Transcona: live music hub
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A giant fibreglass carnival barker tips his hat from the median strip of Regent Avenue West. Faux flamingoes crop up in every direction. Notable as they are, don’t let Transcona’s more ostentatious monuments distract you from the pièce de résistance of the neighbourhood: its legendary music scene.
“Transcona is the place to be if you want to see great music,” Mandy Ducharme says.
Ducharme, who was raised in Transcona, has been playing music across Canada for over 20 years.
File photo
Sean Burns is a touring musician and songwriter who has travelled the world playing music. Local musicians shouldn’t dismiss what Transcona has to offer, he said.
Local venues like the Royal George Hotel (123 Regent Ave. W) and the Silver Spike Saloon (202 Bond St.) first introduced her to the thrill of live music.
“At the age of 18, I was starting to go to the Spike, and then venturing into the Royal George Hotel,” Ducharme said. “I was just a kid that wanted to know more about music, you know, be great like the people I was watching. And it inspired me because there was so much great talent that I’d seen just a few blocks from home.”
Greg Pester, owner and operator of the Royal George, died earlier this year. Ducharme has since teamed up with fellow venue regulars to have the block of Regent Avenue West where the hotel is found named in Pester’s honour.
“It’s got a couple more hurdles to go, but we’re hoping to get this done by fall,” she said. “It’s going to happen.”
Musician Sean Burns is a regular of the Transcona music scene, but he didn’t grow up here. He was raised in Oshawa, Ontario – just east of Toronto.
“You’re near this big city, but you’re not the big city,” he said. “I’ve always felt like Transcona, as much as a part of Winnipeg it is, is really its own unique place. And with that comes a whole different group of talent and musicians.”
Burns recognizes that emerging bands might feel the pressure to play the hottest downtown locales. Still, he said eager musicians shouldn’t dismiss what Transcona has to offer.
While his own band certainly had to earn their stripes upon entering such a tight-knit music community, the effort was worth it.
“Once they saw that we were a serious band that respected the environment, I think that the people came around and there was a lot of support from some of the older guys,” he said.
Singer-songwriter Bobby Dove moved from Montreal to rural Manitoba in 2020.
File photo by Mikaela Mackenzie
Jared and Teresa Pester, son and wife (respectively) of the late musician Gregg Pester, at the Royal George Hotel in June. The city is considering renaming this block of Regent Avenue to honour the hotel owner country musician.
“As someone who’s not from Winnipeg, I would say that my perspective [of Transcona] is a little bit different,” they said. “It’s like I’m going anywhere in the world … I have very little judgment as to the different neighborhoods in Winnipeg.”
After a successful show at the Transcona Legion (117 Regent Ave. E), local violinist Garnet Knight invited Dove to a songwriter night during Country Sunday at the Royal George.
“If I hadn’t gone [to the Royal George] that first night and played for free – which, like, I’m allergic to playing for free – I’d be so screwed right now,” they say. “That’s where I met my people.”
People like musician Keith Lilies, who Dove says has supported them through everything from alternator troubles to top surgery recovery.
“Him and his wife have basically become my family here in Manitoba,” Dove says.
Country music from here and away finds itself at home in Transcona. For any music lover hesitant to make the trip, listen to Ducharme:
“Don’t be afraid of the flamingoes,” she said. “They don’t bite.”