It was in the Fall of 2001 and I was performing
in Calgary, Alberta at the "Karma Local Arts House" when I was approached by John Rutherford,
the musical director for "The Epcor Centre For The Performing Arts". As we chatted John
mentioned he would like to have me appear on the SONGWRITERS series that is presented by the
Epcor Centre. I told him to count me in.
I didn't hear from John until the Spring of 2002 when I received an e-mail to
confirm the concert. We agreed on a date in October and John assured me that I would be in
great company. He was certainly right about that as the 2002 SONGWRITERS series featured
concerts by John Prine, Kevin Welsh and Kieran Kane, Peter Case, Lynn Miles and of course yours
truly.
I have been doing a lot of appearances in recent years with just me and my ol'
guitar so I got to thinking it may be nice to ask a few players to join me on stage for a change.
My first call went out to my ol' guitar pickin' buddy Dan Tapanila and he agreed it would be fun
to do the show. Next I phoned an old bass player friend Leroy Stephens. Dan, Leroy and
myself had played together in a band called Fireweed during the early '70s. Over the years
I have always remembered that the three of us used to play music that was unique to the combination
of players and dare I say slightly magical. Although we have continued to record together,
some twenty-five or more years had passed since I had shared a professional stage with Dan and
Leroy so I hoped I had not just imagined that we used to make good music together. My fears
were laid to rest from our first rehearsal.
I began getting excited about the prospect of playing with my old friends again
so I traced down Billy and Hazel Rhicard in the city of Red Deer to see if we could russle up
another show while we were in Alberta. Although Billy and Hazel say that they are not promoters,
they do put together gigs for certain artists. I spoke with Billy on the phone and he agreed he'd
like to put together a Red Deer concert. Things were looking like fun.
Leroy and I jumped in the car in Vancouver and headed for Calgary a few days
early so we could arrive in time to do some advance promo for the shows. We got to Calgary on a
Tuesday afternoon and contacted Rick Overwater who does the promotions for the Epcor Centre.
Rick told us to get some sleep because the next day was going to be busy. Wednesday morning
started with a 10a.m. TV interview and performance for Shaw Cable, a 12 o'clock newspaper
interview with the Calgary Sun, another TV interview and performance for A Channel at 2p.m. and
then a live C.B.C. radio show at 4. The next morning we had to be back in the studio by 7:30a.m.
to do A Channel's "Big Breakfast Show". Yippee, Ridin' the promo trail!!!!
On Friday evening we finally got to do what we had come to do. We performed a
concert at the Engineered Air Theatre which is a fantastic venue for both artist and audience.
The theatre is intimate, the sound was great, and the boys played like a dream. A good time was
had by all!!!! We included songs I have written and performed over four decades, plus our new
CD "Galaxy Cabaret".
The next morning I dropped by and did a live guest shot on the John Rutherford
show on CKUA radio before hauling up to Red Deer to meet up with Billy and Hazel and perform at Shauny's restaurant. When we arrived and I saw it was a white tablecloth, dinner theatre type setting I wondered how we three reprobates would be received. Much to our delight the place filled up and the audience was incredibly responsive and appreciative.
Thanks John, Rick, Lisa, Roddy, Billy, Hazel, all the media, all the folks that
attended the shows and of course my ol' compadres Dan and Leroy. It sure is great playing for
Albertans. It don't get much better than that!!!
