CM correspondent Kristian Partington is back with a two-part series profiling three Canadian bass players in three Canadian bands at different stages of their careers, all working with the same passion to propel their acts as high as they’ll go. Thanks for reading!

Backyards, Legion Halls & NXNE With Willhorse

This tale of three bass players began about a month ago as a 1973 Detroit Diesel engine carried the frame of an old-school tour bus and a band called Willhorse down Maple-lined Queen Street in little Norwood, ON to park in front of my house.

Actually, the tale began many years ago under different trees across town, but I’m not sure there’s enough space here for the many stories that led to this particular adventure, which began in my backyard and ended in a suburb of Detroit with Art of Dying, Three Days Grace, a few thousand bikers and I on a sunny June Saturday.

Willhorse, Art of Dying, and Three Days Grace all have deep roots in Norwood. At Toronto’s Dakota Tavern in the midst of my bass player adventure during the Willhorse NXNE showcase on June 13, 2013, I saw Ralph James, the Founder and President of the Agency Group’s Toronto office. Ralph knows Norwood well, and he told me over a couple of pints that, per capita, this little village on the highway between Toronto and Ottawa must churn out more musicians than anywhere.

I had to agree.

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By Travis Miles

  It’s 8:30 p.m. on Sunday June 9th, and we are barrelling eastward on the 11 South highway towards Regina. Sitting in the passenger seat, my eyes are glued to the rear view mirror. An immaculate sunset over the flat plains taunts me with its smoky blue and shimmering orange charisma. The western leg of this tour — despite having four shows cancel — has been a total ball. However while I may be taunted by the thought of leaving, I’m more drawn to the horizon and the promise of home it now brings.

We are on our way home, but the tour isn’t over. We still have a homecoming show with Mad Caddies in Hamilton and a handful of NXNE showcases in Toronto.

When I left off, we were leaving Red Deer, Alberta, and I was on the tail end of a horrid sickness. Our show the next day in Calgary had been cancelled so we took the day off with gratitude in Banff. The next morning we awoke early in the van, and began the long trek to Vancouver, where our next two shows were scheduled to take place. Along the way, we picked up a good hometown friend of ours in Kananaskis, Alberta, who was taking his two weeks vacation to join our B.C. leg of the tour. We arrived in Vancouver on May 28th and stayed the night at my dad’s place. The next night we played at The Railway Club. The show was pretty busy and everyone in attendance was enthusiastic. The only downside of the night was that we discovered that our show for the next day was cancelled on account of the venue — which was an illegal after hours club — being shut down. We took the news with ease, trying not to be discouraged and spent the following day exploring downtown Vancouver.

On the 31st we were scheduled to play in Victoria, and took and beautiful afternoon ferry ride to the island. The show was at a venue called the Copper Owl. The stage was inverted and the whole atmosphere of the bar was really cool. With copper tone railings, red carpet, and a round bar in the middle of the room it seemed as though this was the kind of bar you’d run into Austin Powers at.

Being our first time on the island our show that night was well received and afterwards we drove 20 minutes outside the city to spend the night at Mikey from Fire Next Time’s mom’s house, which was a large and beautiful place overlooking the water.

When we arrived there at 2 30 a.m. she (Mary) had snacks and drinks set out for us, and road worn as we were, we took advantage of this. We all had fairly private sleeping arrangements with mattresses, and at that point it seemed like such a luxury. So, After a fun filled night I passed out and slept a much needed long sleep and awoke at 5 p.m.

Our show the next night in Nanaimo had been cancelled, so again we took advantage of the luxurious hospitality, and after enough fun to keep any man smiling for a month, we left the island on June 3rd and stayed the night again at my father’s house in Vancouver. The next morning we awoke to a message from our booking agent saying that our show that night in Penticton had been cancelled due to a family emergency. This email came as a huge disappointment to all of us, and it seemed as though our western leg of the tour was turning into a vacation. Everybody loves a vacation, but we came out here to do what we love and the continuous cancellations were excruciatingly unfortunate.

We didn’t play again until June 6th in Fernie B.C., the venue that night was pretty empty, but again the venue and patron hospitality was excellent and we had a great night as a result. We had the next day off and spent most of it in transit, and on June 8th we played again at the wonderful Wunderbar in Edmonton.

