An Intimate Afternoon with Valdy
Folk musician has been nominated for seven Juno Awards, winning two
The Regent Theatre is inviting Oshawa to An Intimate Afternoon with Valdy this June.
Paul Valdemar Horsdal, otherwise known as Valdy, is a Canadian folk and country musician.
With a career spanning nearly half a century, Valdy’s music has not only been a staple in the Canadian folk music industry, but an inspiration to Canadians nationwide. His songs of peace and joy have influenced audiences for decades and now he’ll be sharing them during a special afternoon performance at the Regent Theatre on June 8, at 3 p.m.
Valdy has sold nearly half a million copies of his 13 albums, four of which are certified gold.
He’s also won two Juno awards for Folk Singer of the Year and Folk Entertainer of the Year, as well as seven other nominations. He was awarded the National Achievement Award by SOCAN in 2005, and was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2011.
The recommended age is 14 or older, and there is an age restriction of seven and older.
Valdy’s career took off when the then 23-year-old Ottawa native performed for an uninterested crowd at the Aldergrove Rock Festival in 1968. As a folk performer, the audience’s heckling and ridicule inspired him to write Play Me a Rock and Roll Song, which later became one of his biggest hits.
“I was hired as a folk singer to go and play at a rock festival,” said Valdy. “I was out of place… I got the reception I deserved, let’s put it that way. They wanted rock, they gave me a hard time about it, and I got a great song out of it.”
Valdy ended up defeating other Canadian musicians including Anne Murray, the Guess Who, and Neil Young for the 1972 Moffat Canadian Talent Award.