Stories from the Edge of Music #39: Can you have too much music?
Yes you can! Plus a lovely story about the King of the Blues.
Still on the road, still going to festivals — so far, in recent weeks and days: Mariposa, Calgary Folk, Calgary Blues, Canmore, and, starting tonight, the massive Edmonton Folk Festival.
Yes, I’m tired. Yes, this edition of Stories from the Edge of Music is shorter than usual. Yes — happy as I am to spend time with friends in all these places — I wanna go home. Love and thanks to Mariska Martina, Tamara Nile, Steph Russell, Jon Chamberlain and Charlotte Neff, Gerald and Michelle Reid, Holger Petersen and so many more for smoothing my path. And all credit, applause and kudos to Pam Carter, Kerry Clarke, Cindy McLeod, Jenna Klein-Waller and Terry Wickham for making festival music happen in their respective communities.
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IS THERE A LIMIT TO HOW MUCH LIVE MUSIC ONE PERSON CAN ABSORB?
Yes, I think there is! So far this year your correspondent has been to almost 80 live music events, from major festivals like Mariposa and Calgary to singalong evenings at the Cameron House in Toronto with my friends Corin Raymond and Treasa Levasseur.
Can you have too much of a good thing — of a miraculous thing?
Every year for ages (except, of course, for the COVID years) I have trekked out west to take in festivals in Winnipeg (which, alas, I missed this time), Calgary, Canmore and Edmonton. This year, I was more active — I hosted my regular “War Stories” event in Calgary, and with my friend Tamara Nile we packed the Talk Tent with an event called Tall Tales and Tender Songs (I told stories; Tamara sang songs associated with the folk I told tales about). At the Calgary Blues Festival I was interviewed by John Rutherford in legendary blues joint the King Eddy; I got to speak about my past adventures with folk like B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf and others.
And at Canmore I had the pleasure of interviewing — in front of a packed house —Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. It was the first time I’d done an on-stage interview in years and Jim was funny, articulate, likeable and open, and made even more fans.
These festivals are so much fun, there are so many old friends and acquaintances from near and distant pasts, being backstage is a precious privilege. There is also SO MUCH music that you can’t possibly keep up.
I’m writing this on the day the Edmonton Folk Music Festival is going to start. I will get to hear Fantastic Negrito again, hopefully meet up with Abigail Lapell, hang around with the Blue Rodeo guys and also with the Good Lovelies, enjoy Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, and hear the Black Pumas for the first time.
After all that (and I’ll report later!) I’m going home. I’ll get to see my neighbours (hi Kayt, hi Kerry), my new roommate (hello, Margaret), my dear friend Julia — and my very own bed!
And no music for at least a week.
I’ve finally discovered that yes, you CAN have too much of an amazing thing.
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B.B. KING: A CLASS ACT IF EVER THERE WAS ONE
A few years ago, the Downchild Blues Band opened for B.B. King at yet another Massey Hall show. After the sound check, I wandered back to the band’s dressing room to find an elderly gentleman standing outside the door, checking the band’s name on the temporary sign, and writing it slowly on a slip of paper.
King’s show opened with a collection of his standard songs, backed up by his powerhouse band. After nearly an hour, he sent most of the band offstage, pulled up a chair, and spoke, almost confidentially, to the audience.
“You know,” he said, “whenever I come to town, I always ask the promoter to hire a really good group to open for me. It keeps me on my toes, makes me play better, makes my band play better.
“And I could tell, by your applause and by what I could hear from my room back there, that…” Quickly the gentleman I had seen earlier appeared on stage, and handed a slip of paper to King, who glanced down and continued… “the Downchild Blues Band did a great job for you, and for me.”
The incident gave the band a chuckle, and we didn’t think of it until King’s tour manager knocked on the door, and asked if he would like to come back and meet the headliner. We filed into King’s room, he remembered me, and I introduced him to the band. Twenty minutes later, after photographs and autographs and stories of life on the road, we left.
Waiting outside the dressing room, in a lineup, stood the mayor of Toronto, the hall’s general manager, the president of King’s Canadian record company and the publisher of the city’s largest newspaper.
B.B. King, bless him, could only be described, in entertainment business terms, as a class act — never mind the important people, take care of the opening act first.
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NEXT TIME…
When I’m back home and when I’ve recovered, normal service will be resumed. Look for reports on the music at Calgary Blues, Canmore and Edmonton, and some Downchild Blues Band stories.
There’s nothing behind a paywall here, but if you’d like to support this writing for the vast sum of a fancy Starbucks coffee ($6 a month) it’d make me happy, and help me put more money in the jug at the Cameron House.
I like that phrasing: "almost confidentially."
Richard- I like the ending of this story on taking care of another. Brilliantly illustrated.