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Rockin Rhonda & The Blues Band: Here comes Peter. Here comes Dave. Oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So much laughs and insights everywhere. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics. Alright, join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.

Peter McCully: Hey, if you're shopping for made in Canada podcasts, look no further.This is the pulse community podcast. And here comes my cohost. He was also made in Canada. In fact, he was made in Victoria. It's Dave Graham. 

Dave Graham: Okay, enough of that talk about where I was made. It's starting to make me squirm. My co host is, well, he was also made in Canada, only on the other coast. We can't blame him for that. It's not his fault. And he's here now, so it's okay. It's Peter McCully. 

Peter McCully: Congratulations to the French Press Coffee Roasters, who are now the world champions of espresso, after taking the top prize at the Golden Bean World Series in Guatemala. The 2025 Golden Bean World Series was held in Antigua near the end of February. The competition was open to anyone who had won a gold or silver at a regional championship. Such as Golden Bean Americas or the Golden Bean Asia. 

Dave Graham: That's wonderful. We had a chat with Jeremy Perkins, episode 14. You'll find it on our website, thepulsecommunity. ca. I know I've spoken about this before, but I was truly impressed by what I learned from Jeremy and what I got to taste of his coffees. This is the guy who's operating at the top of his field and it is wonderful that he is part of our community. 

Peter McCully: Two communities, in fact, both Parksville and Qualicum Beach. Chilliwack's been a part of the Canadian music scene for over 55 years and 2025 marks the Gone Gone Gone Tour. You'll have two chances to see them on Vancouver Island, in Parksville and Victoria. We had a great chat with frontman Bill Henderson. 

Bill Henderson: One thing I learned about songwriting is the more you try, the worse you do. The thing to do is to listen inside, listen to what's coming from you and listen to what it is. I started to realize that people wanted to hear what was familiar to them. If you want to have a hit song, you've got to write it in a way that is already on their minds. They're already thinking about it. And generally that's stuff that's happened before. 

Dave Graham: Keeping the musical theme going, entertainment director of the Parksville Beach Festival Society, Lloyd Derry joins us to talk about musical attractions coming to the world class outdoor stage, including the Tim Hortons concert series and Rock the Park 

Lloyd Derry: Beach Festival has upgraded that sound system substantially over the last couple of years. We've got 18 new speakers and a new board, and it'll be one of the premier sound systems on the island and in the province. And with people that attend the concerts do tell us that it's exceptional sound. They notice, and they notice whether they're in front of house or back, they notice. 

Peter McCully: Congratulations to Amber Hooper of Parksville, the latest winner in the Tickle Trunk Contest. She knew that the Parksville Community Center is the location that had a connection with Vancouver Island University, although at the time the location was known as Malaspina University College. And also the site of Pass Woodwinds alternate school. It now serves as a hub to many community interests. There's church services there. Puppies get trained there. ProBus and Weight Watchers meet there. Or here. 

Dave Graham: We have another Thrifty Foods gift card to give away with this next clue. Vancouver Island boasts the highest concentration of caves in North America with more than a thousand. The Tickle Trunk is hidden in a series of caves that explorers may visit year round. This particular spot is about 30 minutes from Qualicum Beach and the experience can be as easy or challenging as you like. Now, I've been to caves that are illuminated and have handrails and nice flat paths. You won't find that kind of stuff at this place. It's rock and mineral deposits and when the flashlights are turned off, the most profound darkness you will ever experience. Where is it? 

Peter McCully: Well, Dave, I wish I had a crazy spelunking adventure I could talk about, but the truth is, I've never been caving, or spelunking, as it were. If there was a Mars bar at the end of the cave, I'd be there. I am easily lured. Correct answers go in a draw for a 25 Thrifty Food smile card, and you can send your entries with your name and the community in which you live to contest. At thepulsecommunity.ca. 

Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX, Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996. Marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment and project development real estate.Ian has received several awards recognizing his exceptional community commitment locally. As well as awards for outstanding performance and achievement from both RE/MAX International and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. You'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay. ca. 

Peter McCully: We've got a ticket giveaway happening, a pair of tickets to see Natalie McMaster and Donald Leahy's Four on the Floor concert at the Qualicum Beach Civic Center. To enter, send us an email with your name, phone number, and where you live to contest at thepulsecommunity. ca. The draw is Friday, March 21st, the concert March 29th. 

Dave Graham: If you missed it, you can hear Peter's conversation with Natalie on episode 15 of the Pulse Community Podcast. Future guests include David Gogo. He's in the running for a Juno award this year, not for the first time by any stretch. After over 30 years in the biz, David says his latest album is his favorite yet. Oh, they all say that. This new one is called Yeah. Actually, it's in all caps, so it's Yeah! And it's up for Blues Album of the Year. David will be appearing soon on the Pulse podcast.

Peter McCully: In the Wakeland book series, author Sam Wiebe has created a character that's been described as the millennial Jim Rockford and the Philip Marlowe of the Pacific Northwest. It seems that each subsequent novel gains more attention and awards than the last one, and Sam is about to release the latest in the Wakeland series, and we'll be looking forward to a conversation with him.

