Posts by mheff

Hi FolksYou might recall a recent post I wrote about The Bill Bell Band. I saw them at a club in Port Credit a few weeks ago. Bill, of course, is also the lead guitarist with The Lightfoot Band.After the rave review I gave them, I mentioned that they sounded amazingly full for a trio….. but…

What Could They Possibly Be Thinking? Here’s a strange phenomenon. A lot of my musician friends (and a family member) have moved north. The Georgian Bay horseshoe from Owen Sound to Wasaga Beach seems to be the current retirement area of choice for a lot of people, not just musicians.I get that it offers a less…

Hey EveryoneI just had an interesting weekend and I’d like to tell you all about it, but first:I am an excellent example of Newton’s first law of motion. It states that an object at rest will remain at rest. Inertia. There’s actually more to it than that, but it’s all I need to make my…

Hi EveryoneI’ve lived in Mississauga, Ontario, most of my life. Even as recently as last year all I had was a vague notion that there was a music scene developing in an area of this city called Port Credit. I’d heard that a few bars sporadically featured live bands, and of course there was the…

THE SHRINE Prior to last week’s show, I’d only been to Midland twice. Once in 1965 and again in 1966. Both times it was because of a school field trip. The Church of Saint Joseph, Martyr’s Shrine, is located in Midland. This is a Catholic church dedicated to the memory of eight French missionaries who…

Hi everyone! I hope you aren’t getting bored with this series. I had no idea when I started this that it would go on so long. My brother Pat and I have the type of memory called “episodic”. Given a cue, such as a date (particularly a special occasion), an incident, a song, a TV…

After Montreal, we worked a week in Richibucto, NB, two weeks in Moncton, NB, two weeks in Bathurst, NB and part of a week (?) in Charlottetown, PEI. There were five sets each night from 9 pm until 2 am. In some places, you work all week without a day off. It really separated the…

The fourteen-hour drive to Montreal was uneventful. It was, however, more comfortable than the one to Halifax. I rode with Marty, which freed up some room in the Walkers Road van. It’s worth noting that this was a return gig of sorts for some of the band members. Actually, four of them. Helen, Art, Jim…

Hi everyone!Let’s recap a little. Walkers Road was my first full-time band. It had existed in another form for a few years previously, but had been dormant for about twelve to sixteen months. It re-formed in February 1974 to back up  Canadian celeb, Dini Petty. After a month of rehearsals, Dini and the band parted ways…

My Last (Only) Real Job “Mr. Heffernan, a word.”“Does it have to be now? It’s time to go home.”“Please step into the office.”It was 8:00 am, and I had just finished my shift.“I hear you’re leaving us.”“Yes, I gave my notice at the beginning of last week. I only have a few days left here.””Why?…