Valdy will perform at the Capitol Theatre on Thursday, Jan. 31
Valdy eager to return to Moncton
Folk icon slated to perform at the Capitol Theatre Jan. 31
By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff Published Tuesday January 29th, 2008
It was 36 years ago that Canadian folk icon Valdy first played a show here in Moncton.
"Was it Harrison Trimble High School?" he asks. "That was the first time I played Moncton and that was in 1972. We had to crawl through a window in the side of a classroom to get the gear in from the truck as opposed to bringing it down the hallway."
Valdy says it was simply easier to back his truck up to a window and pass his instruments and what-not through a window than to try to make it through the school's hallways filled with students.
"It was back in the days where you had smaller pieces of gear. Then everything got huge for two or three decades, and now it's getting minimal again."
He likely won't be found climbing in any windows at the Capitol Theatre this week, however. Valdy is set to perform at the theatre on Thursday, Jan. 31.
"Getting back in the Capitol Theatre in Moncton is heaven," he says. "It's a gorgeous space. It's not a deep theatre. It's broad, but it's not terribly deep, and the people are stacked in there, so the sound is quite confined and quite warm."
Valdy rattles off the names of Canadian cities and venues and his thoughts on each with ease. He's been around the country countless times since the 1960s, when he first made a name for himself. Volumes of Canadian history could likely be written from the folk singer's memories.
"I don't know if this has changed or remained the same, but I'm noticing a huge spirit to (Moncton), a bilingual spirit that I didn't notice before," he says when asked about any change he may have noticed in Moncton over the years.
"The people slip back and forth between (English and French) with such ease, and there doesn't seem to be any tension. That's how well I know the city. There may be huge underlying tension, but it's not noticable to me. And that's the only Canadian city I feel that way in."
He says Moncton is a "unique blip on the Canadian map."
A Canadian folk star in the 1960s and '70s, Valdy's biggest mainstream hit came from the tune "Rock And Roll Song". He continues to play about 200 dates a year most years when he's not at home with his wife on Salt Spring Island, B.C.
Valdy says the last time he played in the Hub City, he noticed a few younger folks in the crowd, which he says is a "real compliment".
He continues to tour each year and shows no signs of slowing down. Valdy has two albums in the works, a collection of love songs and a collection of songs about family. He is considering an album of cover songs as well.
"I still love doing it," he says.
Valdy folk icon !
