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Music, Comedy | ||||
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Kevin grew up in a place known as the crossroads of the world - Gander, Newfoundland - a community built in the war time years of the 1940's. His parents and his neighbours were from the small coastal communities of Newfoundland and spoke many different dialects, depending on which bay they had emerged from. Entertaining for a living was the most unlikely profession for this young lad who began his musical career as a member of a Catholic choir, where the penalty for going off key was a swift twist of the ear by the closest Nun. Kevin's musical roots came from his mother who loved to sing old Irish songs. By the time Kevin was eight he had memorized many famous Newfoundland traditional songs by scouring the Gerald S. Doyle Songbook. The first evidence of his comedic abilities was his propensity for making faces to draw laughter from family members. When he finished high school Kevin met an entertainer named Chris Lorne Elliot and they formed a musical/comedy duo known as Free Beer. At this time the inner madman in Kevin began to emerge and complemented by the Lorne Elliot brand of comedy, the Free Beer act made a great name for itself playing bars from Newfoundland to Montreal. Their stock-in-trade was novelty songs and routines laced with sarcastic and witty dialogue. From his days in Gander, Kevin would pull the Newfoundland dialects he learned from his neighbors and use them in his stage act. Coincidentally his body language also took a turn for the better and his animation on stage developed into something like a cross between Elvis Presley, Jerry Lewis and Jim Carey. In the early eighties Kevin gave up the Free Beer gig, got married and settled into Glovertown. Shortly after this he met the two Other Fellers, Ray and Wayne, and they formed the Buddy Wasisname and The Other Fellers Act. Kevin is now known as the funniest man in Newfoundland and his portrayal of cultural caricatures regularly reduces his audiences to tears, literally cracking them up. His weapons are song, dialogue and facial contortion. He is as hilarious in his singing mode as he is in his stand-up routine. His banter with The Other Fellers on stage has developed into the style of an old fashioned concert that has authenticity and brilliant acting from all three players, who interact with professionalism and ease. Although still reserved in his own personal life, Kevin has well and truly converted to the art of comedic exhibitionism. Living in an outport community (Glovertown), he regularly steals characters off the street and places them on stage, transforming them into exaggerations that are totally hysterical. With his amazing abilities, Kevin can erase any thought of worldly woes from the minds of his audience and beam them into comedic Shangri-la. Kevin and his stage partners continue to delight audiences with their mixture of song and buffoonery, flavoured with themes that are unique to Newfoundland and at the same time possessing universal appeal. Carry on Kevin and the Other Fellers!! Wayne Chaulk (left) is a man with a burden we'd all like to have - too much talent. His head is chinched full of words that keep coming out in the nicest way. I mean, does it get any better than this: "Some go to where the buildings reach to meet the clouds Wayne's environment blessed him from day one. He was born and grew up down by the water. He still lives within clear sight of a splendid array of saltwater joys. From the Chaulk household in Charlottetown, Bonavista Bay, the ocean can be seen in all its splendor - one day covered in fog, the next day sparkling like diamonds in the sunshine. As a young man Wayne realized there was a mysterious movement to the sea and in that mystery found a musical metre for his works. Rhythm and timing come from such unlikely objects as rocking chairs and motor boats. Luckily Wayne had a father who played guitar and sang cowboy songs. Being intrigued by the guitar, Wayne saved his pennies over three years and bought himself an authentic Roy Smeck guitar for $35.00. Wayne thrilled himself by learning chords on his new found friend. To his amazement the fingers on one hand obediently followed those on his other hand and he was able to play his first chords before long. Hand in hand with his love of music Wayne continued his lifetime romp with nature. Even his grandmother, who was a music teacher, could not convince him to give up his playground for music lessons. Instead he gathered the music of nature inside him, a music which later found its place in Wayne's beloved "Saltwater Joys". "I was born down by the water Other influences include the likes of Uncle Elias Penney - a local Red Skelton character - who was both a yarn spinner and a public performer via the old fashioned concert. Observing Uncle Elias taught Wayne the power of public performance. Recalling a hall full of "sweating humanity". Wayne was duly impressed by the artistry of the performer whose antics drew an audience which was literally chinched into the old Orange Lodge. In his late teenage years Wayne took off for university and followed the