Canadian quartette Lunch at Allen's will take the stage at the Dekker Centre Thursday night as part of a two-day tour of Saskatchewan.
"I always think of it as sitting in the living room with us," says Cindy Church, a member of the group Lunch at Allen's. "It's casual and we're all on stage together. We all sing and play in each other's songs. There's lots of silliness and humour and storytelling."
She added, "At this point, this group, which we all consider a gift because people love it so much, is as much a friendship as it is about the music. I think that comes across."
Church, originally from Nova Scotia, is known for being one of the best Canadian country singers. She was part of the Class of 2014 that was inducted into the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame. Church also still performs with Quartette.
It will be the first time the group has performed in the Battlefords. Church says they have been hearing wonderful things about the Dekker Centre so far. They have previously performed in Saskatoon, Swift Current and other venues in the province. Lunch at Allen's has "criss-crossed" the country many times for a "fantastic" experience.
"We've all been doing this a very long time," says Church. "It's a well-oiled machine whenever we travel."
The band, comprised of Church, Murray McLauchlan, Mark Jordan and Ian Thomas, came together in Toronto, Ont. McLauchlan, Jordan and Thomas would arrange lunch dates at Allen's Restaurant in Toronto, for which the group is named. After recovering from surgery, McLauchlan was offered a tour in Northern Ontario for songwriters in 2003. He brought in Church for the tour and the band developed from there.
"Everyone loved it so much," says Church. "We all loved it so much that, here it is, 11 years later, we're still doing it."
According to their website, they have written for or performed on more than 25 million CDs. McLauchlan, Jordan and Thomas have penned songs for artists such as Josh Groban, Chicago and Rod Stewart. Church says it's always interesting to see the audience's reaction when Jordan starts performing Marina Del Ray or Thomas sings Painted Lady.
"I remember when Lunch at Allen's first got together, because we're four different artists, audiences would know maybe one or two of the people. Now they know all of us."
The show begins at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Dekker Centre. For ticket information, call the Dekker Centre's box office at 306-445-7700.
