Gordon Lightfoot to celebrate 50 years in the music business with Kirby appearance
BY KRISTEN GAYDOSPublished: July 30, 2015
http://citizensvoice.com/arts-living...ance-1.1919564
Gordon Lightfoot has racked up the honors over his half-century career.
In 2012, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2003, he received the Companion of the Order of Canada — Canada’s highest civilian honor. In 2007, he appeared on a Canadian postage stamp.
But it wasn’t until this year that the legendary singer-songwriter received a doctorate in music.
Lightfoot will bring his 50 Years on the Carefree Highway Tour to the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts in Wilkes-Barre at 8 p.m., Sunday.
In June, Lightfoot received an honorary doctorate of music from Lakehead University in his hometown of Orillia. While he’s received doctorates before, including one of laws from Trent University in Ontario, he’s never gotten one specifically in music.
“I played a tune and I sang for my supper, and they presented me with the doctorate,” Lightfoot, speaking from his home in Toronto, said of the ceremony. “This time, finally, I got one that’s a doctorate of music.”
He doesn’t mind that it came after almost 50 years in the music business, though — “It just makes me work harder,” he said.
The Canadian folk-rock artist has worked pretty hard over the years, releasing 19 studio, three live and 16 greatest hits albums since he released the single “I’m Not Sayin’’ in 1965. He released his debut record, “Lightfoot!” in 1966, and his most recent live album “All Live” came out in 2012. He achieved international fame with hit songs like “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown” and “Rainy Day People,” and the 76-year-old still keeps up a regular tour schedule.
“I’m lucky to be still needed,” Lightfoot said of his career. “We have many shining examples of people who’ve sustained a mighty career, like Tony Bennett and Ian Tyson and Willie Nelson — the list goes on. I like to be a part of that lexicon of people who can keep things rolling, so to speak.”
Lightfoot hits the road for about 75 shows per year, on about six or seven separate trips. He said he’s always done those shows in tight groups, though in the past, it was to allow time to record albums. Now, it gives him plenty of time to spend with his family.
“I’ve acquired an extended family through all these years, as you can well imagine,” Lightfoot said, counting six children and five grandchildren — and three marriages. “So I got a lot of responsibility.”
He still writes music, but chooses to enjoy family time and touring rather than spend a lot of time recording new music.
“I manage to keep pretty busy. I also try to stay in condition,” Lightfoot said, referring to his steady workout schedule that keeps him in shape for his tours.
“It’s all part of the job,” he said. “If I didn’t do the workout, I wouldn’t be doing the singing.”
Next year, Lightfoot will return to the United Kingdom for his first tour there in 35 years, with 14 shows across England, Ireland and Scotland. His mother, Jessica, would collect clippings from magazines and newspapers about the royal family, and he inherited her interest in the United Kingdom. So he was anxious to make it back there one more time.
“It’s been since 1980,” he said. “I’ve wanted to go back. I’ve felt the pull to go back to my British roots. My mother always loved the royals. My mother was a royals fan. She loved it.”
Lightfoot said he appreciates that fans have stuck with him all these years, and people are still discovering his work, especially in light of all the competition in the music world, particularly with the popularity of rock music. He remains a rock fan.
“I’m a singer-songwriter. I do what I do,” he said. “I tell my story.”
Lightfoot’s current show revolves around standards, so fans will get to hear notable hits like “Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” “Early Mornin’ Rain” and “Carefree Highway” ... the list goes on, he said.
“We had a huge hit with ‘Sundown,’ he said. “They love that song.”
Audiences will also get “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” Lightfoot’s 1976 song about the tragic sinking of the same-named bulk carrier on Lake Superior in 1975. All 29 crew members perished in the disaster.
The singer-songwriter still regards the song as his most important work.
“It’s such a great one to play on stage, that it just has to be probably the most powerful song that I’ve written,” he said. “I’d never play a show without doing that song.”
Their support material will also be of the highest caliber, Lightfoot said. He enjoys finding songs from deep from “the ol’ catalog” to put in the show, songs that might not have been big hits at the time but he and his band especially like.
“I don’t really have a song in my repertoire that lacks momentum,” he said.
These days, Lightfoot said there’s a bus, a truck and an aircraft involved in getting the tour personnel around. However, he still remembers the days when he traveled with two column speakers in the back of a station wagon.
“I just had a trio originally. I just had a bass and two guitars. Before that, I worked solo. For a while, I worked with just a bass player,” he said.
Lightfoot and his band will rehearse for an hour upon arriving at the venue, taking a break for supper before the big performance. He tries to craft his show to keep the energy high and make sure the audience gets what they came to see.
“I like to get the show rolling right off the top and let it rip,” he said.
kgaydos@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2118
If you go Who: Gordon Lightfoot
When: Sunday, Aug. 2, 8 p.m. Doors open 6:30 p.m.
Where: F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, 71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre
Tickets: $39.50, $49.50, $59.50 and $71.50
Online: kirbycenter.org, lightfoot.ca