ATHABASCA — As the now-bare branches of aspen, birch, and elm shiver in the brisk winds and bear the crystalline tell-tale signs of winter’s frosty touch, the Heartwood Folk Club is wrapping up their fall season with one last unmissable show.
Renowned Saskatchewan-based singer-songwriter and acclaimed guitarist Jack Semple will be the last headliner to hit the Nancy Appleby stage this year. Heartwood members and fans of good music in general can catch the show on the evening of Nov. 27.
Semple, now 57, has been a paid musician for more than 40 years after first picking up a guitar around the age of 10. Since then, he’s made a name for himself across North America with his bluesy, and at times funky sound, accompanied by substantive, meaningful lyricism.
“The guitar kind of chose me, not really the other way around,” said Semple with a wry laugh. “I started taking lessons when I was 12, and by the time I was 15 I was playing professional gigs.”
His skill on the stringed instrument has earned him recognition across the country over the decades; Semple is a Juno-winning artist after securing the title of Best Roots Recording in 1991, starred in a 1994 made-for-TV movie called Guitarman, and was named the winner of the 1992 MuchMusic Guitar Wars contest.
While Semple’s dexterity will be on full display for his show in Athabasca, the original tunes from 10 solo albums won’t be — Semple will instead be putting on a tribute act for another Canadian singer-songwriter, one who made an indelible mark on him.
“The first concert I ever went to when I was 11 years old was a Gordon Lightfoot concert, and it was the first time I’d ever seen live musicians or a guitar player on stage,” said Semple. “I learned how to finger pick and learned chords from playing Gordon Lightfoot songs.”
Semple started taking his tribute act to stages shortly after Lightfoot’s passing on May 1, 2023, but has had a reverence for the Canadian music legend since that first concert as a boy and shared an unexpected connection with him later in life.
In 2006, Semple released an album of instrumental covers of Lightfoot songs, and in a stroke of fate, was able to give Lightfoot himself a copy of the CD for his review during a soundcheck.
“It was a total thrill, and a dream come true,” said Semple. “He called me a couple of weeks later and went through the whole CD with me and told me he liked everything except one song.
“The phone rang again, and it was Gordon Lightfoot again, saying, ‘Jack, I just listened to your version of “Don Quixote” again. I don’t know what I was thinking, it sounds great, just leave it the way it is.’ So, I got his ringing endorsement for the whole CD,” Semple recalled.
Semple said it was this interaction that made him realize the greatness achieved by Lightwood and those with similar musical skill was within reaching distance for himself, and for everyone else, too.
“People have an image of their heroes that is very poetic; through rose coloured glasses. And when you meet the person, you realize it’s just a person,” said Semple. “I’ve also got to hang out with some of my other guitar heroes, and when you see them in their brilliance, my reaction is, ‘Well, maybe I can do that.’
Fans of Lightfoot, A.K.A ‘Lightheads,’ will be in for a whole show of Lightfoot music, albeit with the Semple twist. He hinted attendees can expect a Jimi Hendrix-esque rendition of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” — the only tune in the set played with an electric guitar.
Having grown up on a farm north of Regina in the ’60s and ’70s, Semple visiting rural communities for performances is a fulfilling — and filling — endeavour.
“It’s like coming home,” said Semple. “It doesn’t matter if there’s 20 people or 200 people or 2,000 people as long as I can make a connection with the audience that’s there. That’s my goal, that’s what really makes me tick … and when it happens, it’s magic.”
And, he added, “I love small town gigs because usually you get fed better than anywhere else.”
Tickets for Semple’s Gordon Lightfoot tribute can be purchased at Value Drug mart, Whispering Hills Fuels, and Athabasca Health Foods for $30 before the show. Tickets at the door will be available for $35, and kids 16 and under will get in free. Advanced tickets can also be purchased online, but prices come with additional fees.
