When Julie Doiron walks onstage at Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre tonight to perform as part of Hal Willner's Neil Young Project -- arguably the most anticipated musical event of the Cultural Olympiad -- her mom back home in the Maritimes is going to be bursting at the seams. "My mom is very excited," Doiron tells Spinner. "Everyone she talks to about it is saying it's a huge thing and a really big deal, and anytime something big happens, your parents get very excited."
While the Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter, who currently resides in Sackville, New Brunswick, is honoured to be involved in the Cultural Olympiad, she admits she's only just starting to wrap her mind around the opportunity. "I haven't thought about it very much because I've been on tour since early January," she says. "Lately, with my mom telling me what a big deal it is to be chosen to play the Olympics, I've started to give it some more thought."
As for her plan of attack for the star-studded tribute tonight and her subsequent shows next week in celebration of the Games, Doiron says: "I have to show up and do what I normally do: my best show ever."
Music producer Hal Willner has orchestrated an impressive lineup for the two-night tribute to the iconic Young: Doiron will perform alongside legendary artists such as Lou Reed and Elvis Costello, and an all-star band led by members of Broken Social Scene. There's been no word on whether Young himself will attend, which has only served to fuel buzz around the event.
Doiron is hoping to take advantage of the high-profile exposure that tonight's tribute and the Games in general afford -- something that has surely crossed the mind of the 400-plus performers participating in the cultural component of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
"If we are going to be playing in front of an international crowd of people who are just going to be there hanging out, it would be great if I could win over some people who normally wouldn't have heard of me," she says. "That's a wonderful opportunity."
