‘Love letter’ to Gordon Lightfoot’s music hits the stage in Whistler

CATCH JOHN MCLACHLAN AND MARC ATKINSON’S SHOW, EARLY MORNING RAIN, AT THE MAURY YOUNG ARTS CENTRE ON APRIL 22

BY ALYSSA NOEL

JOHN MCLACHLAN admits most of the audience members at his Gordon Lightfoot tribute shows have skewed just south of middle age.

“They were there when [Lightfoot] was coming up,” he says. “I think that’s the reason they come, but I don’t do an impersonator show. They’re not coming to hear exactly the same solos. I’ve often wondered what is it with tribute shows? You connect to who you were when you heard those songs.”

That might be true, but Lightfoot is also heralded as one of the greatest Canadian songwriters of all time. Only, he’s never quite been passed down over generations the same way his famous folk and rock contemporaries have been—think Bob Dylan or Neil Young.

But still, regardless of your age, it’s likely you know songs penned by the 84-year-old was a songwriter and musician long before he crafted several different tribute albums to Lightfoot. (In fact, one album, Call It Home , is about his summers on Hornby Island in the ’60s and ’70s.) But around five years ago, he revisited the musician’s songs and decided, for fun, to do a hometown had in his writing. His song structure wasn’t like everyone else’s.”

(who, last week, cancelled all his remaining shows for the year due to “health-related issues”). Aside from classics like “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown,” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” he’s been covered by everyone from Elvis and Johnny Cash to (of course) Cher.

For his current show, Early Morning Rain, the Songs of Gordon Lightfoot, McLachlan is doing a short tour with guitarist Marc Atkinson (bassist Scott White is also part of the project, but isn’t touring these dates).

“Marc Atkinson is an incredible lead guitar player,” McLachlan says. “He has his own trio—he’s toured an awful lot more than I have—his playing is wonderful. He plays a lot like Gordon Lightfoot’s lead guitarist, Red Shea.”

The pair will be taking the show everywhere from Lillooet to Pender Island in April, making a stop in Whistler at the Maury Young Arts Centre as part of Arts Whistler Live! on April 22.

For McLachlan’s show—more “love letter” than tribute act—he mined tracks from Lightfoot’s first 10 years (1966-76).

“It was a really vibrant time, so much energy,” he says. “He was young, putting out music every year. His music really hit me in those years—the early ’70s—when I was a teenager. And I love his writing in that period.”

McLachlan, who lives on Hornby Island, concert of those covers.

It went well, and McLachlan started to appreciate those childhood favourites in a new way.

“I started to realize more intricately what he does,” he says. “Even little things, like he’s got a couple of albums in the early ’70s, it’s hard to find a traditional chorus on them. I think that’s what gave him the longevity he

“I think of it like [the audience] can expect to come on a little bit of a journey with us,” he says. “The stories tie the songs together, and we go back in time a bit, too … In particular, it’s my relationship with the songs, but a lot of people seem to relate to it too.”

Catch Early Morning Rain at the Maury Young Arts Centre on April 22 at 8 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.). Tickets are $25 at showpass.com/ aw-live-mclachlan.

For more on McLachlan, visit johnmclachlan.ca. n