Chilliwack - Halifax, NS and Triton, NF - June 20 and 21

'Four men in a rock and roll band, fly at night and in the morning we land...
This is exactly what we did. For two gigs I was lucky enough to join the legendary Canadian rock band Chilliwack. We left Vancouver for Halifax at 7:30PM and arrived at 6:30AM. I lived the song with the band that wrote it. It was surreal
I don't think it's an overstatement to say Chilliwack is like Canada's Beatles. They produced an enormous amount of eclectic music - all with tremendous heart and soul. They had many hits and some success in the US although there popularity predominated in Canada. One significant difference is the constant lineup changes. 27 different members (28 if you include yours truly) have been through the band. The one constant was Bill Henderson. Bill is the singer/ songwriter/ guitarist and leader of the band. He's tremendous... an awesome musical force. I write this sitting on a plane and seated next to him. It's an incredible feeling for me.
I first saw Chilliwack on the Merv Griffin show. Kal Rudman (a major music industry insider) was doing his monthly appearance on Merv bringing forward new acts which he felt were the next big thing. Rick Springfield and William Katt (from the Greatest American Hero) were on the show. The last act up was Chilliwack performing 'My Girl' and 'I Believe'. Merv loved them. So did I. My wondeful Nana bought me Opus X - there second to last studio record - for Christmas. What an impression it left. Rich vocals, great rock guitar, thick chord, soaring melody. In my mind it is perfect pop.
Fast forward twenty years or so. I stand on stage with Bill, drummer Jerry Adolphe and bassist Doug Edwards. The band gets introduced and Bill launches into a two minute guitar intro... then Jerry counts in 'Lonesome Mary' , a hit around 1970. The crowd goes nuts. Lucky for me it's a simple song with no background vocals. I get my bearings and breathe. 'Whatcha Gonna Do' from 1983 is next. Another big hit.
A procession of hits with some cool album cuts follows - Getting Better, California Girl, Arms Of Mary, Patent On The Wind, Communication Breakdown, Trial By Fire, 17th Summer, Crazy Talk, Something I Like About That, Groundhog, I Believe, Baby Blue, My Girl, Rain O and Fly At Night. I jumped around on four instruments (sax, keys, acoustic and electric guitars) and sang a whole lot. It's actually a pretty challenging gig and Bill is demanding in a very good way. It was incredibly satisfying. The next night we did it again in Newfoundland opening for Dr. Hook.
Truly a dream come true. I'm sad that it's over and hope it can happen again.

Update - no pix though...

What have I been up to since the last entry? The answer would be same gig... Different people. As a freelance musician the routine is no routine. You wake up at different times, eat at different times, play different styles of music on different instruments (at least for me)....it's never boring and keeps you sharp and vibrant.
In general, I've kept busy with various sessions and live gigs. Lots of great gigs recently at Vancouver's Yale Hotel thanks to my good friend Jerry Adolphe. I had the pleasure of playing with many cool people like Tony Robertson, Brian Scott, Matt Frenette, Paul Kaip, Ric Andre, Mike Wedge, Brian Newcombe, Doug Edwards and Jack Lavin among many others. I played a fun gig for the Merritt Walk Of Stars as part of the house band. We backed up Jason Blaine, Johnny Reid and Jessie Farrell among others. Aaron Pritchett's record is finished (I was a co producer) and will be released in September. I completed sessions for other cool acts like Saving Grace, Sheila Deck and a fellow named Jose Cardenas. I worked with a great guitarist named Steve Ouimette from Scottsdale, Arizona who is known for, among other things, his work on the phenom known as Guitar Hero.
In June a tidal wave of work came in, all of it celebrating my home province of British Columbia. BC turns 150 this year and to celebrate - they hired me!! I was hired to help put together music for the BC150 Spirit Train ... An interactive multimedia spectacle that travels throughout communities in BC. From that, I was commissioned (more or less) to write a piece of music used as the theme song for the festivities. If you live in BC you may hear it.
From that, I was again commissioned to write the music for the finale of Vancouver's Celebration Of Light, a yearly fireworks display that runs over the course of several nights in the summer in Vancouver's English Bay. I'm gonna try and bring my Nana to that one!
This month I also get to live a dream of mine... subbing in with the legendary Canadian band Chilliwack. Lead singer Bill Henderson has long been a big influence on me musically. I am excited and scared terribly at the same time. I can't wait. I'll write abou that the next time....