Tag: music

Classic Rock & Blues Legend Alan Gerber of 1960s Supergroup Rhinoceros Goes to The Well.

by Richard Young

An Interview with Tommy Solo. Recorded July 23rd from his home in Val-David, Quebec. 

Alan Gerber is most famous for his tenure as lead singer and multi-instrumentalist with the classic psychedelic rock and blues band, Rhinoceros. He has released multiple solo albums, both as a signed and independent artist since then. Having shared stages with Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Van Morrison, Lou Reed, and Janis Joplin, among others, he is a well-respected legacy artist for the ages.

And now, he has a brand new album out called The Well and a new single called Put Back My Heart. On this release, he is reunited with Rhinoceros guitarist Danny Weis, along with the late Michael Fonfara, who recorded his Hammond B3 organ parts for this album prior to his passing.

And this time, it’s also a family affair featuring his daughter Hannah on vocals and his son Eli co-producing and playing some guitar on the album. 

The following is from my recent Interview with Alan. You can watch the Interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/S2-kVaBII7g?si=HrpGbM48YBJLbMbJ

So, you have a brand new album out. And I kind of lost track of how many solo albums you’ve released. I believe there are over 10 right to date? 

“We’re 13, 14, 15, or something like that, right? “

Yeah. And was one of those in French?

“Well, some of the songs were in French. Okay, okay, I had a single, you know, I had some songs done in French, but most of my stuff is in English, although I’ve lived in Quebec, I believe, like 37 years.”

So, it’s quite the transition from living in Chicago and LA to being in a small town in Quebec, and from what I understand, you’ve become a big part of the community as well. 

“Yeah, I love this community, you know? Like I said, I’m from Chicago. I lived in LA, and I lived in New York. I lived in Vermont. We had a house in the south of France. But this little town of Val-David is where I’ve lived for the longest, for like, 30, 37 years. It’s my longest home.” 

There must be some magic in the air that keeps you there.

“It’s a wonderful town. It’s a small village of between five and six thousand people. There’s so many artists. It’s unbelievable here.” 

You know, there are some hotbeds of talent in small towns. I grew up in North Bay, Ontario, and I’ve lost count of how many top-shelf players we had there, and uh, a good friend who I went to school with was John McGale.

“I’ve played with John”

You played with him? 

“You know, just a little bit. Yeah, I know, John. Yeah, he was a great player.”

He was a great guy, but he’s just one example of some of the awesome talent you can find in a small place. Like where you are in Val-David, and there’s nothing like tapping into some of that talent on occasion.

“Well, you know, in this town, there’s The Potters. It’s the biggest Pottery Fest. My wife is a ceramic artist. She’s a potter. In fact, if you look at the cover of the album, The Well, the well is actually the interior of one of her pots photographed, you know? It’s pretty cool, and there are so many ceramic artists here. There are writers. There are poets and painters. It’s an amazing town.” 

No kidding. So, let’s talk about the songs on this album, The Well. There’s some interesting slide guitar on that. So, where did that song come from?

“I have a writing partner who’s unfortunately deceased now, Rolf Kempf. He wrote Hello Hooray, which was a big hit for Alice Cooper.

And you know we were running together for 50 years? And we co-wrote most of the songs on this album together. And he sent me the lyrics, and then I wrote the music, and we juggled the lyrics back and forth and changed a few things.

And that’s how the song came to be. And then, it’s such an appropriate title for the album because this is an album I dug deep to get to all these places. Yeah, and it’s about growing deep into your creativity.”

Yeah, and listening to the album, you certainly did that. I imagine this one took a while. Are you really quick with this stuff, or did it take some time? 

“It took a long time because of Covid, and because actually I was waiting for my son, you know, my son, Eli Gerber, who I co-produced it with.

And he’s playing guitar on the track Over Again. That real shredding, you know? He’s quite a guitarist. He was supposed to do all the guitars on the album, but he’s a physicist. And he’s really been so busy with his research. And he just never could get around to doing it. He wanted to, but he couldn’t. And I waited for him for years. 

And then I finally said, listen, I want to finish this album, and I got Danny Weiss from Rhinoceros, who’s also an amazing guitar player, and Danny played on eight songs. He is an absolutely amazing player, you know?” 

Had you been in contact with Danny over the years, or did you reconnect for this album? 

“Yeah, you know, we did a Rhinoceros reunion. I don’t know, well, I think maybe it was 2013 or 2014. We played the Kitchener Blues Festival in Ontario. It was very cool. Yeah, there are some partnerships, you know, and there are some connections that you have that are just so strong. It was, like, Michael Fonfara. Right, he’s played with me on my last six CDs. Unfortunately, he’s gone. We’re losing too many. He was a great Hammond B3 player. Great, you know, just amazing. A great friend.”

I know that you’re in the Montreal area, but Michael Fonfara was hugely popular in the Toronto area, in that circuit as well. Yeah, uh, so On a Roll. What inspired that song? 

“I got the idea. I wrote the music. And I had On A Roll, and then I started fitting some things in, and I wasn’t happy with where it was going. So, I ran it by Rolf. Okay, and I have another friend whom I write with, Patrick Wiggins, who lives in Florida.

He’s out of Tallahassee, Florida. I ran it by both of them, and we came up with it between the three of us. We came up with all these really cool lyrics. It’s a great song. It’s a great positive song, and there’s a lot of darkness on this album, too.

You know, Subjects? It has something to do possibly with the world we’re living in. And this is a beacon of light on a roll.”

(Photo Credit: Luc Robitaille.)

I really like the harmonica playing on that. Are you playing the harmonica?

“That’s the amazing Jim Zeller. We were musical partners for a while. We were a duo here in Quebec.” 

I am familiar with that name. Yeah, absolutely. There’s a great sax on Mysterious from the new album. 

“Yeah, that’s Dan Martell. He’s incredible. He did all the horn sections, just him with different saxophones, and the parts are just killer. He’s a great player. He’s a great soloist. He’s a brilliant composer of horn sections. He’s just wonderful, you know?” 

I find that good sax players are often some of the more melodic players, really. You know, you can generally hum or sing a sax part, and I find that some of the best guitarists actually emulate the sax. 

“Yeah. Yeah, me too. Amen, Sax! The saxophone has to be vocal. It’s really like a voice. Saxophone is like a voice that’s like singing.”

Yeah, it certainly is, and, and uh. You know, the really talented players certainly do emulate that, that’s for sure.

“Right from the opening of Put Back My Heart, it grabs you immediately. It’s so super funky and right on.” 

Makes you stand up and pay attention, that’s for sure. Right? What about the track from this album called Ghosts?

“Ghosts is my Covid song. Okay, everything was shut down. You drive down the Main Street of your town. All the shops and everything were closed because of Covid. It was like a ghost town. People became like ghosts. No interacting together you know, because they weren’t supposed to. We became like ghosts.

You know, I’m that typical guy. Um, I was a lifelong musician, and during Covid, I thought, what am I going to do? You can’t go outside, you know, you can’t do anything outside of the house. And over the years, I shared the stage with and met a lot of our Legacy artists here in Canada, so I thought I’ll bet you if I called David Henman from April Wine, he’d be home. You know if I called Ronnie King from the Stampeders, he’d be home. We’re all home, so I started this podcast with the idea of trying to give people something to smile about in such a dark time because it was just? Man, it was hard. You know?

I mean, you couldn’t even go to the grocery store. I was almost having panic attacks. You know when somebody stood six inches too close to me. I was, like…”

Oh man, oh yeah, because they didn’t understand it. And so, when you don’t understand something, it’s dangerous. Big fear comes in, absolutely.

“Yeah, yeah, my wife and I were the first COVID cases in the Laurentian Mountains. We’d been visiting our daughter, Hannah, who’s singing with me on this album. We were visiting her. She was doing her Master’s Degree in Paris. And we were visiting there in March. That’s just when the global pandemic hit. 

Just when I was starting, we knew there were cases of COVID, but it’s, they said there were only like 10 cases of COVID in all of France, so we figured, you know, we were going to go visit our daughter, and we went, and everybody was sick. And we ended up getting it.

