519 November 2018

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Story by April Savoie Liona Boyd - STILL PLAYING FOR THE FANS Most artists might be lucky enough to publish one autobiography, let alone two, but classical guitarist Liona Boyd’s life is so rich with career milestones, professional achievements, and personal moments that she has already filled two volumes, with enough unused material for a third. The “First Lady of The Guitar” has enthralled millions with her romantic and unique brand of classical, folk and world music and still shows little signs of slowing down, even at the golden age of 69. She has performed solo and orchestral concerts around the world and heads to Guelph, London and Sarnia this month for a series of concerts promoting her latest album and autobiography titled No Remedy For Love. Liona sat down with 519 Magazine and had a chat about some of the memories in her autobiographies and a special/not-so-special memory of London. “I’d been staying with Pierre Trudeau in Ottawa and he gave me stomach flu,” she recalled. “I had to do a concert and I was really sick, but I looked amazing and I played it anyway. I remember talking to him afterwards and saying you know I got it from you and he said it couldn’t have been him, but it was. I guess it wasn’t a fond memory, but people saw it because it went all around the world as Liona Live in London. People thought it was London, England, but it was actually London, Ontario. It wasn’t meant to be, but it came across as a bit deceptive.” Her 519 heritage is pretty strong. She’s previously recorded with Sarnia singer and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and this time out she’s decided to bring Waterloo singer and guitarist Andrew Dolson, who’s known for his passion for music and guitar. “There will be some really good shows out there in the 519,” she added. “It’s going to be inspiring. I’m going to tell some stories and you’ll get to meet Andrew - he’s my protégé and he’s from the 519; he’s a local boy from Waterloo and he’s really good.” Liona has been a performing artist for more than 40 years, but things almost came crashing to a halt when she discovered she had focal task-specific dystonia, an unusual movement disorder that affects musicians specifically when they perform on their instruments. Dystonia in professional musicians is a disorder that is accompanied by a loss in fine motor control while playing a musical instrument. About 25% of all musicians who have the disorder have to give up their instrument. Liona was in the other 75% and after a six year hiatus, got back on the road. But she says she might have to look at retiring sometime in the near future. “I was absolutely devastated when it happened because I thought I was going to have to lose my career, but wonders never cease,” she revealed. “I’ve done about 200 concerts since coming back, but I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be doing it. I knew it was my place to travel, but it’s a bit tiring sometimes. I may decide after this tour, that’s it. I’m not sure if that might be the last chance people will have to see me, but you never know. There’s a certain thrill that you get being on the stage and being able to inspire people - and that means a lot to me. I feel it’s my duty to give back because I had such a great life.” Liona will play for her 519 fans at least one more time when she visits the River Run Centre in Guelph on Nov. 9, London Aeolian Hall on Nov. 13 and 14 and Sarnia Imperial Theatre on Nov. 15. The first London show has sold-out, but some tickets remain for all other shows. Jody Raffoul: Looking Back on Life at 9 Wigle Street in Leamington Story by Dan Savoie Jody Raffoul is and will always be the pure definition of Leamington. A home grown rocker loaded with tons of talent and a unique passion for the little municipality he calls home. It’s fitting that the release of his first album in 10 years will get its official release at a three-day party at The Bank Theatre Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. The album, simply called “9 Wigle St., Leamington Ontario”, is a testament to the last 10 years. It was recorded inside his home and tells tales of love, divorce, children and life in and around 9 Wigle Street. “Everything that I am is Leamington,” he told 519 Magazine. “I am beyond proud to be from Leamington. 9 Wigle St. is where I grew up, and when my life took a crazy turn in 2008 I ended up back at 9 Wigle St. again for a few years - actually five of them. We always grow and change with the times, at least somewhat, but my albums have always been autobiographical. So, to be honest, it’s not all that different this time out. I have never been able to separate my music from my life or vice versa. I have learned to come to grips with that and actually celebrate that because there’s no bullshit. Here it is, this is me naked and not afraid...you know?” His Leamington pride shines through when asked about what his hometown means to him. Liona Boyd Guelph - Nov. 9 London - Nov. 13/14 Sarnia - Nov. 15 “Leamington humbles you,” Jody said. “It is a melting pot in the truest sense. When I was a kid I was forced to understand how Germans and Italians and Portuguese and French and many other cultures did what they did because there were so many of us living in the same neighborhoods. Most of us were labourers most of us worked