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FYI

BJ Cook – Ronnie Hawkins, David Foster, Skylark and Rock n’ Roll

During the mid-seventies, BJ Cook and partner David Foster walked into our Gothic Avenue home. It was the early days of Skylark and the two were looking for songs.

BJ Cook – Ronnie Hawkins, David Foster, Skylark and Rock n’ Roll

By Bill King

During the mid-seventies, BJ Cook and partner David Foster walked into our Gothic Avenue home. It was the early days of Skylark and the two were looking for songs. My mind was elsewhere but we did share a few laughs about our encounters with Ronnie Hawkins of which the two were coming off a wild ride with the entertaining rockabilly dynamo.


Cook and Foster were married on a road trip through Florida in 1972, and daughter Amy Skylark Foster was born the following year. The hits started coming. Songwriting is a family tradition. Cook herself co-wrote with established LA songwriters Michael McDonald, Brenda Russell, Foster, Bill Champlin and Donovan, and daughter Amy has written three of Michael Bublé’s hits.

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Cook’s life reads much like an open novel. Pregnant at 16, facing the hostility of small-town living, the hard times, coming rock n’ roll revolution and the long unwinding road.

In part one of this conversation, we talk of the early years, the contagious laughs with Ronnie Hawkins, scuffling with soon-to-be partner David Foster, Skylark and the devastating illness overtaking lead singer Donny Gerrard, who passed away last week.

Cook would later team up with the late Domenic Troiano and co-write the television theme hit Night Heat.

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Owen Riegling
Courtesy Photo

Owen Riegling

Country

Owen Riegling, The Washboard Union, MacKenzie Porter to play CCMA House in Kelowna

The lineup for the two-day event that is part of Country Music Week 2025 is crammed with past CCMA Award winners and many of this year's top nominees.

The Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) has announced CCMA House: Live at Waterfront Park, a two-day all-ages event set for Sept. 12 and 13 that appears poised to be a highlight of Country Music Week 2025, in Kelowna, B.C. A truckload full of established and emerging Canadian country stars will perform, including Jade Eagleson, Andrew Hyatt, James Barker Band, Alexandra Kay, JoJo Mason, Madeline Merlo, Tyler Joe Miller, Jess Moskaluke, Meghan Patrick, MacKenzie Porter, Restless Road, Owen Riegling, SACHA, Thelma & James, The Washboard Union and more.

Introducing the event (produced by Thick as Thieves Entertainment), Amy Jeninga, president of the CCMA, states that "Kelowna’s stunning waterfront provides the perfect backdrop for a celebration of community, connection, and the incredible depth of talent in country music." A vendor market, food trucks and a fully licensed area are also features of CCMA House.

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