Dave Graham: And there are folks at this moment thinking, Who's Jim Rockford? Who's Philip Marlowe? I want to take this moment to thank my parents for encouraging me to read when I was a child. I am pleased and proud to say that I am. Still a reader. Although I admit I was unfamiliar with this Wakeland series before I started listening to the Pulse community podcast. I'm definitely going to look for his books. The title character, David Wakeland, a 29 year old retired cop is described as being a brilliant, flawed, reckless, and ultimately moral detective. That sounds intriguing. The stories are set in Vancouver, which is cool. Talk about buying Canadian.

Peter McCully:  It was announced early last year that a Quailcum Beach resident had signed a recording contract, Martin Rupprecht, who goes by the stage name of Amarii. He released his first single early this year, and now as his second single is set to launch, he'll be featured in Juneau Fest in Vancouver near the end of this month, and we're going to feature a chat with him in a future episode of the Pulse Community Podcast. And now our first guest this week, Marilyn, it's over to you.

Marilyn: The folks at the Parksville Beach Festival Society have a busy summer planned. Joining us today in the green room to talk about Chilliwack and Concert, the Tim Hortons Concert Series, and Rock the Park, we welcome entertainment director Lloyd Derry. 

Dave Graham: Mr. Lloyd Derry, good to see you again.

Lloyd Derry: Thanks so much. Thank you. 

Dave Graham: Beachfest has been managing the outdoor theatre in the community park since it was constructed. It's such a well designed theatre. 

Lloyd Derry: The theatre is both a great venue and a well designed theatre, and after three years of operation, it's pretty much exceeded all our expectations. It's rapidly become a go to destination for both musicians and concert attendees alike.

Many of the performers have actually called it a world class facility, and word has really spread rapidly throughout and across the entertainment community. We typically receive several requests weekly from acts across Canada and even into the United States that want to come and perform here. Case in point was the Queen tribute that played at Rock the Park last year.

They were from Florida, and I don't know how they found us, but we tried to work out the logistics, the costs, and how to get them here, and they wanted to come here so bad. It was a real eye opener for us just to see that kind of interest from so far away. Performers love the size of the stage. It's 50 feet across.

It'll hold a symphony orchestra. Acoustics are good. The green rooms and the state of the art sound system. As our crowds have grown throughout the past few years, we designed that sound system originally for about 1, 200 people. Really found when we're starting to get on 3, 000 people. Beach Festival has upgraded that substantially over the last couple of years.

We've got 18 new speakers and a new board and it'll be one of the premier sound systems on the island and in the province. And with people that attend the concerts do tell us that it's exceptional sound. They notice and they notice whether they're in front of house or back, they notice. In our attendance, both our pre Tim Horton's Summer Concert Series and our ticket events have just been growing exponentially, so we're thrilled about that.

Outside places are booking the theater. We manage it on behalf of the city, and they're booking the theater, which is causative, and we couldn't ask for much more. 

Dave Graham: I haven't heard a bad thing said about the place, from anyone who attends as a spectator or as a performer. Someone working technically it seems. Everybody is delighted by the facility. You've had a long association with music. You're a musician yourself. Have you ever seen anything like this? 

Lloyd Derry: I really haven't. I've organized a few things in the past. Nothing like this. I think it was just something that was so needed by the community and it was just so rapidly embraced and we've actually become victims of our own success because it's growing so quickly and, you know, we're always looking for ways to improve and those sorts of things, but all in all, we're thrilled.

Dave Graham: All right, let's talk about what we can expect to see this summer. Can we? 

Lloyd Derry: We could. We're going to kick off with a bang again this year, just like we did last year at the opening weekend of our sand sculpting event. We have the Canadian Music Hall of Famers Chilliwack. That'll be on July the 12th.

We're just thrilled to have them. It's gonna be pretty cool because they're on their Farewell to Friends Tour. This'll be the last chance you get to see them. They have a legacy that spreads over five decades. It's one of Canada's most beloved rock bands. So we're thrilled to have them. And again, give fans one last chance to celebrate their timeless hits in a live environment.

Our openers that night will be perennial favorites from the Island Johnny and Inappropriate. We're happy to have them. Tickets for that actually go on sale now at the MacMillan Arts Center. We'd urge everybody to get them quickly. Last year we sold out with Troopers, so we're hoping for the same thing again this year.

It's way better to be inside a concert venue than sitting across in the baseball fields listening to the music. Trust me. Rock the Park, which is going to take place from August 8th to 10th this year. For the first time, we're really excited to announce this year, in conjunction with the world class tribute bands that we have, we actually have some original acts coming.

We're really excited about that. Tickets go on sale for Rock the Park on April 1st. Just run quickly through the entertainment for that. On Friday, we kick off with the Doobie Brothers experience, followed by Barracuda, who are North America's number one heart tribute. They're fantastic. I've heard them a time or two.

And ending the day will be our headliners and our first original act of the weekend, Prism, who are two time Juno Award winners for album and group of the year. Their multi platinum albums have a continuing legacy of sold out shows. They're a must see, and we're really happy to have them, and we think that is really going to boost that first day crowd.

Saturday kicks off with a review, actually, called 80s Ladies and Rock Chicks. Bonnie Kilrow is the lady that runs all that. Bonnie is a world famous impersonator. She's done many people. I understand she's also hilarious, so that's gonna be a great way to kick off Saturday. We're gonna follow that up with Dead Man's Town, which is a Bruce Springsteen tribute.

