Mike McAnany
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A Memory
4:06
118 plays- Play
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Bittersweet
3:43
26 plays- Play
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35 plays
General Info
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Genre: Acoustic / Celtic / Folk
Location Ontario, CA
Profile Views: 1800
Last Login: 7/5/2009
Member Since 2/8/2007
Record Label Unsigned
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Bio
This is the long version:.. I was born in Calgary, (1945), left at 2 for an army base just outside of Vancouver which is now Boundary Bay airport, left there in October of 1953 for Ottawa and then moved to Moncton where I spent the rest of my childhood years, and is the place that I call home. My Mother’s family are all from P.E.I. .. I started taking piano as a 10 year old, then picked up the drums on my own. I ended up as the lead drummer in the Air Cadet band and also played in a dance band for a couple of years. This was obviously all part of my musical development, but what I didn’t realize at the time was that I was also building a musical background with the influence of my very talented musical family, that being my numerous cousins, aunts and uncles. My grandmother had been a church organist for about 50 years and my grandfather sang at church for an even longer time. Being brought up in the same house as them meant that many an evening was spent sitting and standing around the piano singing songs that, at the time, I thought were “not cool”. On my many visits to Charlottetown I had about 15 cousins who were tremendously talented, along with one of my aunts. I had no idea at the time that these fun evenings were giving all of us kids a great musical reservoir to draw from. We were also associating music and singing with good times - it was a fun thing to do! .. I joined the RCAF in 1966 and when I got to Greenwood, N.S. I soon joined the station band as a drummer. But more important I started playing guitar. I absolutely loved that instrument! Without exaggeration, for the first 2 or 3 months I would average at least 2 to 3 hours per night just practicing and learning. There were times when my fingers hurt so bad that I’d put band-aids on them so I could play some more. .. My musical influences in those days were, naturally, Gordon Lightfoot, The Clancy Brothers, Jim Croce, Valdy, etc. I really love the 60’s and early 70’s music. However, the person who has had the biggest influence on me musically would have to be John Allan Cameron. .. I had met John Allan back in 1968. I saw him perform on a few occasions throughout the Maritimes, and when I got out of the Air Force and took my Air Traffic Control course with Transport Canada in Ottawa in 1970, I met him at the Montreal airport where he was going east and I was on my way to Ottawa. I was lucky enough to be able to stay at his place. Just the atmosphere and influence of being there and seeing so many great musicians for that 6 month period taught me more than I could ever have hoped to learn on my own. More importantly, I came to understand the business side of being a musician. That is one facet of the job that many have no comprehension of. .. From there I went to Gander, Newfoundland, which was where I kind of put the finishing touches on to what I had learned. The one thing about Maritimers, and especially Newfoundlanders, is that the majority of them can play something, and they can all sing! Right away I started writing songs - I got involved in doing these local CBC radio shows about 10 or 12 times a year - I played a few gigs in the area, but not near as many as I should have - I was on TV a couple of times - and I was fortunate to be picked to do a CBC record in 1975 in Halifax. .. It was getting to the stage that I had to make a decision - am I going to be an Air Traffic Controller or a professional musician? Being newly married and with a family planned down the road, I chose the security of well paying government job. I then went into a 15 year musical hibernation. I played very little during that period while we raised our 4 children. .. I was transferred to the Training Institute in Cornwall in 1982. In 1991, on a return visit to Gander, my old bass player and I played a couple of impromptu gigs at a local club. Well that was it! I was hooked again! On my return to Cornwall I bought some new equipment and started playing in the area in October of 1991. .. Since then I have been playing just about every weekend anywhere from Montreal to Ottawa to Brockville and Kingston, from a firefighter’s convention in Milton to a Surveyor’s convention in Toronto, as well as a gig back in my home town of Moncton. .. But I have the most fun in the summer playing outside venues. On these occasions you’re able to reach an audience you wouldn’t normally find in the local clubs. .. I play a variety of music, anything from 60’s/70’s folky, (Lightfoot, Valdy, Croce), to Maritime & Celtic to 60’s/70’s pop-rock. It all depends where I’m playing. At D’Arcy McGee’s in Ottawa I play mostly Celtic with a sprinkling of Maritime goodies, whereas at the Glengarian or at the Crimson Clover in Ottawa I can play the full spectrum. .. As a twist, I also played percussion with local singer/songwriter Nancy Beaudette. That gave me a whole other musical perspective to be backing up and supporting someone as great as she is instead of being the front man. .. Around 2001 I started playing with a bass player – Steve Proulx. He is an excellent musician who not only contributes to the show but adds a whole new element and simply put, he makes me sound better! My respect for him as a musician has increased ten fold since we started playing together. Every night he amazes me with something new or different. .. I don’t know when I’ll stop playing. You get to meet so many great people and great musicians. I’m having too much fun, and besides, it’s a great way to have a natural high - it happens every week and there are no after effects! Just great memories and feelings. .. My wife Theresa and I have 4 children: Andrew, Paul, Sarah, and Erin, and a grand daughter, Mary Margaret. (and Maxx, the cat!) I retired in 2005 and now I have so much more fun performing – I don’t have to worry about getting up in the morning. .. Mike McAnany -
Members
Mike McAnany..Steve Proulx -
Influences
John Allan Cameron..Gordon Lightfoot..Jim Croce -
Sounds Like
John Allan Cameron..Gordon Lightfoot..The Clancy Brothers..Jim Croce..Valdy
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3 Songs | Sep 21, 2008
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