The Lightfoot Band To Play Guelph’s River Run Centre on February 29, 2024
The Lightfoot Band features Rick Haynes, Barry Keane, Mike Heffernan, and Carter Lancaster and introduces their newest member, Andy Mauck.
The evening at River Run Centre promises an unforgettable performance as the band pays tribute to the Canadian icon. Fans can expect to hear their favourite classics as well as some deep cuts to deliver the ultimate Gordon Lightfoot experience.
Get more information and tickets here.
First off, care to introduce The Lightfoot Band to our readers?
It’s my pleasure to introduce the members of The Lightfoot Band. We have Rick Haynes on bass, Mike Heffernan on keyboards, Carter Lancaster on lead guitars, me – Barry Keans – on drums and percussion, and our newest member, Andy Mauck on vocals and rhythm guitars.
What prompted The Lightfoot Band to continue performing after Gordon Lightfoot’s passing?
After the initial grieving period, we met at a coffee shop and kicked around some ideas on how to move forward. It didn’t take long for us to agree that we needed to stay together and continue to perform Gordon’s great songs. Since we had all recorded and toured with Gordon for all those years and been a part of the creation of the arrangements and sound, we knew how he wanted his songs performed. That’s why we are so much more than just a tribute band.
As longtime collaborators with Gordon Lightfoot, how do you keep his memory alive through your performances while also evolving as musicians yourselves?
For decades, we were collaborators with Gordon. That’s one of the reasons that his songs are so much a part of each of us. When you work, create, travel, record, and perform with someone, a friendship and bond is born that lasts forever. There are sides of Gordon that only we were privy to. From that, come stories and memories that we can share with our audiences. That is special. As a musician, you always want to grow and evolve which we all do, but we also feel, that having the privilege of presenting these wonderful songs the way we do, is our best form of evolution.
Are there any particular songs in Gordon Lightfoot’s catalog that hold special significance for the band?
Certainly, each member would have their own answer. For me, it would have to be “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. How Gordon’s fantastic song brought this tragic event to the attention of the world. How he so carefully and thoughtfully crafted the song. How we all, especially Gordon, got to meet “the wives, and the sons and the daughters”. How the song was recorded and how it became such a hit.
Rick has played on more of Gordon’s hits than the rest of us. His memories of recording “If You Could Read My Mind”, “Carefree Highway”, “Beautiful” and “The Wreck” would all have to be pretty significant.
Looking ahead, what are your aspirations and goals for The Lightfoot Band in terms of continuing to honor Gordon Lightfoot’s legacy and expanding your own musical horizons?
For now, we have our hands full with the launch of this exciting venture. For decades, the Lightfoot organization, with great people like office manager Anne Leibold, took care of things like the mechanism of touring that we are now managing ourselves. As new and exciting as it is, there is a learning curve. Two constants from our touring days are, tour manager Warren Toll and the legendary Bernie Fiedler, who is handling our bookings as he did with Gordon. Our hope is to both reach Gordon’s faithful fans and to introduce Gordon’s wonderful songs to a new generation. That is our way of honoring Gordon’s legacy.
What do you hope audiences take away from your performances?
We hope to evoke old memories and to create new ones for our audiences. We were part of the creation process of Gordon’s great records, and we think that audiences will appreciate hearing our unique perspective in the music and our stories.