After two years of entertaining crowds with the tunes of Shania, Celine and Cher, the popular performing duo Sherrie and Dan Gold will play the Silhouette Lounge for the last time on Sat, May 29.
The Golds are spreading their wings and taking a chance that their immense talent can propel them to a career in music on a larger scale.
“It’s going to be such a personal, emotional leaving for us that there doesn’t need to be anything special that night,” says Dan about plans for their final show.
Their tenure at Silhouette Lounge (downstairs at Centretown Pub) began in December 2000. Dan answered a newspaper ad for a bar that was looking for someone to play New Year’s Eve. The fact that Silhouette was a gay bar was never an issue and after accepting the gig they began rehearsing, even playing the lounge for a few weeks in December to get the crowd used to them. They were a hit and a regular weekend gig followed.
The only problem in those early days was that their background was country music, not exactly gay bar standards. They decided to expand their repertoire by asking people what they wanted to hear. To this day one of the regular features of their performances has Sherrie seeking out new people in the crowd, asking them their name and what kind of music they like.
“That’s how the whole name thing started,” says Sherrie. “We wanted to know what people wanted us to play.”
With their expanding song list, the crowds grew. Many of the regulars became close friends and the two became a very visible part of our community, lending their talent to Pride and various fundraisers over the years.
Both speak highly about their time at Silhouette and the generosity they’ve encountered while working there.
“Every time we drove home, we were on a high,” says Sherrie. “People were so incredible. We couldn’t get over the support.”
In fact it’s the support they’ve received from their fans at Silhouette Lounge that prompted them to take their music seriously and pursue it full-time.
Future plans are still being worked out but gigs at the Casino Lac Leamy are set for June and Sherrie has also recorded a demo CD of original music. Although no release date has been set, she hopes it will be launched before the year’s end.
And they won’t be leaving Ottawa anytime soon. The Golds have agreed to play the Pride Kick-off Party sponsored by Labatt’s on Thu, Jul 1 and the main stage at Pride Day on Sun, Jul 11. For more information on these events, visit http://capitalpride.ca/
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