Renelle, daughter of Al Simard and Lori-Lee Turcotte has always had a passion for music. Between her, her two sisters and her Mom there was bound to be some type of music, song or dance in the house.
Renelle recently won a local singing competition at Campus Saint-Jean which takes her to Quebec City to compete in Nationals for French Universities. She is the only participant from Alberta and is proud of representing the French heritage of Alberta.
Renelle will be performing two sets at the honey festival, and could possibly have a surprise visitor accompany her on a few songs.
Née et élevé dans la communauté franco albertaine de Falher, l’artiste de 21 ans Renelle Ray Simard nourris une passion pour les mélodies depuis son enfance. Elle trouve dans l’interprétation de chanson une exutoire, une nécessité de rendre palpables ses sentiments, ses expériences et ses rêves. Cette auteure/compositrice/interprète s’accompagne avec la guitare et nous présenterons des chansons populaires et “up beat.”
Gerald Cote, son of Raymond Cote and Denise Bouchard has been dancing and teaching dance for over 19 years. He is a professional in all forms of couples dance, teaching Ballroom, Latin, Swing and Country. As a certified judge of the UCWDC (United Country Western Dance Council), Gerald has had the opportunity to evaluate contestants at various events around North America.
In December 2005 Gerald won the Professional Male Showcase Open division as a single at the UCWDC North American Championships and then, in January 2006, went on to attain his first world title in the same division at the UCWDC World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. In January 2007, dancing with Lisa McIntyre, he won the Professional Male Classic Open division for his second world title at the 2007 World Championships in Nashville, Tennessee. That same year he joined the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ The Tour. His highest achievements however were on the West Coast Swing circuit where he was ranked number two in Canada and 13th in World for Classic West Coast Swing in 2008. Gerald met Robin Winstanley in 2009 and they married on July 1, 2011. They are now the proud parents of a son and soon their second child will arrive. Robin has been teaching and dancing for nine years. She is a professional dancer in Ballroom, Latin, Swing and Country. Her highest achievements are being co-owner of DANCEnergy and placing top 23 in the world in West Coast Swing.
They are an up and coming Country Music Duo from the Peace Country. Ariane Cote, daughter of Frank and Monique Cote and her boyfriend Trin Potratz of Rycroft are becoming very well known in the Peace/Grande Prairie area. This sensational duo has a love for music and enjoys nothing more than to perform at community functions.
They seem to be quite adept at balancing work, college, and performance schedules. They have been singing together for two years now, with their career starting at the Bud Country Entertainer of the Year competition in 2015, where they finished in second place.
Trin and Ariane both started singing at a young age, with music being a big part of both their families. They now have recorded a six-song CD, and have plans of recording more songs in the near future. They played at the Honey Festival last year and were such as joy to hear, we’ve asked them back.
They are a marvelously orchestrated family band has been singing and playing musical instruments at home even before some of the children could walk.
Marjie Hyland and her kids Alicia, Mary and Billy Dusseault have perfected their harmonizing talents to the point where they can take them to the stage and recording studios.
Together with Billy’s girlfriend, Caryn Clark they’ve performed at venues such as weddings, festivals, stampedes and even on a float in the 2013 Honey Festival parade.
They are thrilled of the opportunity to showcase their talents and celebrate the 25th Honey Festival with their family and friends back home.