‘Banjos Saved My Life’ tour brings music, cancer story and community support across Saskatchewan

by | Sep 17, 2026

Photo: Keith Alessi shares his exceptional true story of leaving the world of corporate board rooms behind to follow his long-delayed passion—playing the banjo. / Courtesy of OSAC

By Nicole Goldsworthy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

SaskToday.ca

A one-man show combining music, humour and a deeply personal story about cancer will make several stops across Saskatchewan this fall, with money generated by the performances staying in the communities the tour visits.

Keith Alessi will bring Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life to 16 Saskatchewan communities between Sept. 17 and Oct. 8 as part of the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils’ 2026-27 Performing Arts Season Series. The tour includes a concentrated run through Shellbrook, Melfort, La Ronge, Nipawin and Hudson Bay between Sept. 30 and Oct. 5. OSAC’s current schedule confirms all five dates and venues.

For those communities, the performances are about more than bringing professional live theatre to local stages. Proceeds will help support local organizations and initiatives, while Alessi is donating 100 per cent of his artist fees from the tour.

Skip Taylor, performing arts program manager for OSAC, told SaskToday such a commitment from a touring performer is exceptional.

“Very unusual,” Taylor said. “In fact, in my 15 years in this role, during which I’ve contracted more than 2,000 performances, this is the first time I’ve ever seen an artist donate 100 per cent of their artist fees from an entire tour.”

Taylor said he could not put an exact figure on how much the Saskatchewan tour will generate because the amount will vary from one community to another, but he expects the combined impact to reach into the thousands of dollars.

The northern portion of the tour begins in Shellbrook on Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the Shellbrook Theatre. Fifty per cent of net proceeds from that performance are designated for the Shellbrook Theatre Renovation Project, with the remaining proceeds benefiting the Shellbrook & District Arts Council, according to OSAC.

The show then moves east to Melfort for an Oct. 1 performance at 7:30 p.m. at The Historic Post Office. OSAC says the Melfort performance will support the Melfort Arts Council, Believe in the Gold’s work to raise awareness of childhood cancer and improvements to the city’s new community arts space.

On Oct. 2, Alessi heads north to La Ronge for a 7:30 p.m. performance at Churchill Community High School, presented by the La Ronge Arts Council. The tour continues to Nipawin on Oct. 3, where the Nipawin Performing Arts Group will present the show at the Evergreen Centre at 7:30 p.m.

The northern run concludes Oct. 5 with a 7:30 p.m. performance at St. Stephen’s United Church in Hudson Bay, presented by the Hudson Bay Allied Arts Council. The overall Saskatchewan tour then continues to Yorkton, Moosomin and Sturgis before concluding Oct. 8.

According to OSAC, the tour proceeds in Nipawin are intended to help support chemotherapy and health-care programming, while the Hudson Bay performance will help families experiencing health-care crises. La Ronge proceeds are connected to youth music mentorship. Those local benefits are part of a broader tour model supporting health care, arts, youth and community initiatives around the province.

While OSAC is co-ordinating the provincial tour, Taylor said the organization did not decide which communities would book Alessi’s production. Those decisions were made locally.

Each year, OSAC members attend the organization’s annual Showcase, where they can watch artists perform and meet artists and representatives through its trade show and Exhibitor Exchange, Taylor said. Communities then choose the productions they want to present.

“In this case, our member communities made the decision that they wanted to book Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life,” Taylor said.

OSAC’s role is to facilitate routing, contracting and tour co-ordination on behalf of those member communities, he added. The resulting itinerary stretches across Saskatchewan, beginning Sept. 17 in Shaunavon and ending Oct. 8 in Sturgis. The published OSAC schedule lists stops in Shaunavon, Luseland, Biggar, Estevan, Assiniboia, Swift Current, Leader, Kindersley, Shellbrook, Melfort, La Ronge, Nipawin, Hudson Bay, Yorkton, Moosomin and Sturgis.

At the centre of the production is Alessi’s own experience. The former corporate executive recounts leaving the boardroom to pursue a long-delayed interest in playing the banjo and then facing a life-threatening cancer diagnosis. The one-man performance uses storytelling, humour and live bluegrass music to explore resilience, creativity and the role music played during that period of his life.

Taylor said that personal foundation is one reason he believes the production can connect with Saskatchewan audiences.

“This is a very powerful production because it comes directly from performer Keith Alessi’s lived experience,” Taylor said. “It’s sad, it’s funny, it’s inspiring, and it really takes audiences through the full range of emotions.”

For Taylor, the themes of cancer and creativity also give the production a broad connection to audiences in communities large and small.

“Most of us know someone whose life has been touched by cancer, and hopefully we also know someone whose life has been changed by art, music or a passion for some kind of creative pursuit,” he said. “I think that makes this a show almost anyone can relate to. People can see a little bit of themselves, or someone they know, in Keith’s story.”

Alessi has also turned the production into an ongoing fundraising effort. The show’s official website says more than $1.4 million Cdn had been raised for charities and community organizations as of September 2026, including cancer organizations, music programs, community groups and artist development initiatives. The production has also had sold-out runs in Canada and off-Broadway in New York and has appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in addition to touring internationally.

The fundraising component of the Saskatchewan tour brings that larger charitable mission directly into the province’s smaller centres. Rather than simply passing through, each performance gives its host arts council an opportunity to connect a professional touring production with needs in its own community.

The dates for all of the performances are:

The full 16-community Saskatchewan tour opens Sept. 17 at the Darkhorse Theatre in Shaunavon and concludes Oct. 8 at the Sturgis Community Hall.