TeleMiracle is right around the corner, and local musician Shawn Adams is excited to be representing Moose Jaw as one of the performers taking the main stage — or rather, screen — at the annual charity telethon this year.
“It was pretty nice to get a callback to perform on the live show this year,” said Adams.
The Shawn Adams Band is one of two local musicians hailing from the Moose Jaw area featured on the setlist this year, joined by Ann-Marie Rouault when TeleMiracle returns on Feb. 27-28.
In an effort to adhere to the current health and safety restrictions, this year’s iteration of the Kinsmen’s beloved telethon will look quite different from what audiences at home are used to seeing.
There will be no studio audience filling the seats at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon, and all the performances and special donation appearances will be shared by either prerecorded or live remote video.
But die-hard TeleMiracle fans don’t need to feel too disappointed with the new format: the live telethon is still going to be happening just as they remember it.
Volunteers taking calls and pledges will still be answering those ringing phones live for the marathon fundraiser, and a lineup of favourite celebrity hosts will still be there keeping folks entertained, all while wearing protective masks and keeping their distance on stage.
Adams and his band members — Mike Beaudry, guitar; Lennard Morin, drums; Kelly Fryklund, keyboard; and Jan Morrison, bass — already pre-recorded their performance at the end of January.
After having to cancel many shows last year, including an appearance for the Saskatchewan Music Awards pre-shows, Adams said it felt good to be back on a stage performing again.
“It was a little bit different, performing in front of the producers and crews instead of having an audience, but that’s okay,” said Adams. “At least [organizers] are doing something to bring some kind of normalcy this year.”
He did share that the song of choice for his first-ever TeleMiracle appearance — after having to cancel last year due to unexpected illness — is the band version of his hit single “Please Remember Me,” although he couldn’t confirm what time his performance will be airing on the show.
“It’s a song that they requested, and the last couple of years I’ve gotten a lot of attention from that song, so what you can expect is the band version,” said Adams. “The song and video were kind of lowkey, but we amped it up a bit [for this] and it's going to be fun.”
He said it felt fitting to be performing the hit single during a year like this one, since it was written as his tribute to those affected by dementia after a misdiagnosis that changed his life.
“I think it kind of goes along with what’s going on in the world today,” said Adams.
Adams is also doing some fundraising leading up to the big weekend, including selling cloth face masks on his website and a few other projects still in the works for this month, with all proceeds going to TeleMiracle. He’s also welcoming any and all donations from fans to support the cause.
The excitement for Adams won’t be over with just TeleMiracle, either, as he is also getting ready to release a new single very shortly after the show airs at the end of the month.
Called “Other Side of Midnight,” the new track will be the first from Adams to debut on national and international radio.
Adams said he has been working alongside songwriters in Nashville and Skullcreek Studios in Saskatoon to perfect the new single, even while COVID caused delays in recording and release, and he’s excited to share what he describes as “a whole new sound” with fans.
“We were supposed to release last year, but COVID hit [and since then] we’ve just kept pursuing it and here we are, following through,” said Adams. “We get to come out with a whole new sound, a whole new image and it's going to be pretty great. [We’ve been] working hard.”
To keep up with Adams or to pledge support to his TeleMiracle campaign, check out his Facebook page or reach out through shawnadamsmusic.com.
TeleMiracle 45 is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m. on Feb. 27 with the Countdown to TeleMiracle preshow streaming live on telemiracle.com. The telethon will begin at 9 p.m. later that evening, broadcast live on CTV Saskatchewan and online until its conclusion at 5 p.m. on Feb. 28.
