The record, 4 juin 2010, Supplément 1

I I rrest I Hi Rt.CC of Never Shakespearean musical Page.3 Arcade Fire fe of the artist \l;jv }ii^hlights Tom Jones • Cyberpunk • Fiji Mmw Fest Fun for the who Ce family ! dots of children s actizhties, siCent auction, canteen, etc.*9//} _ Ayer’s Cliff Fair Grounds June 5 & 6,2010 www.themusicfest.org Info: 819-823-2009 Conte meet our 2010 ‘Wish Child! Att weekend tong: Btuegrass, lotk, Country, Country Rock and Otd Time Rock & Roff! RËO^M) ¦ ' Admission: $8/dày p., $12 weekend pass pp, $40 family.W8bkertdpasst children 12 & under free.$6/night for camping > • .v.y g • .g M M •* _____________________ ‘ mu ?»% • » * « « * « « « Page 2 June 4 - June 10, 2010 Outside the Box Kelly McDevitt Drama.We may not want it in our personal lives any more than Mary J.Blige does, but we sure do love it on TV.If you watch TV, you’ve probably noticed an abundance of drama lately.With the broadcast season drawing to a close, primetime dramas like Grey’s Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, as well as reality shows like Dancing with the Stars and American Idol came to their dramatic conclusions.This season also saw the end of what I consider to be this decade’s definitive television dramas: Lost and 24.Then of course there is real-world drama.From the inspiring playoff bid of the Montreal Canadiens, to the tragedy.of oil spills, sink holes and hurricanes, to the intrigue of sunken warships and coked out politicians, there is no shortage of drama on TV.There is, however, a strange lack of it on the Internet.The world of web series is solidly dominated by comedy, but there are some dramatic web series out there if you know where to look.Luckily I do, and now you will too.A.great place to look for web series is www.streamys.com.The Streamys are the only awards that exclusively honour Internet television.The advantage of this site is that you know you’ll find good stuff, since it’s all nominated for an award.You can search by genre and award category for both this year’s and last year’s nominees and winners, complete with links to host websites where you can watch the series.Unfortunately, many web dramas (Gemini Division, After Judgement, The Bannen Way) are not viewable from Canada, but look into them anyway in case that changes.The Streamy website is where you’ll find 2009: A True Story.This gripping series opens with a date, a countdown, and the bombing of LAX.It premiered in 2008, making the opening date one year in the future for pre-Obama viewers still grappling with Bush-era hysteria.This show takes these anxieties and explodes them; homegrown terrorism; public transit/airline explosions, government control over media, government surveillance, torture, distrust of the military despite support for the troops, immigration - all converge into a nightmare scenario not of what the Bush administration could have actually led to, but of the collective, hyperbolic fear of the times.This chaotic political setting is navigated by Sara, a young woman trapped and alone in Venice Beach, CA when the LA airport is bombed.To cope, Sara records video diaries to her brother Adam, a soldier.In addition to Sara’s diaries, the viewer also sees Adam’s helmet camera as he searches the California desert for a homegrown terrorist.It’s jarring to watch both emotionally and visually as the cameras switch back and forth between the separated siblings and dystopian newsmedia clips.It’s disturbing, and utterly unsuited for children (heck, it gave me the willies), but it’s a great example of the dramatic potential web series can offer.To watch 2009: A True Story, visit www.youtube.com/2009atruestory and check out the other web dramas nominated at www.streamys.com.ne wsroom@sherbrookerecord.com TALK Up and coming Book worms, next week Next week’s Talk will be a special books issue.That’s why there’s so much advance notice for so many Townships events this week.If you have a book project, get in touch, at ebjourno@gmail.com.Your favorite columnists, however, will continue to write about their own favorite non-book projects, of course, in the next Talk.Till then, good reading! Gospel and p an Angel A Montreal gospel choir and Townships jazz fave Angel Forrest will join their voices and their groove on Saturday to help raise money for a historical building in need of a little TLC.Blueswoman Forrest has performed multiple times at the Montreal Jazz Festival, and has often noted that the Townships have a special place in her heart.Her first English recording, Here For You, came out in 2005, followed a bit later by a Christmas album, Wonderland, and this year’s Come Alive.She’ll be accompanied by the Roxboro Gospel Choir, which started out in 1993 as a quartet and now features some two dozen voices; 90 per cent of their repertoire is a cappella.Church member Ann Fowlis promises a real treat for the ears in Plymouth Trinity United Church, “an official historical building - it is the oldest church building in Sherbrooke still being used as a place of worship.The accoustics are excellent and the building is often used for concerts by various groups.” The benefit is at 7:30 on Saturday, June 5 at Plymouth Trinity United in Sherbrooke, 380 Dufferin.Tickets are $12.Pig dances an Irish jig North Hatley’s Piggery Theatre has launched its summer season, and the first English-language show is coming up next week.Comic Richard Lynch brings his one-man dramatic comedy, From the Shoulders Down, to North America after a sold-out tour of duty in Britain and Ireland.It’s gotten a lot of positive press.Wrote one Irish reviewer: “Lynch gave us a more mundane stay-at-home Midland labourer, who worked for fifty years with an almost dull but crafty family firm.And early on I missed the depth and characterisation that the various people needed to create larger than life moments.“But it was the wonderful mime sequences at Mass and at confession that gradually won me over and in the second half his fine singing voice from Eileen Reid’s - Are You Teasing Me and a Buddy Holly song, impressed.” Check it out June 9 (for a matinee), and the 10th and 11th for an evening sitdown.The Piggery’s at 215 Chemin Simard, call 819-842-2431.For the complete summer schedule, check out www.piggery.com.But it’s the June 11 show that’s a really deal; it’s a fundraiser for the North Hatley Community Centre.The centre “plays a very important role in the Village and the surrounding area," says volunteer Susan Gwyn.“You will have a good time, see your friends, and ensure that the Community Centre will continue to serve us all.” Tickets are $20.Call Jane Perry-Gore at 819-842-4665.This is the actor’s first trip to Canada, “and I’m really upbeat about it, and I am confident that the Canadian audience will immediately identify with the Irish character and social history of the piece,” Lynch says in a release.In other Piggery news, fans of Wayne Rostad, the populist troubadour of Country Canada, will be happy to hear that he’ll play a Piggery fundraiser on July 9.The popular House and Garden Tour is July 22; and the annual corn roast is Aug.20.What the heck is that?ne of the many lawns at Bishop’s University is looking a bit messy these days.Foreman Art Gallery curator Vicky Chainey Gagnon says a London, Ontario-based artist is creating a garden.Ron Benner works with photographs, seeds and objects.“He is interested in tracing ways back and towards traditional and natural ways of growing plants while also looking seriously at different agricultural systems today,” Chainey Gagnon says.The garden will include corn and flowers, plus an information panel.