CD a compilation of tributes to friends lost in October's flood
What: Watershed CD Release
Who: Rutherford Creek Collective
Where: Moe Joe's
When: Sunday, Jan. 11
Tickets: $15
We all have our own ways of dealing with grief and tragedy.
Musicians write songs.
Such was the case for local singer/guitarist Glenn Mishaw.
Last October heavy rains flooded the Sea to Sky corridor and washed out the bridge at Rutherford Creek, just south of Pemberton on Highway 99. After learning that among the four victims of the swollen waters was the husband of his friend Katie Burnette, Mishaw turned to music to express his sadness.
Putting himself in the position of the late Jamie Burnette, imagining things he might have liked to say to Katie and their infant son Cole, Mishaw penned Love Another Day, a plaintive, acoustic song of longing and reassurance.
Realizing the song could potentially be a source of comfort to Katie, and wanting to immortalize it for her, Mishaw envisioned a recording with the potential to involve contributions from other local musicians. He made some calls, to Rob Funk and Leanne Lamour for starters, and their enthusiasm helped begin a chain of events that has resulted in Watershed, a 10-track compilation CD produced by Mishaw and featuring a variety of local musicians under the umbrella name of the Rutherford Creek Collective.
The rootsy, folk-flavoured CD, which will be released at Moe Joe's this Sunday night, was produced entirely on funds donated by local vacation rental company Resort Quest Whistler, the organization that once employed Mishaw and from which Katie Burnette is currently on maternity leave. Sunday's event ticket price has been set at $15, including a copy of the CD. Post-Sunday, Watershed will be available for $10 with all proceeds going to Katie and Cole Burnette.
" It's a very bare-bones, grassroots, homegrown thing and it's a testament to when people get together to do something for a common good," said Mishaw. Though the recording process might have been rather informal, he still deems the experience "phenomenal." "
Resort Quest will support sales efforts of Watershed by displaying it at all their front desks. Whistler Music will also be selling the CD, and Mishaw says he is open to arranging other vendors as well.
The CD itself has a remarkable continuity despite the number of different artists with such varied levels of experience. Lamour's contribution, Someone You Knew, was written while she was stranded in a Squamish hostel while the roads through the Cheakamus Canyon were closed due to flooding. So while Mishaw was writing his heart-wrenching tune for the Burnettes, Lamour was penning her own reaction to the floods, both unaware that the songs would soon cohabit the same compilation.
In addition to contributions from other seasoned veterans like Jay Romany (Downtown Jay Brown) Watershed features songs from Moe Joe's staffer Moose McDaniel, Ellen Divine, Andy Gallant, Terry Anderson, Sheri Seeley and Dave Trimble. The CD was put together in just two months with one main recording date at a studio in the Mount Currie area, with much of the remaining sound recorded in Funk's small home studio.
Funk, says Mishaw, deserves special recognition for his tremendous dedication to the project above and beyond song No. 10 Never Be The Same.
The fact that Watershed makes up in heart what it lacks in polish is what Mishaw says gives him the greatest sense of pride.
It's a very bare-bones, grassroots, homegrown thing and it's a testament to when people get together to do something for a common good," said Mishaw. Though the recording process might have been rather informal, he still deems the experience "phenomenal."
Sunday's release event at Jamie Burnette's former place of work will feature most of the artists from the Collective performing either on their own or joining up to support each other. Like the CD itself, the evening will be rather informal as the Collective doesn't have the time or money to support the luxury of extensive rehearsing.
Katie Burnette has confirmed she will be in attendance, accompanied by her brother-in-law Casey.
Burnette can't say enough to express her appreciation for the benefit, as well as all the support she says she's received from the community as a whole over the past months, calling Mishaw and his project "amazing." Watershed's release she hopes, will mark a new beginning. Memorials have their place in the past and Burnette says she feels after Sunday's event she will be ready to look ahead.
"This will be the last thing I'd like to do to remember my husband," she adds, "before my son and I start to think about having a normal life again."
Watershed
will be released at Moe Joe's this Sunday evening with performances by members of the Rutherford Creek Collective. Tickets are $15 at the door, and include a copy of the CD. For more information call 604-935-1152. The CD will be available for sale at various locations throughout Whistler Village following the event for $10.Lyrics for Love Another Day
Love Another Day
Glenn Mishaw
Walk with me you are not alone
I'm hear to lift you high
A soldier or a chaperone
A lovesick lullaby
Take my lead we' ll dance and sing
Your heart my soul as one
Learn to fly on a broken wing
Our journey's just begun
Chorus
Rivers wash away
Suffering and tragedy
With you I'll always stay
To love another day
Mother Nature's grave mistake
She' s never insincere
Flesh and blood I'll let you take
Memories I'll keep right here
Give our baby boy a hugI'll watch over him
My heart lies still after the flood
My heart, my heart lies still