This weekend, the Burlington Performing Arts Centre’s Live and Local series is back, with multi-hyphenate Will Gillespie representing the “local” of the series title. Gillespie will play alongside the Mark Lalama Trio and award-winning gospel, blues, and jazz singer Jackie Richardson.
Gillespie is a singer, songwriter, playwright, and actor, whose artistic journey began during his Timmins childhood. He recalls a family recording made of him at just 4 years old, sitting side by side and singing with his grandmother at the piano. His love of music has never abated; this primarily self-taught musician plays the guitar (his main instrument, mainly because “it’s a lot more portable”), as well as a ukelele, and some piano.
Gillespie began recording and performing professionally in his early twenties, and cites as his main influences crooners like Bobby Darin and Paul Anka, Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison, and lots of crossover music from the late 1950s and early ‘60s. Brian Setzer’s rockabilly music is another influence. He also draws inspiration from Canadian artists such as Leonard Cohen and Blue Rodeo, and learned to play harmonica by listening to Neil Young’s albums.
The various pieces that influence him, Gillespie says, give a particular feeling, a “colour in the palate” that informs his own music. His music can mainly be characterized as folk-rock, though you’ll hear some jazz elements, some tunes with a Mediterranean/European folk-rock feel, sometimes crooner swing. Indeed, he recently bestowed the description of a “snazzy, jazzy, rock and roll band” on his trio.
Given his multi-genre style, Gillespie had to consider carefully which two songs to perform for the upcoming BPAC show. He noted that he’s very much looking forward to playing with musicians he hasn’t yet worked with before, though he has performed at BPAC’s Community Studio Theatre previously when he brought his production Swingin’ in St. John’s to the stage — one of the last pre-pandemic full productions held there. Gillespie also works with other Hamilton theatre companies, previously with Artword Artbar and now with 9M; the Hamilton Fringe Festival has also been very supportive of his work.
Before Hamilton, Gillespie called Sudbury home; there, in his 20s, was where he cut his teeth in terms of picking up musical theory from some talented jazz musicians he played with there. This knowledge, he says, helps him communicate better with other musicians, it provides a type of shorthand for getting the envisioned sound. Sudbury proved to have a good, supportive scene, great folk festivals, and a lot of great musicians. Though Gillespie left for a time, he found himself back in Sudbury around 2007, when he really hit his stride artistically.
In Hamilton since 2014, Gillespie feels that this area is good for him creatively; he notes that he has a great team around him, including his “partner in all things…in life, in the theatre company,” Susan Robinson. Their creativity spills over into their personal lives, too: Gillespie and Robinson live in a tiki-themed apartment, complete with original tiki palm tree-lamp made by Robinson and a tiki bar.
Home is also where Gillespie does much of his work. Though his home studio existed pre-pandemic, it transitioned into a more serious setup during the pandemic: a better recording program and a couple of added microphones allowed him to keep busy recording, “doing demos, accompanying myself.”
The way Gillespie’s creative process sometimes starts is with his guitar, “noodling and improvising,” though, he says, it often changes. Often these days, Gillespie notes that it will start with a turn of phrase or a lyrical hook, a line that might end up being the title or chorus. From there, the “feeling, image, the landscape of the phrase becomes a sort of space I occupy — I go into that place and describe it through music.” Once that line has a melody, everything else follows, “giving it power through lyrics, go[ing] into that world, and trying to bring people into it.”
Gillespie has also been busy working on his historical folk musical MINE! True Stories and Legends of the Porcupine Gold Rush, which he’ll be bringing to the Westdale Theatre on May 6 and 7, and Cobalt and Timmins later that month. Robinson painted the backdrops, and historical photos from the Timmins Museum National Exhibition Centre are also used; Gillespie notes that the museum’s curator was very helpful, providing research help, the photos, and space to perform the show. Gillespie previously performed MINE! at the Hamilton Fringe Festival as a 60-minute solo show; now, it’s been redone as a three-person show for the upcoming season.
Burlington is a frequent stop for Gillespie and Robinson; they have friends here and enjoy the waterfront. The Queen’s Head is a particular favourite for food and drink, “so convenient to BPAC as well, for dinner before or after [a show]”; Gillespie also lists the Dickens and Pepperwood as other Burlington favourites.
This Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023, will see Gillespie perform two of his original songs, one with “sort of a more jazz bent, the other one a more bluesy rockabilly feel,” alongside the Mark Lalama Trio. Gillespie says that he chose these to compliment and fit in with Jackie Richardson’s style and that of the Mark Lalama Trio, “So hopefully it’ll be a nice show. Altogether the three acts will be a nice…afternoon.” We’re sure it will be, and following Gillespie’s example, and enjoying one of the local pubs or restaurants afterward, would certainly fit the bill, too.
If you’d like to find out more about Will Gillespie’s upcoming events, go to www.willgillespie.ca; one of these events is a family-friendly concert at Hamilton Public Library’s Central branch on Feb. 18 at 1:45 p.m. You can also check out his theatre company Chasing Shadows Productions by clicking here.