We ended up booking tickets and leaving two days earlier because they were going to close down the country. We just wanted to get home, and as soon as we got home, I started getting symptoms. And then my wife, Robin, started getting symptoms. We were the first victims of COVID here in the Laurentians. And people, you know, were afraid. People didn’t want to see us out on the street. The police would come and make sure you stayed inside. It was, it was very scary. 

This album, The Well, you know, I was really needing something to do. I needed my creative outlet, so I was writing all these songs, and I started recording the album.”

If there was a silver lining from Covid, it was all the artistic productivity that came from it. You know, I mean, so many good things came out of it musically. Um, and I know that the first time I played live after they said it was safe, it was something else. We played at this Rib Fest in London, and there were, I think, 14,000 people on site. I don’t know how many were paying attention to me, but man, it was like just being born again, you know, and just having. Like, ah, it was such a breath of fresh air to actually be able to sing and play for people again.

“Oh yeah, I know, I know.” 

Yeah, but that said, back to you. There’s some really great stuff on this album, you know. Yeah, it is something else. I know you’re starting to get some spin on the radio, which is always nice. And are you gonna tour to promote this album? 

“I have a show coming up at the beginning of August, just right in my town. Beautiful! A beautiful place outside, the Pottery Festival site outside, it’s just an incredible, beautiful place. I’m going to do a show. August 5th. But mostly, I’m working on publicity with Eric Alper. I have lots of interviews. And you know, I figure this is what I’m doing at this moment.” 

Yeah, and you’ve got the hardest-working PR guy on the planet on your side. 

“Yeah, he’s wonderful. I don’t think he sleeps. You know, I think he just goes 24-7.”

Um, with all that said. Your new single Put Back My Heart is an awesome, awesome tune. I know that a lot of this came from COVID, but was there something specific that inspired you with the idea for this? There’s one line that really got me, uh, ‘like a baby grand from a tower I fell for you, like a baby.’ That’s a great one. I don’t think anybody else would have ever come up with that lyric. You know, that’s. That’s brilliant. 

“I wrote most of the lyrics myself. But, but some of the lyrics were with my son Eli, who was too busy to do other guitars, but he was still co-producing with me, and he said he had some great ideas, and like he has a few great lines.

That’s a cool song. Yes, absolutely. Let me tell you how I wrote this. Okay, fortunately, it was not inspired by my own personal experiences. It’s just a situation, isn’t it? It wasn’t my situation, but I just got the idea. This was the end of the Pottery Festival, the big Pottery Festival 2001, pots in God.

I was helping my wife, Robin, take down her pots and bring them to the van, and I was doing wheelbarrow trips, you know, from her table to the van? And I just started getting this song in my head, heard the music, and I started getting all I had lines like I fell for you, like a painter, and I would stop and write some of these lyrics down.

And then I went home, and I finished it really quickly. But it started with a wheelbarrow full of ceramic pots. It’s funny how that can happen.” 

I want to go back to Rhinoceros if we can. Yeah, there were three albums, with Elektra, right? How did the band come together in the first place? 

“I can tell you my story. I had a girlfriend. The first love of my life. And I was still in Chicago. And I was going to the Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University. And she was at NYU in New York studying film photography. And when I went to visit her, I always brought an acoustic guitar with me.

She had a friend who works for Variety magazine. And he knew Paul Rothschild, the producer. He produced Janice Joplin’s Pearl, and he produced the Doors. He produced Paul Butterfield’s East Meets West, for example.

And she told him that I was just great. I had great songs. I was a great singer. And the guy from Variety told Paul Rothschild that he heard me play and that I was incredible. I had great songs. I was a great thing. And then he told Katie, and I had an interview that morning.

(Pictured: Paul Rothchild.)

I wasn’t a big Doors fan. Okay. I wasn’t that familiar with Paul Rothchild. I went to the Elektra Records office in New York for an interview with him, and I met Paul, and he was this guy that had long hair, you know? You know, hippie, dippy, like me, where I came from in Chicago, who was my whole clan, you know, all my friends. I came from a very 1960s. Hippy dippy environment, and there was Paul, and he was right on.

He could have been my buddy there at least the way he looked. And he was really nice. Before he even heard a song, a single note, we sat and talked for almost an hour, and then he said, let’s hear some songs. And we went into a room.

There’s a piano, and I had my guitar, and I started playing songs, and he loved them, and he kept telling me boy we got to play that again, and he’d call somebody in, and he kept calling people in at the end of this. And we were smoking this blonde Lebanese hash that was like from outer space.

And, and by the end of this thing, I was on the moon to imagine, you know, it was, it was just really nuts, and he said to me, Alan, I want to produce you either as a solo artist or with this super group that we’re putting together at Elektra Records.

And he told me about the super group; they were picking people, and it sounded really cool. I said, well okay, let’s try this super group. And he said, okay, that’s how we’ll do it. And sure enough, afterwards, you know, I was so stoned from the hash, I could barely find my way out of the building.

After that, he called me at home in Chicago, and he was, you know, he had my airplane tickets. And I had to make the decision to give up my 2s deferment in college, you know, it was the Vietnam War, and I had to confirm.

So, I made the decision, and I said, well, I’m going to just do what I want to do. I’m going to follow my dream instead of acting out of fear. I’m going to follow what I want to do, and I did. And I went to LA, and Paul had 14 musicians in his living room. We were passing around the guitar, playing tunes. To make a long story short, it was divided into two groups of, like, seven people. And out of all those people, only three of us remained in the group. Doug Hastings, John Finley, and me.

That was it. Nobody was told to leave. It was cool and casual. Nobody said, you’re done. Get out of here. Everybody just felt everybody left on their own accord, and they found this isn’t for me. So, it was organic in that way. You went in every other way. It was, you know, really put together, but it was organic.

I mean, the people left. And there were three of us left, and we met Danny Weis. He just knocked our socks off, and he was from the Iron Butterfly. It just went from the Iron Butterfly and then Jerry Penrod, a bass player. He was also with the Iron Butterfly. 

And he became our bass player. Danny was one of the guitar players. And then we needed a drummer. And we tried Buddy Miles. And we tried Billy Mundi. He was from the Mothers of Invention. You know, Buddy Miles was from the Electric Flag. Yeah. And Michael Fonfara was also from the Electric Flag, and John Finley knew Michael from Jon & Lee and The Checkmates in Toronto.

And, uh, anyway,  we got Michael, and we took Billy Mundi, and there it was. And then we were rehearsing. And Elektra Records was calling it Super Group. And finally, I said, listen, you know, I’m talking to Jac Holzman and to Paul Rothchild and I said we can’t call this band Super Group you know. We’re not going to want to walk out on the stage calling ourselves Super Group. I had then and still have to this day a collection of Rhinoceroses. You know, I always loved Rhinos. And I said call it anything else but Super Group.

I said, let’s call this band Rhinoceros. “

(Pictured: Rhinoceros.)

That’s funny. I thought all along, I thought you were just alluding to the fact that they were going to advertise Rhinoceros as a supergroup. But they were actually going to call the band Supergroup? Really? I never really got along with the guys in suits. You know, I was offered a record deal when I was 23. And I turned it down because I never got along with the guys in suits. Things might have happened for me if I had been a little bit more open to what they were offering, but I just felt like they’re always trying to rip me off. 

“Well, I got ripped off big time when I was 20 years old, man. Yeah, right, I signed away most of my publishing.” 

So, that’s all very interesting, you know, this whole they were going to call it Supergroup and all that. And then, you just kind of blurt it out. Let’s call it Rhinoceros. So, what happened after Rhinoceros?

“I was really disillusioned as you were, with the music business, you know, music and creation and doing shows; it’s been my life. But I was really disillusioned with the music business. I refused all kinds of stuff. I was offered to do all kinds of stuff. I was offered to work with all kinds of people. When people say, how come Alan’s not a big megastar, Robin, my wife, says, because if you saw the list of people he said no to, you would understand.

