By Dave Babbitt – Special to the Sydenham Current
Back in the year 2000, my good friend Mike Primeau was plying his drumming skills in a band called ‘Midnight Mojo’.
The band was a trio consisting of Mike, bassist Steve Regnier, and an out-of-this-world 15-year-old guitar phenom by the name of Michael Schatte from Chatham.
The band was started by Schatte and was built around his prodigious guitar-shredding chops.
Ever since the electric guitar came on the scene there have been loads of local bands popping up everywhere and seemingly everyone was attempting to be the next great guitar shredder.
When I was still teaching, I recognized that there were several local ‘garage bands’ within our school population so to give the students something to do, I started a program that I referred to as ‘Rockin’ Lunch Hours’.
I assembled a stage in my music room, borrowed some lighting trees from the Drama Department, put out a few mics, a small PA system, and the students had a blast.
Most lunch hours we’d have over a hundred students in the room, and many students would forego their lunch to hear the bands.
I’m probably the poorest excuse for a guitar player to have ever walked this earth, but I’ve been around the block, and I do recognize exceptional guitar talent when I see or hear it.
As talented as some of these local ‘guitar heroes’ were, none of them would deserve to even carry Michael Schatte’s guitar case.
The kid was a whole lot more than exceptional, and he was getting a lot of notice all over southwestern Ontario.
In early December of that year, WDSS was hosting our annual giant community Christmas show and the Brass Factory Big Band was scheduled to be a part of the program.
We did not have a guitar player in the Brass Factory at the time because finding a guitar player who could read music charts was impossible in these parts.
Mike Primeau was our BF drummer at the time, and being a part of Midnight Mojo as well, he asked Michael Schatte about joining the BF for our Christmas performance.
The kid walked-in, sat down in front of the charts, and ripped-off some of the most beautiful, tasteful guitar playing I’ve ever had the privilege to be a part of.
The Brass Factory never sounded better.
A few weeks later, Michael Schatte and Midnight Mojo were invited to play on the Mike Bullard show which at the time was Canada’s late night talk show on CTV.
This was an incredible opportunity for a couple of local guys and Michael Schatte to get some great exposure on a widely watched television show.
I decided to organize a busload of students to support the band by making the trip to Toronto for the taping of the show.
The entire experience was a hoot and extremely enlightening for a bunch of people who had no idea how a TV show like that was taped.
I have great memories of that experience and still have a VHS copy of that show that I must digitize and make available on my YouTube channel.
And the band was smokin’ hot that night!
Being the focal point of the band, Michael was “called over to the couch” and interviewed by Mike Bullard.
His name and talent was now spreading even further than our little corner of the province.
There are lots of great guitar players out there but Michael was a mere 15 years of age at the time and loaded with talent far beyond his years.
Michael’s main guitar teacher growing up was Tom Lockwood, a well-known, world-class guitarist and teacher based in Chatham.
I’ve seen Tom perform several times and if anyone could guide a young prodigy like Michael Schatte down the right path, it would be Tom.
Michael left the area shortly after these events and I lost track of him.
A few years ago, the Wallaceburg Arts Council caught-up with Michael who now lives in the Toronto area and had him bring his band and his mentor Tom Lockwood to the Jeanne Gordon Theatre for an event that I have never forgotten.
Earlier in the afternoon, Michael and Tom presented a workshop aimed specifically at guitar players that every aspiring guitar player should have sat-in on.
The show was an eclectic mix of music featuring the incredible talents of these two guitar masters.
While there wasn’t one selection that didn’t dazzle, the one that blew me away was Michael’s rendition of the William Tell Overture. (The theme used for The Lone Ranger)
The William Tell Overture was a long-time signature piece of the late Glen Campbell, recognized by all guitar greats as one of the true Masters of the guitar.
Hearing, and even more impressively watching Michael pull that number off on the guitar at lightning speed left me speechless.
I swear that his fingers had to be raw by the time he finished!
The great news is that the Arts Council has managed to book Michael and Tom once again!
On Saturday October 15, Michael and Tom will once again offer budding guitarists (as well as advanced players) an afternoon workshop titled ‘Music Production on Stage, On Line and In the Studio’ followed by an evening concert at 7 p.m. at the Jeanne Gordon Theatre.
One thing I am not is a ticket hustler, and I only make recommendations based on my personal experience and never a regurgitation of any artists’ press kit.
I give this opportunity my highest recommendation and urge music lovers of all kinds (one need not be a guitar player) to gather your friends and be prepared to be dazzled by the world-class talents of these two guitar giants.
If you ARE a guitar player however, the entire day (workshop and concert) should not be missed.
Everyone’s been cooped-up for over two years and this is an ideal opportunity to help Wallaceburg come back to life.
More information can be found at wallaceburgartscouncil.com.
