Monday, May 23, 2016

The Oppenheimer Report 5/23/16

One of the things I love about living in a small community so rich in musical talent is that I have the opportunity to watch musicians develop. While there is a lot of reshuffling of band personnel -  I can’t think of one band I know from up here that has all the same members it had three years ago -  the major players are still around. Over the past few years, I have had the good fortune to observe their creativity blossom, and their live performances improve remarkably.

Last Friday night, at the Algonquin Theatre in Huntsville, Shauna and I attended the CD release concert of our dear friend Gina Horswood. Her new CD, Porcelain, was produced by the much-respected and internationally renowned Andre Wahl, and accompanying Gina that night were all the musicians who played on the album. It was an exceptional performance by all involved. As an added bonus, Gina’s sister Melanie flew in from Australia to join her on background vocals and mandolin. Gina and her sister were quite well known in Australia, even charting nationally with several original songs, but while Gina made the decision to continue her musical career in North America, Melanie elected to stay at home and raise a family. There are not all that many Australian artists who go on to become stars in North America, and fame is decidedly elusive for about 99% of all artists who pursue it. I don’t know if Gina will achieve international recognition in North America, but I think she has a shot.

The other day, I listened to a Hunters Bay Radio interview our late friend James Carroll had done with Gina several years ago, and that was, I believe, the very first time he'd ever met her. During the interview, wherein Gina talked and played several songs live, one can almost hear James falling in love with her on-air. Last December, shortly before Christmas, and soon after James had learned he'd developed stage four liver and lung cancer, Gina played one last live performance for him on a Thursday night show called Live Drive. I was in attendance, and James was in charge of the broadcast. After the performance, which I videotaped, James gave Gina a big hug, and the emotion in that hug is indescribable. I’ve never seen Gina give a bad performance, but this one was special.

My first opportunity to meet and talk with Gina in person came after she performed at the Muskoka Sound music festival in the Fall of 2013. She is an intelligent, complicated, interesting young woman, and we hit it off immediately. She’s a double threat, because not only does she have a beautiful, distinctive voice, but she writes powerful songs as well. Her stage presence is completely natural, and she has that undefinable ability to win the audience over with her charm and her wit. Needless to say, both Shauna and I were taken in by her charm from the moment we met her.

Since our first meeting, Gina and I have exchanged song lyrics online, and have met in person several times at our house to play and discuss songs that each of us is writing. Nothing is more satisfying for me than to work with a talented artist like Gina, and I am hoping that one day, she might even cover one of my songs. One night, sitting around our dining room table, I made a recording of her performing a song I wrote, entitled Halfway, as I accompanied her on the guitar. Shortly after the song was over, you could hear Shauna and I audibly sigh with pleasure. It was one of those other-worldly moments, when all the stars align, and the performance was visceral and heartfelt. For me, as a songwriter, it is about as good as it gets to hear a talented artist such as Gina so successfully interpret one of my songs. After the Huntsville concert, she headed south to do a few more concerts in Ontario before heading out west on a national tour of Canada. I think she has a few U.S. dates on the tour as well. I wish I could attend every gig!

Opening for Gina last Friday night was another local friend and talented songwriter, Jamie Clarke, performing with his band Myrle. The last time I saw Jamie perform, he had just put together a new band, and while they hadn’t been together long (it was veteran lead guitarist Brian Hawley’s first gig with the band), it was obvious they were going to be very good. Now, several months later, with some shows under their belts, the band has found its groove, and their improved live show has an added energy which makes them exciting to watch.
  
The music business can tear a strip off you; it’s hard for even the most talented singer/songwriters to make a living performing original music. Anyone who chooses that life certainly doesn’t do it for the glory, or for the money. There's a lot of schlepping equipment to and from smaller gigs, to play to audiences that are less than appreciative, and there is a lot of disappointment.  Still, there are moments like last Friday night, when everything comes together, and  a large audience is receptive and enthusiastic. It’s in those moments, often few and far between, when an artist, struggling to make his or her mark, is motivated to keep growing and developing. In my opinion, overnight success is a myth. I’ve seen five or six artists from this community work hard and improve substantially since I began to follow them. For me, this is more exciting than seeing a big star perform to a stadium full of people.  

-Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2016 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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