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Musicians honour legendary singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in Nanaimo tribute show

‘Sundown: A Gordon Lightfoot Experience’ happens June 3 in Nanaimo
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Trevor Price, left, Bob Wilson and Andrew MacMillan during rehearsal on Tuesday, May 23, for the trio’s upcoming tribute show ‘Sundown: A Gordon Lightfoot Experience’ at the Royal Canadian Legion Mount Benson Branch 256 on June 3. (Mandy Moraes/News Bulletin)

Fans of the late Canadian legend Gordon Lightfoot can gather in Nanaimo and cherish his music one more time.

While singer-songwriter Trevor Price actively started pursuing the idea of a Lightfoot tribute show after seeing his performance at the Port Theatre in October, he said the seed to honour the legend was planted long before then.

Lightfoot’s death on May 1 was hard for the Nanaimo-based singer-songwriter, as the musician was not only Price’s first musical memory, but was also “somebody who had always been there.”

“He’s always been kind of my musical grandfather,” he said. “But the last time I saw him… it was like, ‘It’s time to do this.’”

Price was overwhelmed by the magnitude of what Lightfoot had accomplished in his musical career, and was aware of how important the legend was to not only himself but to many performers over the decades. As his first-ever tribute show, he thought the performance would be a great way to not only bring Lightfoot’s music to the people who were there when it was released, but a good way to introduce his work to a younger audience as well.

“It would be wonderful to see some younger people come out because I still think that his stuff holds up… It’s a big thing for me just to be able to get up and play this wonderful music for people,” the singer-songwriter said. “He’s kind of in everything that I do, from my playing style to even some of the chord shapes I still use… But there’s that personal honesty in so much of his work that is important to me.”

The tribute show, Sundown: A Gordon Lightfoot Experience, will showcase work from Lightfoot’s earliest commercial releases in the ’60s up to his last album in 2020, with an emphasis on his early work. The show has been in the works since the start of 2023, and saw its first performance at the Living Forest Oceanside Campground on April 15.

Price will be joined by bassist Andrew MacMillan and guitarist Bob Wilson for the June 3 show at the Royal Canadian Legion Mount Benson Branch 256, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online through www.eventbrite.ca.

READ MORE: Legendary folk singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot dies at 84


mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com

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Mandy Moraes

About the Author: Mandy Moraes

I joined Black Press Media in 2020 as a multimedia reporter for the Parksville Qualicum Beach News, and transferred to the News Bulletin in 2022
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