Esteemed folk singer Valdy (Source: Valdy)
At 200 gigs each year, culminating in 10,000 shows in over 50 years of touring, folk legend Valdy, is a beloved stalwart of Canadian pop and folk music.
“As a folk singer, music has some content to it that might be valuable to people’s lives; there’s a relevance involved as well,” believes Valdy.
Valdy is currently touring Atlantic Canada, travelling to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island from September 18th – 30th.
He has played in Saint John since the late 1960s, with his most recent performances being in 2012 and 2016, where he played at the BMO Studio Theatre.
The musician began playing instruments as a child, first with piano, (freely admitting he was not a great piano student) and then guitar at age thirteen.
“None of the teachers really enjoyed teaching me because I was making my own stuff,” he reminisced. “Conservatory of Music-based teachers have a well established and rigid path they teach on, and I strayed from that path too early for their liking,” recalls Valdy. “So, I transferred to guitar, which was an instrument I could express myself pretty well on – and I’ve been learning it ever since.”
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but people told me later my parents were concerned about me because I was spending too much time in my room playing guitar.”
The 1972 hit, Play Me a Rock ‘n’ Roll Song, is what put him on the musical map, but he is also known for his songs, Peter & Lou, Yes I Can, Renaissance and Sonny’s Dream.
Valdy is dedicated to his craft, deliberately not playing the same songs over-and-over each night, building a different setlist for each show.
“Obviously I have to include Play Me a Rock ‘n’ Roll Song in every show because that is what I am known for, but I also put together a skeleton of songs that people know while blending in some covers and newer things,” he said.
“You also have to gauge the show to suit the attendees; for example, I have a lot of breakup songs, so I have to cull them out of the repertoire.”
Valdy further explained, “I have a couple of rules when putting music together for a set; one of them is the dynamic so that the tempo is up and down, the content is emotional and melodically it changes as well.”
“That way a performance has to be gauged and set up properly so that it expresses the larger range of human emotion as you get into it.”
Play Me a Rock ‘n’ Roll Song is a case of life-imitating art, where Valdy drew upon an experience in 1968 when he, a folk singer, found himself performing at the Aldergrove Rock Festival in Vancouver for a raucous, jeering rock-loving audience.
He recollects, “At the time I was frantic mentally, they didn’t appear to be liking what I was playing. I continued until someone clapped, and then I ran. I went home and wrote a song about it and that’s where the song came from.”
The joke was on the rockers; like the best artists he turned his lemon experience into lemonade art. In the greatest irony of all, Valdy was inducted into the Victoria Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
Play Me a Rock and Roll Song’s deft balance of playing into the hippy counter-culture movement and embodying the tension between rock and folk fans led to the success of the song and launched Valdy’s recording career. He has released 18 albums (thus far), four of which were certified gold, that have sold more than half a million copies worldwide and released 24 singles.
Along with his storied music career, he has also opened for several artists, such as the country music legend Kenny Rogers and English rock band Uriah Heep, which led to some incredible, memorable experiences.
“I traveled to Poland when the Iron Curtain was still in place to play with musicians from Iron Curtain countries. I was jamming with a pianist from Cuba and we couldn’t talk to one another because nobody had a commonality of language – but we were all playing together and the music was our passport.”
Over the course of his career, Valdy has racked up numerous awards and accolades, including two Juno Award wins and seven nominations, and was bestowed the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013.
-
- Valdy and his trusty Six String Nation guitar (Source: Valdy).
-
- Valdy receiving his Order of Canada in 2012 (Source: Valdy).
He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and in June 2012 received the Order of Canada for his lifelong dedication and achievements in the world of music, as well as his humanitarian, philanthropic, and social work.
From Burton, Manitoba to Texas to New Zealand, Valdy is a man with a thousand friends who has performed his music, capturing the small but mighty moments of life, in dozens of countries.
“When I was in California, I was told by the fellow who now runs my fan page that I have to let the fans tell you what the music means to them. I need to let them expound the let them tell me what the music is done to them because it is very important in their life.”
He has performed multiple times at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas and continues to tour across Canada, including a 2018 performance on the main stage at the Mariposa Folk Festival.
“I’m really lucky to be able to still be doing this, after all this time; it’s a tough road for not a whole lot of return, in terms of money, but the soul gets fed so well.”
Valdy will perform at the Saint John Theatre Company on 112 Princess St in Saint John September 21st. For more information and latest updates about Valdy, check out his webpage.
