By Ethan Nahté
American Authors and KT Tunstall will be the two performers on the CPKC Holiday Train, rolling into Heavener, Oklahoma, 8:30-9 p.m., on Sunday, Dec. 1.
The train then makes its way the next morning, Dec. 2, from 10:45-11:15 a.m. to Mena, Arkansas. Like last year, the train will be stopping at the Mena/ KCS Historic Depot & Museum on Sherwood Avenue for this free event. They will accept food and monetary donations.
Also, like last year, the train will be here too early — on a school day — to fully enjoy the light show displays on the sides of the train cars, as well as during the musical performance. Still, the kids who were bussed over from the Mena elementary schools really enjoyed the concert and performer Kiesza spent a few moments down in front of the crowd shaking hands with the kids and posing for pictures.
American Authors are a New York-based pop-rock trio that released their debut album “Oh, What a Life” in 2014. Their anthemic song “Best Day of My Life” has reportedly been featured in over 600 movie trailers, TV shows, commercials and as a theme song for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It has over 276 million views on YouTube, staying 36 weeks on the Billboard Top 100 Chart and peaking at No. 11.
Grammy-nominee Scottish performer KT Tunstall, who has had hits with songs such as the Top 20 hit from 2006, “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree,” which spent 30 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and “Suddenly I See,” which also spent 30 weeks on the Billboard Top 100 and peaked at No. 21. Her music ranges from folk to rock with her voice ranges from raspy and sultry to bluesy. Tunstall burst onto the scene with her multi-platinum debut album “Eye to the Telescope” (2004).
Keith Creel, CPKC president and CEO stated on the CPKC website, “The Holiday Train unites people in the spirit of the season as it travels across Canada and the United States, while generating critical support for our neighbours in need through the program’s support of local food banks. We are pleased to again send this magical train on a four-week trip across our network spreading holiday joy as we collect food and raise money to fight food insecurity. We look forward to seeing all the smiles and cheers from people young and old coming together in the spirit of giving.”
The Salvation Army of Mena was presented with a check for $4,000 to go to the local food banks during the CPKC Holiday Train performance on Nov. 29, 2023. Seaforth and Kiesza were last year’s performers on the Mena stop.
For more information on the train, the performers, and to see the route and schedule, visit https://www.cpkcr.com/en/community/HolidayTrain/.
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