Guy Clark (with Verlon Thompson), The River Run Centre, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, June 29, 2005
Wednesday night two of America's great singer-songwriters were on stage, giving their all to an audience that was ready to accept all they had.
The River Run Centre is nestled in the downtown section of Guelph, a cozy university town in southwestern Ontario. My wife and I have had a long love affair with Guelph and this beautiful theatre just gives us another reason to make the drive up old highway 6. We drove the thirty miles from our house to the theatre in about an hour, Guy Clark and Verlon Thompson came all the way from Texas. Judging from the heat that night, they brought a little bit of Texas with them! Luckily, the air conditioning was working, and the beverages were cold as we sat in the lounge and awaited the show.
The show started with opening act Dave Teichroeb, an expatriate Guelph boy, who moved to Texas four years ago. His style fits well with the Townes Van Zandt model -- acoustic guitar, gravelly voice, songs about life, livin', and love. Accompanied by pianist Craig Norris and Michael Ostler on bass, Teichroeb played a new Taylor guitar and sang his songs about being an expatriate Canadian in Dubya's America. Ostler looked as if he was ready to rock, but Teichroeb didn't provide too many opportunities for that.
Teichroeb's songs show possibilities but need some seasoning and a little work on lyrical precision. "Mud & Sticks & Stones" was a highlight, but the closing "Alberta Train Song" left this listener pondering the meaning of lines like, "her face is like snow-capped mountain peaks / she flows like a river / she blows like wheat / and in her eyes I can see forever." I'm still working this one out.
After a short intermission I was able to forget about deciphering that description and focus on the finely wrought songs of Guy Clark and his friend and accompanist Verlon Thompson. They last played the River Run Centre during 2001's Canadian Songwriter's Festival , a show which still resonates in my memory. Could they top themselves?
Well, following an introduction from a disembodied voice (over the pa system) the long tall Texan ambled out onto the stage. He was followed by Mr. Thompson. Jeans, cowboy boots, untucked shirts, and guitars on their shoulders, they looked like a couple gunfighters striding purposefully to centre-stage. Clark's gruff baritone greeted the crowd; he said something about singing a song about "jumpin' off a garaaaage -- when you're in Canada you gotta sing a French song!" They launched into "The Cape," a classic Clark tune about dreams and possibilities, Verlon adding guitar filigrees and high harmonies over Guy's rhythm and lead vocals. The interplay of the two guitars, and the genuine camaraderie between the two musicians was magical.
There followed a demonstration of songwriting skills second to none. "LA Freeway," "Sis Draper," "Soldier's Joy, 1864," "Magnolia Wind." Sure, Clark forgot the words a time or two, he had some serious trouble with his custom made thumb-pick, his guitar slipped out of tune, but it was real and the music was marvelous. And all the missteps allowed opportunities for their personalities to shine through. Tuning the guitar Clark said, "I can always find the string that's out of tune, and then I tune the other five to that one!" Maybe the banter is well practiced from years of experience but when Guy Clark says it...it seems totally spontaneous. They did the classic "Homegrown Tomatoes," with its standard intro ("A love song...") and outro ("You see it doesn't take a whole lot to entertain us.") Clark introduced "Come With Me, Magdalene" as "a song you've never heard before . . . ever . . . I hope."
Clark's songs are about things that are real. His memories might just match up with yours. When I first started playing the guitar, I would walk up to Kenilworth Street to a music shop called, Ye Olde Fiddle Shoppe. It was a tiny storefront, with a window filled with violins and a couple guitars, and inside, sheet music and cabinets . . . and "Black Diamond Strings." Just like Guy sings, the only reason to use Black Diamond Strings is, "it's all you could get." He followed this with "Picasso's Mandolin," "Out In the Parking Lot," and "Desperadoes Waiting For a Train." He consulted with Verlon about what key it was in. "It's in the Canadian peoples' key . . . Eh!"
He told tales about Ramblin' Jack Elliott and then sang a song about him, then he looked at his index finger and announced, "I'll be back in a minute." And he announced Verlon Thompson. Verlon looked a bit perplexed. He usually gets a solo spot, after all he has his own albums, and songs to promote and he is one heck of a guitar player. He did "Joe Walker's Mare," "Indian Head Penny," and then Guy walked back on stage, "I'm back!" He waited while Verlon sang "He Left the Road," then stepped back up to the microphone. Thompson then told the whole story about how Clark had left his favourite thumb-pick in his other jeans, and spent the pre-show whittling another one into shape, during which he jabbed his finger with a knife. It was a great, and funny anecdote made even better by being true! Clark showed off his new band-aid and played "Stuff That Works," and "Dublin Blues."
A standing ovation from the small but appreciative audience brought the troubadours back to finish the show with "The Randall Knife." Somebody yelled, "Are you gonna sign CDs?" "Well I will if ya want me to. I like to be asked...it jus' seems so presumptuous, otherwise." The lights came up and we were back in Guelph, in the beautiful theatre of the River Run Centre. Guy and Verlon came out to chat and sign autographs. Verlon remembered my name from that Everywhere...yet review and signed "Dave: Glad to finally meet you, Verlon." Real folks. Real musicians. A real good time