for farmers who supplied Heinz with their tomatoes and their pickles. We came from different walks of life. So if you got to coexist you better learn about other cultures and we did and for that we became more understanding of each other and to me that’s real education and all that comes out in the music and in the way I approach what I do when I am on stage or when I am writing songs or when I am in the studio. It’s true working class. So, that’s how it affects me as a performer and a writer.” At the peak of his career 25 years ago he was in Los Angeles living his rock and roll dream when he decided to pack his bags and come back to Leamington to be there for his firstborn son Billy. “What keeps me here now is wisdom and experience, but what kept me here 25 years ago was the birth of my first son - I made a choice,” Jody recalled. “When I was my first son Billy’s age I was in Jody Raffoul The Bank Theatre, Leamington Nov. 30 - Dec. 2 Los Angeles chasing a dream like a lot of people do. He was in his mother’s stomach at the time and my choice then was to do what I knew best and that was to be with my family. So, I said to myself music has always been my life and it can go with me wherever the fuck I am. I will not forsake at least trying to give my family the best I can for chasing rockstar dreams. So that’s what I did.” Raffoul did get to live out one of his rockstar dreams when he shared the stage with Bon Jovi for a concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey in 2005. “We got to the stadium and one thing I remember was that there were about 1000 people there to see our band from the Detroit/Windsor/Leamington area and there were 81,000 people looking at us like who the fuck are these guys? Now get the heck off the stage so we can scream for Bon Jovi please! It was a harsh reality, but of course we were happy to be there.” Jody will perform at The Bank Theatre in Leamington for three nights, Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 with his son, Billy opening. Friday night is already sold-out, but some tickets remain for Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $35 and include a copy of the new CD. For the Complete Interview visit us at 519Magazine.com Photo by Maureen Stewart (K&M Photography)
LESLIE McCURDY CELEBRATES TWO DECADES OF PLAYS WITH NEW FILM By Dan and April Savoie Windsor actor, playwright and dancer Leslie McCurdy is the subject of the film On the Money, which held its premiere at Windsor International Film Festival on Oct. 30. The film explores her continuing quest to tell the story of two prominent black women who are set to be commemorated on currency: Viola Desmond and Harriet Tubman. She’s celebrating the film’s release with a special party at Sho Studios in Windsor on Nov. 3. McCurdy has spent the last two decades performing her plays The Spirit of Harriet Tubman and Things My Foresisters Saw — which includes a portrayal of Desmond — to audiences across Canada and the United States. She became the subject of a film when filmmakers Pat Jeflyn and Kim Kristy of Canadian Arts Productions approached her about the subject. We had a chat with Leslie before the film’s debut. How did the documentary come about? In early 2017 I contacted Pat and asked if she and Kim could help me to document my 20th year of performing “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman”. At about that same time it was announced that Viola Desmond would be the face of the new Canadian $10 bill. I made a joke about how “on the money” I had been about the women that I chose to perform 20 years ago and that is when Pat and Kim conceived the idea to do a documentary film on me and the work I do performing the stories of these women. Was it hard or uncomfortable having a film crew follow you? The whole concept of having a film done about me has been really weird. Pat and Kim are very good at what they do, however, and they did it discreetly. I have done quite a bit of film work so it wasn’t completely unfamiliar and almost everything had to be done in one take because it was “in the moment”, but ya, just the thought of being the subject of a movie was the strangest aspect of it to me. Pat and Kim are pretty experienced journalists, so I’m sure you weren’t worried about the quality or being portrayed correctly. Tell me about working with them specifically. I had worked with Pat and Kim some years ago on a project of theirs and I found them great to work with, very laid back yet precise. We had a good time! I allowed that it was their story to tell once they took it on and I trusted in that. I know their previous work has been good, in part because of their attention to detail, and one thing I “preach” when I am mentoring in theatre is the “the devil is in the details”. I haven’t seen the movie yet so I am interested to see how they observe me. You’ve known Harriet and Viola for long time. How did you first “meet” them and when did they become a part of your life? Ah, I have known Harriet almost all of my life! I first read about her in grade five and she has been my personal hero ever since. At every level of my education, right through my degree, I would find a way to do a paper, report, monologue, whatever, about Harriet Tubman. That’s my girl! Viola I only met 20 years ago when I got ready to write about her. My original concept for “Things My Fore- Sisters Saw” was going to be about