I was disillusioned with that. And then, before too long, my wife and I moved to Mendocino, California, way up North. It’s like 3 hours north of San Francisco. We lived in the country.

I was shell-shocked after Rhinoceros, and then I started playing gigs. 

We moved up to the country, and I was playing again, and then I met somebody in LA who loved my music and wanted to manage me. And he was a wonderful guy, and he was pretty well connected to the music business, and he took me to all the record companies. 

These were the days when you could go into the president of the company’s office and play a few tunes. And I played for everybody. I eventually signed with Shelter Records with Danny Cordell and Leon Russell; that was their company.

I signed with him, and I made my Shelter album. It was called Alan Gerber’s Album, and it looked like a photo album with a beautiful cover. Beautiful stuff! 

And I did it in Memphis, Tennessee. My band for this project was like Booker T & the MGs band. I had Duck Dunn on bass and Al Jackson on drums. Steve Cropper was engineering. It was incredible. I had the Memphis horns. I had Gloria Jones and the old Raylettes singing with me. I don’t know if you’ve heard any of this. But check it out when you get the chance.

It’s Alan Gerber’s Album on Shelter Records. Very funky, so I did that and then lo and behold, I had business troubles with them.

My single from that album was a big hit on Billboard, Cashbox, and Record World. My album was getting played like crazy on all the FM stations all over the United States and in England. 

Anyway, there was no distribution. You couldn’t buy my album anymore. Shelter Records was distributed by Capitol. And they had some disagreements because Danny Cordell was Joe Cocker’s producer. And they thought when they got Leon Russell and Daniel Shelter. They were gonna get Joe Cocker, too. And lo and behold, Joe Cocker signed with A&M.

I believe it was A&M. Anyway, he signed with somebody else other than Capitol Records. And they were pissed, and so the distribution was not very good, and my album wasn’t in the stores. And so, how long are they going to keep playing it on the radio if the album isn’t in the stores? 

I was doing live shows with a great group. I had Danny Weis, Michael Fonfara, a great drummer and bass player, and we were doing shows with Leon Russell.

I was doing shows in New York. We were playing at the Bitter End on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, and we were held over for an extra week, you know, and everything, but you couldn’t buy the album in New York.

And so finally, I was really pissed, and I told Shelter Records I’m done. I found a lawyer to help me. And they wanted me to make another album for them, and I refused. And we went to court; it was just really unpleasant. You know, and so after that, I really got turned off by the music business, and I started doing my own thing.”

When it becomes a job. Instead of a passion, there has to be a line drawn somewhere. Uh, 13 odd albums, solo albums later. We’re here with The Well, here we are. Yeah, and the track Over Again. That’s the one that your son played guitar on?

“Yeah, he actually- I’ll tell you a story, you know- he wanted to do all the guitars. He had a little window of time, and he started putting together ideas for the song. He put together the idea. And he recorded it at really high quality at 96 kHz using Reaper. It was really well recorded on Reaper.

And, uh. He sent me the idea. He didn’t get to finish it, according to him, but I took what he sent me, and I stuck it in the track. And I said this ain’t no demo. This is not an idea. This is the guitar track, and you listen to it, and there’s no doubt about it.”

It’s brilliant. Yeah, and he comes by it. Honestly, you know, I’m curious now, because you have a son and a daughter who are both top-shelf musicians. Did you encourage that, or did they just kind of find it on their own? 

“Well, you know, they grew up with me. And they discovered their love of music on their own. There was a lot of music in the house. We homeschooled the kids. Okay, their schooling would be done in a few hours in the morning, and then they had the rest of the day to discover what it was that turned them on.

And they just started doing music and singing. And my wife, Robin, who I told you is a ceramic artist? She also was a piano teacher, and she taught them a little piano when they were little kids. And they both just really got into music, and they came on the road with me.

For the most part, I was on the road. My wife did most of the homeschooling. She did a brilliant job with our kids, you know? Our son is a physicist now, and our daughter was working for the United Nations, and now she works for the OECD. You know, they’re quite accomplished, and they’re also great musicians, and so they came on the road with me.

It was wonderful because, like I said, Robin did most of the homeschooling. So, this was my chance of being with my kids and sharing something big with them.” 

You know, that’s some kind of special magic, I’m sure. 

“Well, I’ll tell you, we were playing the Montreal Jazz Festival once. And I had Eli on my right shredding and Hannah on my left singing with me.

And we were playing for like 14,000 people; they were going nuts. People were good, and Eli was doing a guitar solo, and he started playing with his teeth. He got so he turned the guitar; I mean he’s quite a showman. And what a thing to share with your kids!”

There’s some really interesting stuff on this album now, Diablo Square. I imagine being in a gondola in Venice. Yeah, you know?

“I have a 150-year-old button accordion, and that’s what I’m playing on that song, you know? And the clarinet player, Michel Dubeau, gets that sound from outer space.”

Yeah, it’s a really unique song 

“Yeah, I’d like to make a video for that song.”

Nice. Money Can’t Save You? I enjoyed that a lot.

“Yeah, well, that was when Michael Fonfara was really ill, and it didn’t look like he was going to be around too much longer. I went to Toronto. I was going there for a wedding, and one night we went out. I went out to supper with Michael and his wife, Adele. And I was asking Michael, what would you like, man? What if I could do something? Let’s do something really cool. And he said he wanted to make another Rhinoceros album.

I said, yeah, we could do that. Everybody throw in a few songs, and we’ll have a great time, and I ran the idea by everybody. And at first, everybody was, yeah, let’s do it. Yeah, and then one by one people backed out. So, I ended up booking the studio myself.

The studio where we recorded all the organ tracks is a little home studio owned by a guy named John Pickering. It’s called the Rhythm Ranch. And I got in touch with John because I used to go there and use Michael for my albums. And John had two Hammond B3s.

One upstairs in his living room and one downstairs in the basement studio. Anyway, I said to the guys, well, listen, let’s just go and record two of my songs.

I said I’ll pay for it. I want to do this with Michael. And so, we got Michael, Danny, John, and me together to do this. We had a really lovely drummer and bass player from Toronto. They’ve played on it. And we recorded it. And that’s Money Can’t Save You.

That was a whole different session. It was the last time I got to record with Michael. And Danny Weis and I really connected during that also.“

It’s, you know, interesting, you know, Michael may have left this mortal plane, but his legacy lives on through the spirit of his music, for sure. And this is a really good example of that, you know, and you can hear the passion, and we’ll never lose that. 

“About Michael. I was visiting my aunt in Manhattan. She lives on the 52nd floor of this building in Lincoln Center, you know, I mean, it’s really fancy, and I was coming down in the elevator. We’re staying with her in New York.

And in the elevator, there was Paul Schaefer. And we were talking, and I told him who I was and about Rhinoceros. And he said that Michael Fonfara is his all-time favorite! Paul Schaefer told me that. 

And you know when I was recording my Shelter album in Memphis? I had Duck Dunn and Al Jackson, and Steve Cropper. I didn’t use Booker T. I flew Michael Fonfara in for those sessions.”

You know, you had that magical connection, right?

And with that, I ended a wonderful conversation with an amazing musician with a legacy next to none.

Alan Gerber’s new album “The Well” is available at  alangerbersongs.com 

Look for his songs on YouTube, as well, and subscribe to his channel.

Interview Conducted By Tommy Solo

London, Ontario-based singer-songwriter & guitarist Tommy Solo has roots as a long-time SW Ont musician, having traveled across Canada & into the USA as a full-time musician.

In recent years, he has been focused on writing, recording & performing his original brand of classic rock, & sharing experiences with other legacy artists via his podcast, Tommy Solo’s Famous Friends, and on his YouTube channel.  

Profiles of Local Music Venues: Pete’s Pad Restaurant & Bar.

by Richard Young

The London area is blessed with numerous live music venues that offer all genres of music from classic rock to country, and everything in between. Some venues are large concert halls, while many are smaller nightclubs and bars. Some are strictly 18 and over, while some offer All Ages shows. Some have Cover Charges, while many offer free entertainment.

The Beat Magazine 2025 wants to recognize these fine establishments by publishing short profiles of each in a recurring series called “Profiles of Local Music Venues.”