This was our last show together with Fire Next Time, and afterwards we shared a rambunctious hurrah, and bounced about the city all night. When I awoke on a foreign couch, at 11 a.m. I felt sad for a few reasons. I realized that this was the last time on this tour that I would awake startled in a foreign place, I realized that we wouldn’t see Fire Next Time for maybe another year, and I realized that what was ahead of us was a 37 hour drive back home.

Right now, as the sun has just set and we continue through the plains, I no longer feel frustrated, or sad, but happy for the adventure that precedes this post, and for the accomplishment that this tour has grown to be for our band.The next week will be busy for us, and after the last week I am ready to embrace this business with open arms.

By Travis Miles

We left Montreal on Monday May the 20th. The high and bright sun served as a perfect juxtaposition to the demeanour in the van. We were nearing a month on the road, and after the whirlwind weekend of excellence at Pouzza Fest, we were beat. That night we were scheduled to play in Barrie, Ont., which was supposedly a six and a half hour ride from our departure point. We left with just enough time to get to the show, but failed to take into account the long weekend traffic. After more than eight hours on route we made it to the venue. We were two hours late but no one seemed to care, and upon arriving we quickly loaded in and hit the stage.

The venue was called D.I.Y Arts Collective, and the atmosphere and crowd spoke to the venue’s name. Upon the walls of the venue laid a tapestry of makeshift artwork and unique and inspiring quotations. The crowd was enthusiastic and many of them were drinking alcohol from plastic red cups, and throughout the night there was a true feeling of acceptance and camaraderie in the room.

The next day we played in Sault Sainte Marie at the Algonquin Pub. It was Tuesday night and the crowd was very small, but the few who watched us and Fire Next Time were into the music and the venue’s promoter was very hospitable.

After the show that night dread was setting in amongst our tour squad as our next show was not until Friday and was all the way in Edmonton — Fire Next Time’s hometown — a 32 hour drive from the Soo. Fire Next Time was gung ho about getting home as soon as possible, and we followed suit, leaving Sault Sainte Marie at 3 a.m and driving straight through the night. During this haul I slept in the back of the van and awoke at 11 a.m. in Thunder Bay to an undeniable headache and an overwhelming weakness in my body.
What I had, for the past two days, hoped was a vicious hangover was clearly manifesting itself into what I dreaded most, an illness on the road. Over the next 24 hours on route to Edmonton I began feeling progressively worse, and being stuck in our small vessel I wouldn’t hesitate to call the trek hellish. By the time we arrived in Edmonton the sickness had moved from my head to where, being a singer, I prayed it wouldn’t. And looking in the passenger side mirror into the back of my mouth I could see swollen and infected tonsils and was certain, from passed experiences, that I had acquired a case of strep throat.

Luckily we had a place to stay for the next three days in Edmonton, and I spent all day and night Thursday resting with hopes that my sickness would subside before our big show the next night with Comeback Kid, and of course it didn’t.

So friday morning as I awoke from a staggered slumber I was finally rid of my wishful thinking and denial and took to the nearest clinic to get diagnosed and medicated. Our show that night at Richie Hall in Edmonton went surprising well considering the state of my body. We trudged through our set with usual accuracy, and for those thirty minutes I felt better than I had for the last 48 hours. The venue was packed and anxious for the headliners — Comeback Kid — to hit the stage, and when they did the crowd erupted with a passionate and pleasantly violent burst. The room pulsated to the aggressive melodies of one of Canada’s most renowned hardcore bands. When there set was over, exhausted, soaking, and satisfied fans piled out of the makeshift venue leaving a serious mark of a good time as the floor was drenched with sweat, mud and beer. The sight and smell was rancid, but the cause of it all was magnificent.

Beginning to feel feverish from the nights activity, I went back to our temporary residence, leaving the rest of the guys to load out and clean up. Knowing the gravity of my sickness, they all understood my untimely departure.

That night I had a restless sleep plagued by fevered dreams, and for the first time ever I wished I were at home and not on the road. I knew this feeling was just an illusion caused by my sickness, and told myself it would be over soon.

The next night we played again in Edmonton at Fire Next Time’s watering hole, The Wunderbar. Again I rested all day and awoke for the show which was packed with Fire Next Time’s hometown crowd and was, despite my sickness, a great time.

The next day (Sunday, May 26th), our three day stay in Edmonton was over and we played in Red Deer at Slumland Theatre. By the end of the night I could tell my sickness was wearing off, and the thirst for the road was kicking back in.