In 1925 the Grand Ole Opry began as a weekly radio broadcast in Tennessee and quickly grew into an institution of American country music, with weekly performances and broadcasts that are as popular as ever today. Local singer/songwriter Pat Moore, who produced and directed the show, saw the potential for supporting the Amnesty cause with a theatrical presentation embodying the spirit of the Grand Ole Opry.

Pat enlisted the help of her band, The Vinyl Frontier, as well as seasoned performers Luther Wright and Dan Whiteley, Neville Wells, and Ball and Chain for a grand celebration of country pop music hearkening back to the fifties and sixties. There were hurtin' songs, guitar slinging cowboys, pedal steel guitar, fiddles and not a few laughs along the way on this musical journey. All the performers got into the act and were in character throughout the concert.

The stage was set to create a country atmosphere, and was festooned with a wooden fence, bales of straw, a feed sack and a straw hat trimmed with flowers. Host Klaas van Weringh introduced each act and reminded the audience of the important work done for peace, justice and freedom by Amnesty International.

Pat Moore, wearing a sparkling vintage dress worthy of an Opry stage, opened with a soulful rendition of Forgivin' and Forgettin', an original tune from her 2007 CD, Take it to Heart. She was accompanied by her accomplished band The Vinyl Frontier: Ann Downey (standup bass), Pat McLaughlin (guitar and vocals), Al Bragg (pedal steel guitar), and Louis Lacelle (drums). Throughout the concert, Pat and her band performed original tunes and country classics from this CD.

Ottawa Valley Country Music Hall of Fame member Neville Wells performed a short set featuring his signature smooth vocals, including the title track of his CD, But I Was Younger Then.

In the spirit of an old-fashioned radio broadcast, Pat Moore sang a self-penned advertisement set to the music of Rose of San Antone for sponsor and realtor Tracy Arnett.

Ball and Chain (a duo consisting of fiddler Michael Ball and Jody Benjamin, lead singer of the Toasted Westerns) performed a lively set that included a spirited rendition of Jackson, as well as original tunes performed in the country classic but sometimes tongue-in-cheek style for which they have become well known.

Intermission gave the audience a chance to buy CDs and browse the Amnesty International literature. In the second half of the concert, Luther Wright, of Luther Wright and the Wrongs fame, teamed up with singer/songwriter Dan Whitely and dobro player Chris Barkley for a sampling of original tunes including the title track of Whitely's recently released CD, The Man of Your Dreams.

The event closed with the Opry classic gospel tune "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". Audience members enthusiastically joined in on the chorus and cheered wildly when asked if they would return next year for the second annual Ottawa Opry.

As the name of Pat Moore’s support band The Vinyl Frontier would suggest, there’s a retro sound to this music…as in Patsy Cline and the sounds of the 60’s. Pat Moore has written most of the songs (there are three “cover” tunes) and she covers a wide range of musical influences – everything from Patsy Cline and Hank Williams, to Ray Charles – delivering the material with a vocal style not unlike fellow Canuck Cindy Church (of Quartette, etc. fame).

The album opens with the western swing tune Forgivin’ and Forgettin’ , which allows members of The Vinyl Frontier to strut their stuff; and then Pat Moore shows a mellow side with the ballad How Long. It doesn’t take long before she moves into a mid-tempo mode with Cold-Hearted Man; some great harmonies are featured on I’ll Be Your Fool ‘Til the End of My Days; and then we get treated to some hardcore country in There’s A Dark Cloud Hanging Over Me and From One Cheating Heart to Another.

The album’s title track, Take It To Heart, which is featured as the closing entry is Pat Moore’s personal tribute to a mentor, the late Ray Charles.

Also featured are three well picked “cover” tunes, Drinking Too Much, a tune written by Fred Eaglesmith with Pat Moore pours her heart and soul into; the Eddy Arnold popularized You Don’t Know Me, and the obligatory Patsy Cline number, this time it’s Strange, which has also been covered in the past by Connie Smith and more recently by Michelle Branch, now of the Wreckers Fame.

Take it to Heart was recorded at producer Al Bragg’s Skidmore Studios in Ottawa, and features Bragg on piano, steel, and dobro as well as back-up vocals, and fellow Vinyl Frontier members Pat McLaughlin on guitars, Bob Bangs (drums), and Ann Downey on stand-up bass.

“I wrote that song and thought, ‘I would love to hear Ray Charles sing this,’ “the local singer-songwriter explains. “That led to my writing a number of other songs in that style.”

Sadly, Brother Ray left us before Moore’s composition -- a track that would indeed sound at home on either of Charles’ seminal early-1960s Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music albums -- could wing its way to the legend. But the song served as a worthy starting point for Moore’s latest CD, a collection of songs that pay homage to the sound, style and feel of country pop’s golden age.

“The songs came fairly easily, once I’d decided to stay in that vein,” says Moore. “I spent a lot of my early years singing country and bluegrass, so it was like going back to my roots.”

Take it to Heart, the album, wears its Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Patsy Cline, Eddy Arnold, Louvin Brothers and Hank Thompson influences proudly, as Moore and her band The Vinyl Frontier explore everything from heartaches-by-the-number ballads to western swing.

“I really wanted to capture the sound and feel of that era,” Moore says. “I know Ray Charles will never sing my song, but I’ll always picture him when I perform it.”

Blending solid original tunes with three covers, including Fred Eaglesmith’s discomfiting Drinking Too Much, Moore dissects pain with warmth and clear-sightedness. Her full, clear voice is enriched by often-lush backing vocals that underscore the singer’s emotional isolation.

Steel guitarist Al Bragg and standup bassist Ann Downey are among the accompanists.