“Within the garden, growing above the corn sections, will be photographs of women selling corn in markets in various countries all around the world, amongst other images.These are documents taken since the ‘70s by Benner himself and are images that highlight the role of Native American women in the agriculture and domestication (selection and creation) of edible plants throughout history.” There will be free guided visits during the summer and - mark your calendars! - a community harvest lunch and talk on Sept.19.The current exhibit in the Bishop’s University formal gallery space, Motelisation, is up until June 19.nature: “The technique that Hélène employs recreates the characteristics of each of her subjects, bringing out the qualities that make them unique.In this current exhibition, the artist has chosen to show her works in the order that they grow during different seasons of the year, enabling visitors to better appreciate the diverse flora of Quebec - the richness of our heritage.” The show is up until Sept.6.COURTESY Members of the North Hatley Community Centre Board: Susan Gwyn, Margaret Bryant, Gwen McKnight, Sylvia Gallagher, Ouida Moliner, Maty Rasmussen and Jane Perry-Gore. TALK newsroom@sherbrookerecord .com June 4 - June 10, 2010 Page 3 Amins $m • Seniors $15 • Students $10 luma STUD» TUEOTBE.0GUF5UWEWflV TME=619-622-9692 Œ H-19 @ 6 EEL Elvis and Shakespeare, together on stage What hips! By Eleanor Brown Special to The Record Tfiis time around, real-life coppers won’t be waiting to storm the show when the hips begin to gyrate.Director George Rideout has spent two months working out his staging of the Bard of Avon’s Twelfth Night, turning it into a 1950s rock ‘n’ roll musical - the King included.“Elvis will be rocking his hips,” confirms Rideout.Elvis Presley’s swiveling was scandalous, of course.Police in Jacksonville, Florida once promised to charge him with imperiling the morals of minors if he gyrated so obscenely on stage.And most famously, cameras on a big-name family variety show only filmed him above the hips.Now you can relive a ‘Be-Bop-a-Lu-La’ moment through Shakespeare - himself a pretty earthy auteur.Rideout has taken Twelfth Night, a classic cross-dressing comedy and love triangle, cut out some text and added a soundtrack, to create the boomer musical extravaganza Twelfth of Never.Why?“It tends to be for the simple reason that I know those songs.Let’s just say I’m a boomer,” he says, declining to give his age.“I don’t have to go looking for [the songs].These songs trigger pleasant or bittersweet memories.If it was grunge, well I don’t know that music well enough.” The tunes are carefully chosen to push the story along, and Rideout has cut out half of the Bard’s words.“I’ve kept the most accessible text, what sounds like today’s English.A song might replace a soliloquy.” Take the shipwrecked Viola who disguises herself as a man (for safety’s sake), then must learn a new set of gender cues.The Four Seasons’ ‘Walk Like A Man’ tells you everything you need to know.Other tunes reflect the emotional intent.Some words, some music, some dancing.The stranded Viola and her twin Sebastian find themselves in a strange new world, fans of rock and roll in the land of the conservative tunesmith Pat Boone.But the newcomers bring the stodgy citizens around, all the while teaching them about the true meaning of love.And mirror balls.Actually, Rideout’s juxtaposition is perfect, since Elvis would open for Boone, until he began to outsell his benefactor.Both music stars took advantage of radio (and society’s) colour barrier, recording black music for a white audience and riding the resulting THE 20ULSPRING MUSICHL # COURTESY TIM DOHERTY adoration into massive careers, with Presley bringing in that extra edge for a new generation.The cast of 26 Bishop’s University students have been working hard on this Cont’d on Page 4 Memories of a vibrant band Nostalgia is the new black.Or if you’re a heavy metal fan, you might say it’s the new back, as in Back Sabbath, the tribute band to Black Sabbath that made quite the (on stage) screaming, smashing stir in Sherbrooke recently.And I mean that in a good way.Back’s local fame shows the appeal of the “old” extends to all ages, not just — as the at-times mean-spirited stereotype holds — those bands playing to the memories of the, fun-filled youth of seniors or those on the cusp of retirement.And in fact Townshippers will Cont’d on Page 8 BISHOP'S DRRPlfl AIE FUSC DEPflRTOflTS PRESEJ1T HOHPIfO FROM SHAKESPEARE S12" NIGHT’ LIVE MUSIC FROM THE [)QS HMD BQS! » • t t t Page 4 June 4 - June 10, 2010 riewsrbom@shèrbrookieréc:ord'.com Talk Not arrogant, just really, really good Arcade Fire in Sherbrooke Ever create a “human band” with a bunch of people?A human band basically involves someone starting with a basic sound, beat or rhythm of some sort (no actual instruments involved - just using voice, hand claps, etc.), and slowly but surely everyone joins in.Canadian Indie darlings Arcade Fire have brought this concept to a whole new level (instruments included).Mastering the raw beat and energy of what could result in cacophony, this group of multi-tasking musical minds bring together layer upon melodic layer to the heights of harmony.These guys put the “in” in Indie.Arcade Fire puts out singles that are both listenable, yet somehow untouchable.Their elite sound could be seen as arrogant brilliance, yet is actually that simply they are just really, really good.Ergo, they stand out.Unusual in sound, appearance, number, variety of instruments employed, this band is tight.These are not the tracks you hear prompting you to think, “Man, I wish I’d come up with those lyrics, or that sound!” because you just know you never would have.While their sound pours out of our speakers, we know there’s a system at work, and we’re more than satisfied to listen, but we’re distant admirers, never truly a part of the club.Hailing from Montreal, Arcade Fire is fronted by husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, accompanied by Win’s brother William Butler, Richard Reed Parry and Tim Kingsbury.Launching their first attempts at bandness in 2003, seven years later The AF has a loyal and appreciative following, as well as solid professional reinforcement.Arcade Fire will be taking to the stage at Sherbrooke’s Granada Theatre Monday, June 7 and Tuesday, June 8.The debut of ticket sales saw eager fans lining up for several hours at the Wellington Street venue to get their hands on a chance to witness the wondrous AF experience.A new album, “The Suburbs” is anxiously awaited, to be released August 2 or 3 (depending on your location).The band’s website, www.arcadefire.com currently features a handwritten note from “Arkady Fireovitch”, personally written to those visiting the site, concerning the album’s release, with emphasis on its distribution being concentrated via independent record stores.These guys are earthy, aware and actively encouraging the little guys - it isn’t just evident in their actions - these values come through on their records too - a fundamentally human and humane resonance.Few are the bands with true musical ability, who are also bold enough to develop and put forth an original sound.While we’d never have thought of it, something primal about ourselves gets it.We have to, want to, move to it.We want to learn the words even we don’t always understand or identify with them.Arcade Fire takes you in.All you have to do is let go and be part of the music.The rolling repetition of simple notes, punched with solid vocal harmonies is soothing and trancelike, no matter the heaviness of riffs or pounding percussions.There isn’t that audible polish and harsh tonal manipulation that we’ve grown used to in most popular music.Arcade Fire awakens our creative minds, reminding us of the ways we are unreachable and unique.As song goes, “to know them is to love them.” Fans will be further enamoured with the live experience in store at The Granada - complete musical satisfaction in the flesh.For tickets, contact The Granada theatre’s box office at 819-565-5656.Style Files with Tuesday’s Child Sheila Quinn BU Musical Cont’d frpm Page 3 annual spring musical, Rideout notes, and features strong singers Peter Jarvis and Kyle Gleeson- it’s the last chance to hear them, as they’re graduating - and Alida Ingabire and Daniel Armand, whose great dancing performances last year has led Rideout to promote them into central roles.Rideout has produced Twelfth Night twice before, which is why his musical version materialized so quickly.