Photo: Contributed
Quite the honour for a legendary Kelowna band.
The Cruzeros, who thrilled country, rock and bluegrass fans across the country for a quarter of a century have been elected to the BC Country Music Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony will be held at the hall of fame in Mission Oct. 5.
“It’s a tremendous honour and a bit of a surprise to be named to the BCCMA’s. This is wonderful,” said lead singer and songwriter Barry Mathers.
“Chris Tulman and I put in a lot of time together, 25 years or more.
“We were lucky to join up with some wonderfully talented players over the years as Gary Smyth (lead guitar), Jim ‘Pa” Ryan (bass), Rachel Matkin (vocals) and Jay Swetlishoff (drums) became regular Cruzeros.”
Over their career, the Cruzeros produced three award-winning albums, 20 Top 40 hits on the national country charts, eight Country Music Television videos and radio and internet airplay across North America, Europe, Latin America and Australia.
They were nominated for a Juno for country group of the year in 1998 and won a Canadian Indy for country album of the year.
“This is a huge affirmation for us and completely humbling,” said Tulman.
“The BCCMA has been incredible in its support of the Cruzeros throughout the years. When we started out in 1985 and looked at the music industry, it was daunting and we knew nothing about it.
“However Barry and I knew we had something special. We had a passion for making music and we had this incredible chemistry on and off the stage.”
Tickets for the BCCMA Hall of Fame show are available here.
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