Yesterday afternoon, Shauna and I had the pleasure of attending
a small house concert at the home of Grant and Debbie Nickalls. On the bill were their son, Jack Nickalls, and his musical partner Josie Robinson. "Jack & Josie" performed two house concerts last weekend in order to raise funds to defray travel expenses associated with their upcoming trip out to Alberta.
Their high school band has made it to the final round of North America's largest educational music festival, MusicFest Canada. The finals competition will soon be taking place in
Calgary. Vicariously, I’m excited for them, and hope they do well in the
competition. Regardless, they and the band will be touring amid some of the most
beautiful parts of Canada. I spoke with Josie a bit during the intermission to
Saturday’s concert, and she was clearly excited about the opportunity to see
the Canadian Rockies. Among other destinations, the trip includes visits to
Banff, and Whistler, B.C. .
Apart from the obvious talent of these two young performers,
the thing I most appreciated about the above-mentioned concert is that Jack and
Josie chose an eclectic mix of good songs to cover. I was impressed by their song choices, and by their
unique interpretations of those works. That they chose to cover songs like the Burt Bacharach/Hal
David hit “I Say A Little Prayer For You” covered by Dionne Warwick, the Harry
Warren/Mack Gordon classic “At Last” made famous by Etta James, and a wonderful
interpretation of the old Ashford & Simpson classic “I Don’t Need No Doctor”,
along with with several songs by contemporary alt country Canadian talent
Colter Wall, and the oft-covered hit “Valerie” written by the talented British
songwriter Amy Winehouse, shows a respect for and appreciation of many different
kinds of songwriting. For me it was refreshing to see teenagers with such open
musical minds.
I’ve seen Jack and Josie perform onstage before, most
notably as openers for the William Prince concert last summer at Huntsville’s newly
opened Canvas Brewery. I’ve also had the opportunity to watch Jack develop as a
musician over the past several years. His growth, both technically and in his stage
presence, has been fun to watch. Last summer, he performed his first original
song during a live radio performance for Hunters Bay Radio; I was gob smacked.
The song was really good, and I’m not surprised that “Stay Forever” was voted
one of the top 5 local songs of the year in Hunters Bay Radio’s local Song of The
Year Top 20 Countdown. I guess I was a bit jealous; the first song I ever penned
was abysmal.
Several years ago, around the time Jack began to share his
talent with a wider local audience, I guest-hosted a TALENT ON THE BAY show
wherein Jack was the interviewee. During the interview, which was one of my
first opportunities to hear Jack perform, we discussed the value of musical
education. I think most music lovers in this community will agree that the
Huntsville High School has spawned some remarkable young talent. I tip my hat and
offer my thanks to all the enlightened local educators who made that happen. There
are so many reasons why this is important. Forgive me, I know I sound like a
broken record when I say this, but I see music as one of the few universal
languages which everyone can understand, if they just listen. I am always better
for having listened, be it to constructive criticism, Mother Nature, a cry for
help, to my breathing, or, as I suggest here, to music. Believe me, I know it’s
not so easy, and I would do well to take my own advice. As I become palpably
more attention-challenged, I find myself struggling to just shut up and listen.
It all goes by so quickly. At what I consider to be a tipping point in humanity,
wherein I deem communication to be on injured reserve, music (all art really) might
be one of the few life rings remaining for us to throw out. It is the
selfless expression of creativity that embodies all that is good about us human
beings, the thing that can bring us all together.
Shauna’s 95-year-old mom “E.T.” asks me all the time “do you
think the music I present on MARTINI MUSIC is reaching anyone; do you think any
younger people appreciate this music”. I
think the answer is “yes”, and Jack and Josie’s performance last Saturday night
was proof of that. As long as good music is created and performed, it will be
timeless, and there will be a receptive audience. Be it an aria from Pagliacci or the Rolling Stones song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,
music draws us together on some visceral, fundamental level. Whatever it is
that puts us all on the same wavelength was alive and well last Saturday night.
Everyone at that house concert left happier than when they came. I think that
is a good thing, and it is why Shauna and I spend so much of our free time
promoting good music.
To Jack and Josie, and to all their bandmates from
Huntsville, best of luck in Calgary. In my book, you’ve already won.
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