David Wilcox will be performing at Peterborough Musicfest after all, thanks to the work of the festival team and volunteers and financial support from Miskin Law.
The veteran Canadian blues rock guitarist had been set to perform at Peterborough Musicfest’s season finale concert at 8 p.m. on Saturday (August 17) when a weather-related power outage forced festival organizers to delay and then cancel the concert, disappointing those who had gathered at Del Crary Park to hear Wilcox play.
“We are heartbroken,” Wilcox wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday morning. “Yesterday afternoon thunderstorms knocked the power out at the Peterborough Musicfest and we couldn’t play. Many of our friends were there and we got to say hello to some of them. We’re hoping to come back as soon as possible to rock out with you. Can’t wait!”
Not only does rescheduling a cancelled concert depend on the performer’s availability, but it also results in additional costs. Fortunately, Wilcox was available to perform a new date and Miskin Law stepped up to provide financial support to allow the concert to be rescheduled to 8 p.m. on Wednesday (August 21).
“The team at Miskin Law was deeply disappointed that the David Wilcox concert couldn’t go ahead as planned,” reads a statement from Miskin Law. “We’re committed to doing everything possible to bring this important Peterborough event back. Miskin Law is also covering any additional expenses resulting from the rescheduling. We’re grateful that David
Wilcox has generously agreed to perform again.”
“We also want to express our heartfelt gratitude to our incredible team and volunteers who are stepping up to make this show happen outside of the festival’s regular season,” reads a statement from Peterborough Musicfest. “Their dedication and hard work are instrumental in ensuring that this night will be a success.”
Original story by Paul Rellinger
Now, just like that, there is one. Back on June 29, when Canadian country singer-songwriter Tenille Townes was introduced at Del Crary Park, the 37th season of Canada’s longest-running free summer music festival laid ahead in the form of 16 concerts.
The season finale wasn’t close to being on anyone’s radar. After all, there’s no sense in rushing the summer season along. That’s not good for anyone’s psyche.
Now here we are, and here is on the cusp of the season curtain closer with Canadian blues-rock singer and guitarist David Wilcox returning to Peterborough Musicfest at 8 p.m. on Saturday (August 17) after a 25-year absence.
Not unlike countless musicians who were raised during the 1950s, the Montreal native was inspired to follow his eventual music path by the hip-shaking boy from Tupelo. With Elvis Presley as his role model, Wilcox picked up a guitar at age seven and, 68 years on, hasn’t put it aside.
Come 1970, Wilcox found himself a member of Great Speckled Bird, Ian and Sylvia Tyson’s band. That saw him play back-up for music legends Anne Murray, Carl Perkins, and Charlie Rich. Before Wilcox struck out on his own in 1973, Todd Rundgren, Paul Butterfield, and John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin fame) also benefited from his masterful guitar playing.
In 1977, Wilcox recorded and released his debut album Out of the Woods. The solo album brought him three hits in “Do The Bearcat,” “Bad Apple,” and “That Hypnotizin’ Boogie.” Five years later, now part of Capitol Records’ stable of artists, Out of the Woods was re-released and became Wilcox’s first recording to attain gold status.
In 1983, yet another gold album came forth in the form of My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble. It spawned two more hits — “Downtown Came Uptown” and “Riverboat Fantasy” — and suddenly the masses were very well aware of Wilcox’s abundant talent.
Bad Reputation came forth in 1984, followed three years later by Breakfast at the Circus with its hit single “Layin’ Pipe.” Wilcox closed out the decade with 1989’s The Natural Edge, with the single “Lay Down In Your Arms” added to his arsenal of radio airplay standards.
Wilcox recorded four subsequent albums, the latest being 2015’s Guitar Heroes, and has released five compilation discs, but years of touring brought him a huge following that he continues to enjoy to this day. His album success aside, the argument could well be made that his live shows have been, and remain, central to Wilcox’s enduring popularity.
