Dave Bidini is one of Canada's favourite musicians and at the same time one of Canada's favourite writers. He is applauded in each realm, and applauded again for being both.
He came to prominence first as a member of the venerated alt-rock band The Rheostatics, which had a fan following but a brand of musicianship that also endeared them to other musicians. When Rush was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters' Hall of Fame, it was Bidini who gave the opening address, reading from his book For Those About to Rock which gave Rush a huge shout-out.
He talked about how Rush's iconic drummer Neil Peart spent an afternoon recording with The Rheostatics during the making of their soundtrack to the movie Whale Music. There are photos on Bidini's website palling with the equally iconic Rush bass-vocals-keyboards man Geddy Lee (Lee actually bought the option rights for a movie of Bidini's book Baseballissimo). This kind of reverse esteem is reserved for the truly musically talented, and that carries on now that The Rheostatics have dissolved and he has come back to the stage as the title member of The BidiniBand. They play tonight at Art Space, coming off of four days in Wells at the ArtsWells Festival (a repeat engagement) and recent gigs in Whitehorse and Atlin. They are off next to Haida Gwaii for the Edge of the World Festival. These aren't your average rock 'n' roll destinations, and some might say they are linked under the word "spectacular," including our own spot on that schedule.
"I'm not sure how I hooked up with Wells four years ago, but because it was a place I hadn't yet visited, I wanted to give it a try," Bidini said. "Turned out to be a very special experience in an amazing part of Canada, with lots of strange and good music from everywhere, all in this little mountain hamlet. Really can't say enough about it."
Wells and it's Siamese twin Barkerville is a place with hard earned stories. Bidini is a man with hard earned stories - the kind wrapped in book covers and the kind wrapped in grey matter and thin derma. Bidini found the place as he went and found spots all over the globe where he could cut a vein of ink and let it spill onto paper and mylar.
They have bled together. His first book, On A Cold Road, was a memoir of the Rheostatics' tour of Canada opening for The Tragically Hip. (The book was a finalist for one year's Canada Reads program on CBC Radio, a show on which he was one of the celebrity panelists during a different year - the only time someone has done both those things.)
That gave him the authorship platform to write a book about Canada's national passion called The Tropic Of Hockey where he dug up hockey experiences and anecdotes from unlikely places around the world, aided by the band's international touring. Since then he has written more books about sports and music.
His music is never lyrically lackluster, either. Every song seems to be a little yarn or fable, often about Canadian subjects and themes. The melodies, too, are often winding roads, blending jazz timing signatures and chord progressions with punky and grungy and even poppy elements. Listeners might sense some hints of Dave Matthews but also some DOA, a taste of Neil Young then an undertone of Gordon Lightfoot (Bedini wrote a book about him, too).
He also writes newspaper columns, magazine essays, and is frequently a commentator on broadcast programs. (He was in P.G. in 2012 along with TSN hosts Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole, plus Team Canada gold medalist Sami Jo Small for the Y Champions Hockey Weekend.)
If you had to call Bedini by profession, it would be hard to know which would take the lead - author or musician. He has the same scratch of the head.
"Neither is dominant, and they seem to coexist for the most part," he said. "I write when I'm playing and I play when I'm writing, so they both serve as a rebound for the other; ideas crushing into other ideas. One is solitary, the other is social, so they naturally compliment the other. And two audiences have been built, they crossover most of the time."
If you're hoping to see The Rheostatics play, the best you're likely to get is a BediniBand concert, because he is not the only Rheo on the stage. In fact, despite his name on the brand, it wasn't even his band to begin with.
"It's been the same band for six or seven years and I have no interest in changing it," he said. "Truth be told, it was Don Kerr and Paul Linklater's idea [both former Rheos] to start the band, not mine, not really, so I owe a lot to them for picking me up after the dissolution of Rheos. And we haven't really looked back; never really stopping to consider who or what we are. We just fly out this stuff and press hard when we can, and because most people already define me by a previous work, I feel I can do anything with this band and feel like I'm still moving through the water and across the land."
Through pages and musical notes, he and his bandmates bring more of Canada out to the world and bring Canadians more into their own land. The BidiniBand raises their flag tonight at 8 p.m. for $15, advance tickets available at Books and Company.
