An evening of eclectic music and kindred storytelling is coming to the Shambhala Music & Performance Hall with the Bill Lynch Trio performing tracks from its upcoming album on stage at the intimate venue on the Selkirk College Tenth Street Campus.
Featuring Bill Lynch, Bessie Wapp and Mark Spielman, the trio is set to preview 11 new songs on September 29 that will appear on the forthcoming album titled The Street of the Moon. A pillar of the regional music scene for almost five decades, Lynch is looking forward to introducing his latest work.
“Storytelling is a big part of the evening, these songs don’t get sung without an explanation,” says the guitarist and vocalist. “I look forward to sharing and connecting with those who come out for the music.”
Raised in Ireland, Lynch moved to Canada in 1976 and lived in Kaslo before moving to Nelson 1990. He founded the Lazy Poker Blues Band in 1991 and has been a mainstay in music circles ever since. In 2018, Lynch released his debut album Would You Speak on My Behalf featuring tracks that include a multitude of local artists and a sold-out Capitol Theatre show.
Forming the Bill Lynch Trio with Wapp and Spielman in 2019 with an intent to tour, the COVID-19 pandemic put a screeching halt on that ambition. Instead, Lynch went to work on writing new material, something that is a natural creative instinct during challenging times.
“When a lockdown occurs, it’s great to be an owner of a guitar,” the 71-year-old says. “I don’t look at it as having a capacity or duty, I just love writing songs. But I want to write songs about the things that are on my mind because those things, to me, make an honest song.”
Though hardly a retrospective of pandemic times, Lynch does touch on themes that emerged after the world was significantly altered in March 2020. The title track is about internal health and escaping the harsh sunlight of modernity to dig a little deeper to find resilience based on the stories heard in childhood, the love felt then and now, dreams, and songs that stay in our hearts.
Blues-based music is what would be expected from Lynch, but The Street of the Moon is much more eclectic with tinges of influence from flamenco, bluegrass, Spanish Baroque, Irish folk and Latin.
Over the years, Lynch has collaborated with many faculty and alumni from Selkirk College’s Contemporary Music & Technology Program. The Bill Lynch Trio is no different with Wapp being a program alumna and Spielman a recently retired instructor who spent more than 30 years in the studios and classrooms of the Tenth Street Campus.
“The Selkirk College music program is part of the riches of musicians and singers who live in this community,” Lynch says. “Over the years I have been fortunate to play with so many people who are so well trained, it pushes me to learn more and has made me better. We all help push each other forward and the college plays an important role.”
Presented by the Selkirk College School of the Arts, the evening of music with the Bill Lynch Trio is set for Friday, September 29 with $20 tickets available at the door. Doors open at 7 pm with the show starting at 7:30 pm.
The new album, The Street of the Moon, has been made possible thanks to support from the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance and Columbia Basin Trust.