Harvey shire talent set to shine in Home Grown Concert

The Harvey Recreation and Cultural Centre will showcase talent from across the region as it celebrates a major milestone.

The HRCC Home Grown Concert will highlight performers with strong connections to the Shire of Harvey across two and a half hours on Saturday night.

One of the six acts who will be taking to the stage is WA Country Music male artist of the year winner Ray Jones.

Despite his strong connections to the area, Jones admits he was surprised to get the call-up.

“I was honoured to be recognised and to be participating in bigger events in Harvey, which is really cool,” he said.

Jones is perhaps as local as you can get within the Harvey region.

He lived in the town until he was five years old and continues to reside in the Shire, basing himself in Myalup Beach when not hitting the road on tour.

“I went to school in Harvey, I worked in Harvey and my whole family history is embedded in Harvey,” he said.

Jones celebrated the concert’s focus on local talent.

“It is encouraging younger artists to not only participate in the town but show off their talents, it exposes them to performing in front of an audience — all those factors are pretty important to a young aspiring artist to find out whether it’s something they want to do or not because it is not for everybody,” he said.

“I think encouragement is a magic thing, support is great and hopefully I get to chat to a few of them on the day and can give them some encouragement myself.”

He joins a line-up of artists who all have connections to the Harvey region, with Baylee Howard, Sophia Tomas and the Cast, Keaton Staszewski-Hose and Jill Faed, Renzo Ursua III and Harley Vass all performing.

Jones said attendees can expect a performance “a little bit intertwined with Harvey and its history” during his set.

“They expect to get a taste of what I do, what my bread and butter is every week,” he said.

The concert is the final event in the HRCC’s nearly week-long celebration of its 30th anniversary, which kicked off on Monday with a celebratory dinner.

Tickets to the concert are free but bookings are essential.

For more information, visit harveyrec.com.