Barry is a two sport guy as well, still hitting things. His baseball resume is pretty impressive.
He was on 7 Ontario Provincial Slo-Pitch Championship teams, won medals with different teams at National Slo-Pitch Tournaments. In 1991 he was selected to the Canada East All-Star team and named MVP. He was a member of 3 medal winning teams at the slo-pitch World Championships and was selected to the All-World team in 2003.
“I love baseball. I play music and the people I’m involved in recording have no idea I play baseball. It was the same, the opposite, I played baseball for years and years and people had no idea I was a drummer or that I played with Gordon Lightfoot. I’ve been very lucky, baseball came naturally to me and I became a world champion in slo-pitch. The Toronto softball team was the first Canadian team to win a world championship. I’m very proud of that.”
“The team took me on and because of my schedule, I wasn’t around a lot, I would fill in for tournaments for whoever wasn’t there. I ended up playing almost every position on the field, but basically I like to play in the middle. I was a shortstop, a second baseman or a center fielder.”
You’d think with all his business background he’d naturally be taking care of business with the Lightfoot Band. It turns out things are very different from when Gord and Early Morning Productions were running the show, but he still just shows up and plays.
“Actually that kind of stuff is being handled by Rick Haynes. Rick has become the leader of the Lightfoot Band and Rick is doing a marvelous job of handling all the contractual stuff, all the visas, that kind of stuff.”
“I just hit things.”
Which he will be doing Thursday night at the Opera House when the Lightfoot Band kicks off this year’s Lightfoot Days Festival. It will sound different, but in a good way. You’ll be impressed with Andy Mauck’s singing, and you’ll also be thinking, (if you’ve seen Gord perform in the last 15 years) ‘this sounds better than I remember’.
That’s because the band has made some subtle changes. They haven’t changed any notes or words. You’ll hear Rick and Carter Lancaster singing back up harmonies (they always did, but they were buried in the live mix. And the overall mix for the PA has been tweaked, it sounds rich and fuller, like the records. Plus the guys are looser on stage.
“There is a renewed energy and some of the ways the songs are presented slightly differently than the way they had been presented, especially towards the end of Gord’s career. Yes, there is a new energy.”
That’s because now they aren’t the backing band, they are the band.
“You don’t want to be disrespectful when you are backing up someone like Gordon Lightfoot you want the spotlight to be on them. You don’t want a distraction; you don’t want to take any of Gord’s light away from him. But now, it’s a different situation.”
It’s rejuvenated the guys in the band. They are happy to step into the spotlight, to meet fans after the show, and they are more relaxed while at ‘work’. Barry thinks they’ll be at it for a while.
“There’s no end in sight right now. We’re all having a blast and as long as people want to come and hear the songs, we’re going play them for them. Why quit?”
You can get tickets for the show online. The band is also participating in two workshops Friday at Creative Nomad Studios, one at 1 p.m. and the other at 2:30. John U. Bacon, author of The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald is also participating. You need tickets for that as well. Email
neergriggmain@yahoo.ca to get on the list and you can pay at the door.
All other Lightfoot Days events are admission free, including the Memories of Lightfoot storytelling and music night Friday at 7 p.m. at Creative Nomad Studios. With the band and Ken Jiggs McDonald, producer John Corcoran (Lightheaded: A Gordon Lightfoot State of Mind), renowned musician Gary Lucas (Me and Bobbie McGee video with Gord, Kris, Ronnie, and Willie), and John U. Bacon, author of The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald and musical performances by Steve Porter, Don James, Jack Nicolle, and Samantha Windover.
The rest of the event schedule includes:
Venues: Even Steven is at Lake Country Grill Saturday night; Don James and Jack Nicolle are at Apple Annie’s in the afternoon, Geoff Booth will be at Alleycats Music.
Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. John U. Bacon will be at Manticore Books to sign copies of The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Proclamation of Gordon Lightfoot Day by Mayor Don McIsaac at the Opera House at 11 a.m.
Lightheaded: A Gordon Lightfoot State of Mind screening at Creative Nomad Studios at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Memorial Church service in memory of Gordon Lightfoot at St. Paul’s United Church with Jakob Pearce and a new choral arrangement by Jim Lewis of If You Could Read My Mind, Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Closing Ceremony at Mariposa Market, with cake, at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.
Wrap-up Party at Picnic with High Steppin’ Strutters Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
(Photos by Swartz – SUNonline/Orillia and Images Supplied)