There’s an Academy Award for best-adapted screenplay but there’s no music industry Grammy or a Juno for best-adapted song. If there was, Longview guitarist Jim McLennan would likely be nominated.
The accomplished finger style guitarist, who is performing at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre (RPAC) in Okotoks April 2, explained taking a song and crafting it into a form it’s never had before is his stock in the trade.
“The thing I like to do is find what I consider a nice piece of music,” he said. “It might be a pop song, ragtime piano piece or a swing tune and try and see how it works as a solo guitar piece. That’s how I ended up with things like ‘Over the Rainbow’, a medley of Beatles tunes and a Billy Joel tune on my new record.”
McLennan referred to “Six-String Gumbo,” his recently released album which features three of his original songs as well as nine cover tracks.
The Foothills musician was a big part of the acoustic music scene in Edmonton during the 70s and 80s. After that, the man with an active fly-fishing business said he slowly drifted away from music.
“I didn’t make a conscious decision to not play anymore,” McLennan said. “I played a little bit for myself and I was still playing frequently at my church, but I got away from more formal performances. Then eventually I ran into Steve Fisher who was a former guitar student of mine way back when and we started performing together as a duo and as part of a five-piece group. We still do those things from time to time.”
McLennan said Fisher provided the correct form of encouragement to get him back performing regularly. Wanting to preserve some of the many songs the Longview guitarist has tailored was the reason for recording “Six-Sting Gumbo,” an acoustic disc with mostly a light playful feel.
When McLennan performs at RPAC he will be sharing the bill with Okotoks singer/songwriter Paul Rumbolt. The show will be the culmination of a full day of activities in Olde Towne Okotoks as it hosts its initial First Saturdays Festival of Arts and Culture.
Rumbolt said he has got to know McLennan as a performer through a local annual tradition.
“I have been in the same show with Jim many times as part of these Christmas food bank concerts that have been happening in the region,” he said. “We’ve ended up out there together during the concert finales and during some of the tunes that I have performed as part of those shows. Jim will come out, sit in and play guitar with me. Whenever we’ve played together we’ve kept it very loose and had a lot of fun with it.”
The RPAC show on April 2 will feature a set from both performers capped by a finale with both artists collaborating on a few songs. For his portion of the show, McLennan will be playing mainly solo but will call on his wife, daughter and son-in-law to assist him with some vocals. Jonathan Lewis (fiddle) and his son Ryan (guitar) will accompany Rumbolt during his set.
Tickets are available by calling the Okotoks Art Gallery at (403) 938-3204 or by going on-line to www.okotoksculture.ca