In this first segment, Rudy Graf of RK photo Graf s, profiles Pete’s Pad Restaurant & Sports Bar.

Pete’s Pad Restaurant & Bar is a small bar on the east side of town with a big sound.

Every Sunday afternoon there is a Blues Jam at Pete’s Pad. The jam band consists of Ray, Steve, Richard, and Laura. What a great combination.

Some of the musicians who have come in and sung a few songs include John Brocksom, Terry Lee, Kristen Renee, Chris Murphy, Robbie Antone, Ollie Marcoux, and Randy Carville, just to name a few.

You never know who is going to drop by on a Sunday afternoon. 

In addition to the Sunday Blues Jam, Pete’s Pad holds a Karaoke Night on Wednesdays and an Open Mic on Friday. Local bands often play on Thursdays.

The staff is friendly, and the food is fantastic, so check it out at 609 Clarke Road. London. 

Check out their Facebook page for more information and news of upcoming events (11) Facebook

All Musicians’ Photos by Rudy Graf.

Check out samples of Rudy’s work at RK photo Graf s on Facebook

If you know of a local music venue you think The Beat Magazine 2025 should profile, contact Richard Young at richardyoung@thebeatmagazine2025.ca

The Local Music Scene Through The Lens of Rudy Graf.

by Richard Young

This is the first in a series of recurring photo features on The Beat Magazine 2025 website, which we are calling “The Local Music Scene Through the Lens of Rudy Graf.”

Each photo dump will feature photos Rudy has taken at London-area bars and music events..

Rudy’s first feature includes pics he took at the Forest City London Music Awards Women Of London Music event on Thursday, June 11, 2026.

You should recognize many of the artists in the photos, including Denise Pelley, Leanne Mayer, Justine Chantale, Tracey Frank, Nevin Campbell, and the Shout Sister Choir.

All Photos By Rudy Graf.

Rudy Graf is an up-and-coming London photographer who is very involved in the London and area music scene. He previously focused on wildlife pictures, and these photos can be seen at RKphotoGRAFs Nature on Facebook.

Rudy’s first experience taking concert pictures was for the Nashville-based Christian rock band Petra in Toronto and Sarnia in 2024. That same year, he volunteered to take pictures at the Good for the Soll festival in Ingersoll with Helix and Sarah Smith included in the lineup. Brian Vollmer of Helix asked Rudy to photograph the band at Capitol 33 in Delhi and to design the Helix 50th Anniversary Christmas Card.

In 2025-26, Rudy took promotional pictures for Toronto-based bands Always Abba and Toronto the Legacy. 

For the past six months, Rudy has been a fixture at London area bars snapping pictures of bands and performers at jam nights and concerts. You can also find him at festivals and other outdoor events. He’s taken pictures for the local Ren Festival for the past several years. Keep an eye out for Rudy at your next event!

Check out samples of Rudy’s work at his Facebook page RK photo Graf s (1) Facebook

Let us know if you would like Rudy to photograph your band or music event. Contact Richard Young, The Beat Magazine 2025 Publisher & Content Manager, at richardyoung@thebeatmagazine2025.ca.

London rocker Rose Cora Perry announces Warrior Women, a ground-breaking six-city concert and empowerment series. 

by Richard Young

Prepared with Files Provided by Rose Cora Perry. 

Rose Cora Perry, frontwoman of the award-winning rock band, The Truth Untold, is no stranger to the road.

Touring Canada and the US since she was a teenager, she’s rocked audiences of over 500,000 and opened for such names as Big Sugar, SmashMouth, Saliva, Platinum Blonde and The Killjoys. 

This year, when planning her band’s touring circuit, she wanted to think beyond the music. Throughout her years of performing, she’s had the privilege of sharing the stage with many fellow musicians, particularly other women performers.  

(Pictured: Warrior Women organizer, Rose Cora Perry. Photo Credit: Mystery Man Photo.)

In chatting with her peers, variations of the same story frequently emerged: experiences of discrimination on stage and all too often, more insidiously, incidents of domestic abuse behind closed doors, including her very own story.  

Data supports what Perry has seen firsthand, as per Believe/TuneCore Be the Change’s 2024 “Gender Equality Study” suggests that “three in five women in the music industry have experienced sexual harassment,” and according to a 2021 study by Statistics Canada, “one in two Canadian women experience intimate partner violence in their lifetime.”  

In sharing stories, Perry is honoured to have created unshakeable bonds of sisterhood with so many other female talents. But relegating these stories to the music scene alone isn’t enough to impact change. That’s why this year, in her heart, she knew she needed to do something different and the idea for Warrior Women was born.   

Warrior Women is a ground-breaking six-city concert and empowerment series designed to amplify women’s voices by creating a powerful intersection of music, community building, and social impact. 

The core objective is to unite women from diverse backgrounds to share stories of resilience and create meaningful connections across professional and personal spheres, transforming local music venues into spaces of solidarity.  

(Pictured: Rose Cory Perry & The Truth Untold. Photo Credit: Mystery Man Photo.)

Throughout Niagara Falls, Windsor, London, Toronto, Hamilton, and Sarnia, 24 female-fronted bands, six empowering female guest speakers and 21 female-owned and operated business partners will be showcased.  

Proceeds are being raised for Yellow Brick House, one of Ontario’s largest providers of services to women and children escaping domestic violence and abuse. Since 1978, Yellow Brick House has been providing life-saving services and prevention programs to meet the diverse needs of individuals, families, and communities impacted by violence. Their core services include emergency shelters, a 24/7 crisis and support line, public education, community counselling and support services for women and children. 

Why does this matter now? According to the latest Statistics Canada’s 2024 Homicide Survey, “in Canada, a woman is killed by her intimate partner approximately every five days”. Further, “intimate partner violence has increased by 18.1% in Ontario” (Ontario Provincial Police 2025 Data). 

By showcasing and supporting female talent across several major Southwestern Ontario cities, Perry aims to build a template for future empowerment initiatives while making an immediate, measurable difference in survivors’ lives. 

Warrior Women London is scheduled for Saturday, September 26, at the Palasad Socialbowl (777 Adelaide St N, London, ON N5Y 2L8).  

Kicking things off are Western University professors Sonia & Monda Halpern. The band lineup includes bluegazers Blue Herring, post-grunge rockers My Artifice, hooky alt-rockers Nostalgic Brightlights and alt-country quartet Lindsey & The Lonelies in addition to Perry’s band, The Truth Untold. 

Admission is $5, and the event is all ages with doors opening at 7:00 pm. Advanced tickets are available at: https://square.link/u/CBkebBDw 

Warrior Women London is proudly presented by New Era Grafix and the Paul Seed Fund with partners BFitness and Tia Bakery. 

To learn more about Rose Cora Perry & The Truth Untold, visit Rock Musician | Rose Cora Perry

Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The Inside Outside returns to the Richmond Tavern, Thursday, June 18th

by Richard Young

What follows is a Q&A Interview with Page Graham, co-founder of The Inside Outside, a popular recurring series of “salons” that brings together the music and visual art communities in a common setting.

The Interview was conducted by The Beat Magazine’s Publisher & Content Manager, Richard Young.

(Pictured: Page Graham and Tami Kegley, co-founders of The Inside Outside.)

Q. When was The Inside Outside founded, by whom, and why? 

The Inside Outside was formed in 2025 by husband-and-wife team Page Graham and Tami Kegley. We saw a need to bring the music and visual art communities together in a common setting. A “salon,” if you will. Our shows consist of live music performances and arts discussion (interviews)

Q. What do each of you bring to the project? 

Page takes care of the technical and production aspects. Since she is an artist herself, Tami acts as host and interviewer. Both collaborate to develop ideas and people to invite to participate in the show.

Q. What demographic does The Inside Outside serve? 

Although unintentional, our events tend to attract a more mature audience, and all ages are certainly welcome. Not only do music and art find themselves siloed in terms of disciplines, age also plays a factor. For example, there are old-school punk bands in London as well as younger acts, and they aren’t at all integrated.

