Musicians, club owner help each other in turn

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This article was published 21/11/2020 (1783 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What goes around comes around, at least for the Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club.

The Main Street honky-tonk has been shut since March, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Sept. 4, Sean Burns and his band Lost Country, venue regulars, released the album We Gotta Lotta Truckin’ To Do to raise money for the joint. Another fundraiser, PettyFest, which was held online in October and celebrated the songs of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, raised more.

The two projects and the funds they raised gave Times Change(d) owner John Scoles the idea to create something to put money back in the bank accounts of Winnipeg artists, who he says are the lifeblood of the club and of live music venues across the city.

“I decided I needed to do something special with that money, so that’s how I decided to take the leap of faith. It gave me the confidence to plunge forward to raise money for musicians,” says Scoles, who also approached friends who might donate to the project.

“I was encouraged to take it even further, to make something new that involved a huge swath of the (music) community and paid them. That is what I always wanted to do. That is the whole essence of the Times Change(d). You take care of those people.”

The result is We Gotta Lotta Givin’ To Do, a two-CD compilation from 29 regulars of the Times Change(d) stage, the proceeds of which will go to the artists. Scoles estimates about $20,000 has been raised already that will be distributed to the artists involved. The club is accepting donations for the project.

The album comes out Dec. 4, and will be available for download on Times Change(d)’s Bandcamp site (https://highandlonesomeclub.bandcamp.com) to take advantage of the internet music company’s decision to waive its share of revenue on the first Friday of each month during the pandemic.

We Gotta Lotta Givin’ To Do is also a way for the club to mark its 20th anniversary, which is to take place in January, although with code-red restrictions in place across Manitoba, Scoles says he doesn’t know when the doors will open at the Times Change(d) to celebrate it in style.

“I’m really impressed with what we’ve been able to put together in such a short time. It feels really good,” Scoles says.

Artists on the record include Big Dave McLean — Juno Award winner, Order of Canada recipient and longtime host of the Times Change(d)’s Sunday night blues jam — as well as other club mainstays such as Andrew Neville, Andrina Turenne, D. Rangers, Brent Parkin, Del Barber, JD Edwards, Leaf Rapids, the Wind-Ups and Romi Mayes.

The decision to take part was a no-brainer, says Mayes, who contributed an unreleased version of Angeline, recorded with Chris Carmichael in either 2004 or 2005.

“I refer to it as the little venue that could, like the little engine that could, because no matter what trials come at Times Change(d), somehow John makes it work out and prevails,” she says.

“He’s created something that is really rare and intangible to explain, but it’s a community-based venue where all of us consider it a church of music. I think that without it we suffer a lot. Anybody who has played there or gone there knows the magic that it has.”

The Times Change(d) was an entry point to Mayes’ recording career, she says, although she had to show she had the musical chops to get gigs.

“I moved back to Winnipeg in 2002 and all my friends were at the forefront of the music scene, the D. Rangers, and the Perpetrators were taking over as house band for the Times Change(d)and I really wanted to get in there and get rolling,” the singer-songwriter says.

“I actually remember (Scoles) saying ‘I don’t have extra money for you,’ so I did a couple of opening spots, pro bono, to prove myself. After that I started getting steady gigs there and put a band together and I’ve had full-band gigs there for almost 20 years.”

Mayes, who also promotes shows and is the Winnipeg producer behind the Curbside Concerts concept that brought performers to people’s homes, says the recording is great, and performing solo for a couple of dozen music lovers is a stop-gap, but nothing compares to the energy of performing to a packed venue.

“You don’t realize you miss playing until you see footage of yourself playing pop up in your Facebook memories… and you get nostalgic when you’re going to be able to do that again,” she says.

“It’s like a drug that’s been taken away from you and there’s no rehab for it.”

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@AlanDSmall