences, these many friendships that we were able to make here. So don’t miss the 2023 Maverick in Sri Lanka concert experience.”
Added Astrid Brook: “I’m very much looking forward to seeing you again and singing some songs for you. You’re welcome to wear your cowboy hat or boots if you have them! As always, it promises to be a fun and enjoyable musical evening, and we look forward to sharing it with you.”
An entirely charitable
undertaking, staffed totally by volunteers, the Country Roads concert for children has consistently donated 100% of its proceeds to children’s charities in Sri Lanka. Over the past 35 years, this has resulted in several million rupees worth of aid, all of which has contributed directly to addressing the most pressing issues faced by children in Sri Lanka.
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