“It’s not like creating a brand new piece.I’m fond of musicals from a bygone era.I haven’t followed them in a big way since Cabaret.I love the original heyday - Ok- lahoma, Showboat, Oliver, West Side Story - they’re classics.” And this is the fourth time he’s remade a classic piece of theatre into a musical.Is all this going to be too much for Shakespearean purists?“Fortunately, purists are few and far between.For purists, the battle was lost a long time ago.” The Bard of Avon’s work has been Director George Rideout says he’s true to the words and to the music.performed non-stop for hundreds of years, sometimes mangled, often reimagined in marvelous ways.“Everyone has their notions about keeping the integrity of Shakespeare.” Rideout says he has kept the playwright’s intent intact, and matched it with maintaining the music’s integrity.We’re talking The Suprêmes, Aretha Franklin, the Everly Brothers.“I really like to bring Shakespeare to the Townships.I believe Shakespeare can be really accessible; it’s very lively, there’s lots of action,” even a chase scene or two and yes, there are folks on the run from the law.Whether Elvis-inspired hip motions have anything to do with that can be discovered from Friday, June 11 to 13, and from Tuesday the 15th to the 19th.Showtime is 8 pm, and past years’ shows have sold out, so book early, at 819-822-9692.Tickets are $18 ($15 for seniors, $10 for students).The show is in the Turner Studio Theatre on the Bishop’s University campus.Local band The Lennoxvillians provide the music (live), with the aid of Jamie Crooks and Fannie Gaudette.COURTESY TIM DOHERTY TALK newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com June 4 - June 10, 2010 Page 5 Artworks sold before the paint was dry Coburn’s life now on stage By Eleanor Brown Special to The Record Theodor Geisel - Dr.Seuss - created ads for a bug repellent.Jim Henson, of Muppets fame, imagined training videos for the employees of IBM.And Frederick S.Coburn, perhaps the most famous Townships artist of all time, began his career doing commercial illustrations.“If you’re an artist, chances are awfully good you’re going to be starving,” says Nick Fonda, himself a retired school teacher who can, at this point in his life, afford to be a struggling writer.His bilingual play on the life of Coburn, to be produced this month in Melbourne as a tribute on the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death, was created with a $3,000 grant.(And that money includes payment for the set and other contributors, including cowriters Isabelle Dupuis and Lise St-Arneault.) But Coburn was never a starving artist.A Montreal gallery owner once said that he’d pop a canvas into the window, and “the paint would hardly be dry and [Coburn’s painting would be] sold.” Perhaps that was in part because Coburn knew what his public wanted.“That’s the big criticism of Coburn, that he did the same scene over and over again.But there were reasons,” says Fonda.Sales, for example.Fonda nonetheless enjoys Coburn’s work.“He’s an artist who appeals to me.I like landscapes, and I think I would have liked the man, as well.He was a very interesting individual, very dynamic, very adventurous in many ways, forward thinking.” Bom in 1871, Coburn was sketching outside a church 10 years later when a passerby bought a drawing for $10.That was his father’s salary for a week.As a young adult, he went to the big city, studied and made a living illustrating menus and newspaper stories (all before the advent of the photograph).He got his big break with book publishing, making drawings for the poems of Tennyson and the tales of Edgar Allan Poe.Coburn’s Malvina (with handkerchief).By his 40s, Coburn went into painting artworks full-time.Even in the Depression, he drove an expensive car.Fonda’s play is just part of Melbourne’s year-long efforts to draw attention to its favoured son.A plaque was recently unveiled; a large artwork dedicated to Coburn will be unveiled in the fall, and the local CLDE funded the production, and continues to push Coburn’s name for tourism purposes.Fonda and colleagues have written a situation comedy with two characters -one an art historian, looking at Coburn's work and legacy, the other a janitor, who talks about Coburn as a man and member of the community.A multi-media presentation presents his art and photographs, and even the unilingual, Fonda says, will enjoy the show.It’s a cof-fee-and-cake affair, too! But Fonda is also proud of the new information on Coburn’s life to be released.The Richmond County Historical Society (Fonda is its president) discovered unknown photos and info on the great artist, including neighbour’s children posing for him.“There’s a certain innocence about these friendships,” Fonda says.It sometimes seems that much about the Eastern Townships identity is based on history.“It’s not just Town-shippers," says Fonda.“It is a factor of the phenomenon of aging.It is more likely a symptom of the fact that as a community, we [anglophones] are not a growing, thriving community.We are a community that may be looking at its demise.It’s because of that that we may be interested in COURTESY MBAS our history.At a certain point, history’s all you’ve got.” But that’s the pessimistic view.The story of F.S.Coburn is, in fact, interesting.“I’ve always liked history because of the narrative aspect.There’s always a story, and I have always liked stories." The historical society’s Café and Coburn is June 17, 18 and 19 at 8pm at the Melbourne Townships Town Hall (1257 Route 243).Tickets are $12.Live music by Francine Beaubien.Reservations can be made by calling 819-826-3929.Coburn was born in the building to one side of the hall, and died on the building on the other.ON THE WALLS It’s your last chance to see some 50 selected and collected works of Frederick Simpson Coburn at the Musée des Beaux-arts de Sherbrooke, which is hosting a special exhibit to Sunday, June 13, that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death.The oil portraits, drawings and illustrations are taken from the museum’s collection - it holds the largest body of Coburn’s work in the country.Don’t leave without popping into the permanent exhibition gallery; other Coburn works can be found there.The Musée des beaux-arts is at 241 Dufferin Street.It’s $ 7.50 to get in; guided tours in English and group tours are available anytime upon reservation.