You gotta love the titles of country music songs.
I Hope Heaven Has a Honky Tonk.
Airplane Bottle (of Vodka).
(These are the) Break Up Rules.
I Saw the Devil.
Love Me or Leave Me.
All these country beauties were belted out last night at the Fender Guitars Showcase at King Taps Lakeside Restaurant as part of Country Music Week in Kelowna.
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The showcase, presented by Boots N' Boats and PacWest Artist Agency, featured 12 Canadian country singers and songwriters, some established, some up and comers, in short acoustic sets.
Held on the patio of King Taps, it was an intimate outdoor setting that quickly turned into a party.
It was Chris Buck, who also hosts the annual Boots N' Boats Singer/Songwriter Festival, who got the crowd going with 'I Hope Heaven Has a Honky Tonk.'
Chad Brownlee, who now calls the Okanagan home, sang the hit that really launched him -- 2011's 'Love Me or Leave Me'.
Robyn Ottolini got some laughs with 'Airplane Bottle (of Vodka)'.
So did Ben Chase, who was wearing a 'Raised Rowdy' hat, with his so-called 'tiki tonk' hit 'Best Boat' about the ideal watercraft being one your friend owns that you get to party on.
'I Saw the Devil' is the haunting drinking song Alli Walker sang, along with her hit 'Ride It Out', which is nominated for two Canadian Country Music Award at Saturday night's ceremony.
The showcase is just one of dozens of events during this Country Music Week running up to the main event -- the televised Canadian Country Music Awards at 5 pm Saturday at Prospera Place arena.
There's another Fender Guitar Showcase at King Taps on Saturday, 11 am to 2 pm, featuring another 12 singers, including Josh Stumpf, Riley Taylor, Savannah Jade and Ben Klick.
Other events tonight and Saturday include Country Music Crawl at various locations, Canadian Country Music Association House Live at Waterfront Park, Diamonds in the Rough Country Music Showcase, Tonky Tonk Hop On Wine Bus Tour and Songwriters Unplugged at the Mary Irwin Theatre.
Red Bird Brewery is having an Awards Show After Party on Saturday night.
This is the first time Kelowna has hosted Country Music Week and the Canadian Country Music Awards.
Besides being a helluva lot of fun, it's a real coup for tourism awareness and economic impact.
Tourists in town for the week and awards are seeing Kelowna at its mid-September best -- sunny, warm and scenic.
And the televised awards show will also put Kelowna in a national spotlight with lots of mentions of the city and short video inserts that show glistening Okanagan Lake and a bustling downtown.
The week and awards is estimated to be worth 2,000 hotel room nights for Kelowna and inject a total of about $11 million into the economy with visitors and locals spending on everything from accommodation and transportation to event tickets and eating and drinking.
See a full schedule of events here.