Nominated for three Juno Awards, Wilcox was a bridesmaid each time, with Kim Mitchell getting the nod in 1983 as Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year. Six years later, Wilcox watched on as Robbie Robertson received the statue for Best Male Vocalist. Then in 1990, again nominated in the same category, Wilcox once more remained in Mitchell’s shadow.
Those disappointments aside, Wilcox can lay claim to be one of a few Canadian artists who, at age 75, is still bringing it in a big way, making him a very popular draw.
His August 17th Musicfest appearance is his first since 1999, putting an end to the longest absence from Del Crary Park of any returning performer.
VIDEO: David Wilcox at Salmon Arm’s 16th Annual Roots & Blues Festival (2009)
During a September 2020 interview with Ken Vantour of Let’s Rock, Wilcox referenced his first live performance at age 14 — given in a room full of ex-convicts.
“It was in a church basement,” Wilcox recalled. “A lady had this club for people who were recently released from jail and we went and played some songs. We played ‘Donna’ by Richie Valens and a couple Chuck Berry songs.”
“Somebody in the audience slid a chair at the band. They weren’t throwing it at us or anything but just slid this chair across the dance floor. I stepped up to the mic and said, ‘Three chairs for that man over there,’ and the front person was born. I’m a bit of a showboat or ham or whatever you want to call it, so I enjoy stepping out there and fronting the band.”
It’s now pushing 55 years since Wilcox got his professional start through the good graces of Ian and Sylvia Tyson — an opportunity he still marvels over.
“It’s something to be very grateful for because I never dreamt that I’d be playing gigs — that people would be hearing the music that I wrote,” he said. “I just don’t know how to say thank you except to play my best.”
“The reason I started my first band as a front person was to improve my skills as an accompanist. I thought that if I sing lead a bit, then I’ll be a better back-up singer. If I solo more, I’ll be a better guitar player. I’ll just start this little band and see how far it goes and, wow, it’s still going.”
VIDEO: David Wilcox at Casino Rama Resort (2016)
Getting serious attention for his music said Wilcox, was a benchmark moment.
“I had been on the road for two or three years,” he said. “I had made a record but had trouble getting it released because it was disco days and people didn’t want anything that wasn’t disco.”
“We go to this small town and we’re playing a bar we’d never played before and there’s three or four hundred people there. That was usually a bad sign because it meant that it was their regular drinking place. Because we hadn’t played there before, they were probably expecting a top 40 band playing the radio hits, like a lot of bands did.”
“I go on stage and they knew the words (to my songs). Instead of Zeppelin, Skynyrd, whatever the audience would yell, they were calling for our songs. It was a life moment.”
Wilcox added his passion for what he does is as strong as ever, if not stronger.
“Over time, I let go of things I don’t really need to think about, if you know what I mean,” he noted. “You get to the real nitty gritty of what matters in life. A friend. Fun. Laughter. A place to live. Something decent to eat at times. The simpler my thinking gets, I think the better an artist I am, but also, the more fun I have.”
“I started out doing this for love. One of the reasons I take sabbaticals is to replenish that. You know, remind myself of how it felt when I was a kid, 11 years old, learning the guitar. My love of music didn’t have any categories. There was no money factor. Just that feeling of being there for the love of the music and the joy of it.”
VIDEO: Behind The Vinyl: “Riverboat Fantasy” with David Wilcox (2016)
Peterborough Musicfest is presenting 16 free-admission concerts during its 37th season, each staged on Wednesday and Saturday nights until August 17th.
Overseen by executive director Tracey Randall and staff, a board of directors, and numerous volunteers, Peterborough Musicfest’s stated mission remains “to provide diverse, affordable live music to enrich cultural and economic prosperity in our community.”
For more information on this concert or the 2024 season, visit www.ptbomusicfest.ca or phone the Peterborough Musicfest office at 705-755-1111.
kawarthaNOW is proud to be a headline sponsor of Peterborough Musicfest’s 2024 season.