(Fans of the museum will also want to know that another exhibit, of the work of Sherbrooke painter and sculptor Marc Boisvert, is up until Sunday, June 6.It too, marks an anniversary: the 25th of the death of the artist.Boisvert writes on one work, Le Dernier Ostensoir: “The truth is, that unemployment, misery and poverty are profitable for some.”) Up and coming The happiness of summer The annual Bonheur d’été exhibit in Lennoxville will launch on Friendship Day this year.The vernissage is Saturday, June 12 from 1 to 4pm at Uplands, 9 Speid St.The eleventh annual show features artists Oscar Ba-jofer (La Patrie, glass), Manon Bouchard (Sherbrooke, glass), Dominique Dubreuil (Sherbrooke, acrylics), Yolande Fortier (Sherbrooke, watercolours), Rachel Grenon (Bromont, ceramics), Mary Martha Guy (West-mount, acrylics), Francine Mercier (La Patrie, glass), Todd Munro (West Brome, monotype), and Muffy Tippet (Sherbrooke, pen and ink).The show closes July 25.Choromondo for Haiti The world music choir Choromondo presents its annual fundraising concerts this month in Ayer’s Cliff And Baldwin’s Mills.Choir director Allyna Harris “reflects her passion for roots based music from around the world, learning the songs in their original languages and as close as possible to the way they would be sung in each country." These 11th annual benefit concerts will feature music from South Africa, Bulgaria, Mali, Dalmatia, Hawaii, Chile, the Republic of Georgia, Ukraine, Quebec and Haiti.Proceeds will support Team Canada Healing Hands work in Haiti.The organization offers pros-theses and rehabilitation for those with missing limbs and spinal injuries.“They had also just built a much needed new clinic which was completely destroyed by the earthquake and needs to be re- built,” notes a release.The Choromondo concerts take place Friday June 11, at 7:30 pm at Beulah United Church in Ayer’s Cliff and Saturday June 12, also at 7:30 pm, at Baldwin’s Mills United Church.Tickets are $15 ($10 for students and seniors); reserve at 819-849-3825.COURTESY it 1 4* < % nnttm The members of Choromondo. Mm wM$È Page 6 June 4-June 10, 2010 newsroom@sherbrookerecord.com TALK I don't like spiders and earwigs .and sharks.Really not sharks By Meghan Jensen Special to The Record “They’re more scared of you than you are of them.” That’s what my mother used to tell me about spiders and earwigs when I was about three years old.Now it’s what this local guy ‘Ed’ is telling me about sharks.He’s trying to reassure me be cause Paul is trying to scare me.“Yeah, one big one, right as you turned around to catch the wave,” Paul goes “Really?” “Jumped out of the water, right be hind you.You didn’t see it?” “No,” I say.“If I’d seen it, you caabe sure I would’ve been paddling for my life back to the beach.Why didn’t you tell me?” “We don’t tell people about the sharks, then they just panic,” he says, and does an impression of a panicking surfer in the water.And Ed laughs.“Are you messing with me?” I feel like I would have noticed a big shark.“No, for real.Ask Ed.Ed?You see any sharks today?" “Yeah, one big one, one small one.” Paul might or might not be lying to me this time but either way, the fact is that this is a sharky spot.I know, I’ve seen them before with my own eyes.Big ones.But I feel like it must be okay, because the locals are so unafraid of them.Even Paul, who got bit by one a few years back.He’s got the scars to prove it.It’s like the French guy who was here a few days ago said: “If you want to surf in the best places in the world -Tahiti, Fiji,— then there’s going to be some sharks and either one bites you or one doesn’t.But the chances are pretty low that they do, so it’s best to just not worry about it.” That’s what he said, but then the next day he saw two in the water and decided to take off.Now he’s headed to some surf camp on another island with a package deal including accommodation, food and boat transport to the surf spots.“I like having my arms, my legs.I realized that if something happens to you here, you’re basically alone.With the sharks.At the surf camp there’s people, there’s a boat, lifeguards.’’ There isn’t any of that stuff here, it’s pretty basic.It’s not a very well known surfing destination, even though the surf is good.In the Fiji Lonely Planet there’s only a few lines that say you can surf here and that you’ll need your own transport, but nothing else.When I first came here two years ago, I had heard about it thorough word of mouth.One of the bartenders at the pub where I was working in NZ had told me: “Just remember these two things: find the only beach break in Fiji -all the other spots are reef break- and then find the guy named Paul.” That’s what I’d done (after a lot of wandering around in cow fields dragging backpacks and a surfboard) and I ended up having some of the best times here.Paul is actually Fiji’s surfing champion, and his uncle loves to show travelers his piles of trophies.His uncle is the one who runs the little home-stay.$25 Fiji dollars a night, and that includes delicious meals (curries, fresh fish cooked in fresh coconut milk, other Fijian dishes that are hard to describe but delicious.).The place consists of the family house with a ‘dorm room’ attached to it, the kitchen, which is separate, and a yard where chickens and a litter of puppies run around.The days are spent sitting around with cups of tea, smoking cigarettes (not me), listening to the radio and talking.Once or twice a day you fill up a water bottle, grab a board and make the trek to the river mouth or the beach to surf.In the evenings you can make driftwood bonfires on the beach, or sit around in the dark listening to the radio and smoking, or sit around with the locals drinking Kava, which is a root that’s ground up and mixed with water to make a drink that looks like muddy water and tastes like a combination of raw potatoes and charcoal.It’s a nice buzz though.Most backpackers say that one week is more than enough time to spend in Fiji but that’s because they don’t go to the right places.I’m not bored yet, especially now that I’ve somehow ended up in charge of the advertising.Yesterday I designed a logo for the place and painted a sign to go by the road.And I think next week I’ll head off on a little trip around other parts of Fiji to meet people and talk them into coming back here with me.The more backpackers I bring, the more free nights I get.People say spend one week in Fiji, but I’m pretty confident that I could last for months, as long as the sharks don’t get me.Meghan Jensen is a travelling Town-shipper.Her column appears as regularly as Internet connections allow! COURTESY At left, a detail from one of the new works in Sutton; above, Helene Richard.Up and coming A Valcourt Herbarium Summer flowers are blooming, but you should also see them through the eyes and paints of Sherbrooke artist Hélène Richard.Her wildflowers, up at Valcourt’s Yvonne L.Bombardier Cultural Centre, present a bouquet of more than 60 works in a Pictorial Herbarium.Richard, an amateur botanist, has always loved nature: “The technique that Hélène employs recreates the characteristics of each of her subjects, bringing out the qualities that make them unique.In this current exhibition, the artist has chosen to show her works in the order that they grow during different seasons of the year, enabling visitors to better appreciate the diverse flora of Quebec - the richness of our heritage.” The show is up until Sept.6.By water, by boat Two artists, one in Paris and one in Montreal, meet this weekend in Sutton.Or at least, their works do, in the form of Peintures croisées, by François Jeune and Quebecer Sebastien Worsnip.The pair met in 1997 and this show mixes the ideas of each with their own works, as well as where they’ve painted on eacn others’ canvases.