We all have our favourites; the lyrics, harmonies, rhythms and beats that somehow timelessly thread together chapters of an evolving life in ways that that only music can.
Vancouver Island singer, Ken Lavigne, is Playing Favourites on an upcoming Island tour, Sept. 25 to 30, and he comes to Comox on Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Comox United Church.
“This show features my ‘deserted island’ go to list,” he says. “If I could only take three songs with me, these would be them.”
Of course, there are more than three songs on Playing Favourites show, each one a tried and true favourite with audiences, a personal favourite of Lavigne’s or a new favourite that might just bump one off the top of the ‘deserted island’ list.
“I get a sense being on the stage of what people enjoy by the universal and democratic clap-o-meter,” Lavigne says with a playful grin. “I get a sense of what they are really into and they come to hear their favourites. This tour is about reconnecting the audience with some of the great songs they’ve grown to love.”
Music has the power to move people, from one emotional place to another and part of that, Lavigne notes, is meeting the audiences where they are.
“On tour,” he says. “You start to recognize where the audiences are at and you will morph and adapt to where they are, and from that place you can start to lead. It’s a duet between the audience and the performer. I always strive for that, a synergy. When that happens, you can emerge renewed and transformed.”
Playing Favourites will include his renditions of songs from Andrea Bocelli, Elton John, Billy Joel, Leonard Cohen and David Foster, to name a few, and he has also been experimenting with some new (song) obsessions. He’s been exploring some of the great music from country artists like Hank Williams, Roy Rogers and Johnny Cash. He says he’s poised to inflict this new obsession on his audiences. His sense of humour is never far away.
“Much of that musical style is in alignment with how I sing,” he adds. “Hank Williams’ songs are so poignant. The stories are so heartbreaking. I want to go down that road a little bit. I like to experiment and have fun.”
“It’s great to take an audience on a new ride, share stories and new musical obsessions but it’s important to remember that people want to hear what they’ve grown to love. This concert features the favourites of all the favourites.”
Playing Favourites with Ken Lavigne and his band sees seven shows on Vancouver Island. All tickets sold online at www.kenlavigne.com.