Perennial favorites from the island, eagle eyes, and every year, if we don't have them, people are going, where's eagle eyes? On the Saturday, so that'll be great. They're gonna be followed by center field. Which is a John Fogerty CCR tribute. And then Saturday's headliners are our second original act of the weekend, Juno Award winners, the famous Tom Lavin and the legendary Powder Blues Band.

Sunday's gonna start off with a band called Synchronicity 4, who were a police tribute from Nanaimo, and some new musicians that we're all gonna recognize. They're awesome. We're gonna follow that up with Truly Tina, which is a Tina Turner tribute. Samira does Tina, and she is famous throughout North America for her Tina Turner tributes.

She appeared at the opening of Tina Turner's museum, she's been on the Oprah show. So we're really excited to have her. And then we're really gonna crank it up for the last part of the Sunday, we have a band called Ten Soldiers. which are known as Canada's number one party and entertainment band.

Obviously, there's ten people in it. They have a horn driven section. They're actually going to do two sets to end up Rock the Park. It's going to be a great weekend. Get your tickets because, once again, no guarantees we won't sell out. Other than that, we're currently booking our eight free Tim Hortons concert series.

We'll have an announcement soon regarding who those folks are going to be. And we're also working on our final concert of the year, which will be the last Sunday of Beach Fest. We're not sure who we're going to have for that, but there will be an event and it'll be announced on our websites and through our box office.

Dave Graham: You told me there's a fair bit of interest in the free concert series in terms of performers applying. 

Lloyd Derry: I think we had over 60 or 70 bands that have applied to play for the eight free spots. It gets a little hard to decide who you're going to get when everybody wants to come. That says something.

Alright, in terms of getting tickets. We're happy for our ticketed events to partner with the Macmillan Arts Center again this year. You know, some of the ticket price goes to supporting Arts Centre local communities, so it's just another great benefit to do that. People can purchase tickets by going to their office in town, 133 Macmillan Street.

They're open Tuesday through Sunday between 11 and 3. Or people can simply get their tickets online by visiting www.shop.mcmillanartcenter.com. Then they'll have their wristbands and their tickets. As I said, sellouts are a possibility, so maybe don't delay. If you wanna be sure you're inside that concert venue, where can people go just to get the general information?

You've reviewed a lot of info. Now they can go to the Beach Festival website, which is parksvillebeachfest.ca. We'll have the lineups for all the free concerts and the ticketed concerts there. The Macmillan Arts Center website. Click on Rock the Park or the opening weekend and find out all about the entertainment there. But the only place to find the free concert series will be on Beachfest's website. 

Dave Graham: Lloyd, I get the sense that a significant portion of this facility's success is due to your contributions. Congratulations.

Lloyd Derry: It takes a village. It takes a team, and we're exceedingly happy and thrilled to have a whole lot of people that help with it, and lots of good volunteers, and that's what makes it go. It's a team effort. 

Dave Graham: Thank you, sir. 

Lloyd Derry: Thank you. 

Dave Graham: We are truly fortunate to have a quality facility like the Outdoor Theater, and I speak from experience. This is a world class stage. Although, you know what we're missing? Name. Outdoor theater? No, no, no, no. We need something with, uh, something classy. Yeah, classy.

But not a sponsor name. That's, but this, this isn't my problem. All I'm saying is, outdoor theater is a little generic for such a, a fine stage. So Peter, as for coming up with a name worthy of our outdoor theater, you and I sat down with a couple of stiff drinks and came up with a list. 

Peter McCully: Well, we should say that the couple of stiff drinks was espressos from the French press cafe and that got the thoughts going. I think the first name I thought of was shoreline stage. 

Dave Graham: Yeah, nice. How about Tidal Stage? 

Peter McCully: How about Oceanside Amphitheater? 

Dave Graham: Oh, I like that too. Community Park Playhouse. Just putting that out there. Wow, kind of like that one. 

Peter McCully: The Sand Dollar Theater. 

Dave Graham: Parksville Beachside Theater? 

Peter McCully: Beachcomber Theater. Everybody knows the Beachcombers. 

Dave Graham: Parksville Green Theater? 

Peter McCully: How about the Seashell? Because, you know, it kind of looks like a shell. And it's an acoustic thing too, right? 

Dave Graham: Definitely, that's a good one. The Driftwood Stage. 

Peter McCully: Those were all interesting names. You're going to be chatting with Cheryl Dill soon.

Dave Graham: Yes, I could drop a hint or two. See what spins out of that. Just before we move on, I wanted to mention a couple of things that came up after my conversation with Lloyd wrapped up. He wanted me to mention a couple of things because, well, it takes a village to raise a stage. And partners for the coming season of Rock the Park include SPR Traffic Services, Choices Markets, Realtor Carol Riera, PREC and the title sponsor Mid Island Co op.

Peter McCully: We ask you to bookmark thePulseCommunity.ca website on your browser. You can catch the latest podcasts from Dave and Peter as well as contests, municipal notices, and community events. 