“[T)hey have worked in close collabo- ration through mutual studio visits where they have reworked in parallel each other’s paintings.These paintings take form through covering superimpositions and the addition and withdrawal of various elements from the previous artists work.Jeune develops windows or signs on Worsnip’s drawn foundations.Then Worsnip takes back his watery illusions through a game of hide and seek and a treatment that brings out an almost cartographic effect.” The show opens Saturday, June 5 at 2 pm, and runs until July 4.A guided tour with the artists is June 13 at 2 pm, all at 7 Academy in Sutton. TALK newsroôm@sherbrookerecord.com June 4-June 10, 2010 Page 7 Chesnutt never disappoints —«jt*.» * • * • r *:*,* ?* V # « vyv » * * »' • • * * i%l «ri* UioKnutt HM.'UAtk n.77** Mark Chesnutt always nnisic, and that hasn’t Æ music singer whose neo-tra- * ditional style has earned him fame and several plat- £ the footsteps of George -5— - Jones and Waylon Jennings, COUNTRY CONNECTION Chesnutt is a real McCoy.In _____________________________ the course of his 20-year ca- TESSIE AULIS reer, he has collected four J platinum albums and five gold albums, not to men-tion 14 No.1 singles and 23 top-ten singles.Mark Chesnutt is one artist who never disappoints when it comes to great sounding and heart warming tunes.His pure country voice manages to grab you with honest deliveries.The word is out now that a new album titled Outlaw will be released on June 22 and I happen to have a promo copy on my desk.The new album, produced by Pete Anderson (Dwight Yoakam and Tanya Tucker), will offer re-recordings of some of Ches-nutt’s personal heroes and long-time friends, including Billy Joe Shaver, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings (for whom Mark’s eldest son is named).With the trend at country radio turning more towards ‘pop-infused’ and alternative-country, it was predictable that artists like Mark Chesnutt would lose airplay in favour of that new country sound.Rather than lose himself in self-pity, Mark Chesnutt started recording albums on independent labels and kept going on tour, never letting his fans down.A Texas native, Chesnutt started singing and playing in his teens.He hit it big in Nashville in the late ‘80s, and in the early ‘90s was one of the top acts on the radio.He’s been overshadowed by newer acts that are country in name only.It didn’t stop him, he’s still working out of Hi-tech typewriter robot That mix of Victorian style and hi-tech steam engine aesthetic that is cyberpunk comes to the Townships with the June 5 opening of Assemblages*, Inc.which features the work of sculptor Eric Nadeau.It’s too cool for school! These “robots” have been assembled by Nadeau, who’s looking to connect humans with technology, past with future.This at the Galerie Double V in Valcourt (485 Ethier) — a spot that first opened its doors in December.The vernissage is at 2 pm on June 5, and the show runs to June 27.Nashville, still singing country songs like they used to and making it work.Chesnutt excels at delivering straight country.He is a veteran country music singer and is still going strong.On this CD he pays tribute to many of country’s finest singers with reverence.Indeed, the upcoming album consists entirely of outlaw classics like ‘Black Rose’ and ‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’ and it is good.It’s a tribute to some of his and our biggest heroes in country music.Chesnutt does a wonderful job singing these vintage songs.There’s ‘Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line,’ a fast-tempo toe-tapper that was first recorded by the late Waylon Jennings.The song is about a man whose woman just does not realize what a good man he really is.He works all day and she wants to play all night.She fusses and nags and he wants her to know that he’s tired of it.He’s the only daddy that will walk the line for her and she would be desperate if he left.There’s also the beautiful ‘Sunday Mornin’ Cornin’ Down,’ a tribute to the late and great Johnny Cash although the song was written by Kris Kristof- - ferson.This is one of his most popular songs.It’s a sad number that paints a perfect portrait of a life of drinking, smoking, songwriting and singing.It captures the life of many musicians who get caught up in their life in bars; they wake up with hangovers, drinking a beer for breakfast to numb the pain and trying to make sense of such a life.It talks about the Sunday morning coming down after the parties and how quiet the sidewalks are, daddies in the park with their children and the smell of frying chicken, taking the singer back to a place he has lost.‘A Couple More Years’ is another country classic that Chesnutt masterfully delivers.Accepting the inevitable, he sings the lament of an aging outlaw coming to terms with the reality of a failed romance.He sings with conviction “I’ve walked a couple more roads than you baby, that’s all/ I’m tired of running and you’re only learning to crawl/ And you’re going somewhere, but I’ve been to somewhere/ And found it was nowhere at all/ And I’ve picked up a couple of more years on you baby, that’s all.” There’s also the cover of Kris Kristofferson’s masterpiece, ’Lovin’ Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again)’ which was also covered by Tompall Glaser back in 1981 and a hit.Although the song ‘Are You Ready for the Country’ is taken from Neil Young’s song, it is more the Waylon Jennings version that Chesnutt covers here.He does an exceptional job with it as it provides an absolutely country storming moment on this great album.The outlaw music as performed by Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Hank Jr.and a few others was almost a genre of its own and it marked an era.It was popular and loved.Those of us who loved it, miss it, even though we love and embrace country music today, but there was just something different about Outlaw music, and Mark Chestnutt has done a superb job of capturing its very essence in this CD.Mark Chesnutt remains a welcome breath of fresh air and integrity out of Music City, USA.The album, Outlaw has no downside to it.It is a collection of truly great songs sung by one of the best voices country music ever had to offer.MS lives here.Twice as many women as men develop multiple sclerosis.Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada T800-268-7582 www.mssociety.ca ne wsroom@sherbrookerecord.com TALK Page 8 June 4- June 10, 2010 Dotty eccentrics Good Reads Eleanor Brown And stuffed animals, natch Homer and Langley, Beatrice and Virgil.When novels are named for their stars, you know they’re character driven.E.L.Doctorow’s Homer & Langley (2009) are brothers, both dotty, one from his time soldiering in the Great War, the other from a life without war.The story is written by Homer, the younger of the two, as a memoir of sound and smell.Homer went blind as a child, his New York parents dying of Spanish Flu while his brother was in the trenches overseas.Langley, in turn, is a hoarder, whose philosophical Theory of Replacements focuses on how the chasm of history leaves individuals alone .