I’m adding Gerry Wall’s ‘Poor Man’s Train’ to the Big Med Playlist for The Big One. It’s a rolling and quite satisfying piece of Canadiana wrapped in (weirdly) a Southwestern US-rock-blues feel and is spot-on perfect for listening to while hauling Prio 1 butt across the rural winter Quebec landscape.
Gerry Wall’s route to the stage has been anything but ‘normal.’ He is a singer/songwriter with an undergrad degree in English Literature and a Ph.D. in Economics. He grew up in Saskatoon where he delivered a weekly newspaper to make a few extra dollars.
“One of my deliveries was to the Anderson household where the parents of Joni Mitchell lived. Joni was by that point already a bit of a legend. She opened the door one morning on collection day, surprising me. Although purely fortuitous, I believe that the fact she couldn’t pay me, didn’t know when her parents would be back and didn’t invite me in to get warm, somehow still inspired me to a musical career. Well . . . she did smile at me – both warming and inspirational.”
Taking his cue from Joni, and hearing a band of Prairie boys called The Mozart Group (who looked like they came from any place but the prairies) perform soaring falsetto harmonies and laying down a cavernous Motown groove, got Gerry hooked on a kind of music with no limits and no pretension. This has led him to his unique roots sound – one might call it Canadiana with an emphasis on the lyrical.
Since 2000, Gerry has released five albums – with “World” just released in December of 2010. ex Patriots’ Day (2007) has received extensive airplay on Canada’s CBC and elsewhere. Tobermory (2000), Returning Fire (2004) and Winter Grass (2006) are filled with deceptively honest songwriting. Stand-out tracks include “Fire in Saint Peter’s” and “Your Fabulous Life” on the 2004 album, while the title track of the third album “Winter Grass” and “Poor Man’s Train” continue to receive critical acclaim.
Instrumentation:
Ana Miura – Guitar and Vocals.
Nigel Troop – Bass Guitar; Vocals
Andy Sommerfeld – the drums
Jerome Jeffrey – Guitars/ Vocals
Online: http://www.gerrywall.com