Dave Graham: And the website provides links for you to reach us. Perhaps you'd like to tell us just how much you enjoy the podcast and how you'd like to take us both out for coffee. Or I don't know, maybe not. Maybe you have some ideas as to how we could better provide stories about the people, places and things in mid Vancouver Island. That's what we're here for. Or maybe you just want to say hi. We'd love to hear from you. Right now, we're going to hear from Marilyn. It's time for our next guest.

Marilyn: Bill Henderson is a singer songwriter, music producer, and author. Member of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and frontman for supergroup Chilliwack. He is also a member of the Order of Canada. In 2019, Chilliwack was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and are heading out on their final tour this year with a stop in Parksville.

Peter McCully: Thanks for making time for us today, Bill. 

Bill Henderson: Yeah. Peter. Nice to be here, man. Thank you. 

Peter McCully: Before Chilliwack, you were in several bands, one of which was The Collectors. You released a couple of albums, did pretty well. In the seventies, a new band you formed called Chilliwack. How did you come up with the name for Chilliwack?

Bill Henderson: First thing I would say is the collectors did better than pretty well. We had an 18 minute structured song that was the beat side of our first album and it got played like a single at KSAN in San Francisco. We lived in LA at that time for about a year and then back and forth from Canada. We were doing very well on the west coast.

The band was a really cool and interesting band. Started in 66, we were done by 69, 70, so three to four years, somewhere in there. Basically, Howie, our singer, left the band and the rest of us continued on and changed our name. We were so tired of trying to find a name from when we were the collectors, because we weren't the collectors.

We were just the band that played the torch cabaret and we wrote songs and we kept throwing new songs into the set. And luckily some record company saved us before the owner of the Torch Cabaret kicked us out because we weren't playing enough R& B covers. The end of 66, going into 67, we had recorded Looking at a Baby.

It was our first single. We recorded it in one evening. We were on the night shift in CVS Studios and we started out at about eight o'clock at night and went around the clock. And that was it. We were done. We left. We came back to Vancouver. They mixed it. They mastered it. They got to the point where they're printing labels and we're up at the church cabaret in the afternoon, we had a rehearsal, we're sitting around the phone, phone rings and it's the guys from the rec company saying, boys, boys, we're printing labels, you have to have a frickin name.

So guess what? You're either the collectors or the connection. Make up your mind. We come up with this, we like it. You can take one or the other, whichever you want. We had gone through hundreds of names prior to that. Nice than to narrow it down for us, or we appreciated that when it came to getting a new name for this new band that we were gonna become.

Nobody wanted to do it. Nobody wanted to do it. One day we were out, we're driving through BC somewhere in the interior, going through a gig, and Ross the drummer said, what about Chilliwack? And we said, what do you mean? And he said for a name for the band, Chilliwack. And we said, well, it's a little town in BC, why would we do that?

And he said, if you think about it, nobody knows but us that it's a little town in BC. You know, the rest of the world doesn't know that. And this name's got a nice sound to it. Chilliwack. He said, it sounds good. You know, it's chunky. It's besides, I found out what it means and it means valley of many streams.

And we went, ahhh, yeah, yeah, we can play lots of different types of music if we're valued many streams. So we said, yeah, okay, we'll do it. And that's, that's how we came up with it. But I found out in the last few years a little bit of a refinement of what the meaning of the name is. Chilliwack apparently means as far as your canoe can go.

And when you think about the Fraser Valley, it was wetlands before it was all drained by us white folks. It was wetlands with all kinds of little streams and rivers and places where you could fish and stuff and people would be in canoes and doing that and you'd go up so far, you'd go up to where Chilliwack is and you wouldn't go much farther because there's rapids and you're starting to hit a real river and that'd be a lot of work.

Better to just float around in the pools and get your fish. So as far as you can go. So our canoe is about to be beached. 

Peter McCully: Well, it's taken a while. What emotions are you experiencing as you? Embark on your final tour. 

Bill Henderson: The tour's going until, at this point, until November. It won't go beyond this year.

This year is the last year. You know, it is a hard thing to do because it's one of the things I enjoy more than anything else. And we really have fun. We've got a great bunch of guys and we really enjoy being on the road. We're all old guys, so we get into a town, we never play on a travel day, so we get into town the day before, we wake up in the morning, go down and have breakfast, and at noon, we do our soundcheck.

We're back in the hotel by two, we have a nice big meal, have your big meal of the day, and then go up to the room and have a good long nap. And we get out of there around six and we're on stage by 7 30 and we'd like to be done by nine at the latest or we'll fall asleep on stage. One of my emotions, I don't know what they are, man.

They're all over the place. I'll tell you when I first told the guys that I figured that this was it. We were sitting in a Chili's restaurant in the airport in Calgary. I kind of teared up a bit, right? I actually did. I do feel that way because I love these guys and I love what we're doing. It is time. My singing is still pretty good.

So I'm getting away with it. I know some artists go on even when they're croaking out their songs, and I don't want to do that. I want to end before that happens so far. I can still make the music work and I love the audience. We have a great relationship. They let me be who I am. This is a really interesting time for me because we are packing it in.

So it's quite a decision to make. I think it was a good one. If we come back in two or three years, what the hell, I wouldn't be surprised, but I'm not planning on that. I don't think that'll happen. And you know, it's a lot of things they can do. Like, I'd really like to do a guitar album of my own, mostly sort of featuring the guitar. We'll see. I'm leaving it all open. 

