His musical path has carried him across the continent from smoky saloons to grand concert halls, but this monthB次元官网网址檚 concert at the Dave Dunnet Community Theatre feels like coming home for Joe Coughlin.
Coughlin, who has called Saanich home for the past 22 years, will be performing songs from his album Saloon Standard , backed by the all-star quartet of pianist Miles Black, guitarist Bill Coons, bassist Ken Lister and drummer Hans Verhoeven. The concert is a benefit for the SnoB次元官网网址檜yutth Legacy Scholarship, for students of First Nations, Inuit and M茅tis descent who pursue post-secondary training upon graduation from Oak Bay High.
The concert provides Coughlin the opportunity to broaden the educational horizons of local youth while sharing his passion for jazz.
That passion has been smouldering for nearly 40 years, with .
B次元官网网址淏efore that I was a rock and roll guy for close to 10 years in the Windsor and Detroit area,B次元官网网址� said Coughlin, the frontman for Whiteheet, a successful Ontario metal band in the late B次元官网网址�70s. B次元官网网址淢y parents said we can never hear you with all those loud guitars. They were big fans of Sinatra and we heard all that music growing up, it was just a natural progression.B次元官网网址�
So Coughlin got a haircut, traded his jeans for a suit and tie, and went from Zeppelin to Sinatra.
B次元官网网址淎 lot of people looked at me and said what the heck are you doing that for. Well itB次元官网网址檚 easier on the body,B次元官网网址� he says with a laugh. B次元官网网址淚t happened pretty fast, it was a shock really.B次元官网网址�
He said the swinging beat and great lyrical content is what won him over to jazz.
B次元官网网址淚 think IB次元官网网址檓 a sucker for a really good melody, and thatB次元官网网址檚 what this music provides.B次元官网网址�
Most of CoughlinB次元官网网址檚 repertoire comes from the Great American Songbook that came out of the 1930s.
B次元官网网址淧opular music at the turn of the [20th] century was mostly singalong stuff. Everybody had a piano in their front room and everybody sang around the piano. The Gershwins and the Cole Porters and those kind of guys started coming along and it started getting a bit more sophisticated.B次元官网网址�
Coughlin spent the better part of three decades performing those timeless standards from coast to coast, spending months on the road at a time.
B次元官网网址淭he hotels all start smelling the same, the french fries all start tasting the same. ItB次元官网网址檚 amazing how quickly it gets old,B次元官网网址� said Coughlin, adding touring has become a lot tougher since 9/11.
B次元官网网址淭hey think weB次元官网网址檙e all terrorists,B次元官网网址� said the 63-year-old, recalling a time the wheelchair he has been in for the past 20 years attracted the attention of customs agents on a flight back from Chicago.
B次元官网网址淭hey pulled me aside and said they wanted to take my wheelchair apart.B次元官网网址�
Coughlin told them they could take it apart if they were able to put it back together again. A United Airlines agent was eventually able to get the situation straightened out and Coughlin departed the airport, wheelchair intact.
He is now quite content to leave that life on the road behind him, and is more than happy to trade the smoky saloons of the past to the beautiful surroundings of the Dave Dunnet Theatre.
B次元官网网址淲e opened it up in December 2015, when we did the Sinatra 100 birthday celebration,B次元官网网址� recalls Coughlin, adding he is proud to have played a role in the formation of the SnoB次元官网网址檜yutth Legacy Scholarship the concert will support.
B次元官网网址淲hen you get an education, all those barriers that are attached to poverty start to disappear.B次元官网网址�
Tickets are available through the as well as at various locations throughout Oak Bay.
