“It’s a long story, but remember the last time you were out to hear some live music, and you heard a song that you could remember but you really couldn’t remember the last time you heard it? It was an old song, a great song…ah yes! I remember now. Well that’s us!”
This is how Settle the Ghost welcome you to their webpage, and it’s one of my favourite introductions to a band that I’ve read in awhile. They are great at taking those classic tunes and bringing them back to life. Actually, they can put a twist on any song, whether it’s old or new, and change it enough to make it refreshing, but also quickly recognizable.
Simply put, this is band with experience who knows what their audience wants.
They’re great at digging up those tunes you had forgotten about but upon hearing, you’re like: oh yeah! this song! I love this song! Why doesn’t anyone play this one anymore?
Well, Settle the Ghost knows these tunes in part because they were playing music in clubs when these songs were being written and performed for the first time. For example, Dave Fearnall actually played in the Hawk’s Nest on Yonge Street in Toronto when that Yorkville sound was all the rage and get this: Rodger Tippin even jammed with Ronnie Hawkins’ band The Hawks!
So my question is this: has he met Rick, Richard, Levon, Robbie, or Garth? Has Robbie played his sweet rhythm guitar in behind his chord changes? Damn, there’s gotta be some stories there!
They ask their audience not to be scared off by their age, but I think their age equals experience and plenty of cool stories from a time when the music scene in Toronto was at its peak. My folks tell me stories of the sixties and seventies in Toronto, and I think I was born at the wrong time.
But most importantly, Settle the Ghost is not a just Classic Rock cover band. Get ready for a musical experience from the gifted musicianship of Larry Dickinson, Kim Lake, John Stewart, Rodger Tippin, David Fearnal, Katrina Strong and Anne Maas. At least five of these band members will be at each show and sometimes all 7. But be prepared to have upwards of 11 on stage at one time. “We have lots of friends just on the other end of the phone,” the band explains, and also adds, “Most of us still use landlines!”
Maybe they’ll call up Ronnie, Robbie, and Garth to come join them at Harbour Nights this Sunday at 7pm. Regardless, it’ll be an experience. Get yourself to the Visitor’s Centre on the Owen Sound inner harbour to be a part of it.
Written by Jesse Wilkinson
