Rich Hope and the Blue Rich Rangers at the Biltmore

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      Sweetheart of the Rodeo is one of those records—you know, the kind that a certain type of music fan speaks of in reverential tones. The 1968 LP was not the Byrds’ most popular at the time (in fact, it was the band’s lowest-charting and worst-selling release up to that point), but the decades since have been kind to it. With Sweetheart, the Byrds introduced the gone-too-soon genius of Gram Parsons to a mainstream audience, and built a bridge over the seemingly unspannable gulf between long-haired hippie rock and classic country. While this arguably paved the way for the fucking Eagles, you can’t really hold the Byrds responsible for the sins of Glenn Frey and Don Henley. You’ll probably never catch Vancouver’s own Rich Hope singing “Peaceful Easy Feeling” at a karaoke bar, but show up at the Biltmore on Saturday (March 15) and you will find him, along with his cohorts the Blue Rich Rangers, performing Sweetheart of the Rodeo in its entirety. Whether the band will play in Nudie suits, or simply in the nude, is anyone’s guess.

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