Kenyon's Visit
During our recent connecting at the Scott Shea gig Kenyon and I discussed getting together for a musical Lightfoot session so we arranged for an evening last week in "The Gord Room" at the Jones residence here in Scarborough.
Kenyon arrived on the "Go" train from downtown Toronto after he finished work and was greeted at the door with a bunch of kisses from our little dog "Pussywillow."
"Marian from the Mountains" has a lovely home cooked meal going and "Lord we need one now, eh? it was a beautiful summer evening so we sat out for a bit and enjoyed a most delicious brew in the Joneses backyard.
Following dinner we found the open door to "The Gord Room" and Kenyon's eyes are fixed on the B45 sitting there in it's stand.
I usually have the room set up for playing so we have twin Pulse 283 speakers connected to an eight channel Pevey amp. Old school stuff but if it's cranked it would blow the roof off the house
The microphones are connected the same way Gord does it.
Being the gentleman he is Kenyon asks for permission to play the big one and play it he really did. He couldn't put the thing down.
He tells me it's the best guitar he's ever played. Very complimentary. That boy can chop out the rhythmic sounds exactly like we hear Gord doing it on those early recordings. He covered everything from Early Morning Rain to Endless Wire to East of Midnight.
And he can sing damn good also. "And she told him, she would take him …..back in Boulder"…. you gotta hear that bellowing out. It's fantastic
Kenyon is not limited to the 12 string though. He can pick out those Red Shea, Terry Clements licks high up on the fingerboard of the D18.
He tells me he needs to practice more and of course we all need to do that. Gord says he has to play his guitar every day to stay in shape.
Kenyon's gotta be close the top of the heap when it comes to covering the mainstream of the Lightfoot spectrum. I forgot to ask him if he plays bass. He probably does.
We wind things down with IYCRMM and SFAWN with Kenyon picking out those choice lead guitar licks on the Martin and I'm doing best I can with the four four time and Travis style on my trusty ol' Yamaha.
Suddenly we realize we've gone east of midnight and the Go train has stopped running. He has to crash for an overnighter as he missed the train last night.
Where did the time go? It started with "Now" and now it's "Then." (yes, he played that one as well)
Next morning the kitchen is alive with the smell of freshly brewed coffee so after a second cup and a light breakfast he's off to work after a wonderful musical Lightfoot session.
Pussywillow is watching from the window and her tail is wagging a mile a minute.
Come back anytime Kenyon!
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