The local live music scene is thriving
by Janet Lees
photography by Jessica Crandlemire
The lights go down, the musicians take the stage, a hush falls over the crowd. No, this isn’t a packed concert at a huge venue in downtown Toronto; it’s an intimate performance at one of our local restaurants.
On almost any given night throughout the year, artists are stepping up to the microphone at one or more of our area’s eateries and watering holes. From cover bands to singer-songwriters to open mic nights, the live music scene in Southern Georgian Bay is … well, lively, to say the least.
“Live music is alive and well, and growing at a rapid rate in this area,” says Steven Vipond, owner of the Crow Bar & Variety in Collingwood and the Bruce Wine Bar in Thornbury, both of which bring in live acts every week. “It’s an exciting time for live music.”
Even before he opened his restaurants, Vipond was looking for ways to bring live acts to local ears. He started the Bruce Street Social Club in 2008, inviting solo musicians and small bands to play at his home in Thornbury, and putting the word out to friends. The Social Club has now grown to more than 1,600 members, with about 40 coming out for each private concert in Vipond’s living room.
“Back when I started the Social Club 10 years ago, the music scene consisted of local acts playing in bars, but since then, Meaford Hall and the Gayety and Simcoe Street Theatre are bringing in great acts, there are more open mics than I can shake a stick at, and more and more restaurants are offering live music on a weekly basis,” says Vipond.
Vipond opened Crow Bar with music in mind. The restaurant features live acts four nights a week, and there’s even a “residency” program to help local artists improve their stage presence. “We give a local musician a month of Wednesdays,” says Vipond. “It’s a chance for them to hone their skills, try out some new material, get better at stage banter – whatever it is that they need. It’s kind of a proving ground for them.”
Thursday is open mic night at Crow, hosted by Craig Smith and featuring a full band. On Fridays and Saturdays, acts from all over perform (booked in November are the Mike McCarthy Band, the Romney Getty Band, Must Stash Hat, Flat 5, Sean Pinchin and the Rob Elder Band). The weekend shows start at 9:30, but if you’re looking for something earlier, there are also “Crow Sessions” – dinner shows featuring award-winning artists.
Vipond’s Thornbury restaurant, the Bruce Wine Bar, also offers live music every Friday night and an open mic on Wednesdays. Vipond says he’s also pondering starting dinner shows similar to the “Crow Sessions” at the Bruce.
Marcia Alderson has been attending Vipond’s Bruce Street Social Club house concerts for about five years now, and tries to catch as many shows at the Crow Bar and Bruce Wine Bar as she can. She says she has seen an explosion in the area’s live music scene, and she couldn’t be happier.
“It’s part of the lifestyle and part of what makes this area so special,” says Alderson, herself a singer who has performed on the Village Stage at Blue Mountain. She’s also a local real estate agent who “sells” her clients on the wide variety of arts and culture Southern Georgian Bay has to offer, including live music.
“Not only do we have four seasons and lots of outdoor activities, but we have one of the best music scenes outside of Toronto,” she enthuses. “The calibre of musicians coming to this area to perform is really amazing, and there are some great local acts and a lot of original music in this area. The music scene here is just fantastic.”
With avid fans like Alderson plus a growing number of “casual” music goers in the region, Vipond is not the only restaurateur who sees value in doubling as a live music venue – in Collingwood alone, Gibson and Company, The Huron Club and The Harbour Street Fish Bar also feature live music on a weekly basis.
The Fish Bar opened in 2012 and started offering live music about a year later, says co-owner Joanne Lapetina. “We just love music and at the time we didn’t have a lot to go to, especially in our age group,” she says. “We decided to give it a shot and we’ve never looked back.”
The Fish Bar has two rotating house bands that play mainly blues on Thursday nights. Friday and Saturday nights feature bands that play a variety of genres, and the dance floor usually fills up pretty quickly, says Lapetina. “We bring in a lot of bigger bands out of Toronto. We’ve had Little Caesar and the Consuls, Oakland Stroke, Jordan John … bands that play a lot of the older tunes that people know and can sing, that bring back a lot of memories. It’s all about having a fun night.”
Lapetina adds the number and calibre of local bands is extraordinary for an area this size. “We’re getting a lot of retired musicians up this way that aren’t really ready to hang it up yet, and they can come out and play and still have fun,” she says. “What everyone is doing, bringing music to this area, is really making a name for Collingwood especially as a real music scene.”
For local musicians, the heightened interest in live music has been a godsend. Shane Cloutier, whose band used to play regularly at the Fish Bar, recently released his first solo album and is working on a second. He says he owes much of his success to the support he’s received from the local community.
Cloutier began performing “cover gigs” locally about 14 years ago, playing and singing popular artists’ material at venues throughout Southern Georgian Bay. But he’s first and foremost a songwriter, and he says his career really began to take off when he started performing his original songs.
“We have a unique area because we have so many venues that support original music,” says Cloutier. “We have a lot of artists of all kinds, and a lot of people who appreciate art, so that kind of support is really important when you’re trying to create original music and find an audience for it. With the release of my album, I’ve been overwhelmed with how supportive everyone has been.”
For Cloutier, that support has been especially heartwarming – he suffered a personal tragedy when his wife passed away in 2016, and the songs on his album, In Light, reflect the emotional challenges of dealing with that loss. The music is raw, it’s vulnerable, and Cloutier says he couldn’t have done it without the people who embraced him and his music.
“It was a difficult time, and the album is very revealing,” he says. “As soon as I saw it come out on iTunes there was the feeling of being naked, but it was cathartic for me, and I felt comfortable releasing it because I knew I had the support of so many people.”
It’s a poignant reminder that musicians open their souls through their music, whether in celebration or grief. Live shows unite artist and audience in a way that reverberates beyond an evening’s entertainment.
One local venue has been creating that connection for over 70 years: The Beacon Restaurant in Wasaga Beach. Originally a dance hall back in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s, the Beacon has hosted a wide variety of musical acts through the years. Today, there are live shows every Wednesday night from February to November. Nicknamed Freakin’ at the Beacon, the shows feature special guests performing with the house band, Virgil Scott and the Freakin’ Band.
“It’s usually someone who’s a big deal, someone who has won a Juno, people like that,” notes the restaurant’s manager, Taylor Puccini, whose family bought the building in 1944 and operated it as a dance hall until Taylor’s dad took over in the late ‘70s (on a side musical note, the family is also directly related to classical composer Giacomo Puccini). In addition to the guest performers, anyone can jam with the band. “They let anybody up to play with them once, and you have to be really good to get up to play with them twice.”
Puccini says the Beacon used to be one of the only venues around for live music, but not anymore. “It has definitely grown a lot over the past 10 years. The influx of people who have moved here have created the demand,” he says, adding, “Wednesdays are definitely one of our consistently busiest nights. We have about 400 people who are regulars for Wednesdays, with anywhere from 100 to 150 showing up every week.”
As music lovers flock to our shores, there’s no question that the already impressive scope and quality of live music will continue to grow. With more and more restaurants and bars featuring live acts, plus “soft seat” concert venues like the Gayety, Simcoe Street Theatre and Meaford Hall bringing in top-notch talent, there’s something for every musical taste. From jazz and blues to indie, folk, rock and even classical, catching a live show is just one more way to celebrate life in Southern Georgian Bay. ❧