^ and unimpor-tant.Both brothers are unlucky in love, worried about money, and abandon the outside world for each other’s company.With room, mind you, for the occasional hip- _______________________________________________ pie or journalist.Bill collectors, however, are run off the property.Doctorow’s novel is a quick and fun read, a completely fictional take on the real tale of the Collyer brothers, a pair of eccentrics long famous in New York lore (the author’s a native of the Bronx who clearly loves his city).Doctorow’s a well-known author with many fans; his 1975 Ragtime has been called one of the 100 best novels of the 20th century by a group that loves to classify these things, and the movie and musical based on the tome both went on to be nominated for all kinds of awards as well.Then there’s Saskatoon’s Booker Prize-winning Yann Martel, whose latest, 2010’s Beatrice & Virgil (ampersands are in this book season!), is named for two stuffed animals, a donkey and a howler monkey.This is a slower read, but persevere.You’ll come to realize the first few pages are painfully written to reflect the writer’s block that has afflicted narrator Henry, whose last best-selling book has since led him to write a combo essay and novel that re-imagine the Holocaust.It’s not a popular topic.“Why this suspicion of the imagination, why the resistance to artful metaphor?A work of art works because it is true, not because it is real.Was there not a danger to representing the Holocaust in a way always beholden to factuality?” Henry’s public loves him for his last book, however, and do not abandon him.That may be in part because he answers their letters.Sometimes, he drops by in person.It is in this way that he meets Virgil and Beatrice, and hopes to find his own writerly salvation.This reads as a bit of an in-joke at times, resonating with Martel’s blockbuster Life of Pi (2001), but don’t connect his life with his work, warns Henry; "The use of animals in his novel, he explained, was for reasons of craft rather than sentiment.Speaking before his tribe, naked, he was only human and therefore possibly - likely - surely - a liar.” 30% OFF BEST SELLERS EVERY DAY Sherbrooke's English Language Bookstore -«-41- Bishop's University Bookstore 2600 College St., Sherbrooke, Q.C.Phone: 819-822-9600, ext.2241 'Selected Best SeHers.www.bishops.bkstr.com WORK WITH US The Lennoxville Library is looking for a bilingual clerk to work 17 hours per week.The ideal candidate will be Cont’d on Page 9 Nostalgia Cont’d from Page 3 get to see quite a few homages to big-name bands, singers and even musical styles this summer and fall.It’s a continent-wide phenomenon, and the Canadian Tribute Bands website lists 199 existing tribute bands in the country (adoring ABBA to Avril Lavigne), as well as info about the mere 105 cover bands.Website founder Rick Zaida says the tribute scene is actually beginning to wane a bit.Tribute bands, says Zaida, really started in the late 1970s with Nightwinds and their homage to prog rock greats Genesis.And in the ‘80s rockers Platinum Blonde were originally a Police tribute.“In the mid ‘80s tribute bands began to become more popular with bands like Mama Kin (Aerosmith), Ice (Bon Jovi], Izod (Judas Priest), etc.I myself was in a Van Halen tribute called Unchained, and a Dio tribute called Tarot back in the early and mid ‘80s.” Zaida is based in Toronto, and says both types of bands, including “original” bands, all pulled in big crowds.“Then came the ‘90s and the originality started to waver, as well as a new indie scene began to form in specific clubs like Lee’s Palace in downtown Toronto.So a segregation of a sort began to form.There were the clubs that booked all original indie bands, and then more and more venues began booking tribute bands.The agents and club owners noticed attendance, bar sales and overall entertainment level was substantially higher with tribute bands.“By the new millennium, tribute bands had become almost a monopoly, as cover and original bands were almost completely ignored by most venues.For the patron, it was great.No more cover bands playing songs they didn’t know or like.Going to see a tribute to their favourite band was a no-brainer.They knew all the songs, and the bands put on a show, as close as possible to the band they were a tribute to.” Zaida says the homage scene began to slow down about five years ago, as the indie bands began to grow in popularity again.“So now, in 2010, all three niches (Tribute, Cover, Original) virtually share the popularity in the local club scene, which is why I opened up the site to Cover and Original bands.I myself enjoyed the Original circuit for a few years (2005 to 2007) in the original band Juke (‘70s-‘80s style melodic hard rock).” All these bands play on more modem genres.George Rideout’s Twelfth of Never at Bishop’s U will appeal to those who grew up with Elvis Presley! (But the King is still a force for good in the lives of modem teens, as well, though the musical is really an evening of covers from different hit-makers more than a tribute or cover band performance per se — there’s a difference.) For fans of even older musical styles here in the Townships, there’s Boardwalk, billed as a “doo-wop musical”, whose trio recall and perform hits of the 1950s.That’s Aug.4 to 6 at the Piggery in North Hatley.And in August, Curtains—The Musical takes the stage at the Haskell Opera House in Stanstead, billed as "a grand tribute to every grand musical that ever appeared on Broadway.” It sends up backstage murder mysteries and features a singing detective.For country nuts, the more theatrical Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave, is on stage at Knowlton’s Theatre Lac Brome on July 3, also mixing music with story! But even “proper" cover bands and more relaxed homages can’t compare to the obsession of the “true” tribute band, and it’s an expensive and difficult look and sound to reproduce.“I can tell you first hand, that performing in a great tribute bands feeds your ego,” says Zaida.“ It’s a great feeling on stage performing music from your favourite performer.It’s both an honour and a privilege to perform their songs.Recreating the performance of many bands, like Destroyer (Kiss) for example, takes a lot of very hard work, dedicated crew, and lots of belief in what you are doing.Many bands do all the costumes like Destroyer (Kiss), Aeroforce (Aerosmith), Fire (Jimi Hendrix), and many, many others.Purchasing the same guitars, styling your hair, make-up, back-drops.” Perhaps your fave tunesmiths are no longer touring, or just too darned expensive to see live.Tickets can now hit $100 or even $300 for an original blockbuster.A Rush tribute played the Maysen Lennoxville late last month - for an affordable price! —and there’s lots more nostalgia to come in the Townships.Howzabout Phil Collins?The former drum-mer-cum-lead singer of prog rock stars Genesis later went all Disney on his fans, but his older, angsty material is still making the rounds, with Dance into the Light: Le meilleur de Phil Collins, on at Sherbrooke’s Granada Theatre on Saturday, June 12.Ex Styx guy Dennis De Young has been performing the rock band’s monster hits, and will do so again July 15 at the Fete du Lac des Nations in Sherbrooke.Is it a tribute band when you perform your own stuff without the actual band?Bishop’s University’s Centennial Theatre brings in a note-for-note Michael Jackson Thriller spectacle in the fall: “Far from being a mere tribute, to the late artist, this concert revives the essence of the best selling album of all time,” it says here in the press bumph.But wait, there’s more! The Welshman Tom Jones is a music god for all ages, having begun as the sexy singer to whom women threw their panties, more recently parlaying his kitsch oldster value back into the Top 20 in the 1980s, even covering Prince.He’s playing Las Vegas in August, but the Piggery hosts a tribute show here in September.