At a concert at the Glenn Gould Theatre in Toronto last night, my friend introduced me to the talents of an amazing young Canadian jazz musician named Michael Kaeshammer. It was a belated birthday present to me: she treated me to the show.
For those of you in the know, I won’t tell you how he used to open for Sophie Millman and Anne Murray, but now is big enough and famous enough to fill what MC Jaymz Bee called “soft seat” concert halls across Canada.
So what does this have to do with Blue Rodeo and journalism?Interviewing?
Kaeshammer told the audience he was planning to come to the lobby after the show to sign autographs for World Vision, and to mingle, and that he even hoped to finagle an invitation to a party, since he said he wasn’t doing anything after the show ended!
And it got me to thinking about what I would ask him, if I accidentally happened to bump into him while he was “schmoozing.”
It reminded me of the time I was in this same predicament a couple of summers ago, while on vacation with my family in Prince Edward Island.
My husband and I had bought tickets to see Blue Rodeo play at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown. The event was going to be even more enticing because some friends of ours from Toronto knew the band, and had scored a backstage pass for us to meet the band after the show.
I remember spending the whole concert half listening to the music, and mostly wracking my brain for some inspiration about what I would ask Jim Cuddy so I wouldn’t sound like a groupie or a bumbling awestruck fan.
And then it came to me while I was watching Cuddy and Greg Keelor chomping on chewing gum while they were performing. It struck me as odd, rude even, that such a big name band would be so disrespectful of their audience, that they wouldn’t even spit out their gum before taking the stage.
So when the time came for us to crowd by the stage door, and jostle for photographs, I have to admit I was nervous. What if Cuddy thought I was an idiot for asking such a question?
When they came out, and the introductions were made, I went ahead and asked him about the gum issue. And I got a really interesting answer: he told me that at his age, he had to chew gum to keep his throat lubricated, so he doesn’t lose his voice while he sings.
A few months later, back home in Toronto, the Star and Globe both ran stories about Cuddy having problems with his vocal chords, even having to stop singing for a while to have surgery.
So my question was bang on. Too bad I wasn’t writing a story for CTV at the time. I didn’t even have a blog then.
Nevertheless as far as I was concerned, gum or no gum, he still had — and has– a sweet voice.
I should’ve asked him what kind of gum works best– and what his favourite flavour was, and how long did one piece last during a concert?
As for Kaeshammer, we left before I got myself into trouble. And I’d be glad to hear any suggestions on what you would have asked him.
I am so glad you asked Jim Cuddy that question and posted it here! 11 years later I’m watching their concert video from 2019 and had to know what that gum-chewing was all about.