Peter McCully: You mentioned that your voice is still there. Your vocals have been remarkably strong all through your career. Do you have a secret to maintaining your voice over the decades, or is the voice the voice? 

Bill Henderson: The voice is a lot stronger than it used to be. In the 80s and late 70s, I could not go out and do three dates in a row.

That was it. I could barely talk on the third day, let alone sing. So that was hard. We lost gigs because of it, you know. So I started taking lessons, and actually I had started before that. I started in the Dreams album time, taking lessons. When we finished the Dreams album, I brought a copy to my voice teacher, and I gave it to her, and I came back the next week for my lesson.

She says, You call that singing? I gradually learned, you know, I started, like I say, in the 70s. I got lessons. In the last little while, I've been getting lessons from my daughter, Camille, who is a voice teacher, and I'm getting better. Like, I practice. I do vocalizations at home for a week before I go out on the road, and then I do it every day when I'm on the road.

So that has made a big difference, actually learning how to do it. 

Peter McCully: You mentioned the late 60s and the Vancouver music scene. What do you miss most about that time? 

Bill Henderson: It was a time when you could do almost anything. If you could pull it off and do it well, any kind of music and you could do it in any kind of musical context, like it was a time of great invention and creativity and throwing out the old and, and looking at the new and finding the new, that was going on.

It was going on culturally and it was happening in music like crazy. And of course you heard people like Hendrix, no one had played guitar like that, that we had heard. Actually, some people had, but we didn't know about them and he did. He did that, Um, Uh, Um, Uh, Um, Uh,

Just using those notes, no one had gone from E to B flat like that, and just going back and forth doing it. No one had done it. And he did it with such certainty and power with his sound that you just couldn't deny it. I guess that was Purple Haze. So that's what was going on. And people everywhere, we weren't all afraid of Hendrix or anything.

Everybody was inventing stuff. Everybody was doing it. It was what was happening in our culture, and it was so much fun. It's so cool to go into new territory. It's like when you're exploring, you know, if you're out in your boat or, or if you're on a motorcycle and you head into the hinterlands or whatever, you're exploring, you know, you're finding new places and you see things, you discover them. That's what it was like. It was great. 

Peter McCully: Is there any unreleased Chilliwack material hidden away in a trunk somewhere? Might fans get to hear that in the future? 

Bill Henderson: Just a little bit. If you get the reissues of Breakdown of Paradise, possibly Dreams in Dreams, and definitely Lights from the Valley, the three of those, they're all Mushroom records. They're re releases by Linus. Nice graphics and everything, and each one of them has a tune or two. That no one has heard before from the old archives. I've got tapes that I had never listened to, you know, that go all the way back to pre collectors, like when we were a band, but we hadn't actually. I've never done anything but gone to a little local studio and recorded a bunch of things. And I don't know if they'll ever be heard by anyone. I don't know if they still playable. I have no idea. 

Peter McCully: Well, you'll have some time in 2026 so you can go through them. 

Bill Henderson: Get off my back, man. 

Peter McCully: Chilliwack had many hits over the years. Lonesome Mary, California Girl, My Girl, Gone, Gone, Gone. Many of those songs you wrote yourself or co wrote. Is there any one of those that's a crowd favorite wherever you go? It's the one everybody reacts to. 

Bill Henderson: Yeah, most of those people react to them. Fly at Night has kind of risen over the last 30 years to be the top choice. My Girl Gone Gone Gone was the most successful as a record. But that song, Fly at Night, has moved into the front, and we usually end our nights with it.

You know, it's really meant a lot to a lot of people. It's about the audience and you know, it's about our relationship with them. I mean, it's really clear if you read the lyrics or listen to the lyrics that that's what it is. We're flying in a sense with music. That's what we're doing. And we can see you and you're flying too.

We're doing this together. That's what it's about. You know, and we've got other songs that say that too. Reno basically says, you know, that the audience is totally important. So those songs, Reno and Fly at Night. And they were both kind of flowed out pretty freely. There were some songs that flowed out even more freely, like Baby Blue was just emerged.

Same with the California Girl just emerged. Crazy Talk just emerged. They just came out. I could feel it coming. I had my cassette machine and I was always playing my guitar all day long. That's all I did, basically, other than change light bulbs. And, you know, I felt the song coming. I hit the record button.

With Crazy Talk, and I just played it and sang it, and that was it. It's a very simple song, but there are other songs like I Believe, the chorus, I believe there's been a change in me. I believe that it was meant to be. Can't you see? I believe in you and me. And the chords that go under that. It all just came out.

Before my time with Chilliwack, before my time with The Collectors, before my time with the Torch Cabaret, I played weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. You know, I played with the jazz guys in town, the best musicians in town. I got to play with them, which was an incredible honor. Not only was it an honor, it was a great pleasure because they were so welcoming. They were so encouraging. They're wonderful models. These guys, they're great. They're great. I learned to play those chords. Those are a little bit different. They just poured out of me and those lyrics poured out of me.