“Elton John” and “Neil Diamond” open.Did you miss Leonard Cohen’s insanely expensive and likely to be final toui?Suzanne Sheridan covers Cohen and Joni Mitchell in August (also at the Piggery).And I have faith that Back Sabbath will be back.In the meantime, check out Alcoholica, an homage to Metallica Sept.11 at the Granada.(At least they have a sense of humour.) Later that month, on the same stage.Eclipse brings The Pink Floyd Story to town.As for Black Sabbath, lead singer Ronnie James Dio, who replaced Ozzie Osbourne, died last month of stomach at 67.But tribute bands are already ensuring the music lives on.The list above is a mix of cover and homage bands; ask directly with the venue to find out which it is.And check out www.canadiantributebands.com for a look at the scene.- Eleanor Brown mm m y mm* TOM JONES TALK ncwsro6m@sherbrookerecord .com June 4 - June 10, 2010 Page 9 Radio Communautaire Missisquoi.What is it?Is it a radio station or a warm and fuzzy arts-development organization?Can anyone put a finger on the essence of this “new kid on the block”?I think it's time to review who we are.I never know how people are going to perceive RCM.We are multifaceted, producing radio programs, television shows and events.I guess you could say we are a non-profit production company.Our mandate is to operate community radio station CIDI 99.1 FM, and to produce fundraising events for local community organizations.When brainstorming the company’s “raison d’etre” our board of directors, back in 2005, decided that confidence would be RCM’s product of choice; the service it would offer the communities of Brome Missisquoi and Shefford.Right away, even though we felt strongly about our decision, we realized that it might be difficult communicating our goal to the general public.Self confidence, for most people, is nebulous and needs special attention when included in the sphere of marketable products.Who in their right mind sells confidence?Members of a non-profit corporation, that’s who.Non-profits are socially conscious groups of people committed to the betterment of their communities.The Canadian government has decreed that non-profits are the only organizations allowed to manage community radio stations.How else are the citizens of Canada The Latest from CIDI Maurice Singfield going to be ensured that they get to listen to what they want to hear?You might say “we have the CBC” as a national broadcaster guaranteeing such programming, but the fact is they are caught up in the same game as their commercial competitors and therefore give the public what they want.Sounds good, only that what the public wants is not always what they want.Confused?Because most people tend to believe what they read, see and hear in the media, they have been sold an array of products unconsciously.One of these products is a way of life.A global commercial attitude.One that doesn’t necessarily include theirs.The job of Community radio is to demonstrate to its Library CONTD FROM PAGE 8 knowledgeable in information and library technologies or have equivalent work experience.A working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications and the Internet is required.Additional information is available at www.bibliolennoxvillelibrary.ca/jobs.h tm.Please submit a resume with a cover letter to bll.employment@gmail.com by Monday, June 7.The library is also seeking a cleaner, to work for three hours a week.If you’re interested, drop by the library directly.BOOK ENDS FOR CHILDREN Preschool Story Time, for ages 0 to 5, is every second Tuesday.The next story time is Tuesday, June 15, from 10:30 am to 11:30 am.SUMMER READING PROGRAM The Jungle is this year's theme for the summer reading program.Preschooler to preteens, everyone is welcome.Come enjoy the books and activities.The summer reading program will run every Wednesday from July 7 through Aug.11, from 1:30 to 3 pm.Just give us a call or come into the library to sign up.BOOK ENDS FOR ADULTS Books and Brown Bags is on summer break.Come the fall, come and discuss a book you've read and enjoyed while having your lunch.For information on all Lennoxville Library events, call us at 819-562-4949 or visit us at our website www.bibliolennoxvillelibrary.ca or bib-liolen@gmail.com.global sponge listeners who they are.Refresh their memories.Because, they have been hijacked, plugged into somebody else’s idea of who they should be.I dislike the word “should".We’ve all been told at some point in our lives that we “should do this, that and the other thing." What is that supposed to mean?The stage has been set by the socially unconscious to extract all it can out of a sleeping public: a society high on the elixir of life, unable to see the light of day and committed to a life of debt and payback.Enter, the shining non-profit.A non-profit is a mirror.And the media even a better means of reflection.Therefore, if we put the two together we have a solution to our dilemma.Of course, not everyone believes we have a dilemma.That’s because some of us don't equate the commercial vacuum our communities live in with the global sponge that has sucked the living daylights out of us.Instead, it’s easier for us to believe it's our fault and that we don't have the wherewithal to achieve success in our lives.Better known as lacking self confidence.RCM takes members of its community and puts them stage center.Every community needs a stage.What good is it to be sold dreams with no means of self expression?Take young aspiring musicians from the Townships for example.They turn on the radio, get hooked on a foreign lifestyle and start acting like they're from the ‘hood or some other form of urban center they don’t belong to.The problem is they’re rural in attitude and don't realize it.Why?Because the media they listen to is built on BIB (bigger is better) and doesn't give them the alternative to listen to who they are.The reason the music industry is in a downturn.Rural artists such as the late Elvis Presley no longer have an opportunity to be discovered, because local recording studios and radio stations no longer have the power to discover new talent.Today’s radio stations are corporate properties controlled by international record companies (e.g.Virgin Records bought Mix 96 in Montreal, now called Virgin radio, part of the Virgin chain) wanting to ensure their artists get the all-important coveted airtime sought after by most aspiring young musicians.The Stop! show (RCM’s community TV battle of the bands) is a means by which RCM can present regional talent to the local community on radio, TV and live on stage and to the entire world via internet.It’s a means by which it can involve today's creative young people in their pursuit of a dream.And, often it’s the rock 'n' roll dream.The same one sold to previous luckier generations that were at the crest of today's modern-musical commercial times.All we can expect at RCM is to give today’s talent (aspiring show hosts, actors and musicians) a chance to be heard, discover themselves, understand their dreams, and understand the art of performing.On another note: If we could bring the music back to the schools instead of letting it die a slow death in the clubs and bars, everyone would be better off.For one thing, students would feel more a part of school.Before the late sixties arrived, music was