When I arrived “Tonic Lane” was onstage, and if you have the opportunity, you owe it to yourselves to see these kids. They are all top-notch musicians, spawned in large part from the remarkable music department at Huntsville High School. I wish I’d had their talent when I was that young; I wish I’d had the kind of mentoring available in this community. I’ve been playing the guitar for fifty years and I still don’t have their chops. My friends Paul Noonan, who might be the best kept secret in our musical community, and Sean Cotton, who has so far produced four of my songs, performed a great acoustic set. After they played, I spoke with Paul, who is a recent emigrant from Wales,UK about our good fortune to be living in such a music friendly locale. With so much emphasis on popular recognition, and with the ever-eroding quality of commercial radio, it is incumbent on community and college radio stations, as well as musician-friendly venues, to carry the torch. Kudos to Jeff Carter, managing director of The Bay 88.7 FM, for his undying support of local artists. Another one of my producers, the always entertaining and talented Juan Barbosa, did some of his tried and true originals, accompanied by his musical partner and collaborator, Jeff Stamp, a.k.a “Stampy” “, “Ol Stampy” and a few other aliases. In their set there was a cameo by up and coming young artist Sawyer Lance, who knocked it out the park with a passionate rendition of one of his latest song Fireball. That kid could sing the phonebook and sell it, and he’s fast developing into a capable songwriter as well. The first time Sawyer played the Live Drive at The Bay 88.7 FM, Jeff Carter insisted we broadcast one of his songs from the recorded show and use it in regular rotation. That song ended up reaching #1 on Muskoka's Top 20 Countdown. Jeremy Waterhouse, rock/reggae guitarist and singer song writer, performed a fantastic with his band Waterhouse, which included the tight rhythm section of Phebus Phebus on bass, Barry Hayward on congas, and Imre de Jonge on drums. Adding to the groove were backup vocalists (Imre’s daughter) Bronwyn Boyer, and Tamica Herod, with Dick Fairthorne II filling out the mix on keyboards. Among other songs, they played great covers of Pink Floyd and Santana in a reggae time signature, and they really got the crowd rocking. Christine Heron and Jason Bradley Hack did their inspiring and quirky take on country covers with a hint of psychedelia, Hunters Bay Radio Canadian Country host (airing on The Bay from 3p.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays) James Van Meer played some of his original songs. Hip hop band Taktikz won the award for inspiring the most audience participation. Hip hop is not a genre which I embrace, but front man Adam Lee is doing his best to make a believer out of me. These guys were really good and had me dancing like a fool before their set was over. As a songwriter, I am always interested in expanding my range, and every so often, when I am exposed to the more melodic, lyrical element of hip hop, I can relate. Taktikz had an undeniable groove and it was just good fun all around. Adam Lee is an engaging artist and, judging from his audience, he has a loyal and growing fan base. We have had a few conversations about the genre, and he has generously offered to teach me a little bit about hip hop, which is so unfamiliar to me (but not most of the rest of the world). Closing out the afternoon, alt-rock band Overplay, including frontman Jesse Cotton, performed a rousing set of their original tunes.To Clayton Earl and his band Another Anxious Tomorrow (featuring Jack Nickalls, son of actor and Hunters Bay Radio morning show radio host Grant Nickalls), I'm sorry I missed your set, but I'm sure it was great. All in all, it was a wonderful day of music, beer, food, and celebration. By the way, there are video clips of many of the acts available on the Hunters Bay Radio Facebook page. I know because I shot some of them.
For me, it was all
about the live music. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the music
business is slowly sucking the last bit of creativity out of music. While good
songs and musicians abound, 90% or more of them are eclipsed by the robotic
sameness which drives mainstream pop today. I volunteer for this little community
radio station to offer an alternative to the soul-sucking pop drek that passes
for commercial radio. I am surrounded by like-minded volunteers and musicians
at The Bay 88.7 FM, which generously offers a voice to under-recognized musicians. Every on of my friends who performed who performed at the Muskoka 2/4 Beerfest
brought their “A” game, and it was exhilarating to see them perform so well in
front of such a large audience. Though I had little to do with the success of this
event, or the artists who performed therein, I felt like a proud father.
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2019 ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
No comments:
Post a Comment