Q. In what venues do you hold your events? 

Our events are held at the Richmond Tavern, London’s finest dive bar. People who would like to come to our events should be aware that it’s clean, well-run, and safe. Oh, and the drink prices are quite fair! We don’t charge a cover, but we do pass the hat. Pay What You Can (PWYC).

Q. How often do you hold events? 

We are currently holding our events quarterly, on the 3rd Thursday of March, June, September, and December. I guess we’re roughly tracking the solstices.

(Pictured: Carol MacQuarrie. Photo by Jim Capel.)

Q. What can attendees expect from your Thursday, June 18th event at the Richmond Tavern? 

Our musical guests are Carol MacQuarrie and Chris Mittleholtz, who represent one half of folk group Myrtle Earle. Chris is also a renowned punk guitarist, but this will be an acoustic show. Local artist and gallery owner Jim Telfer will be our interview guest. He runs Splash Fine Art and Jewelry Gallery on Richmond Street, just south of the CN railroad tracks. There will be a visual display of his artworks; he specializes in larger-format abstract representations of animals, primarily sea creatures, and he uses mostly found objects such as driftwood. In September, our musical guest will be Allison Brown, who will likely bring another performer to join her. Our arts guest is still TBA.

(Pictured: Jim Telfer’s “Toulouse Peacock”. Photo by Page Graham.)

Q. How can our readers learn more about The Inside Outside? 

Currently, the best option is to follow our Facebook page (insideoutsidelondon.ca). We have a website of the same name, but it is currently dormant.

Q. Do you have any general thoughts about London’s arts and culture scene/community you would like to share? 

That’s an easy and difficult question to answer all at the same time. Since I’m a Western grad from decades ago and then went abroad for many years before returning, I find that Londoners tend to be overly negative about our city, and that includes the arts.

That simply isn’t true. This is a fine city. People should take pride in it. How many other cities have a Music Week with awards shows, for example? On the other hand, the music community gets much more attention than the visual arts because it’s out of balance. Our music situation is just fine, but instead of continuing to focus on it constantly, the spotlight needs to be shared with the visual arts and literature. In addition to being known as a “City of Music”, we should also be known as a “City of Arts”.

It was a tale of two worlds: London’s Loveless.

by Richard Young

By Bob Klanac.

In one world, a band was looking for a new lead singer. In the other, a singer was looking for somewhere to sing.

Specifically, ten years ago, a band called Backline Revival was hosting a YouTube series to audition a new singer. Behind it was Rickie-Lee Houle of Loveless, who organized the series and the search.

“We asked ladies to try out and had two or three rounds of auditions. Long story short, Megan was one of the contestants,” explains Houle.

“And I will not forget when she showed up because we were all searching for our singer and had similar but different ideas of what we were looking for. When Megan sang, we were all thinking ‘this is who we want’.”

In the other world, Megan Schroder was unsure of her abilities, confessing, “I wasn’t very hopeful because I had not sung in a rock and roll band before. The only singing I had really ever done was like in my room as a kid, a bit of musical theater, and karaoke. That was really it.”

“I never fronted a band before, and didn’t really have a lot of confidence in my own rock and roll front woman ability, but I thought, you know, why not give it a shot?”

In Houle’s world, she already knew who she wanted, but life threw both young women a curveball.

Despite having Schroder top of mind, Rickie Lee had to continue with the competition to be true to the goal of the contest. Meanwhile, Schroder got an offer to audition on Broadway.

“I made it through a couple rounds of the competition and then, funny enough, I got a call to audition on Broadway for the show Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which I had recently done as part of the London Fringe Festival”, she explains.

Schroder did get a call back about the play, so she called Houle and told him she had to drop out of the auditions.

“I told them all my focus was going into preparing for this Broadway audition, and in the off chance that I happened to get it, I didn’t want to leave them high and dry,” says Schroder.

“I was certain that they weren’t even really gonna care because I thought I was the weakest link,” Schroder says flatly. “Everyone else had experience. I didn’t know what I was really capable of and thought I was probably in last place anyway, and they’re not even really gonna care.”

As for Houle, “We were devastated” when she got the call from Schroder. But the competition continued, and a winner was chosen.”

“We took a couple of weeks off after we had finished the process, and then everyone got pregnant,” she laughs. “The winning singer got pregnant. The drummer’s girlfriend got pregnant, so we kind of went on hiatus.”

At the time, Houle’s guitar-slinging, soon-to-be husband Nick, was in a band with guitarist Ian Hebert called Bender. They put Backline Revival on the back burner but kept in touch with Megan.

Back in Schroder’s world,  “Rickie Lee got in touch with me and asked to meet up. I didn’t end up getting that part on Broadway, so I was intrigued.”

One meeting later, the core of Loveless was born.

Both Houle and Hebert were looking to leave Bender and wanted a lead singer.

“Ian is super talented, but one thing that he doesn’t love to do is front a band,” Schroder explains. “It’s just not really his thing. So, they wanted to create a band where Ian sings a little but not as the lead singer.”

After a skinsman shuffle, the newly named Loveless ended up with their forever drummer, Warren Stinson, and got down to work.

Having eschewed original material ala Backline Revival, the idea behind Loveless was basically 70s and 80s rock music. What made Loveless stand out among an endless list of similar-themed cover bands was their youth. They were young and played these songs not with a rote note-by-note recitation of de facto classics but rather with the raging wonder of young guns trying out these gems for the first time.

They sounded fresh, a rarity among cover bands. And they came by their freshness honestly. They all grew up with these songs.

“Much Music was always on when I was a kid,” recalls Schroder. “I remember being in kindergarten and my mom took out her old record player and 45s and as a super young kid, I would go through that box full of British Invasion stuff.”

“I was always really into the oldies, and then I just continued to really love it, you know.”

As the Schroder household went, also went the Houle abode.

“My dad always says he plays a mean radio,” chuckles Houle.

“We had sort of a thing where every weekend we would go up to the third floor, and I would get to pick out an album that I wanted to listen to, and he would tell me about it, and I’d hear about when it first came out, when he waited in line, to pick it up at Sam’s and just getting little mini music lessons.

“We would get into like a whole bunch of bands, even Loveless doesn’t play because they’re like a little more obscure, like The MC5 or Frigid Pink, Michael Jackson, the old Chess Records stuff, and Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus album.”

As for what’s next for Loveless, it’s truly up to the band. They all have side projects and other musical outlets, and because of that, the band remains excited and vital.

“We all support each other,” says Houle. “It’s also good that we come back to the band with renewed energy, too. We are always so appreciative of what we have when we come back.”

“We’re all really good friends. Like, we all really genuinely like each other,” Schroder enthuses.

“So, like when we’re having fun and goofing off on stage, it’s all real. None of it is fake, because we’re just like five friends who are hanging out and having a good time together. And just, yeah, loving it.”

You can catch Loveless at the Pierside Pub in Port Stanley: Sunday, August 2 and September 6.

Follow Loveless on Facebook (6) Facebook

By Bob Klanac

Bob Klanac is a London-based music journalist who has penned hundreds of reviews and interviews. He was a juror for the Polaris Music Prize, a member of the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Jury, and a Juno Awards juror. Bob has also penned two books, Promo Man about London’s late music legend Nick Panaseiko and Shooting Stars, Telling Tales, about photographer to the stars photo-journalist John Rowlands.

(Photo Credit: Paul Lambert.)

The Beat Magazine Q&A Interview with Toni Wilson, Director of Mamma Mia!

by Richard Young

What follows is a Q&A Interview with Toni Wilson, Director of Mamma Mia playing at the Palace Theatre from May 28 to June 7 . The Interview was conducted by The Beat Magazine’s Publisher & Content Manager, Richard Young.

Q. Tell me about Mamma Mia! – backstory, author, performance history, etc.

Mamma Mia is a story of love, family, and friendship built around the musical hits of ABBA. It takes us to a beautiful Greek island where we can escape the complicated world in which we live – we all need a little glitter and joy once in a while.

