Songwriter's Circle

Despite freezing rain and ice pellets last night I hied me down to the Oakville Centre for what was billed as 'Songwriter's Circle'.  Joel Kroeker from Manitoba performs with Randy Bachman and looks like he could be his love-child.  Tal Bachman was born with music in his genes.  Andy Kim on the other hand is a generation removed from the other two and has connections with Ron Sexsmith and Ed Robertson, (Bare Naked Ladies).  Except for an association with the same agent I'm not sure how he got paired with these young turks.  Once he started performing I recognized songs like "Sugar, Sugar".  Joel and Tal did their own accompaniment but Andy had one Terry Gowan in tow to perform beautifully on the grand piano and on guitar.  One got the feeling that these two had a closer connection. 

 

In welcoming the audience mention was made of the printer of the Centre's programme.  A closer examination of that document would make one hope they did it for free—just who are (sic), "The Bind Boys of Alabama".  Just one of the many typos.  Joking mention was made after the intermission of the arm wrestling match that took place backstage.  Tal was quick to declare that they were all winners but Joel sports one impressive set of thighs; Tal, slim hips.  Reference was made to the wandering life of a singer/songwriter but it became obvious they depend on someone else to arrange their travels.  Joel has finished a Masters in Ethno-musicology and Tal is working on his Doctorate but he was repeatedly ribbed about naively grabbing a cab to Oakville from the airport during rush hour and Joel, though he spent some time in Haiti, didn't seem to know that it was on the island of Hispaniola. 

 

Aside from demonstrating the strikingly different musical styles of these three musicians who performed in turn; one would hope that if they continue this format they warm to each other enough to work together more closely on stage.  Singers accustomed to having a band at their backs require a great deal of courage to go solo and the strain of concentrating on playing guitar while remembering lines without a teleprompter was often obvious.  This group need a bit more practice before they can give an audience the sense of a group of friends gathering to swap stories and song.  The twenty minutes it took to scrap the ice off my windshield made me kind of wish I'd bought a couple of Joel's CD's rather than a ticket that required me to leave home this night.  The power black-out that interrupted the writing of this review proves the storm continues.