Gordon Lightfoot Forums - Tiffin, Ohio article

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The Ritz Theatre to host Gordon Lightfoot
October 3, 2010 - By MaryAnn Kromer, mkromer@advertiser-tribune.com

For more than 50 years, Gordon Lightfoot has been charming audiences all over the world, including a prior appearance at The Ritz Theatre in Tiffin. At 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10, the Canadian singer is to return to The Ritz for a Sunday night concert.

A five-time Grammy nominee, Lightfoot said he remembers The Ritz and is looking forward to returning. His band is to accompany him, as they they have for more than 25 years.

Bass player Rick Haynes joined the band in 1969; lead guitar Terry Clements started in 1971; Barry King has been drumming for the group since 1976; and Mike Heffernan has been manning the keyboards since 1981.

"They know the songs. They love the work. We all love the work," Lightfoot said. "I'm so happy and so privileged."

Stepping into a musical career began in highschool where Lightfoot said he began playing the four-string tenor guitar to perform calypso music with Terry Whelan on baritone ukulele. They and Howie Morris on upright bass recorded an album called "Two Tones at the Village Corner."

Now a seasoned musical veteran, Lightfoot says he uses a capo for nearly every song. He said his six-string and 12-string always are capoed at the second fret.

"I started doing that about 28 years ago because I was tired of getting out of tune on stage. We tune it in absolute pitch and jig it ... in tune with the capo in place," Lightfoot said.

He said he has a second 12-string guitar tuned and ready for three songs he regularly performs: "Ring Neck Loon," "Early Morning Rain" and "Canadian Railroad Trilogy."

Tuning the instruments to his specifications is a two hour process, but he said it also helps him to warm up before the rest of the band arrives for sound check.

In 2002, Lightfoot said he was out of commission for months after an artery burst in his abdomen. Within a two-day period, he said he had made a rough recording of about 15 songs with just guitar and vocals.

According to Lightfoot, the work provided the raw material for another CD, but he said the project had to wait until he had recovered enough to work on it.

"I was out cold for the first six weeks - when I first woke up, within about a week, I started thinking about this stuff. There was enough serviceable material there that I was able to rescue eight of them that were worth working on. Another two I got from a live performance that I had been saving. That brought me up to 10. That's the ideal number for an album," Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot said his band took the basic tracks and worked on them while he still was recovering in the hospital.

After producing 19 albums during 33 years of being under contract, he said he was in no rush to complete another CD.

"Harmony," he said, which came out in May 2004, was a product of working at his own pace.

"The 20th album was just the afterthought," he said.

The veteran performer is a charter member of Canada's Walk of Fame and recently was inducted into The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Artists who have recorded Lightfoot's songs include Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Sarah McLachlan, Barbra Streisand, Peter Paul and Mary, Harry Belafonte, Jane's Addiction, Richie Havens, Glen Campbell, Anne Murray, Nana Mouskouri and George Hamilton IV.

In his free time, Lightfoot said he considers spending time with his family a priority. He said his two sons compose and play music.

"I try to teach them things, but they don't listen," Lightfoot said.

Without being specific, Lightfoot said he also keeps busy "training," which keeps him in good physical shape and strengthens his lungs for performances.

The Ritz audience is to hear favorites such as "The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald," "If You Could Read My Mind," "Carefree Highway," "Sundown," "Rainy Day People" and selections from "Harmony."

"I'm going to do what they would most expect to hear, and I will also do quite a bit of stuff that they will not be quite so familiar with. They'll recognize a couple we put in from way back, like 'If Children Had Wings,' and 'As Fine as I Can Be' and 'Home from the Forest,' Lightfoot said, adding, "We love the work and we look forward to being there."

Old Fort Banking Company is the sponsor for Gordon Lightfoot. Tickets range from $40-$75. For tickets and information, visit www.ritztheatre.org or call The Ritz Theatre Box Office, 30 S. Washington St., at (419)448-8544

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.