A
review by Rosemary Phillips, March 2004
Gordon Lightfoot - poet, songwriter, painter of pictures
through music – and truly Canadian. To hear his name
evokes memories of songs like the “Canadian Railroad
Trilogy,” and “If you could read my mind.”
He was discovered in 1964 on the Toronto folk scene by Ian
and Sylvia who then recorded “Early Mornin’ Rain”
and “For Lovin’ Me”. Peter, Paul and Mary
also recorded them. What followed were countless albums for
United Artists and Warner Brothers. The latest, “A Painter
Passing Through” was released in 1998. In 1999 Rhino
Records released a four CD boxed set of Lightfoot recordings,
and in 2000 his concert in Reno, NV, was recorded on a video
– his first.
Gordon is still writing songs. In fact his latest CD
"Harmony", his 20th original album, is being released
on May 11, 2004. While his legacy continues, many artists,
in recognising his influence on the North American music scene,
are now honouring him with special musical tributes. One such
tribute is a recent tour by three acclaimed Canadian songwriters
- Aengus Finnan, Valdy and Lynn Miles.
It was a sold-out concert in the surrounds of the latest exhibit
at the Grand Forks Art Gallery. Valdy, shoeless and wearing
bright red socks (a gift from Aengus Finnan), was making last
minute technical adjustments. Things weren’t quite right.
The pot lights used to display artwork were just a bit too
harsh. A few minutes later Valdy reappeared, this time wearing
his trademark red sneakers and carrying a roll of plastic
filter to be cut and applied to the lights with duct tape.
Lynn Miles wandered in to pick up her guitar and take it to
the improvised dressing room to tune-up. Meanwhile audience
members mingled, looked at art, watched Valdy, or relaxed
with a glass of wine.
“We’re late getting started ‘cause the
lighting tech was slow,” explained Valdy once the show
got rolling. He introduced Aengus, Lynn and the Gordon Lightfoot
Tribute, the third on their mini-tour of nine performances
through BC and into Alberta. “So we’re just starting
to get used to each other.”
 |
|
 |
| Aengus Finnan gets the show
going with "Early Morning Rain" |
|
Valdy get right
into it |
Aengus (pronounced Angus) was up first. I had never heard
him before and when he began Early Mornin’ Rain I was
hooked. His gentleness, ease with the audience, sparkling
eyes, melodic voice and heartfelt feelings came shining through.
It wasn’t hard to understand why he was doing a Lightfoot
tribute – he loves and honours the man and his music.
 |
| Lynn Miles
gets a little help while performing "For Lovin' Me" |
Juno Award winner Lynn Miles followed with For Lovin’
Me in her own bluesy way. Next up was Canada’s troubadour
Valdy who in explaining Lightfoot’s influence in his
own music, gave as an example his own composition about seeing
a pod of whales off Pender Island.
What continued was a whole-hearted evening of music and stories,
jokes and great songs, with casual bantering between performers
and members of the audience. The three performers not only
honoured Gordon Lightfoot they honoured each other, supporting,
teasing, and providing back-up and harmonies as each took
the spotlight. The audience was able to just sit back and
relax and enjoy the journey.
Aengus Finnan
 |
| Aengus Finnan at intermission |
Aengus, who represents a new generation of Canadian songwriters,
relayed touching experiences and their relationships to his
music. He shared life stories about growing up on a farm,
getting married on the school bus in Grade 3, and of his first
meeting with Gordon Lightfoot in 1991. “I couldn’t
get through security. I saw him in the distance signing autographs
for all the special guests,” he explained, and added
with awe, “then he stepped out. He had seen me and came
over. We chatted. At that time I only played a few songs and
they were his. He told me, ‘You must write your own
songs.’”
The result? Aengus has now written many of his own story-songs
that paint dramatic pictures of real people and familiar places,
and the stage has become his home. Among his new compositions
is a very moving piece called Lightfoot, which has now been
included as the closing song on the CD “Beautiful: A
Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot”. This evening Aengus gave
stirring performances of Pussywillows, Cattails and Miguel
along with Lightfoot and another of his own creations about
a trucker titled Rollin’ Home.
Lynn Miles
 |
| Lynn Miles was having a
great time |
Lynn approached the evening from her blues perspective and
focussed on Gord’s “bitter” songs like I’m
not sayin’ and If you could read my mind, along with
her own songs Black Flowers, The People You Love, When My
Ship Comes In and one about having a nervous breakdown. But
Lynn was having fun! She smiled, opened up and really enjoying
being a part of this show, throwing out quips like, “I
learned chording from Gord. I played his songs in my bedroom.
It was the only peaceful place in the house.” And later
as Valdy was really getting into his guitar work, “Aengus,
don’t let Valdy intimidate you.”
Valdy
 |
| Valdy meets up with visiting
fan from Ottawa, Marilyn Hart |
Meanwhile, Valdy brought in the lighter side with Rainy Day
People, and the singalong specials, Bitter Green, Steel Rail
Blues, and Alberta Bound. “I liked how Gordon captured
events in a song,” said Valdy and with this he introduced
his own composition Hard Rain about the ice storms in Eastern
Canada a few years ago.
Bringing these three talents together was perfect. Actually,
what we got was four songwriters – when you include
Lightfoot. Each performer has their unique style not only
in their own music and presentation but in their approach
to Gordon Lightfoot. There we were in small-town Canada, in
an art gallery, listening to some of the greatest talent this
country has to offer. It couldn’t get any better!
Only nine scheduled performances? Hopefully there will be
many more. The rest of Canada needs to experience this music.
And as for Gordon Lightfoot – maybe we don’t appreciate
him enough and what he has truly given to this country and
to folk music? The same could also be said for each of the
performers in this show.
 |
 |
| Aengus doing his job selling
CD's |
Lynn gets into
"If You Could Read My Mind" |
For more informatiom follow the links to: Gordon
Lightfoot, Valdy, and to the Canadian booking agent Live
Tour Artists.
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