Writer: Andrew Hind
Bill Henderson calls from his British Columbia home. The lead singer of the legendary Canadian rock band Chilliwack is in a buoyant mood. He’s about to head out for the road and the stage- his second home for nearly six decades – as Chilliwack embarks on their Gone, Gone, Gone Farewell Tour.
The tour – which Henderson is firm in saying truly is his touring hurrah – brings the band behind such classics as ‘Whatcha Gonna Do’ and ‘Lonesome Mary’ to Muskoka’s JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort and Spa on Saturday May 10.
Henderson spent some time with 705BLACKFLY.COM to talk about his career.
What turned you onto music originally? What were your first influences?
My mom was my first influence. She was a housewife and was always singing around the house, she always had the radio on. I got my love of music from her. Then Elvis came along and everything changed. There was an explosion of music that no one had heard before – Fats Domino, the Everley Brothers, Buddy Holly. I was ten and it had a profound influence on me. I got a guitar and pretended I was Elvis.
I didn’t get seriously into music until I was in university, however. I made connections with people in the UBC theater productions, and they asked me to write songs for the shows. The lyrics came from the plays while I wrote the music. That was my start.
What do you remember about first entering the music industry?
I was playing classical and jazz, what you now call the American Song Book, when the Beatles’ Hard Day’s Night came out in 1964. They recaptured the energy of 1950s music and hooked me. I was so excited that all the other styles of music went out the window at that point. I knew what music I wanted to perform.
In 1966 I was asked to join an R+B band at the Torch Cabaret. We began writing our own songs during the day, then perform covers for club patrons at night. It was an amazing time, just writing freely and without any pretense. We recorded our first single that winter and it came out in 1967. “Looking at a Baby” went to #3 on the CHUM Charts, which at the time were really the Canadian Charts. We began playing on both sides of the border and did well in California after a San Francisco station began playing out music.
In 1969 we changed our band’s name from The Collectors to Chilliwack. The rest is history.
In the past you’ve described a concert as a relationship between the performer and the audience. What do you mean by that?
The thing about playing in front of people is that you need a certain energy for it to be entertaining, but you can’t pretend to be excited. That just doesn’t work. It needs to be authentic. And it comes in large part from the audience.
As performers, we’re part of an experience that involves an audience. The audience is excited about hearing songs they love, and we get excited seeing them enjoying themselves. It’s symbiotic. The key to a great evening is the relationship between the band and the audience.
The best part of any concert is when things happen that are unscripted. Unscripted events bring life and freshness to a set that you play every night, for years. When the audience knows its organic, they get excited.
Your career has spanned six decades. To what do you credit your longevity?
The key was to be authentic. Typically, people in the industry fall in love with what’s currently popular. The attitude is, “the next one has to be just like this one because it works.” That’s how the industry operates, and when something new and fresh and different comes along they don’t quite know what to do with it.
For a while I tried to pay attention to changes in the industry and adjust to them, to give the industry what it wanted. I learned that by trying to write in a certain way and in a certain style I was hindering my creativity. It didn’t feel authentic. So, I began to write what I enjoyed. Sometimes it wasn’t what the industry wanted, but this was the best way for me to remain true to myself as an artist. I think that’s what allowed me to continue for so long.
How did you know it was time for a goodbye tour?
It was an easy decision. I’m 80 now. My mind isn’t as reliable as it used to be. My body isn’t as reliable as it used to be. I can’t perform in the way I used to. We still put on a great show and love it but at some point, it will all drop. I don’t want to drop on stage. I want to go out on top. It’s time.
But it’s going to be one heck of a goodbye!
Tickets for the concert at JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort can be purchased through eventbrite.ca
