MUSIC
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This month I want to talk about a couple of different things. The first one being that the summer, sadly, is nearing an end and the music community will be going into it’s forced semi—hibernation until next summer with a couple of breaks for the MusicPEI awards and the ECMA convention and awards. It’s unfortunate that the I sland can’t sustain a year round music industry. The MusicPEI folks have gone a long way toward making a viable music industry on PEI a reality. With such a small population base it is difficult but not impossible and with artists having access to better recording studios all the time and with easier means of distribution at their fingertips it’s just possible that more and more PEI artists will see their dreams realized in the near future.
The second thing that I’d like to visit this month is the lack of “real” country music on radio, in stores, and on TV. I know, I know, I’m a hundred years old and living in the past but I still have a love for real country music, not the synthesized, programmed, pseudo-country that pervades the air waves today.
By accident I ran across a CD the other day that proves that real country is alive and well in Canada. Cliffy Short—does that name ring a bell? Probably not for many, but there are a few old timers like me who hear bells every time that name comes up.
Cliffy is a native of New Brunswick but has lived in the Toronto area for many years. He has been a mainstay in the Canadian country music business for fifty years and has recently recorded a couple of CDs of classic country. His latest one is a project called Time That’s Passing By.
The project was produced by Mel Aucoin at Mel’s Own Sound in Owen Sound Ontario and includes some of the finest musicians in the country. The roster looks like this, Mel Aucoin, Todd Nolan, Bob Lucier, Darren LaChance, Tyler Beckett, Linsey Beckett, Christie Smith, and Doug Vendenkieboom.
The CD includes songs like, “Pass Me By,” Another Bridge To Burn,” “Heart Over Mind,”and “I Turned and Walked Slowly Away” as well as a song called “Too Dang Old To Quit” that features Cliffy’s good friend Gordie Tapp.
This CD isn’t for everyone but it sure struck a chord with me and I’m sure it will be a hit with anyone interested in country music delivered in the classic style. Now this project was recorded in 2006 but it’s timeless so it sure won’t go out of style any time soon. If you’d like to get a copy you can call Cliffy at 905-812-0475 or 2429 Yorktown Cir., Mississauga, ON L5M 5Y2.
Until next time don’t forget to support live country and bluegrass music and listen to Bluegrass Island every Sunday at 9 pm on CFCY 95.1 FM or on the internet at www.951fmcfcy.com.