alive.The gymnasiums were resonating with the buzz of the times.Unfortunately, the party times of the sixties forced the music into the bars.Schools and parents couldn’t keep things under control.By working with today’s young talent we can give them a sense of self confidence.If we continually turn them away because we believe they aren't doing what they’re “supposed” to be doing, then we alienate them.It’s the same with our communities.If we think they “should” be doing things they’re not (for instance acting like an urban center) then we shun them and lack confidence as a result.It’s time to be shown who we are through community efforts such as RCM and to believe in ourselves.We look and sound good.This is the strength of community, supporting each other to achieve a greater goal, and to build a stronger network that benefits everyone.Being who we are is CIDI, lots of great shows, lots of wonderful hosts and terrific volunteers.Give us a listen, send us your comments and suggestions, we always want to hear from you all and play the stuff you want to hear.For those of you who can’t pick us up on the radio, go to our website (rcmme-dia.org) and click on the live-streaming button.If you missed a show you can listen to it on the CIDI player or go to the show/host pages and listen to past programs.Maurice Singfield is director general of Radio Communautaire Missisquoi.Tel: 450-242-9873/1-888-539-2098.email: msingfield@rcmmedia.org.cine entertainment.Galaxy Sherbrooke Sherbrooke 4204, boul, Bertrand-Fabi MOVIE INFO 819-821-9999 ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE AT CINEPlCX GALAXY 5H0WTIMES EFFECTIVE JUNE 4TH TO JUNE I0TH ROBIN DCS BOIS (G «¦ Not recomm«nd€d for young children) Every dag: 12:15, 15:20, 18:45, pi -an SEXE À NEW YORK 2 (G ?Not recommended for young children) Every day €XC€pt Wed: 21:20, SPLICE: NOUVELLE ESPECE (13+) Every day: 13:10, 15:40, 19:10, 21:45 SCX AND THC CITY 2 (G ?Not recommended for young children) Every day: 12:30, 15:40, 18:40, TUER POUR AIMER (G ?Not recommended for young children) Every day except Wed: 13:05, SHREK 4, IL ÉTAIT UNE FIN 30 (G) Every day: 12:00, 14:15, 16:30, 18:50,21:15 15:30, 18:30, 21:30 SHREK 4, IL ÉTAIT UNE 21:40 15:35, 18:55, 21 :25 Wed: 18:30,21:30 FIN (6) Every day: L'ENFANT PRODIGE (G) Wed: 15:35, 18:55, PRINCE OF PERSIA: 12:15, 14:30, 16:45 Everyday: 13:10, 15:45, 21 :25 SHREK FOREVER AFTER 3D (G) Every dag: 12:25, 14:40, 16:55, 19:15,21:35 LES SABLES DU IRON MAN 2 (FV) (G ?1905, 21:30 MARMADUKE (FV) (G) -SMSfrSmOU£RS*aNQM: 1 fcMK*5 (G ?Not recommended for young children) Every day: 12:45, 15:45, 1900,21:45 Not recommended for young children) Every day: 19:00,21:50 PRINCE OF PERSIA: SAND OF TIME (G + Not recommended for young children) Every day: 12:55, 15:55, 19:10, 21:55 Every day: 14:20, 16:35, 21:20 13:05, 18:55, VUW.June 9th lOOpja.net nun mist Û -SEXAwwwnKr fc 8 Page 10 June 4 - June 10, 2010 TV Listings TALK The prog rocker who loves Bach Steve Hackett plays SherBlues By Eleanor Brown Special to The Record No goofy stereotypes, please.Ex classic Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett will play solid rock for his upcoming Sherbrooke gig, with some blues thrown in, though the musician also loves Bach, World Music and jazz, thank you very much.“A lot of people know the Genesis connection,” acknowledges Hackett.“They have heard and judged me on what I did from 1971 to 1977.It’s a bit like having a celebrated childhood.Like everybody wanting to know what Mozart did when he was 3.But then there’s the rest - the other 40 albums I did or so.” Hackett recorded in Brazil before World Music was a glint in the eye of either Paul Si mort or Peter Gabriel and released acoustic discs before “unplugged” was a separate musical category.One of his classical music albums hit the billboard in England (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with The Royal Philharmonic), and his Spanish guitar disc has received some notice.A recording of six Bach works is his proudest achievement, and was the hardest to play, he says.What fans expect “really depends on when they got on board." As for his own eclecticism, Hackett jokes that if you “swallow the reincarnation theory, I am honouring all my previous incarnations.” He just heard a Hungarian musician playing the tar, and fell in love with the instrument.He’s been listening to it all day, he mentions.His 1979 release Spectral Mornings featured Japanese inflections.His is a pan-genre approach - some of his discs are travelogues, really — and rock fans are not as simple-minded as others might think.“People cast a very wide net these days,” he says, adding that R&B and even blues fests include a wide mix of beats.Hackett is the big-name closing act for the SherBlues Festival, which runs July 8 to 10, though he’s not known as a blues artist.He did, however, play one on vinyl, 1995’s Blues with a Feeling, and has connected with blues artists throughout his career.He first tackled the blues as a two-year-old.“I started life as a harmonica player, at least 10 years before I played the gui: tar.Both my grandfathers and my dad played the harmonica, we could have had a harmonica quartet.” Hackett’s mother insists he was blowing out tunes as a toddler, but the musi- cian says he was likely just pumping a note out here and there.But by the time he was four, he had a repertoire that included ‘God Save the Queen’, Oh Susanna’, and ‘Yellow Rose of Texas’.He went on to busk on street corners, and played as much harmonica as he did the guitar on the blues disc.“I wasn’t always a prog rock player,” he says.“I was happy to make a living with the blues in the late ‘60s, but the blues boom died on me.” Then came prog rock, Genesis, and a career that touched different genres as the mood moved.Nonetheless, record producers suggested a rock album this time out, and he’s obliged.Hackett is on the phone at 9 pm - his local time in Great Britain - having been up since 6 am.He’s an early riser, he says, still sounding chipper despite the lateness, and mentions that he took delivery that very morning of his US visa.Apparently, there are no past convictions for trashing hotel rooms to keep him from entry for the tour to promote his new album, Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth (recorded in Hackett’s living room).It’s been out in Europe since 2009, but won’t be available here until June 8, just a few days from now.Fans may want to pick it up before the Sherbrooke show, COURTESY Steve Hackett.and check out the tunes and the sound.It’s got a bit of the Middle East blended into it.Certainly Hackett sees himself as an innovator, and is said to have invented “tapping” for the electric guitar, which he used on the 1971 Genesis album Nursery Cryme.That’s when you tap the strings on the fret, as with a keyboard.Yes, everything always ends up back at Genesis.Hackett was inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in March alongside Genesis band-mates from the classic line-up — Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford.Hackett plays Sherbrooke’s Granada Theatre on July 10, with a six-piece band and opening act Renaissance.Tickets are $45 and $55.WEEKDAY MORNING , Ben "star 6 AM 6:30 7 AM 7:30 3 AM____8:30 9 AM 9:30 fo AM 10:30 11 AM 11;30 WCAX Q - .News The Early Show Rachael Ray The Doctors The Price Is Riqht WPTZ Q .Newschannel 5 Today at 6AM Today Live With Regis and Kelly Today Today CBMT Cl 206 301 CBC News Now dirtgirlworld Animal Bo on the Go! 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