By Dan White – Special to the Sydenham Current
For some readers, this column comes after a brief hiatus. I wrote a column two weeks ago about the Chatham-Kent Arts Council’s Cultural Hall of Fame event sponsored by the Municipality of C-K and Waste Connections of Canada. It simply didn’t appear on every platform I submit my column to.
So, a brief summary:
This year was the fourth year of this event, and it is always a wonderful evening as homegrown artists who have had a lasting and significant impact in the arts are recognized. The recipients are all on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ckartsandculturenetwork.
It is worth a few minutes to read the bios of the eight inductees, including Wallaceburg’s Troy Brooks and Steph Copeland.
The evening was wonderful as each inductee was celebrated and had a chance to speak. All of them expressed their gratitude at being recognized and, like most of the elite artists I have met, they were humble, modest and gracious. Prior to the event, the reception gave attendees an opportunity to mingle with the inductees, and throughout the evening artists and their families could be seen beaming as they had their pictures taken beside their spot on the wall at the Chatham Cultural Centre. If you happen to be at the CCC for an event, take a moment to peruse the 40 or so inductees. It is truly inspiring.
It is my goal to follow up with some of these artists in the future and feature them in a column. Stay tuned for that.
As I noted in a previous column, Joni and I have been playing Oktoberfest gigs with Gavin Warren and Bill Hainer for the past month. During this time, we have had 18 performances with two remaining this week. You may be wondering what it is like to play 20 gigs in a month performing the same repertoire. Is it mind-numbing? Tiring? Gratifying? All great questions!
Obviously, I can only speak for myself, and I can tell you that tuba parts are not always exciting in an “oompah” band. However, my role is usually not to be featured but to anchor the ensemble harmonically and with tempo. I need to keep the four of us from shifting into a different gear accidentally, and generally I am establishing the foundation of our sound.
To be honest, there are a handful of charts that are really fun to play for tuba. Beer Barrel Polka is my favourite as it has an interesting bass line. But my responsibility is seldom to be “interesting,” rather to keep the ship moving steadily in the right direction. If I didn’t enjoy that role, I would definitely not play tuba in an Oktoberfest band. In this ensemble, the spotlight is meant for other instruments—most often the clarinet—as we really brought this group together to feature our incredibly talented clarinetist.
The fringe benefits of playing the 20 gigs are what is most rewarding. Here are a few anecdotal stories of the highlights.
Four of our performances were in pubs or breweries. These were all great fun. Point Brewing and Refined Fool Brewing both had patrons in costume having a great time. Refined Fool had the most vocal patrons, singing several songs at the top of their lungs (we even had George and Jane Lung singing at the top of their lungs) and several tables all dressed in Oktoberfest attire. Point Brewing was a great way to start our gigs as it is an intimate brewery and it was a beautiful fall day. People were having a great time, and that is so gratifying to see when you are entertaining.
Paddy’s in Sarnia was quieter but with an enthusiastic crowd on Thanksgiving weekend. Our hosts were fantastic, and we met a man from Massachusetts who was in town for work and happened in for a quick beer—he ended up staying for the two-hour set and singing every song he could.
These were fun. The most rewarding performances were at the seniors’ residences and nursing homes. It is no secret that nursing homes can be a sad place as residents can be struggling with a myriad of health issues. However, having the opportunity to see people come alive and the joy that many experience as we play is a gift to the performers.
We had a 90-plus-year-old woman singing, dancing and playing the spoons in Chatham. At another location, an elderly woman in a wheelchair approached us after we performed and said, “Thank you for this. My late husband played the trumpet, and this made me think of him and how much he enjoyed playing.”
In Wallaceburg, we had residents singing, clapping and smiling. I had more than a few people come up to me with two pressing questions about my instrument: How much does that tuba weigh? Does that take a lot of air? The answer, by the way: 35 pounds out of the case, and it depends on which register I am playing in. The lower a note, the more air it requires.
In Sarnia, a small but very enthusiastic crowd included my former mother-in-law, and she was thrilled to have a unique musical experience.
The highlight was another location in Sarnia (we played five seniors’ residences there) where a dear friend from my time in that city’s theatre community is now a resident. Frank was at the front of the residents, belting out all of the songs, and the smile never left his face from the moment Joni and I hugged him until after we had packed up to depart.
Performing arts are a symbiotic relationship, and artists feed off of the energy of the audience.
Now, we reset and prepare for the holiday crush with several performances with many different ensembles starting in mid-November.
Stay tuned!
