Michael Johnston, Dave Clark,
Andy Sheppard, and Cate Friesen
House Concert, Tinker Creek, Manitoba
October 23, 2005

It sure wasn't as easy to find this place as I'd thought, so it was a bit of an adventure getting there, but it sure was worthwhile. Cate, Andy, and Michael play together a lot, and I always enjoy going to see them whenever I get a chance, but this show was a bit different than any other I'd seen featuring them, because it was a true songwriters' circle, with performers swapping songs and joining each other and keeping it loose and fun and giving each performer his/her turn to shine. This is just the kind of thing I like.

But the real star of this show and this visit of Michael's was the amazing Dave Clark. As you may know, Dave used to be a member of a band called Rheostatics that I fell in love with in the early 90s. They were so weird and so fun and so interesting, and I've come to realize that this was largely thanks to Dave. Dave was more than just the drummer in that band, he was like a ringmaster keeping the whole circus together. And during each show with the band, he'd step out from behind the drums, come up front to do a "Dave Clark Poetry Moment." Those were always highlights of those shows for me, and the band has never been the same for me since Dave left.

I'd kind of lost track of Dave over the years. I knew that he was playing with The Dinner is Ruined, in Gord Downie's band, and a bunch of other projects, but I wasn't too familiar with any of those. Then he turned up again a few years ago, playing with Tannis Slimmon at a Folk Alliance showcase as part of the Prairie Music Awards week going on here. Even with Tannis's mellow, beautiful folk tunes, Dave added something truly special. I had a chance to chat with him after that show, and he was still so funny, so intelligent, and so creative. I pulled out a copy of a poetry book he published many years ago and asked him to sign it for me. Here's what he did:

I knew that Dave had been playing periodically with my friend Michael in Toronto, and was lucky enough to see one of those shows when Kristi and I went out to The Hillside Festival in July. Dave was selling copies of his long in the making solo records (he put out two at once) and I snapped them up. They're just like Dave. Very weird, very unique, very creative, and somewhat hard to understand at first. I love Dave and will always respect him for whatever he does, but these aren't the kind of album that most people will put on in the background or in the car or whatever. They're a bit more unusual than that.

Which made for an interesting show when he showcased his talents for the folks gathered at the Nikkel home in Tinker Creek. The folks were mostly older and gathered for a nice evening of folk music, but Dave's material is at time challenging and always off-beat. I don't really think many of the people in the audience really "got" Dave, but he was very charming and did some of his safer material, so many people were nice enough to him after and some bought his poetry book. I kind of wondered what happened to the few people that bought his CDs when they got home and put them on. I suspect they might have been a little surprised.

Best of all for me, I got to interview Dave on my show. Originally Michael had hoped to bring Dave into the studio so that they could play on the air, but their schedule just didn't allow for it, so I chatted with them both on the phone. I've talked to Michael many times, and it's always enjoyable and interesting (I hope the listeners agree!), but I wasn't sure what to expect when he offered to wake Dave up from his nap to chat with me for a bit. What I got was one of the most relaxed and interesting interviews I've ever done. We chatted for a long time about Dave's time with the Rheostatics, playing with Michael and others, and his solo records, and he was totally charming, down-to-earth, and very intelligent. I really enjoyed this interview and it was a real treat to see Dave and spend some time with him after so many years. I wish him the best with whatever he does.

Ah but this was also a rare opportunity for me to see the marvellous Cate Friesen do her own stuff. Whenever I see her she's backing up Michael or Andy or something, but rarely does she do a show of her own any more, and that's a real shame. She's a wonderfully talented and engaging songwriter and performer, and I do hope that she comes on my show some day to showcase her talents.