usual rock band circuit. After serving his stint as a bass player, Wayne found his ultimate love in writing and performing original Newfoundland songs with a traditional feel. Having finished university and taken a job as a teacher in Glovertown, Wayne continued his calling to write and perform original music. Enter fellow teacher Ray Johnson in the early eighties. A great accordion player with a died in-the-wool love of traditional music, Ray took up the torch with Wayne and practice sessions began at the school lunch room. Shortly after, Kevin Blackmore moved to town. Already a well known comedian as one half of the Free Beer act, Kevin joined the Other Fellers on a musical excursion that has lasted eighteen years. Wayne Chaulk has now developed into a brilliant songwriter whose output has been prodigious. His talent is touching the human heart with real emotion. Those who live away from Newfoundland break down during concerts and fly back home on the wings of Wayne's artistry that has burned itself into the consciousness of the Newfoundland soul. For Buddy Wasisname and The Other Fellers fans Wayne Chaulk remains a very deep well of musical delight. Raymond John Johnson (right) is a truly unique artist with a very interesting story. He is a gentle soul who started life as an orphan. At age five he was adopted by his foster parents, Johnny and Bridget Johnson, of Jobs Cove, Conception Bay, and grew up in that small outport where the dialect is never quite sure what to do with "r"s. Who knows why the hand of fate sent Ray to Jobs Cove, but one thing is for sure, it was the start of his love affair with the accordion. Beginning with his father's musical influence, Ray learned to play an accordion that cost just $24.00 way back in the pot auger days. Continuing with the opportunities of the Jobs Cove social scene, Ray persevered until, at the age of eight, he had mastered the instrument. His first official gig came when he played for a square dance, replacing the original player who had found too much weather to perform. In those days the square dance player was known as the "fiddler", regardless of what instrument he played. Thus Ray became the official square dance "fiddler" while still playing his accordion. From there his fledgling career started to take off. He enthusiastically learned more tunes and would routinely be called on to play for marathon soup, supper and dance events, which started at eight in the evening and went on until four or five in the morning. As he got better, Ray recalls, people would pass the hat at the end of the dance and he earned enough money to keep himself in books and clothes. At the grand old age of twelve, Ray had started his professional career, influenced by locals and the music he experienced from a new medium called television. He was so taken by Don Messer that he took up fiddle playing and wrote directly to Don Messer asking him to send a supply of Rosin for his bow. Never really expecting to hear anything, he put the matter out of his mind but, low and behold, after three weeks he received not only the Rosin package, but a signed photo of Don Messer, a book from Messer's private collection on how to play the fiddle and a bridge for his fiddle. Ray continued his playing in Jobs Cove until he graduated from high school and left to study art at St. John's and Halifax, ultimately graduating with a degree in Fine Arts and Education. While in Halifax, Ray continued performing at the university and other coffee houses, as well as the Newfoundland club and, of course, house parties. He also recorded six albums at the old Audat recording studio in Halifax. In 1976 Ray's homesickness got the better of him and he returned home to teach in Glovertown, a move that proved fate was with Ray. Another teacher, Wayne Chaulk, was working in Glovertown and they began jamming. Soon after they joined Kevin Blackmore, a.k.a. Buddy Wasisname, and together the trio formed a musical/comedy act with the unlikely name of Buddy Wasisname and The Other Fellers. That was eighteen years ago. Today the Buddy Wasisname trio is still going strong. Ray has developed into the ultimate accordion player and singer and is also now a reluctant comedian of considerable ability. Give him a set of lines and he turns into the consummate performer. Ray's unique love of all things traditional is beautifully displayed in his reciting abilities. Perhaps the only professional entertainer to currently use this art form, Ray is nothing short of brilliant as he infuses each passage with the vigor and drama of a Shakespearean actor. His latest recitation, a poem by Ena Constance Barrett entitled "Newfoundland " highlights Ray's talents and his passion for his homeland. Another talent Ray displays is his ability to compose both music and lyric. His unusual singing voice adds a distinct flavour to his songs about the Newfoundland way of life which is facing the challenge of change and even extinction. Ray takes his life as a performing artist very seriously, and so he should because his fans love him and endorse his allegiance to tradition. For more information about this speaker and/or to book
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