[2silent2breal]

Way back in 1976 when I was in college, I took a community ed guitar class. I'm really no better now then I was then, but that's not the point. The teacher was an outstanding player and an even better custom guitar maker, and I loved going to his class. One night he advised us all to listen to the music of Gordon Lightfoot. I was already a fan, but he put things in a different perspective. He remarked that Lightfoot's arrangements were not complicated, but they were played perfectly. He went on to talk about how when Lightfoot and band came on stage, they were already in tune (no tuning on stage) and that they always came on stage right on time. He emphasized that even with the technical perfection, that Gordon and his band still played from the heart. That, he said, was always his goal as a musician, to play with heart and soul and still achieve that technical perfection. From that night on, I have listened to the music of Gordon Lightfoot in a different way, listening to the whole arrangement and paying attention to the nuances and finer details of the arrangements. Although I am not big into classical music, I love to watch a string quartet and see the different parts come together as one, playing every note perfectly but still feeling the music come from the heart.

This is all a roundabout way of saying that the difficulty in putting a new band member in Terry's place will not be technical. There are many fine guitarists in the world, amateurs even that can rehearse and play the same leads that Terry Clements did. The challenge will be in putting someone on stage who can bring the same love for the music and the musician that has been there for 40 some years.

I'm glad that apparently that Mr Lightfoot is going ahead with the tour this year, and I hope he can continue for many more. I don't see anything on the schedule that I am likely to attend so I look forward to the reviews from all of you, and will be interested to see how this all turns out.