A Peterborough native who has had his fair share of travel adventures is heading on another, this time with his family at his side.
Three-time Juno Award-nominated roots/blues musician Rick Fines will head to Bonn, Germany late this summer, joining his wife Lise and their daughter — the former having accepted a two-year teaching contract at a school in the city.
“We’re Peterborough people and we’re coming back,” assures Fines, putting an end to any suggestion the move is permanent.
“We talked about this years ago,” Fines adds. “At that time, it was her (Lise) taking a leave from work for us to go to Paris where she could teach and I would teach music. But time goes by, and expenses and everything else goes up. It really wasn’t feasible. Then along comes this offer and, so, Germany it’ll be.”
“We’ll rent out our place here and go have a European experience as a family. We have a pre-teen daughter. It’s a perfect time for her to see that the world is a bigger place but also have comfort in knowing she’s coming back home.”
This won’t be Fines’ first extended European adventure. Back when he was 23 years old, he crossed the ocean for what turned out to be a 60-day experience.
VIDEO: “Never Let Go” – Rick Fines (2021)
“I had been busking on the streets of Quebec City,” Fines recalls. “I invited European friends who I met in a hostel, who were doing a tour of Canada, to visit Peterborough and experience country music in a bar. So I had this list of friends.”
“I flew into Cologne (in Germany), took a train to Bonn, and bought a bicycle. I biked through northern Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, and then followed the Moselle (River) to the Rhine. I had one of those books in my backpack — Europe on $10 a day. I had 600 bucks in travellers cheques, so I did 60 days with 600 bucks.”
Of course, Fines can’t say “auf wiedersehen” to friends and longtime fans of his music without a stage to say it from. So it is that on Friday, June 21 at Market Hall, he’ll headline a last Peterborough show before a slew of schedule summer gigs takes him out of city right up to his August departure for Germany.
“I haven’t thought of a clever name for it yet … I’m thinking Farewell For Now or something like that,” says Fines, noting Rob Phillips, Richard Simpkins, and Alec Fraser, among others, will be in the mix.
“But the big guest, the big surprise, is my friend Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne is coming for his first ever show in Peterborough. I’ve played gigs over the last couple of decades with Kenny on the West Coast and we’ve become good friends. I just love everything about what he does.”
And what’s not to love? At age 79, the American-born blues, boogie-woogie, and jazz pianist remains “a master,” raves Fines, referencing Wayne’s influence on his own music over the past three decades.
VIDEO: “My Nadine” – Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne (2020)
“He does the whole New Orleans sound, the Fats Domino sound, and such,” Fines says of Wayne. “He put out an album reminiscent of my (2003) Riley Wants His Life Back album. We both studied the great 1940 trios, like Willie Dixon’s Big Three Trio.”
“I thought ‘Why not ask him if can come for this?’ adds Fines, clearly thrilled that his longtime friend has accepted the invite.
On Monday (April 1), Fines was still basking in the afterglow of this past Saturday’s Jackson Delta concert at Market Hall.
Also featuring Fines’ longtime band mates and friends Al Black and Gary Peeples, the trio drew material from not one but two Juno Award-nominated albums: Acoustic Blues and I Was Just Thinking That, nominated in 1991 and 1993 respectively (Fines was again nominated in 2021 for his album Solar Powered Too, the latest of his 14 albums).
“There was such a warm vibe in that room,” says Fines. “There were friends I’ve known since elementary school in the audience and people who used to come to shows at Milligan’s Pub back in the late ’80s.”
With that show in the rear-view mirror, Fines is now looking forward to a busy summer of shows and, of course, whatever Germany may hold for him creatively.
“So far there’s nothing lined up because this really all came together a little late to be able to do that,” Fines says, adding “I’ll be writing and practising and meeting people who hire people.”
“When we get there, we’re not going to get a car. We’re going to buy bicycles, and there’s a great rail system throughout Europe. We’re already making plans for holidays spent in other countries. I think all of that will be very inspiring.”
The time away, says Fines, “is the window of opportunity to have a European experience. Not just a tour or visit but an actual experience. That window will close if we don’t go and do it.”
Tickets for Rick Fines’ June 21st concert at the Market Hall are available for $50 for an assigned cabaret table seat or $30 for general admission and can be purchased online at tickets.markethall.org. The show starts at 8 p.m.
