Unlikely as it may seem, long before Michael Bate made his name in this country skewering the rich, quasi-famous and the political elite as the co-founder of the Ottawa edition of notorious scandal sheet Frank, the British-born bane of Byron Muldoon was a stringer for Canadian Press when not playing steel guitar.
Stranger still, while on his way up (or down) the media ladder, junior reporter Bate somehow managed to score an interview with Gram Parsons in March of 1973, two months after the release of his influential solo debut GP (Reprise/Warner) featuring his new discovery Emmylou Harris. Bate's fortuitous encounter in Boston proved to be among the last recorded conversations with the doomed country-rock pioneer as Parsons tragically died in Joshua Tree, California from an overdose of morphine and tequila just six months later on September 19, 1973.
Now that Bate's shit-disturbing days with Frank are well behind him, he has decided to parlay his 30 minute interview of a lifetime into a low-key musical production – sans fancy choreography and Broadway cliches – called Grievous Angel: The Legend of Gram Parsons. While there's no shortage of traumatic events packed into Parsons short life to make for an epic tragedy worthy of the ancient Greeks – aside from the whole bizarre body snatching and ritual burning scenario that later unfolded – the production's success or failure will ultimately hinge on how effectively Parsons' timeless musical legacy is conveyed. It appears that Bate is mindful of that fact and astutely selected a couple of roots ringers of the appropriate age to play the vocally-demanding parts, namely Ottawa-based singer/songwriter Anders Drerup of Silver Creek in the lead role with Kelly Prescott (the daughter of Canuck country royals Randall Prescott and Tracey Brown) as Emmylou Harris.
Of course it's one thing to be able to hit the notes and quite another to deliver those classic songs with the sort of chemistry which marks the truly great duet pairings. No one will ever have the magic Parsons and Harris shared, that's a given, but the live recordings from a recent Grievous Angel performance at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa sound very promising (check the download links below).
You'll get a chance to see whether any sparks fly when Grievous Angel: The Legend of Gram Parsons makes it's Toronto debut at Hugh's Room (2261 Dundas West) on Saturday, June 26 at 8:30 pm. Tickets are $25 advance and $27.50 at the door.
Return Of The Grievous Angel download
Wild Horses download
Brass Buttons download
Love Hurts
LINKS
Grievous Angel site http://www.legendofgramparsons.com
Anders Drerup http://www.myspace.com/andersdrerup
Kelly Prescott http://www.myspace.com/kellyprescottmusic
Hugh's Room http://www.hughsroom.com/
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