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Anniversaries are a time for looking back, taking stock of what you’ve been through, and using it as a reference for the road ahead. My band, Silver Creek, just played our fifth show at Bluesfest in as many years. This is special since our very first show as Silver Creek was actually at Bluesfest in 2006, so it marks the beginning of the fifth year of gigs for the band. So I figured I’d put together a bit of a look back at the years to see the evolution of the band.

Blacksheep Stage, July  2006

Shawn and I on the Blacksheep stage, 2006

I met Shawn Tavenier in February of 2006. He was playing with a local cover band, The Bourbon Brothers. I was between bands at the time and looking to start something new. The moment I met Shawn I knew that he was the guy I wanted to work with. So I pestered him endlessly for weeks to start a band with me. He said he had some songs written and knew a few people who could get involved. A few months went by, and in the spring of 2006 we had our first official Silver Creek jam session. It took place in Carleton Place, on a farm that belonged to the family of Tony Raybould, who would be our first drummer. The band was comprised of Shawn Tavenier, Anders Drerup, Tony Raybould, Tyler Keeley and myself. By some stroke of luck, we got offered a last minute spot at Bluesfest on a Monday on the Blacksheep stage and it definitely was one of the major motivators that moved this young band along. This was the last year that the festival was held at the city hall grounds and we were playing on the same day as two great Canadian acts who were both major influences of ours, Matt Mays and El Torpedo and Sam Roberts. We had the opportunity to meet both bands and hang out with them backstage.

Matt Mays and I at Zaphods’ after the gig

My first year playing Bluesfest was a gig I will never forget. I used to be big into the dangerous sport of downhill mountain biking, and went biking every Sunday with a couple of friends, rain or shine. We’d drive out to Calabogie and take the chairlift up the hill then ride down at break-neck speeds. The Sunday before we played Bluesfest was no exception. For some reason I attempted a stunt that was far beyond my level of skills, and bailed hard. I destroyed my left arm and shoulder, not only ripping the skin off them and suffering deep flesh wounds but doing severe damage to my bones and muscles. Being a right handed bass player means that I need to strap my bass (which weighs quite a bit) on my left shoulder and use my left hand to fret all the notes. As soon as I collected myself and got back to the bottom of the hill, I knew I was in trouble. I could barely lift my left arm and was in a lot of pain. My friends wanted to take me to the hospital, but I was afraid that I would be put into a cast or a sling and not be able to play the show the next day. So when I got home, my roommate (who’s intentions were much better than his knowledge of first aid) went out and bought me a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and some gauze. I poured the peroxide onto my skinless arm in an attempt to clean the wound, only to find that the peroxide ate off more skin and burned like crazy. After a couple hours of cleaning rocks and sand out of my arm, I covered it in the gauze. The next morning I was in even more pain, barely able to move my left arm at all and still bleeding. I played the show like this, and it was easily the most painful experience of my life to this point. My shoulder still isn’t quite what it used to be, and playing bass for an extended period of time is quite uncomfortable.

Blacksheep Stage, July 2007

Jeff Rogers, Gordie Johnson, Me, Kiko Garcia

This year was the first year that the festival had been moved back to Lebreton Flats. The band was pretty different at this point. We were now a six piece with Shane Mcewan on drums, Kiko Garcia on guitar, Anders on lap steel and banjo and Tyler Keeley on keys. We got a full page feature in the Ottawa Citizen, as well as some other media. Some of the other acts at the festival that day were Joel Plaskett, The White Stripes, Hawksley Workman. We were backstage watching Joel Plaskett play when we got the chance to meet another Canadian hero of ours, Gordie Johnson from Big Sugar and Grady fame.

Rogers Stage, July 2008

Rogers Stage - 2008

In 2008 we had officially outgrown the Blacksheep stage and were promoted to the Rogers stage. We had an afternoon spot, and played to a decent sized crowd. This year was memorable because it was our first year playing with Jeff Rogers in the band on the organ and sax and the lineup was the same as it is today, but with the addition of Tyler Keeley on piano and John Steele on pedal steel guitar. It was also the first year that we had a CD for sale and we sold a ton of copies of it.

MBNA Stage, July 2009

Backstage with Greg Keelor

2009 marked our debut on the mainstage. We had been given the opening spot for Canadian legends Blue Rodeo on a Friday night at 7pm. We prepared for months and put on the show of our lives. At this point the band had been trimmed down to just the five current members, and we had another recording under our belt as well as a cross Canada tour. 2009 was the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, so we played a cover of Joe Cocker’s version of “A Little Help From My Friends” to mark that. We got a chance to meet Greg Keelor and have a chat with him, as well as rub shoulders with some other Canadian music industry big-wigs. We also got to play two great shows at The Rainbow this year as part of the new “Bluesfest Byward” program that was introduced in 2009. We had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Alberta Cross and Little Ed and the Blues Imperials.

MBNA Stage, July 2010

Pic courtesy of Live 'n Loud Magazine

Just last week we played our fifth show at Bluesfest. Opening for legends like Phil Lesh and Bob Weir was a great way to mark your fifth anniversary while keeping it all in perspective. These guys have been around for decades, and have seen many members come and go. It was great to see them playing at the top of their game, with smiles on their faces and a huge crowd of appreciative fans. This year’s show will be remembered for how hot it was. We arrived around 3 pm to set up and sound check and spent about an hour on the stage toying around and getting things just right. The thermometer peaked at around 45 degrees that day and the huge black stage was even hotter. The MBNA stage faces the setting sun straight on from the afternoon until sunset, making it a well lit stage for audiences but a long set of looking straight into the sun for performers. We sweated it out on stage for 45 minutes then retired to our air-conditioned trailer to catch our breath. Playing music for 45 minutes is far more of a workout than many people give enough credit for! The heat caused a few technical issues with amps overheating and what not, but for the most part we survived it.

It’s been really fun to be a part of this festival for 5 years now. We’ve watched it go from the festival at City Hall with just a couple stages to what it is now. It’s been great to watch the new things that get introduced every year and see if they work out or not. Last year’s Byward Market concerts seemed to be a hit, and hopefully that will become a regular. This year marks the first year of the Blacksheep comedy and music tent, which couldn’t have come at a better time given how hot it’s been. The free wireless at the festival this year also seems to be a great addition. All in all I have to give props to the staff of Bluesfest for finding new ways to out do themselves every year. I also have to give thanks on behalf of the band for allowing us and many other great local acts to be a part of this festival. A spot at a festival of this size does not come easy, but Bluesfest makes sure to take care of all the local acts slugging it out from year to year. Our band may have never gotten off the ground had it not been for that first spot on the Blacksheep stage.

by Mark Laforest
Follow me on Twitter – @schmarkty

Tags: cisco ottawa bluesfest, festivals in Ottawa, live music in Ottawa, Silver Creek

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at 2:54 am and is filed under Features, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.