Mamma Mia is based on the songs of ABBA, a Swedish pop/dance group active from 1971 to 1982 and one of the most popular international pop groups of all time.

Mamma Mia is a jukebox musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on songs recorded by Swedish group ABBA and composed by members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

In 1997, Judy Craymer commissioned Catherine Johnson to write the book for the musical. In 1998, Phyllida Lloyd became the director of the show, with choreography by Anthony Van Laast.

Mamma Mia premiered at the Prince Edward Theatre in the London West End on April 6, 1999 then staged at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto on May 23, 2000, followed by a Broadway production on October 18, 2001

(Photo: Ross Davidson.)

Q. What prompted LPL to select Mamma Mia! for its Spring production?

LCP was looking for a big-name show to complete their 2025/2026 season, and both Jeff Holbrough, Music Director,  and I have been waiting for the opportunity to bring Mamma Mia to community theatre. It has great music, engaging characters and lots of dancing, and we knew it would be a whole lot of fun.

(Pictured: Keyboards Annette Gilbert, Music Director Jeff Holbrough, and Director Toni Wilson.)

Q. Could you provide a brief plot synopsis?

Sophie is preparing to marry her fiancé, Sky, on a beautiful Greek island where her mother, Donna, runs a small hotel. Wanting her father to walk her down the aisle but unsure who he is, Sophie secretly reads her mother’s diary from the summer she was conceived 20 years ago and invites her possible dads to her wedding. The men, Sam, Harry and Bill, arrive, unaware of the real reason they were invited to the wedding. At the same time, Donna’s former 1970’s rock bandmates, Tanya and Rosie, arrive to support their friend Donna and her daughter Sophie. Donna is thrown into a state of panic when she discovers that her old flames have arrived for the wedding, and Sophie begins to question her marriage to Sky. In the end, all is resolved, and the play ends with a wonderful Greek island wedding.

Q. Mamma Mia! Is an obvious crowd favourite and it has been staged several times by different troupes in the London area in recent years. What sets this production apart from the others?

Mamma Mia has been a crowd favourite for many years.

The cast of 35 is comprised of two generations of people from the ages of 20 to 75.  They offer so many different perspectives on an age-old story of love and marriage. After spending so much time together, we have become our own family and are loving every minute of it.

This production incorporates a large ensemble that provides a backdrop to the story with their wonderful vocals, their creative movement throughout the story and their ongoing interest in the lives of the main characters. The cast will have a hard time saying goodbye on closing night.

(Photo: Ross Davidson.)

Q. I understand the show is officially SOLD OUT before it begins. How do you account for this?

Mamma Mia sold out well before the run of the show, and this is why.

People want to be entertained, people want to hear good music that they recognize, people want to be part of a big cast that has fun, people want to suspend their disbelief and dream of a world like the one we create in Mamma Mia – full of smiles, glitter, dance and music. People want to dream…….so ABBA, thank you for the music.

(Pictured: Director Toni Wilson and Choreographer Laura Wood.)

Q. Can you comment on the Cast – Leads and Ensemble?

I am the luckiest director – over 100 people from our London Community and beyond auditioned for this show. They all wanted to be part of the magic of Mamma Mia.

All of my leads are very strong and perfect for the parts they play. They came to rehearsal with a very professional attitude, knowing their lines and music early in the process and have set a precedent for all of the cast members. They are also kind and generous in their work with each other and with the ensemble, and appreciate the crew that makes them look so very good.

I love them all very much.

Q. How would you describe the sets, props and costumes of the play?

David Long is my set designer, and he is a gift to the Palace Theatre. He is creative, hard-working and has brought my vision of Mamma Mia to life with a beautiful set. You will feel as if you are on a Greek Island and part of the story.

Both my costumes and properties teams have collaborated and worked together with our artistic team to elevate the vision of Mamma Mia – a bright, colourful summertime feel. Sending heartfelt thanks your way.

Lighting and sound are also an integral part of the success of a big musical production. I have listened to their suggestions and trust their expertise to bring Mamma Mia to life. The technical pieces of the show add so much depth to the performances.

(Photo: Ross Davidson.)

Q. What can audiences expect from Mamma Mia?

Mamma Mia is going to grab you from the moment the curtain opens until the end when you join in with the singing and dancing during the encore. Be ready to be entertained and leave the theatre feeling like a dancing queen.

Q. Is there anything else you think readers should know about the show?

Mamma Mia has been a wonderful experience from beginning to end. Having my vision come to life depends upon the collaboration of both the cast and crew so that everyone respects the contributions we all make in the creation of a musical theatre production. The people I have brought together for this project, both cast and crew, have been outstanding in developing positive relationships with one another. Their collective effort to do their very best for the good of the show amazes me, and I am grateful.

I think we have created a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both the cast and crew of Mamma Mia and for our sold-out audiences. We are living the dream together.

(Photo: Ross Davidson.)

ARTISTIC TEAM: MAMMA MIA!

Director: Toni Wilson

Producers: Cathy Weaver and Mike Jewison

Music Director: Jeff Holbrough

Choreographer: Laura Wood

Stage Manager: Anita Goodfellow

CAST: MAMMA MIA!

Melissa Metler: Donna Sheridan

Sophie Sheridan: Jordyn Taylor

Rosie Mulligan: Angela Southern

Tanya Cresham-Leigh: Bronwyn Powell

Sam Carmichael: Jim Noonan

Harry Bright: David Bogaert

Bill Austen: Sam Shoebottom

Sky: A. J. MacDonald

Ali: Kate Deman

Lisa: Emma Vanderkuyl

Pepper: Ethan Couchman

Eddie: Tate Stadnisky

Father Alexandrios: Jim Brock

ENSEMBLE: MAMMA MIA!

Michelle Brock

Lisa Shelton

Sue Bruyns

Karen MacDonald

Janice Van Dasler

Megan Dow

Janet Bueckert

Hayley Kell

Lauren Brooks

Megan Gilliland

Isabel Dalimore

Kaity Adam

Jesse Grant

Rob Carver

Basil Gracious

Frank Delle Donne

Liam Sweezey

Gabriel Sizeland

Iain Guild

IF YOU GO:

What: London Community Players present Mamma Mia!

When: May 28 to June 7, 2026.

Where: Main Stage, The Palace Theatre, 710 Dundas St., London, ON.

Tickets: SOLD OUT

Interview conducted by Richard Young, Publisher and Content Manager, The Beat Magazine 2025.

Guys and Dolls – A Must See at the Stratford Festival

by Richard Young

Reviewed by Richard Young

(Pictured: Members of the Guys and Dolls company. Photo: David Hou.)

Full Disclosure: I’ve always been a sucker for full-scale Broadway musicals. And, before the “Drama Police” show up in my Facebook Comments, I appreciate drama and “serious issues plays” just as much as the next guy. But there’s something about musicals that attracts me to them every time.

From the opening chords of its first production number to the final bows of its outstanding Cast, the Tony Award-winning production of Guys and Dolls, now playing in previews at the Stratford Festival, is a spectacle that theatre-goers do not want to miss, if for no other reason than to allow them to escape the harrowing front-page news of 2026.

Let’s start with the stellar veteran Cast.

I would gladly pay to hear Stratford veteran actor Dan Chameroy read a phone book. His portrayal of Sky Masterson, a notoriously lucky gambler willing to bet on just about anything, is brilliant. Add to that Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane, the focus of his unrequited love, as the pious and beautiful Sergeant Sarah Brown of the Save-a-Soul Mission, and you have a winning combination.

The play’s other love story between small-time gambler Nathan Detroit, played masterfully by Mark Urhe, who runs a floating craps game in need of a location, and his long-suffering fiancée of fourteen years, Miss Adelaide, played by Jennifer Ryder-Shaw, is equally appealing.

(Pictured: Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane and Jennifer Ryder-Shaw. Photo: Dan Hou.)

The supporting cast of stereotypical small-time grifters adds an extra dimension to the story and further encourages the audience to suspend their disbelief. Characters with names like Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Steve Ross), Benny Southstreet (Gabriel Antonacci), Rusty Charlie (Devon Michael-Brown), Harry the Horse (Henry Firmston) and Big Julie (Juan Chioran) come and go on the stage with great aplomb.

