’Tis the season for John McDermott

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This article was published 10/12/2009 (6130 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EVEN when he’s crooning about Christmas, it’s Remembrance Day for John McDermott.

The Scottish-Canadian tenor has al­ways been vocal in his support for sol­diers and veterans. So it’s no surprise that one of his seasonal favourites is Christmas in the Trenches.

The song by John McCutcheon has become such a McDermott signature, he’ll save it for near the end of his three Holiday Special pops concerts with the Winnipeg Symphony Orches­tra this weekend at the concert hall.

Christmas in the Trenches tells of the First World War truce between British and German soldiers who laid down their weapons to share a festive night at the front.

"They drank brandy together, showed photographs, played a game of soccer, played music and sang," says McDermott from his tour bus, some­where on an Alberta highway.

"As the sun started to come up, they said goodnight, went back to the trenches and got back to killing each other. The point of it is, at the end of the day we’re all the same. And we’re not the ones who are calling the shots." It’s been 16 years since the Glasgow­born McDermott released his first album, Danny Boy, after spending his early adult life as an amateur singer who entertained at parties.

Now 54, with more than 20 releases in his catalogue — including three Christmas albums — he has estab­lished a pattern of touring in the fall and early winter, taking in both Re­membrance Day and Christmas.

For the current tour, he has a new CD that is only being sold at his con­certs or through his website. Seven of its tunes are by one of his favourite songwriters, Scottish-Australian folk legend Eric Bogle.

All proceeds from the tour sales of the disc are going to Canada Company, a charity that supports Canadian troops and their families.

The CD, titled Journeys: Bringing Buddy Home, includes several songs about military service and sacrifice.

The Gift of Years, told in the voice of an elderly veteran, thanks a mate who died in combat 75 years earlier.

Welcome Home is about honouring Vietnam veterans who have "wounds

you cannot see." Bringing Buddy Home reflects on "a nation bringing home its dead" wrapped in the Can­adian flag.

McDermott had two American cousins who were killed in Vietnam, and another who took his own life after serving there. He says he is deeply concerned about how Canada will help soldiers now serving in Afghanistan.

"This is a conflict that’s going to be wreaking havoc on the young men and women who have served…

Canada Company is cutting through the bureaucratic crap. They’re a registered charity that families can go directly to…

"We need to look hard at the mental­health issues. We need to look at the situation where families have lost the earner. How are they going to cope?

You don’t just turn the channel and it’s over."

It’s not just the military-themed songs on Journeys that have great personal resonance for McDermott.

He teamed with Scottish-Canadian rock singer Lawrence Gowan — whose family home was just around the cor­ner from McDermott’s in Glasgow — to write a poignant song called Along the Merry Road to Hell.

It’s about alcoholism. McDermott doesn’t shy from saying it was inspired by his older brother Michael, who died nine years ago at age 53 after a long affair with the "liquid lover," as the song puts it.

"Alcohol killed my brother. End of story," says the singer with a bluntness that’s almost ferocious. "The story I tell before the song, I think, touches a chord with a lot of people who are dealing, or have dealt with, those issues. I’m not going to flower it up."

After his intense tour ends in To­ronto on Dec. 23, McDermott says he’ll head for home on Georgian Bay, three hours north of Toronto, for a quiet celebration with his wife and a few neighbours.

What’s his Christmas wish for Can­ada?

"Unity," he says. "And support the troops."

A senator's friend

John McDermott's new CD booklet talks about his friendship with Senator Ted Kennedy, dating back to McDermott's first shows in the United States in 1995.

The Irish-American Kennedy championed the Celtic singer and showcased him at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. They remained friends.

McDermott spent a memorable afternoon with Kennedy and his family in July, 2008, soon after the senator was diagnosed with a brain tumour. McDermott was wearing one of his multi-tartan dress jackets, which he has custom-made in Cape Breton and auctions for charity. He took it off and presented it to Kennedy. "He was thrilled with it," Mc­Dermott remembers. There's a photo of Kennedy wearing the jacket in the CD booklet.

Kennedy died in August of this year. At the request of his family, McDermott performed When Irish Eyes Are Smiling at his wake. The tenor dedicates an ideal­istic song on the disc, The Dreamer, to the late senator.