Bill Henderson: What songwriting is. The more you try, the worse you do. The thing to do is to listen inside, listen to what's coming from you and listen to what it is. I started to realize that people wanted to hear what was familiar to them. If you want to have a hit song, you got to write it in a way that is already on their minds.

They're already thinking about it and generally that's stuff that's happened before. I'm playing that I believe thing and I hear it and I go Oh, oh, I know where that came from. I didn't know it when I wrote it, but then I realized playing it back Oh, yeah I don't know if you recognize it or not where that came from But I played that for a number of people and I said, so what do you think of this?

And they said, Oh, that sounds good. I said, Does it, uh, sound like anything? You know? And they said, Oh, no, no, I mean, it sounds familiar, but, um, no, it doesn't sound like anything. I don't want, and I said, You sure? Then I said, Remember that Billy Joel song, honesty, right on those notes and the chords that go with them.

It's exactly what he did. They're just a different lyric. And they went, Oh, oh yeah. Anyway, the song, it doesn't sound like his song. I was paranoid about it, right? One of the things about writing songs is you gotta land somewhere where people are comfortable. It's gotta land somewhere where people can relate to it, you know?

And they know it's cultural history. Whether they know they know, that's different, you know? I'm not saying they think about it, but inside they know. They can feel it. 

Peter McCully: Since we're chatting about writing songs, which I know is a very personal thing for you, you told me a story a couple of years ago. Great story about a song you wrote entitled A Dusty Old Guitar and how long it took you to write that song.

Bill Henderson: It's not finished. I started it in, what was that, about 75 or six, possibly seven in that area. And all I had was the title and the chords and melody to go with it. And I really liked it, but I had no idea where it would go. During COVID, I suddenly found it. It had been going around in my mind for about a year.

Just, I kept hearing this, picked up my dusty old guitar. How long since I played it? And where did that want to go? You know? And so I finally sort of found where it went. Unfortunately, I think kind of overrode it a little bit. I ended up with something that was specific to a particular period of time, which was 2020 and 2021, with the Black Lives Matter.

And so it's still up on blocks waiting to get the right little piece put in there. 

Peter McCully: You must have ran into Tommy Chong a few times in clubs in Vancouver in your early days. 

Bill Henderson: I never met him, but I heard a lot about him. Tommy, he used to play a lot of The Smiling Buddha and those places down on Main Street.

Hendrix used to come up and visit his grandmother. She was in that area just behind there. You go to the Buddha and he'd go to these different places in Vancouver and check out what the musicians were doing. And there was a guy, he was from Victoria, played a Strat. He was a truck driver, but he was a good guitar player.

He used to play super loud. He'd have the amp up to 10 and the musicians and the crowds and the club owners hated it. What he ended up doing was he lay his amplifier flat down on the stage. So the speakers were facing the stage, and then he pushed it so that it was just over the lip of the stage. So a little bit would come out, right?

He could control the volume, but he could have it turned up to 10 because he liked it. Because when it was up to 10, he could get all this sustain happening. There's this incredible sound. There are a lot of people who think. that Hendrix got that aspect of his sound from this guy. I've forgotten the guy's name, I wish I could remember it.

Peter McCully: You've been out on the road for many years, obviously. I'm sure you've made friends with a number of musicians. Who have been some of those longest friendships, aside from band members? 

Bill Henderson: Darby Mills is a friend. The guy's from April Wine. Miles was a friend for a while. We did some stuff together. I went out there to Halifax one time and did a benefit, and I was playing solo, and Miles was playing solo too, and he'd never done it before.

He was concerned about it. I said, man, you're going to enjoy it. It's absolutely really cool. You're free. And he did. He did enjoy it. And then I would see him on the road. We'd play shows with him. We were always happy to see each other and it was cool. Kim Mitchell, I really like Kim. He's a great guitar player and wrote some pretty cool songs too.

So I see him a fair amount. We just meet on the trail, right? Wherever we happen to run into each other. 

Peter McCully: For a guy who's been out on the road for this long, what are a few of the favorite places to play? Towns? Cities? Venues? 

Bill Henderson: I love Newfoundland. And I love the Newfoundlanders, that's what makes Newfoundland happen.

And I was taught those six string chords with all the really interesting, complex things that are found in jazz and in the music that jazz was built on. It was a newfie that taught me those things. When I lived in Edmonton and he lived in Edmonton and he taught me these things and we did it again together.

But, you know, he was my first introduction to Newfoundlandese. You know what he taught me this saying his dad had his dad's it would say Lard Jesus. 

Peter McCully: You're making me homesick now. Stop that.

Bill Henderson: It's funny when we went out and played there the first time till Eric went home play different land It was Memorial University that brought us out.

There were students and they were young like us. And they took us out on a kind of a picnic and just, just showed us down to the water. And you know, where you could sit in the sun and enjoy the water and stuff. And I was a great swimmer at that time. When I was a kid, I swam all the time. I never put my foot in the water to see whether it was nice or not.

I just bingo dove in. That was the way it was, right? I love swimming so much. And so that's what I did. I was standing on a rock on the shore. Then I was on this, this round rock and I just dove into the water. I came up, I couldn't breathe. I'd never felt anything like that before. So cold. So cold. I didn't want to embarrass myself because the other kids were sitting on the rocks So I just kind of made my way to the rock pulled myself out of there and kept really quiet for quite a while And look at the comedy in this country.