(Pictured: Members of the company. Photo: David Hou.)

The ensemble actors shine in the show’s outstanding production numbers, choreographed by Stratford veteran, director Donna Feore. Stunning dance moves, accentuated by impossible gymnastic feats, leave the audience gasping for air.

The play’s costumes and sets are a joy to behold, as is expected of Stratford Festival productions. The men are dressed in garish vintage 1940s pinstripe suits, while the women look like they walked off the screen of a classic Hollywood film noir.

Sets range from a dingy New York City streetscape, a Havana nightclub, a lively cabaret, a mission, and a NYC sewer! Set changes are done quickly and seamlessly.

(Pictured: Members of the company. Photo: David Hou.)

And the music!

Under the baton of Music Director, Franklin Brasz, the cast and pit orchestra perform songs that have become part of the Great American Songbook, including If I Were a Bell, A Bushel and A Peck, Guys and Dolls, and, of course, Luck Be A Lady.

At the preview performance I attended on Saturday, May 23, audience members could hardly wait to jump to their feet to give the cast a well-deserved standing ovation amidst shouts of Bravo.

(Pictured: Devon Michael Brown with members of the company. Photo: Ann Baggley.)

To be sure, if you are a fan of musical theatre (and even if you aren’t), you don’t want to miss this outstanding production.

As a rule, the Stratford Festival presents two major musical productions each season. Last season’s box office smash, Something Rotten, returns to the Festival stage for a command performance. Featuring many of the cast members of Guys and Dolls, it’s definitely a show you want to see if you missed it last year.

Reviewed by Richard Young, Publisher & Content Manager of The Beat Magazine 2025.

It started with the Velvet Underground: London’s Betamaxx

by Richard Young

By Bob Klanac

(Betamaxx Members, Left to Right: Jaq Inglis, drums, Sookie Mei, bass, backing vocals, Mark Ordas, guitar, backing vocals, Kathy Quayle, vocals, Simon Goodwin, keyboard, vocals.)

About six years ago, a friend of Simon Goodwin gave him a nudge with the idea of starting a Velvet Underground cover band.

Fresh out of the London theatre scene, Goodwin shrugged and started putting together what became Venus in Furs. It was fun, but after a few jam sessions, they put the band on hold. Soon after, an invitation to play at a friend’s summer party brought them back together.

A funny thing happened at the party. The crowd loved them. And the band was wowed by the response.

“I was surprised,” Goodwin laughs. “We just played some private parties, but we were just goofing around.”

It was all just goofing around until Goodwin and others in the band realized they had something.

Bassist Sookie Mei recalls that at some point, “We were just like, jamming in someone’s basement and then decided to try and make it go as a band. And we ended up expanding the repertoire to be more 70s and 80s stuff.”

Goodwin adds that “It’s a lot of work to go through from pulling together some songs for a party to being able to do a full night’s material in a bar.”

(Photo Credit: Paul Latorre.)

But work they did, going from a year as a four-piece to a five-piece before adding trained theatre performer Kathy Quayle as their frontwoman. As a singer, Quayle is incandescent, her limbs flying in time to the music with every moment rehearsed and every moment real. She is the visual lynchpin that, to borrow a quip from The Big Lebowski, ties the band together.

Before Quayle grabbed the lead microphone, Goodwin admits, “It was kind of difficult for me to be the only singer to carry out the whole thing.”

“So, having Kathy come and take a bit of a share of the vocals? It’s awesome, she’s awesome. And everyone loves her.”

Mei doubles down on what Quayle brought to the band. “It’s great to have a front woman who’s not behind an instrument, you know, who’s engaged more with the audience. And she’s dynamic, and great to look at, you know?”

So now they had a band, but given that their repertoire had drifted from its Velvets roots, they had to come up with a different name. They had started with Venus in Furs as their nom de plume, but the focus had shifted, and they needed to find another name to hang on their shingle.

Mei recalls they came up with a ton of band names, and all of them were taken already.

“We were trying to think of something that conveyed the 80s, with a nostalgic feel, but also cool. So, we decided on Betamaxx with the extra X.”

“That was one of the ones we thought wasn’t taken, but then it turned out there’s actually a DJ out of Poland and a band in Southern California that had the same name!”

Mei laughs and adds, “So we’re just not original, which is fitting for a cover band!”

Betamaxx’s focus on 80’s music wasn’t accidental. Not entirely.

Goodwin admits, “I kind of pushed it that way.”

“Well, because we were doing, like, late 70s, early 80s songs, I kind of said, well, let’s, let’s do a new wave thing because there’s no one else really doing it. I looked around, and there was only one other band covering that niche.”

“Besides, it was the music of our youth for the most part. And the band very happily went along with it.”

So, with a set list of three, the newly dubbed Betamaxx set out to do some gigging around town.

“I think the first was the Richmond Hotel about three or four years ago,” recalls Goodwin, “and we’ve just kind of grown since then.”

Goodwin understates things a tad. Betamaxx shows at the Richmond are wonderfully intimate, with a roiling crowd of dancers pushing the edge of the dance floor until even those at the crowded tables are bouncing along with the relentless beat.

“Yeah, I am surprised,” admits Goodwin. “It’s lovely, you know. We just kind of, you know, found a niche as I suggested, and uh, you know, there’s a lot of people that are in our kind of age range.”

Betamaxx is a generational rallying call, a gathering of the tribes, people who have their lives back after some years of establishing a career or family.

The band explores big hits by The Cure, the B-52s, and obscure one-hit wonders by Alphaville (Forever Young) and Peter Schilling (Major Tom), former 80s earworms that hit the nostalgia note before they hit the cerebellum. You all know these songs, whether as an obsessive fan or just having been an 80s kid.

Mei agrees, adding, “I believe people love the music of their youth, and the 80s were a huge decade for music. People of all ages seem to enjoy 80s music.”

“We’ve got people our age and older who love it. We’ve even got young 20-somethings who are into Betamaxx, and it’s the 80s music that is the key. The second thing is, we’ve got a really great band.”

According to Goodwin, it’s not just a coincidence that they’ve grown as a band. It’s also an attention to detail that he’s pushed on the band.

“We work really hard to sound like the recordings, the original recordings, because I think people really respond to that quality. I think that helps.”

Mei notes that their success has been recognized in a somewhat tangible fashion, given that Betamaxx snapped up the Best Cover Band honours at last year’s Forest City London Music Awards.

“Yeah,” she says sheepishly, “we’ve definitely risen up to  London greatness!”

Mei muses, “You know, it’s wonderful to look out into the audience and see people from all different walks of life. You know, we’ve got young people, we’ve got various people identifying with different genders, and you know, working class, white collar workers, or whatever.”

As for what’s next, Goodwin concedes that with the band all having day jobs, it’s really more about the fun than the money.

“People have asked us if we’d like to go to Windsor or wherever, but we’re not really interested,” he says flatly.

“We just kind of take gigs of convenience or anything we feel like we want to play.”

This summer, those gigs include Pride London’s mainstage, Ribfest and an upcoming slot at Old South’s Wortley Roadhouse.

“We’re also doing a Hamilton Road block party and something for the Forest City Music London awards as well,” Goodwin explains. “So, we’ve got a lot of little kind of showcase shows like that over the summer. And that’s right up our alley. That’s exactly the kind of stuff we want to do.”

Upcoming Betamaxx Shows:

July 4:   Wortley Roadhouse, 9pm-1am

July 18: Hamilton Rd Block Party, 2-3pm

July 19: Pride Festival, Victoria Park, (Date and time TBD)

July 31: Ribfest, Victoria Park, 7:30-9pm

Sept 26:Richmond Tavern, 3-6pm

Follow Betamaxx on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/1BTKY5MTRv/

By Bob Klanac

Bob Klanac is a London-based music journalist who has penned hundreds of reviews and interviews. He was a juror for the Polaris Music Prize, a member of the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Jury and a Juno Awards juror. Bob has also penned two books, Promo Man about London’s late music legend Nick Panaseiko and Shooting Stars, Telling Tales, about photographer to the stars photo-journalist John Rowlands.

