Veteran rocker Randy Bachman, host of CBC Radio One’s Vinyl Tap show, is touring the country and sharing his stories and songs, much the way he does on his radio show. However this show is all about him.
“It’s a response to thousands of letters from Vinyl Tap fans to bring this show on the road with my own music,” he said.
Bachman takes to the stage at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, April 16 in Evergreen Theatre at Powell River Recreation Complex.
He has been hosting radio shows about the history of rock and roll for the past seven years. He’s been on the road for a month with the live show.
Bachman spoke to the Peak from Lloydminster on the Saskatchewan-Alberta border.
“There’s 15 songs,” he said. “I’m telling the stories behind them and I have visuals behind me. It’s all old stills and videos and from my archives. We’re calling this Prairie Town, or Every Song has a Story.”
It is a personal look into the guitarist’s past where audiences hear stories of how The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO) were formed and how songs like No Sugar Tonight and Let It Ride were written.
“It’s really letting people see what it’s like when I record Vinyl Tap,” he said. “I sit on a stool with a guitar. I talk and strum my guitar.”
It is a ride through the musical history of Canada from the mid-60s through the late-70s which is a golden era of rock and roll called classic rock, he said.
The stage is decorated with old amps and radios laying around and looks like a studio.
Bachman is backed up by musicians Brent Howard, Marc LaFrance and Mick Dalla-Vee with whom he’s been playing for years. They all sit on barstools around the stage.
Bachman said that if they took the time to tell all the stories about the songs and play the full versions, the show would be well over four hours, so the band plays only part of the songs.
For anyone who is “a fan of The Guess Who, BTO or me,” he said, “this is the ultimate evening experience. It’s the culmination of everything I’ve done so far in my life.”
Tickets are $42.50 available at the recreation complex box office, 604.485.2891.