Where's the best comedy come from? Newfoundland? Yep. Oh, man, it's great Ron Hines was one of the best songwriters in the country and fairly unsung. Not a lot of people knew about him, but man, he was a great songwriter and a great performer. Man, he could hold a room in his hand like just like that without making almost any sound.

The place was dead silent. It was really great. You know, Edmonton was the first place to welcome our band outside of Vancouver. So the first place we went in Canada, when we were touring, is we went to Edmonton and Holger Peterson was there. with his Nagra recorder. The show was put on by Benny Benjamin.

It was a great show, and Holger interviewed us, as he did many, many times over the years. And I lived in Edmonton for two years, so I enjoyed Edmonton, I enjoyed Alberta. Palais Montcalm in Quebec City was a fantastic place for us to play. I loved it. It was a theater, and a really nice old theater, and that's my favorite kind of place to play.

We were the jam band then, just Ross, Claire, and I, just three of us. We didn't know what we were going to play. There was a couple of songs we knew we were going to play. We didn't know where they'd be in the set. We didn't know anything about it. We just went up, started tuning, making sounds, and then we'd take the sounds and we'd grow them into something, some musical thing that we had never played before.

We were exploring all the time. We were jamming. We were, we were creating new songs and instrumental pieces, especially on stage. And the Quebeckers, they loved it. They really dug it. It was something they could really relate to. 

Peter McCully: You mentioned that your daughter Camille is giving you some vocal exercises. Saffron and Camille have both had careers in the music industry. How do you feel about that? How are they doing? And perhaps in 2026, will you be doing a trio? 

Bill Henderson: I've thought about that. Yeah. Yeah. We've talked about it too. I don't know. Could happen. I will have the time for it and that would be a really nice thing to do.

They sound amazing. They sound so great. You know, Bob Rock hires them to do recordings that he's doing. And when he comes back up to Vancouver from Hawaii and he's recording somebody, he calls them. They sound amazing and they kind of work out their parts themselves. They're way more creative with that than I am.

I wish their careers could have happened as recording artists. I frankly didn't know how the hell to help them when I tried to help them with their songwriting, but they knew better than me about what their songs were supposed to be. So I learned to shut up and just play my guitar and support them that way.

Right. I had opinions about what they were doing and I wish I hadn't had opinions and. Who knows? Who knows? To make it in the music industry, it just doesn't look like what it is. You see someone who's successful in the industry, you don't have a clue. I don't mean you personally, I think you may well know, but most people have no idea what it takes.

It just takes doing it and doing it and being put down and put down and put down and doing it and doing it. For me, it was the only thing I could do and I knew I did a pretty good job, so I just kept at it. You know, I just kept doing it and then you get friends, you make contacts, make contacts with people in the business, people like Shelly Siegel and Mushroom Records.

There was a guy who loved music and was very, very supportive. And to people like that, you go, yeah, you know, I want to work with you. You've got the attitude. You've got the understanding. A lot of things like that have to happen and you have to be there for them to happen. And when they happen, you have to say yes.

If it feels right, you just say yes. A lot of times not that helpful to know anything about the music industry. If you want to make it in the music industry, there's some things that, for instance, like Ross, who was our drummer for a long time, he was the original drummer in the band. We were together until 79, Ross did have a sense of the music industry.

And he did some interesting things. Like one thing he did was he'd set us up with a company like mushroom, uh, independent company, small company, only got two or three artists. Because number one, they would be focused on you. They didn't have time to focus on you. And number two, you'd cut deals with them.

Where we got on a monthly basis, the amount of money it took us to survive. We got paid that cash. And of course they also paid for our recording time. They also paid whatever was needed to get us out on the road. You know, that was a smart move. And he had the insight to do it. But generally speaking, you're best just to go with how you feel.

Peter McCully: The Friends and Family Tour, as I looked yesterday, had only two dates in BC, Vancouver and Parksville, and then clear across the country. 

Bill Henderson: There's also Victoria. Victoria is going to happen, and Vernon. So far, I think that's it for BC at this point. Vancouver's at the Vogue, that'll be fun. I got my name in the pavement in front of the Vogue Theatre. That was kind of neat. 

Peter McCully: After the final show of the tour, Bill, what do you envision for the next chapter of your life? I'm sure you're just going to put your feet up for the first couple of months. I don't know a chance of that. 

Bill Henderson: Get some projects planned. I live on acreage. Well, you know, I've got like eight and a half acres here on Salt Spring and that's constant work.

I have to hire people to do some of it, but I have to do some of it myself too. As far as the performance thing goes. I will continue to play my guitar. I will probably start writing songs a little more seriously than I do right now, just cause I'll have the time. I've studied sounds now for the last 10, 15 years, guitar sounds.

Like I didn't do that before. I didn't have time. I'd like to make a record that features guitar sounds. George Harrison and that kind of guitar sound. That was something I did way back in the sixties. And from there it was writing songs, writing songs, writing songs every day. I didn't get into guitar sounds the way a lot of guys did.

