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Cam Penner returns to the Valley for show in Cumberland

Friday night, 8 p.m., Cumberland Hotel
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Cam Penner plays the Cumberland Hotel Friday.

Cam Penner was a hit at last year’s MusicFest.

Find out why, Friday night at the Cumberland Hotel.

Penner will be sharing the stage with Jon Wood for the next MusicFest Concert Series show, in support of Penner’s fifth release, To Build a Fire.

Penner’s music comes straight from his life experiences, which are many.

At 18, he left small town life to wander the highways and back roads of North America.

A year later he found himself in Chicago serving mystery soup and stale bread to 250 homeless men a day. Next, a women and children’s shelter, then youth shelters and detox centres.

For 13 years he immersed himself in this subculture absorbing as much raw humanity as he could. When the shift was over he would spend endless cathartic hours writing and playing his guitar, exorcising his emotions through music. After becoming a self-taught expert on homelessness, he decided to become a full-time touring artist, meanwhile becoming homeless himself.

Penner has carved his own path. Music born from the soil and sin of this world.

His struggles in life are resonated in his music. Those experiences can be heard live, at the Cumberland Hotel, Friday night - one of only two shows on Vancouver Island during this Western Canada tour.

Tickets ($20 plus tax and fee) can be purchased online at bit.ly/1K9HvyE or at the Cumberland Hotel.

Showtime is 8 p.m.