A 25-year old guitar player who wears a trucker hat, T-shirt and jeans is not the first act one thinks of as a prime attraction for the Brackendale Art Gallery.
But listen to Scott Verbeek’s infectious funk and jazz tunes and it is clear his audience likely spans all age groups and is impossible to stereotype, like the artist himself.
Verbeek has recently been on tour performing in the U.S., but has come home to play the BAG this Saturday (May 13).
It is a welcome coming home for Verbeek, who first played at the Brackendale gallery in January. “It’s cool… I see a lot of people I haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.
“It is such a beautiful venue to play.”
Though he calls Vancouver home these days, Verbeek’s roots in Squamish run deep – he grew up here and his mom is a teacher at Squamish Elementary School.
His mom also gave him his first guitar, a Taka mini guitar, which he still has.
“It was a nice guitar when it was made, but it is starting to fall apart – it has a lot of sentimental value,” he said.
When Verbeek returns to the Brackendale stage this weekend he will bring along some good friends. Gospel and R&B singer Warren Dean Flandez will be featured alongside Ian Weiss, who plays alto saxophone; Tayo Branston on drums; and Bp Jay Smith on bass.
“We are going to start the night off by playing some instrumental funk and then Warren is going to sing some of his tunes – some of them are R&B and some of them are gospel tunes,” he said. “As well we might fit in some R&B and soul classics.”
Verbeek & Friends take to the stage at 8 p.m.
Tickets at XOCO and at the door.
