Saturday was a beautiful warm and sunny spring day and just as the forest floor is being carpeted with wildflowers, Victoria's Inner Harbour Causeway is blossoming with the performers and artists that make it such an interesting and entertaining place to visit. Victorians and visitors alike were strolling there on Saturday enjoying the music of Victoria's own famed one man band, Dave Harris (above), as well as other performers and displays by craftspeople and artists. It's the best place in the city for sitting back and watching the world pass by.
A combination of inclement weather and transportation problems have contrived to keep me housebound for the last few days so that I have been forced to look into the archives. But it's an ill wind, as they say - I have recovered some photos that got passed over in the wealth of summer and recollected some people who should be mentioned. Today's photos are of Country Dave Ryerson, who brings good country music tunes to the causeway. Dave's been busking a long time and he also contributes one way or another to a lot of the other entertainment you see on the causeway. If you've ever wondered how those causeway performers all manage to spread themselves out and not be in constant competition for the best spots or times, you should talk to Dave, who facilitates the weekly schedule and posts it on the Causeway Artists Website, where he is also the webmaster. And, for those of you who wonder what it's like to be a busker, there is no better source of insider information than Dave's blog, Country Dave's Acoustic Routes, where you'll find fascinating in-depth interviews with many local buskers. While Dave usually performs solo, here's a very short clip of him in a duet with another great causeway performer, Dave Harris. They're singing Country Dave's version of Merle Haggard's Okie From Muskogee, entitled, Proud to be a Busker.
And, while I'm picking up loose ends, here's this year's picture of a kid leapfrogging over one of those distinctive causeway mushroom lamps.
Victoria's Inner Harbour Causeway on a summer evening is a delight. There's music in the air (that's one man band Dave Harris in the lower left), jugglers, mimes, artists, beautiful boats and lovely reflections, all lit by the dazzling Legislative Assembly Buildings in the background.
Lately I've been featuring artists and performers on the Inner Harbour Causeway. Today I'm going out to the Saanich Peninsula to pick some strawberries or, more accurately, to photograph other people picking strawberries. But before I leave the causeway I have to post some photos of the most enduring Causeway performer, one man band Dave Harris, whose music has enriched the Inner Harbour for thirty years.
Dave's a consummate musician in the long tradition of minstrel one man bands stretching back to the middle ages and before. It's a pleasure to listen to him play and sing and it's always interesting to see the variety of spectators that watch and listen spellbound.
As evening falls on a cloudy September day, chilly office workers hurry home sparing little more than a glance for the lone musician setting up to begin his day's work. The musician is Dave Harris, a causeway artist I have featured briefly in an earlier post. I have always been a bit timid about attempting a more detailed post on him for fear of not doing justice to his amazing artistry. Dave is a one man band. This may not seem like much now when, with sound loops and synthesizers, artists can easily accompany themselves on a variety of instruments. But Dave is a true one man band in the traditional sense that he plays a number of instruments simultaneously. At various times during his performances he sings and plays the violin, harmonica, banjo, guitar, mandolin, drum, cymbal and fotdella, usually two or three and sometimes four at a time. You begin to understand why I fear to run out superlatives when I add that he plays all of these instruments superbly.
It's easy to be mesmerized when he picks up his fiddle and accompanies himself on the harmonica, but the mind boggles when you hear the steady thumping bass line he's adding with his right foot on the fotdella and the crisp cymbal accents from the "high hat" cymbal he's playing with his left foot at the same time.
In this photo can be seen (from the left) the fotdella (looks like a bloated guitar and doubles as a cd rack), the suitcase bass drum (that black suitcase with a poster on it), high hat cymbal, tambourine and other percussion instruments, a banjo (in the back), two violins and two steel bodied guitars. Dave's playing a 12 string guitar and wearing a harmonica rack.
His wide range of musical skills enables him to express his respect for and profound knowledge of traditional American music, especially the blues. He's a true scholar of this musical form with a collection of aged recordings numbering in the thousands. Sit down and listen to him for an hour and it's like a short course in the history of the blues. He always gives credit to the artist who wrote or originally sang the song and may throw in some background information as well. It's a rich experience and a privilege to sit and listen to this musician. Below is a photo I took earlier this month that conveys a little of the warmth and humanity that mark his performances. If you're ever in Victoria, make sure you set aside some time to see him play. Skip the famous gardens and castles if you must, but don't miss Dave Harris, a matchless entertainer.
Below is a video of Dave performing Goin' to Chicago.
Well you get three for one today with this Causeway Artists post. This super-group is Jake Quake and the Seismatics. The rompin' stompin' guitar in the center (and below) is Jake and he's not just another pretty face. He's playing, and he's playing with two of the real virtuoso solo causeway artists, Rock and Roller Marty (right) and one-man-band bluesman, Dave Harris (left).Singer/guitarist Marty, Victoria's own "Boss" (below), has been putting an edge on causeway entertainment for years with his classic Rock and RollLast but not least, Dave Harris, the grand old man of causeway artists, has been entertaining Victorians and visitors on the causeway for 30 years.This group was really hot today. I didn't have my video camera but here's an old video of Dave Harris by himself that will give you some idea of how outstanding these performers are.
*The above video was originally posted on YouTube by user Vingatondooda. Click HERE to see the YouTube page.