prominent Black women in the US, Madam C. J. Walker, Mary Church Terrell, Ida B Wells and Rosa Parks, but a friend of mine, Preston Chase, suggested that I do it on “Canada’s Rosa Parks” and other women in Canadian Black History. My first response was, “Huh? We have that?” having never learned anything about Black history in Canada in school, and never thinking that my own family’s accomplishments would fall under that. So then I set out to meet all of the women that he suggested, Marie-Joseph Angelique, Rose Fortune, Mary Ann Shadd - whose accomplishment is local - and “Canada’s Rosa Parks”, Viola Desmond, although I am of the school that suggests that Rosa Parks was the United State’s Viola Desmond since she came first. What do Harriet and Viola mean to you personally? A living! I mean a girl’s gotta eat! (Laughter) A friend teases about how my “little play” about Harriet Tubman has done so well that she continues to “save” me. No, but seriously, all of the women that I portray, were very independent in their thought and behavior and operated from that in how they lived their lives. In retrospect we consider what they accomplished significant although at the time they were just doing what they do. I like to think that I have similarity with them in that way. In particular to Harriet Tubman, the play, “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman” is about over coming your fear and believing in yourself, which is something her story reminds me of constantly. If Harriet Tubman could accomplish all that she did for herself and others, then I can certainly travel and tell her story, and what I have learned from On The Money Leslie’s After Party Sho Studios Nov. 3 it, by my self, something that many people say that I am very brave to do. They died many years ago. Do you feel their spirits are with you? Well, does the title “The Spirit of Harriet Tubman” give you a clue - lol! Yes. I actually invite the spirits of the women I portray to “ride my shoulders” to help me “live” their stories well before each performance. I stand upon the shoulders of all of them, as revered ancestors, and always want to make sure I pay proper tribute to the humanity in them. Ironically, I believe that it is within our spirit that our humanity is found. Has any of Harriet’s or Viola’s family seen you perform? I don’t know if any of Harriet Tubman’s family has seen me perform although early in my career I almost got a chance to perform for the Harriet’s great-grand daughter. Harriet had an adopted daughter. I met with Viola Desmond’s sister, Wanda Robson, when I was researching for my play “Things My Fore-Sisters Saw” that Viola Desmond is in. The film captures us becoming reacquainted after 20 years and her seeing me perform her sister for the first time. She told me that she was going to say it like the youngsters in calling my performance “awesome!”. There must be a bit of satisfaction knowing Viola made it to the $10 bill? I don’t know if I would call it satisfaction. I would call it pride in that there is a Canadian woman on a Canadian bill note, finally, and what they called in the 60’s, “race pride”, in that it happens to be a Black woman. I am proud that I can share her story so that people know how brave she was in “taking a seat” against racism especially while she was alone. She, like me, traveled alone to further her business so I know how scary that in of itself can be sometimes and then to decide to do something that was sure to incite distain. Hmmm... Now that I think about it maybe there is a bit of satisfaction that she was rewarded for her courage in this way. Hopefully we’ll get to see Harriet on the US $20 at some point. I certainly hope so but with the resurgence of the racial tensions in the US being stirred up by the current administration I’m not confident it will happen any time soon. Both those bills are not only important for black history, but also for women in general. You sure know how to pick the right ladies to re-enact. Being that Black history IS our history it is important for women, Black people, indigenous people and all of the different peoples of all kinds that contributed to our history, the development of our great country, to finally be recognized properly. That is part of my teaching in the Q&A following performances. Times have changed from the days of Harriet and Viola, but there’s still a long way to go in some areas. Where can we improve? We can improve first with our education, making it more inclusive, learning our history correctly so that we can determine where we need to go in the future. So long as we pretend certain things aren’t a problem them will remain a problem. That would be a start. I still run into a lot of people who believe there was no slavery in Canada. There was. Right here in the 519-exchange zone there was. Governmental and economic policies over the years have reinforced economic disparities that arose from that. Most people don’t know some of those things. In part, their prejudice comes from this lack of knowledge.
Page 3 and 4: PICK UP YOUR COPY EVERY MONTH AT MO
Page 5: Hamlet Heads to Wall Street in a Ne
Page 9 and 10: This Stone Temple Pilots gig must b
Page 11 and 12: Singing With Icons Like Uriah Heep
Page 13 and 14: BECOMING JILL AND BARING IT ALL FOR
Page 16: EXPERIENCE THE WINDSOR EXPRESS SEAS

519 November 2018

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