London’s Jones Family receives Forest City London Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.

by Richard Young

by Richard Young

On Wednesday, May 21, 2026, the 24th annual Forest City London Music Awards (FCLMA) announced this year’s inductees into the non-profit organization’s Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement categories.

(Pictured: Fred Smith, Ted Leonard, and Don Jones. Photo Credit: Jack Sutton/CBC.)

This year’s honourees are blues guitarist Ted Leonard, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame, long-time CHRW-FM Hardcore Country host Fred Smith, and the Jones Family, London entertainment pioneers and entrepreneurs, who received Lifetime Achievement Awards.

FCLMA Hall of Fame recognition is granted to individuals who have a long-standing connection to London and area, and who have demonstrated an outstanding career in music and have made a significant impact on the local, national, and/or international community. To be considered, the nominees must have started in the music industry at least 20 years ago.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual (or individuals) who has been an outstanding contributor to the London and area music community over many years and who has inspired others to contribute to the London area’s music community in an impactful manner. 

The Jones Family received a Lifetime Achievement Award for their long-time contributions to the London Music scene, which began with the building of Wonderland (Summer) Gardens, London’s famed entertainment venue, in 1935, and continues today with the Jones Entertainment Group, which continues to build on that legacy through touring productions, festivals, and large-scale live experiences.

To be sure, it is an honour well-deserved and long overdue.

Coming on the heels of the Lifetime Achievement Award is the unveiling of commemorative Interpretive Signage recognizing and celebrating Wonderland Gardens’ contribution to London’s music scene on Sunday, June 21, at 1:30 pm, at Springbank Gardens, before the first Springbank Gardens Summer concert at 2:00 pm.

The Interpretive Signage unveiling is a joint project of the London Public Library’s Historic Sites Committee (of which the author is a member) and the City of London Culture Office.

____________________________________________________________

In the following article, brothers Chuck Jr. and Don Jones share their memories of operating Wonderland Gardens during its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. (Source: Interview with brothers Chuck and Don Jones, December 11, 2023.)

Younger brother Don Jones was tasked with booking the entertainment at age 14. He remembers booking an up-and-coming artist named Alice Cooper for $500 in 1967.

“I took care of booking Bob Seger one time, who came with his band, equipment and all, in a cube van and slept in the parking lot,” recalls Don.

Don had a talent for this and continued booking the entertainment there until the mid-1970s, getting to know and becoming friends with musicians from across the country and the U.S. He has kept many of them as long-time friends to this day.

Prominent local musical groups, including Johnny Downs, Ted Pudney, Lionel Thornton, and Neil McKay, performed at Wonderland Gardens in the venue’s early years. Later, local acts included the Hawthorne Good Times Band, led by John Hotson, which participated in twenty-five consecutive New Year’s Eve celebrations. Other local acts included The Bluesmen Revue, A Small Experience, The New Set, and many others.

(Pictured: The Bluesmen Revue.)

As musical preferences shifted over time, Wonderland stood as one of the few local vestiges of the big band era. By 1956, the once-gravel driveway leading to the attraction from Springbank Drive had transformed into Wonderland Side Road. The venue continued to host headline acts such as Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, and Sly and the Family Stone. The Jones brothers remember when Wonderland hosted a two-day Pop Festival featuring Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in August 1969.

(Pictured: Frank Zappa performs at Wonderland Gardens, August 1969.)

Chuck can finally put to rest the rumour that Zappa engaged in water skiing on the polluted Thames River.

“This did happen, I was the one driving the boat!” he jokes.

In 1982, Don met CBC children’s icon Mr. Dressup (Ernie Coombs), and together they embarked on a twenty-year journey of touring success. Don and Ernie developed a steadfast friendship that continued long after their touring stopped. Following Ernie’s retirement, these two best friends could still be found on the golf course each year, raising funds for Peter Gzowski’s Literacy Foundation.

(Pictured: Ernie “Mr. Dressup” Coombs.)

From 1999 onwards, Don’s primary focus was on the late Stuart McLean, CBC Radio host and best-selling author. Together, they covered Canada coast to coast and the northern United States, playing over 50 live shows each year with The Vinyl Cafe.

(Pictured: Stuart McLean.)

The talent kept pouring in, and Wonderland Gardens, in its heyday, was the venue where bands wanted to play.

“I would often reach out to entertainers who were playing in Detroit and catch them on their way to Toronto,” recalls Don.

Sadly, Charles Sr passed away in 1971. In the mid-1970s, Don left to continue with his music promotion business and started Don Jones Entertainment, which remains a powerhouse in the industry to this day.

By 1974, Chuck realized that to keep up with the times, the facility needed to get into the food business. He decided to open up the facility with its 1000-person capacity for company conferences, proms, parties, and fundraising events. He carefully vetted the companies that wanted to rent out the space to ensure that they were solid, upstanding businesses.

Initially, local catering companies would provide the food for these events until Chuck realized that he wanted to expand and offer the food directly.

(Pictured: Riverview Restaurant.)

“I also realized that to remain competitive, we needed to license the facility,” says Chuck. “In 1984, we opened the fully licensed Riverview Restaurant with a one-hundred-person capacity inside and one-hundred-person capacity outside. The restaurant was renowned for its great food, great service, and stunning backdrop looking over the Thames River.” 

Wonderland Gardens and the Riverview Restaurant were closed in January 2004 after the City of London failed to negotiate a reasonable new lease for the property. The last evening was a New Year’s Eve celebration with the local band, Hawthorne, playing to a sold-out crowd.

Unfortunately, Wonderland Gardens burned down in 2005, and the empty hall remained empty until June 8, 2008, when the City of London opened Springbank Gardens, featuring a renovated bandshell and the Guy Lombardo Pavilion, an arched pine and cedar building resembling the original ballroom. Today, the venue hosts summer music events and private functions.

(Pictured: The Guy Lombardo Pavilion, Sprigbank Gardens.)

Today, the two Jones brothers are mostly retired and enjoy family time. Chuck and his wife, Bea, are avid birders and house sixteen colonies of the endangered Purple Martin birds. Don and his wife Linda enjoy spending time with their four kids and eleven grandchildren. Don enjoys cooking and is known to make delicious soups and roasts that he generously drops off to family and neighbours.

Don’s sons, Brad and Greg, are successfully running the Jones Entertainment Group, offering a one-stop service to the entertainment business. Locally, they have successfully filled Harris Park with 50,000 fans each year for the past nineteen years for the local charity fundraiser, Rock The Park.

Don and Chuck Jones have vivid memories of Wonderland Gardens and the bands that performed there.

One such memory includes the time that the popular British band The Crazy World of Arthur Brown was booked to play one evening at Wonderland Gardens in 1969. The day before Brown was scheduled to perform, Don received a phone call from the band’s manager informing him that the whole band had quit, and the eccentric and outlandish band leader was on his own. Don flew him in from New York and chartered a plane from Toronto to London to get him to the venue on time.

(Pictured: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.)

“He was without his band, his stage gear, and his signature flaming head costume. I quickly improvised. The opening band knew all the songs and agreed to step in for Arthur,” Don recalls. “I found a lampshade, stuffed it full of cotton balls, soaked it in lighter fluid, and duct-taped it to his head. As he stepped onstage, the cotton balls were lit, and Arthur’s outlandish entrance was restored. Unfortunately, the flaming head didn’t have protection for his head, and it was quickly doused after singeing his hair. There was a burn on the stage floor after that concert!”

By Richard Young, Publisher & Content Manager, The Beat Magazine 2025

Richard Young is a retired History teacher who taught with the Thames Valley District School Board for thirty years. Richard published The Beat Magazine, an independent print arts magazine, from 2009 to 2013. In 2025, he revived the magazine as an online publication. He is currently a member of the London Public Library Historic Sites Committee.

His band, The Comic Opera, played at Wonderland Gardens numerous times in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He has many fond memories of the venue.

http://www.thebeatmagazine2025.ca