The first time I hit the stage was at an open mic in Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec... Nothing too glamorous, I think I played guitar on a jam of Neil Young's Down by the River. As someone that is normally on the shy side, the Leo in me came out in full force under the stage lights, and I remember thinking, "Yup, this is what I am supposed to be doing!"
By 1995, I was living in North Vancouver, BC and some of the songs I play to this day are from that era of my songwriting. With the support of friends and a local hemp shop owner, I was able to settle into a regular gig at the back of the store. Oh, there are plenty of stories from that store, but those will have to wait for another post... maybe ;)
Chatting with the store owner, my friend Ryan, we tried to figure out who or what my style was before I did my first show and started putting posters up all over the city. We knew the roots of my music were folk, and we wanted it to sound cool and professional, so we opted for "North Vancouver Folk Artist". For a few months, I was Andrew Rodger, North Vancouver folk artist.
Now, if I'm being honest, and we're making a connection to each other here, so I will be honest, there was never a shortage of green combustibles at the hemp shop called "The Joint" and the air was particularly cloudy at one show. There was a nice little community of friends that supported me at the time, so it was pretty normal for me to know everyone in attendance. This one night though, a young man that that seemed to be having a good time was sitting quietly by himself at the back of the crowd. I didn't recognize him...
So, the show ends and there's much chatting afterwards. The young man is still in his spot at the back of the room. Eventually, there are only a handful of us left, having a chat and the young man approaches us and says, "So, when does the painting start?"
Um... what? We all kind of looked at each other confused... Painting?
"The music was great," he said. "But the posters said there would be a folk artist, so when does the painting start?"
That was my last time on stage as Andrew Rodger, North Vancouver Folk Artist and over the next few years in North Van, I was known simply as Andrew Rodger, folk guy.
See ya next time...
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