yep - Jason Fowler told the story at the Trib shows at Hugh's room several times over the years..
http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread...t=jason+fowler
Jason Fowler
www.jasonfowler.ca took centre stage from his spot as
guitarist in the house band. His array of guitars on stage was amazing, and
he played beautifully. He spoke of trying to emulate the 4 "T's" of
Lightfoot guitar playing and performing - Tone, Timing, Tuning and Taste.
And he did just that. He sang what he felt was the one gem on the David
Foster produced album East of Midnight - I'll Tag Along. Well - it was
fabulous - it was a perfect fit for Jason's voice and guitar playing. I
loved it. I love that song.
Jason told of how he worked in a small Toronto guitar shop and
Lightfoot would come in for strings and sometimes chat. When Jason made his
first CD he gave Gord a copy and said even if you never play it I'd like you
to have it. Gord took with thanks. A week later he came back and admitted he
hadn't listened to it because he didn't have a CD player. But if Jason could
transfer it to cassette he'd give it a listen! LOL
Jason did that and Gord came back a couple of weeks later and pulled
out some papers from his pocket. He had taken notes about the CD. He didn't
give Jason the papers but read them to him. LOL
He also told the story that Gord told him about boiling strings when
he, Red and John would take their strings off once a week and boil them -
Red Hot Boilers. He said he couldn't prove it but he believed there was some
molecular process that happened in the strings after boiling and they
sounded better. It cleaned them and took the dirt and oils off them. He
still does it with his new strings! ...Jason had mentioned the guitar
lessons he had taken along with classical and Gord gave him a baggie with
some Red Hot Boilers. There was a red strip on the bag meaning R for Ready.
(or Reddies!)....A blue strip meant "Boil - B for Boil!"
This was too funny.... An hour later a panicked Gord called Jason
back at the store and said "Jason - don't boil the nylon ones - they'll
melt!" LOL!!
He then performed Cold On The Shoulder - smooth, cool, fabulous.
from 2006:
http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread...t=jason+fowler
Jason Fowler
www.jasonfowler.ca sang a song from the “obscure ’82 Shadows LP” – “Baby Step Back” His exemplary guitar playing was evident all evening and in this song as well as the next one he did after he recounted the “Boiler” story. This is the story of Lightfoot telling him about how to boil steel guitar strings. We all had a good laugh again as he recounted how Lightfoot phoned him from home to tell him not to boil his classical guitar strings “cuz they’re plastic and they’ll melt!”
Jason then sang one of my favourites – “Fine As Fine Can Be.” This was done much as Lightfoot does it – soft and feathery like a lullaby should be. This song says what I feel about my daughter Lisa and what Jason must feel for his little girl. Lightfoot melts a parents heart with this one.
Before David introduced the next artist he shared the story about how he and Rachel (super organizer of the tribute shows) played a little parlour game last year when Jason told his “Boiler” story. Whenever Jason said “boil/boiler” they took a swig of beer and it was quite surprising how quickly they finished off a couple of pints!
then in 2007:
David Newland mentioned he was trying to get the show in on time and this year Jason Fowler didn’t tell his renowned “Boilers” story. This also didn’t allow David to play the drinking game he so loved last year – taking a drink whenever Jason said “Boilers”, and Jory didn’t recount his “Mother of a Miner’s Child/girlfriend/yahoos yelling out songs at Massey/breakup story. It could all be condensed into “Mother of a Boilers Child.”
Lol