Tickets still available for concert on May 8 at 8 p.m.

Fans can view Randy Bachman’s 1965 Ford Thunderbird on display at the National Arts Centre during Prairie Scene

OTTAWA, ON— The excitement and momentum of Prairie Scene will come to a rock and roll climax with legendary Canadian rockers Bachman & Turner on Sunday May 8 at 8 p.m. in Southam Hall. 

In the mid-70s, Bachman-Turner Overdrive sold over 30 million records, earning a staggering 120 platinum, gold and silver discs, and notching up hits worldwide. When the band broke up, millions of fans were bereft. Now rock aficionados are rejoicing that the rockers at the heart of BTO, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner, are reuniting for the first time in more than 20 years, recording and touring again as a full-throttle rock machine: Bachman & Turner. The new incarnation is grabbing attention with an electrifying album that channels all the guitar-pounding, catchy lyrics and musical hooks of their famous hits.

This NAC date gives fans a long-awaited chance to hear Bachman & Turner performing tunes from their vast catalogue of hits, including favourites such as “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”, “Roll on Down the Highway” and “Let it Ride,” alongside songs from their new self-titled album, inspired by their prairie roots and lifelong love of music.

“It’s like a really great, complete circle in my life,” Randy Bachman said today in a press conference about Sunday night’s Bachman & Turner concert. “We’re going to be playing all this incredible music. We feel very blessed and fortunate to be able to be doing this.”

Fans will also have the chance to see a genuine piece of rock and roll history in Randy Bachman’s 1965 Ford Thunderbird which is now on display in the NAC’s Southam Hall foyer.  Bachman bought the black hardtop coupe from Burton Cummings in 2003 while on tour with the Guess Who.

The car also contained a long-lost demo tape from a 1987 Bachman-Cummings recording session in White Rock, B.C. that was rediscovered during a restoration seven years ago. The recording of the demo’s 10 lost songs have since become a CD called The Thunderbird Trax. In 2011 Bachman donated the car to the Canada Science and Technology Museum and it is now part of its permanent collection.

“I had heard the museum was looking for the ultimate Canadian rock and roll car,” Bachman said. “This car was driven for 10 or 12 years by Burton Cummings, and it belonged to me for eight years, so I thought, ‘You know what? This really is the ultimate Canadian rock and roll car!”  

Tickets for Bachman & Turner can be purchased at www.prairiescene.ca , in person at the NAC Box Office, or through Ticketmaster at 1.888.991.2787.

Prairie Scene is an eclectic, multi-disciplinary arts festival featuring 500 of the best established and emerging artists from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Prairie Scene will present 80 different events in music, theatre, dance, visual and media arts, literature, film and culinary arts in more than 30 venues in Ottawa-Gatineau from April 26 to May 8, 2011.

Prairie Scene Partners

Prairie Scene would like to thank the Government of Canada, the Government of Manitoba, the Government of Saskatchewan and the Canada Council for the Arts for their generous support of this event.

The National Arts Centre and National Arts Centre Foundation gratefully acknowledge the support of Co-Presenting Partners MTS Allstream (Manitoba) and PotashCorp (Saskatchewan), Major Partner Enbridge Inc, Supporting Partners James Richardson & Sons, Limited and Holiday Inn, and Programming Partners The Mosaic Company,  Manitoba Film and Music and Iceland Naturally. Prairie Scene Media Partners include Major Partner CBC/Radio-Canada, and Partners National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Winnipeg Free Press, Regina Leader-Post, Saskatoon StarPhoenix and Dollco Printing. For their commitment to supporting Prairie arts and artists, we give special thanks to Gail Asper and Michael Paterson, Marjorie and Morley Blankstein, the John and Bonnie Buhler Foundation, Adrian Burns and Gregory Kane, Q.C., Ian and Kiki Delaney, David and Margaret Fountain, Susan Glass and Arni Thorsteinson, Deborah Gray,  Stephen and Jocelyn Greenberg,  Peter Herrndorf and Eva Czigler, Doris and Charles Knight, Craig and Pamela Lothian, Stefan and Magdalena Opalski, Harriett and Isadore Wolfe as well as Jim and Lisa Yuel.

The NAC Foundation also extends a warm thank you to the Prairie Scene Council, a committed group of individuals whose leadership, support and guidance are key to the success of Prairie Scene. The Prairie Scene Council is led by Manitoba Honorary Chairs John and Bonnie Buhler, Saskatchewan Honorary Chair Tami Wall, Manitoba Chair Gail Asper and Saskatchewan Chair E. Craig Lothian. Members include Adrian Burns, Catherine A. (Kiki) Delaney, Leslie Gales, Susan Glass and Arni Thorsteinson, Wayne Goranson and Heather Quale, Lynda Haverstock and Harley Olsen, Charles and Doris Knight, D’Arcy Levesque, Brian and Gail Saunders, Pamela Wallin, and Harriett Wolfe.

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