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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2006-10-26, Page 22Graduation Cynthia Stevenson, daughter of Bill and Carol Stevenson of Brussels, graduated from the Executive Administration Program at Westervelt College. -Cyndi is currently employed by the City of London at the Dearness Home as an Executive Assistant. Congratulations Cyndi, we are all so proud of you! Love, your family. Steve Dougherty Congratulations on graduating an Ontario Scholar from GDCI and receiving the Goderich Kinsmen Steve Sturdy Memorial Award for serving the Goderich community. Steve is currently attending Cambrian College, Sudbury enrolled in the Theatre Arts — Technical Productions program. Congratulations Steve, we are so proud of your accomplishments. Your family and friends. BUY? SELL? TRY CLASSIFIED ON NOVEMBER 13TH OTE DALE NEWMAN COUNCILLOR GREY WARD HURON EAST PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2006. "That's probably the biggest thing of all. To see what I can do musically by myself and see what that does for other people." - Joshua Gropp Dominique Milburn photo Local musician goes it alone By Shawn Loughlin Citizen staff "Expect the unexpected," is what local musician Joshua Gropp says when asked about his newly tweaked live show. On Nov. 17, Gropp will release his first solo effort, an acoustic album and tour With a style all his own that he likes to call experimental folk. Gropp has been the guitarist of local band Perish since his elementary school days. As far as the tour goes, first comes the theatre in Blyth on Nov. 17 for a CD release party, followed closely by subsequent dates in Orangeville, Kitchener, Owen Sound and London. "The album is a hit of guitar- lover's music," Gropp said, "There's a lot of two-hand tapping in it which would normally be reserved for the likes of heavy metal, but it's done Melodically on an acoustic, guitar, and then with vocals on top of it. It's kind of like new-age folk or experimental folk." In addition to his time in Perish, Gropp took jazz guitar at Humber College. in Etobicoke and spent last summer playing "hokey songs" as lead guitarist in a band on a cruise ship. These three styles converge in a musical amalgamation on Gropp's forthcoming album. The death of Gropp's longtime friend Sarah Mann in a tragic car accident in July is something, else that he cites as a major influence on this project. "For the first little bit after Sarah's accident, I couldn't bring myself to do things that reminded me of her and playing guitar was definitely one of them," Gropp said. "I found that to be quite tough, so I tried to do new things on the guitar that didn't remind me of her. This album was basically what resulted!? - The material that Gropp had begun experimenting with soon grew into plans for a full-fledged album, with a handful of songs turning into an album's worth, and then some. Gropp says he already has ideas for a second album, but right now he wants to concentrate on selling copies of this one. Gropp said the, album should be available by shownight in Blyth, in addition to the 1,000 copies being pressed, his album will also be available on iTunes shortly. Gropp also says that his project has nothing to do with the demise of Perish who are still going strong despite the long hiatus since their last release. Gropp said that he has the blessing of his fellow bandmates to work on this project, with drummer Rob McKercher and bassist Tom Ireland's fingerprints all over the album. McKercher was very helpftil for advice as far as recording goes, and without Ireland, who gets co- production credits on the album, Gropp said the album wouldn't have been possible. Gropp says that he thinks in the end, his solo work should make Perish stronger-and help them to explore new avenues musically. And , although he finds Perish extremely fulfilling, Gropp is striving to explore what he can accomplish on his own. "One of the greatest feelings you can have is someone clapping or giving a standing ovation at the end of a song that was just me. Where it would be a great feeling with Perish, four people contributed to that person's happiness," Gropp said. "That's probably the biggest thing of all. To see what I can do musically by myself and to see what that does for other people." The simplicity of acoustic music is something that Gropp has always been drawn to and he thinks that he is not alone in this, saying that many fans of hard music whom he knows, have always had a soft spot for acoustic music. "I just wanted to push myself to see what musical styles I could experiment with, what sounds I could come up with with my guitar while still making it a very live sounding album," Gropp said. "Aside from a few harmonies done vocally, the album could be played from front to finish in a live setting, just me in a room with a bunch of people. I think that it's pretty much the one instrument that could speak to anyone - an acoustic -guitar and a voice." With influences spanning from "Dimebag" Darryl Abbott of Pantera and Damageplan, Canadian jazz guitarist Lenny Breau and S'Wedish singer/songwriter Jose Gonzalez, Gropp says that many of his stylings are homages to these idols of his. Being a student of complex guitarwo-rk ,can be hard, however Gropp said the main challenge of this album and his pet peeve with music he listens to, is to- make an album for listeners, not for musicians. This is nothing new to the world of music, with critics and musicians fawning over • albums so inaccessible to the general listener. _ "The challenge is to have it sound insanely musical, but not just for musicians," Gropp said. "That's one of my pet peeves. You can't really attract a strong following if you're only going to come up with guitar wankery, because you're only going to attract guitar wankers." When asked about what Gropp feels like he has acheived and his intentions and whether he fulfilled his expectations, he said that he was surprised with his vocal range, and what he was able to accomplish with his- voice, not his long-time instrument, the guitar. "I was quite surprised with my vocal range. I never considered myself to be a singer. I can sing, I've been the background singer for Perish, but I've never considered myself as being able to be the lead singer," Gropp said. -- "I think there's always room to grow. I could work on this project for 10 hours a-day for the next 40 years and at the end of it I'd still see so much room to improve."