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Just when I was thinking there was no place for me at the Junos (Canada's Music Awards) the phone rang. It was my old buddy Peter North from Edmonton Alberta saying he had been asked to stage an event called Juno Fest 04. Peter, who is a music journalist, promoter and the program director at CKUA radio, informed me that there would be a dozen or so venues and about a hundred of Canada's top acts involved. He asked if I would be interested in participating in a singer/songwriter showcase along with Corb Lund, Stewart MacDougall and Tom Phillips. I accepted the invitation, excited at the prospect of working with such a distinguished and talented bunch of songwriters.
Stewart MacDougall and I have known each other for a number of years and I have had the pleasure of working with Stewart on the Hangin' with Hank show which was a celebration of Hank William's music. I first met Stewart when he was a member of The Great Western Orchestra where he and David Wilkie had success in placing songs such as Wind in the Wire with Randy Travis. I had never met Corb Lund but I was familiar with and really loved the few of his songs that I had heard and was looking forward to working with him. I had met Tom Phillips with his band The Men of Constant Sorrow in Calgary a few years ago. The guitar player in Tom's band is a fellow named Dwight Thompson who used to play bass in Alberta Crude, a band I had in Calgary in the early eighties.
When I arrived in the host city of Edmonton the place was a buzz. I was immediately passed an invitation to the Juno Gala Reception at City Hall that night. The official opening speech was delivered by none other than Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin. In attendance were many of Canada's industry folks who basically ignored a welcome to Edmonton set performed by Corb Lund. It never ceases to blow my mind how people who are supposed to be representing music don't seem to have the slightest interest in it. I guess in a perfect world the time would come when the suits had to get up on stage and perform a song they had written for an audience of musicians and be judged accordingly. This would be sweet revenge.
Following the Gala Reception Peter North and I spent the evening hopping from venue to venue seeing and visiting with different artists. We visited briefly with Keith Glass who is the guitar player with Prairie Oyster. Keith was traveling with a young singer/songwriter Brock Zeman and when Keith introduced me Brock asked "Are you the guy who did the soundtrack for a movie called We All Fall Down?" When I told him that I was, he said he had been looking for a CD of the music ever since he saw the movie. It just so happened I had one in my shoulder bag. I also ran into singer/songwriter Steve Pineo from Calgary and saw Oh Susanna on stage with Steve Dawson playing guitar. Steve did a lot of the guitar work on our "We All Fall Down" CD.
Saturday night we took the stage at the Stanley A. Milner Library Theatre. Allison Brock from CKUA radio network did the emceeing honours. The opening act was an impressive young bluegrass group called Down To the Wood who picked their way through an amazing thirty minute set. Following a brief intermission Allison introduced us on stage and we began to sing a song apiece then pass the mike to the next guy. It was a great evening of song. I am always impressed how intimate the 'singer in the round' format is. It allows the audience to share the experience of the writer and to hear the song in its natural organic state. I was taken by Corb's Buckin' Horse Rider, Tom's I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight and of course Stewart and David Wilkie's classic Buffalo Ground. We performed two sets of about three songs each and just when it seemed like we were getting warmed up, it was over. Afterwards we thanked each other backstage for the great show and swapped all of our latest CDs and we were on our way. I had a long trip the next day and I was sorry I had to bow out of an invitation to go and jam later with Tom Phillips and The Men of Constant Sorrow.
I got in my car the next morning for a fourteen hour drive back over the Rockies to Vancouver and was sure happy to have Corb's, Stewart's and Tom's CDs to sing me back home.
Thanks to Peter North for the invitation and to Stewart, Corb, Tom, & Allison. Hope we all meet again sometime somewhere down the road.
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