Just Us Folk

In November of 2021, after a three-year renovation costing $146 million, Toronto’s legendary Massey Hall re-opened to its former glory.

Kicking off the new era of the revitalized music venue was a three-night appearance by Canadian icon Gordon Lightfoot, who had played at the “Grand Old Lady of Shuter Street” over 170 times in his career. The shows were sold out a year in advance.

Just one problem though. Gordon was still recovering from a compound wrist fracture due to a fall at his home. Through extensive physiotherapy he was certain he could perform a 60-minute show but not his usual 90 minutes. He needed an opening act. So, for the first two nights he enlisted the help of an old friend, Tom Rush, whom Gordon had once called the best solo act he’d ever seen.

“He gave me this really warm introduction both nights,” Tom said. “He also said, ‘Tom was the first to record Joni Mitchell and Murray McLachlan and blah blah blah, but he never recorded any of my songs!’ So I go out and say, ‘I’ve got 30 minutes tonight and 30 minutes tomorrow. I could do the first half of ‘Edmund Fitzgerald’ tonight…’.”

Over the course of his career Tom Rush has made a name for himself by being the first one to record songs by Joni and Murray along with Jackson Browne and James Taylor, plus Canadian songwriters David Wiffen and William Hawkins. In fact, Rolling Stone magazine once credited Tom with ushering in the era of the singer-songwriter. The 83-year old performer says what caught his attention with all of those writers was “the goosebump factor".

“I heard Joni Mitchell do ‘Urge for Going’ at a club in Detroit, and I knew I had to do that song,” he said.

Joni had just started writing songs and had asked the club owner if she could do a quick opening set so Tom could hear what she had.

“When she came off the stage, I asked if she had any more. She said, “No, but give me a minute."

A few weeks later, Tom received a cassette tape with about six songs, the last of which was ‘The Circle Game’. But before singing it, Joni apologized that it wasn’t very good. Tom went on to not only record the song but name his whole album The Circle Game.

“I hear a lot of songs these days that I like, but I don’t feel I have anything to add to it,” he said.

Which may explain why Tom never recorded any of Gordon Lightfoot’s songs. Perhaps they were perfect the way they were.

For those wondering how Tom came to cover so many other Canadian songwriters, the answer lies with a former lead guitarist of his.

“Trevor Veitch had been in the Ottawa band 3’s a Crowd, and he played with me for many years,” he explained. “Any time we came to Canada, say to play The Riverboat in Toronto, he would bring someone like Murray McLachlan over to teach me how to play ‘Child’s Song'. So, I met most of my Canadian contacts through Trevor.”

Tom hasn’t covered too many other songwriters lately because he’s too busy writing his own material. By his own account, he’s written more in the last 10 years than he had in the previous 50. That being said, he did very well with the songs from his first decade of writing. His most successful song, “No Regrets,” was a huge hit in 1975 for The Walker Brothers in the UK before it was covered by many other performers.

His latest album, Gardens Old Flowers New, comes six years after his last one, Voices. It might not have happened at all if not for Tom’s piano player, Matt Nakoa.

“I think he got sick of me saying, ‘Someday we’ll make another album,’ he said. “He’s a dazzling musician, vocalist and songwriter but I didn’t know he could produce records.”

The songs on the new album are fairly recent with just a couple of exceptions. ‘Glory Road’ goes back over 50 years while ‘Siena’s Song’ was written for his now 25-year old daughter when she was only two.

“‘Glory Road’ was written when I had just moved to New Hampshire from New York City,” Tom said. “I was burned out from being on the road for five years with only 10 days off in total. I bought a defunct farm and quit showbiz. That just lasted nine months so I basically flunked retirement!”

Even at age 83, retirement is a long way off. Since 2020, Tom has created weekly 15-minute videos from home called “Rockport Sundays". Available through Patreon, the videos have Tom and a guest sing a couple of songs and tell the stories behind them. So far, guests have included people like Jonathan Edwards, David Bromberg and Tom Paxton.

“I’m trying to get Jackson Browne and James Taylor but scheduling is a problem,” he said. “But a lot of my guests these days are youngsters I’ve never heard of. It seems to be my mission in life to introduce people to you who are so much better than I am.”

Tom’s in the process of writing a number of books at the moment. One is kind of a “how-to” for musicians, tentatively called Road Map, with tips on explaining the difference between a manager and an agent, how to do a sound check, how to connect with an audience, how to make a hotel reservation that you can later cancel if need be and so much more. He has a novel on the go which he figures will never see the light of day.

“It’s basically for my own amusement,” he said.

He’s also working on an autobiography.

“I’ve had a quirky, interesting life, and I think it might be an amusing book,” he said.

But at the moment Tom is too busy being on the road. After touring in California and Arizona, he has a number of dates in the U.S. northeast before he comes to Hugh’s Room in Toronto on Oct. 25.

“I love playing for people,” he said. “The travel is the hard part. This is my 63rd annual farewell tour, and I realized a long time ago that audiences aren’t interested in perfection, they’re interested in connection. The stories that go with the songs are a way to connect. So, If I can get them to pay attention to me with the story, they’re more apt to enjoy the song I’m about to do.”

For more on Tom Rush and Gardens Old Flowers New, go to https://www.tomrush.com.