Famine to feast: Poppa Dawg’s life in Kelowna has taken a dramatic turn for the better

After more than two months of frantic searching for a place to live in order to stay in Kelowna, blues musician Rick (Poppa Dawg) Halisheff has a new home.

He’s been a fixture of the Kelowna music scene for more than 25 years but was facing eviction after the owner of the home he and his wife Carolyn were renting, sold it.

“Truly, it’s not what you know, but who you know,” Halisheff said. “I know a lot of people. We had everybody working for us and trying to help. It still took us over two months, so imagine the difficulty for a single mother with a couple of kids. It’s terrifying.”

He posted their plight on Facebook along with rants about Kelowna becoming so unaffordable that it was forcing him and many others into considering moving away.

READ MORE: KELOWNA BLUES: Musician being driven out by housing crisis

In the end, it’s come down to the kindness of strangers.

After reading a previous iNFOnews.ca story, Dennis O’Rourke, owner of O’Rourke’s Family Vineyards and Peak Cellars in Lake Country, contacted the newsroom and we were able to connect the two. They obviously hit is off, so O’Rourke offered him a ground level suite in a home he usually rents to his workers.

READ MORE: O'Rourke Family Vineyards opens beautiful guest house amongst the vines

Even though he could stay in his current home until the end of June, Halisheff is making the move next week.

“We just want to get settled,” he said. “We just want a space and, it’s because of that article. Thank you for making me do that, or suggesting I do that.”

After posting on Facebook and ranting about the unaffordability of the city, Halisheff at first declined an interview.

“Sorry about that but I need a break from bitching,” he wrote in a message to iNFOnews.ca.

In the end he did the story and now, “as of next week, we’ll be living across from all the swimming pools and tennis courts,” Halisheff said. “Quite the irony, eh? Weird.”

His concern for those struggling to find places to live in Kelowna remains.

He had rented a place in Glenmore and put down a damage deposit before hearing about O’Rourke’s potential offer.

Even though he cancelled the other place – it was smaller and more expensive – Halisheff felt responsible for leaving that landlord short so he posted on Facebook in an effort to help find a new tenant.

“We must have fielded almost 50 calls and messages within a couple of hours of us posting on Facebook,” he said. “We just felt bad that we put him in this position. It’s because of us. We felt that was the right thing to do.”

In the end, he had to do what was best of him and Carolyn, which was a bigger place for less rent and an “incredible view of the lake. Wow, it’s remarkable.”

“It’s bigger and all of our stuff fits,” he added. “We don’t have to figure out storage or selling anything. We can literally just can pick up and go. We’re happy. Really happy.”

It also means he’s able to get back to focusing on his music, especially after two years off during the pandemic.

"I’ve been taking bookings the last few days like crazy,” Halisheff said. “All kinds of stuff. I got some private gigs, winery gigs, a lot of brewery gigs. My dance card is absolutely full, I’m so happy I don’t have to go back to Alberta.”

Check out his schedule on his website at Halisheff.com.

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