I got heavily into. The notes and all of that, the chords and all of that, but not the sounds. So the last 10, 15 years I've been getting into the sounds and I really enjoy that. And I, I study and I look at Jimmy Hendrix playing and I watch his hands and I see what he's doing. I never did that before. I'll watch his hands.

I see, Oh, all that muting going on. Isn't that interesting? He's got the guitar wide open. So if you don't mute, it will just shriek all the time. So that's how he handles it, you know, and tones and just really enjoying it. You know, I bought this Les Paul as a project guitar, and you basically set up your solid body electric guitar with an acoustic pickup, and it's got a built in preamp that makes it sound pretty darn nice, and it sounds as good as any on stage acoustic.

It doesn't sound like acoustic in front of a beautiful microphone like the one you're using right now. You can't beat that, but you can't do it on stage because you get feedback, so you got to use these Pizzo pickups. They're tinny sounding. You know, this sounds better than anything. It's right on my last ball, and I can mix it with the electric sound, and I've been going through some amplifiers, and now I get a Marshall cabinet with four 25 watt greenback speakers in it, Celestions.

That's a beautiful, mellow sound. That's the kind of speakers that Eric Clapton was using on Crossroads, their live recording. And I love those tones. Those are my favorite tones. So I'm finding how to make them right. So I think I am going to try and make an album. My favorite tones. Here are a few of my favorite tones.

Peter McCully: We'll look forward to it, Bill. And we'll look forward to seeing you in Parksville and Victoria. I'm going to have a good time there. Yeah. 

Dave Graham: Bill Henderson in conversation with Peter McCully. Did you know the name Chilliwack was chosen in part because of the way it sounds? And songwriters care as much about how a word sounds as they do about what it means.

And I know this because I'm now a songwriter. We'll talk more about that later. So Chilliwack was chosen partly for how it sounds and partly because one of its indigenous meanings is Valley of Many Streams, and that for the band represented all of the musical influences that guided the group's style.

And here we are, the last chance to see them in concert. It's a worthwhile experience. I saw them at their last stop in these parts, and I mean, yeah, they're professional musicians. They're always going to bring it to every show. But I would think if there is a time to pull out all the stops, to use a musical metaphor, their farewell tour is going to be outstanding.

Peter McCully: Thank you for listening and being part of the Pulse Community Podcast. We're here to tell the stories to make life as good as it is here on the island. We also have a growing stock of stories for kids. Listen for the adventures of Captain Dave and the Mellow Submarine along with Peter and Gracie the Eskimo Dog. Follow the links to find our treasure trove of Skookum Kid Stories. 

Dave Graham: Last week, Peter and Gracie created an earthquake kit. Next week, they'll enjoy a big day at Buckerfield's. Oh, is it chick time? I don't want to give too much away. This week, Captain Dave and the crew of the Mellow Submarine will help solve the great herring caper. Now, if you're listening from a little further away than the Mid Island area, allow me to explain the herring reference. Nature puts on a big show at about this time every year as the herring spawn off our shores and it attracts all kinds of wildlife and fisher people. It is quite a spectacle. 

Peter McCully: If you have ideas for our original Skookum Kids stories, contact us. Maybe you'll be in a story too. This could make for a pretty cool birthday gift, right? We could arrange, for example, to have a child appear in one of our stories. 

Windsor Plywood French Creek: The Pulse Community Podcast is brought to you in part by Windsor Plywood in French Creek, specializing in hard to source interior and exterior home finishing products. Including flooring, doors and moldings, and exterior project materials such as yellow cedar. Windsor Plywood French Creek carries high quality, responsibly sourced products, and are committed to providing outstanding value and personalized, one on one service to all of our customers. Homeowners, do it yourselfers, renovators, builders, designers, craftsmen, and contractors. Regardless of the type or size of your project, Windsor can help you bring your to life, from start to finish. Let Windsor Plywood and French Creek help you with your renovation, new build, or building project. Visit them online or call 752 3122. 

Ian Lindsay & Associates: Ian Lindsay of Lindsay and Associates has played an active role in the local community since 1979. He has been with RE/MAX, Vancouver Island's most advanced real estate business network since 1996, marketing and selling residential, rural, strata, recreational, investment and project development real estate. Ian has received several awards recognizing his exceptional community commitment locally. As well as awards for outstanding performance and achievement from both RE/MAX International and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board. You'll find true real estate professionals at ianlindsay. ca. 

Dave Graham: I want to acknowledge and thank Ian Lindsay and Windsor Plywood for their support of our work here at the Pulse Community Podcast. We are presenting the people and the stories of Mid Vancouver Island in a way nobody else is. And there just so happens to be a bit more room left for more support of this kind. The door is open. 

Peter McCully: We welcome suggestions for stories. We also appreciate hearing your comments and your questions. Type an email, text a message, or speak to us using your own voice. Follow the contact link at thepulsecommunity.ca. 

Dave Graham: Peter, I got a story for you. 

Peter McCully: Oh, yeah? 

Dave Graham: Well, okay, not so much a story as an announcement. I kind of mentioned it earlier. 

Peter McCully: Well, do tell. 

Dave Graham: I am now a songwriter. Do you want to hear some of my stuff? 

Peter McCully: Like I had a choice. 

Beachfest Jingle: 

Dave Graham: That if it is not abundantly, self-evidence is a jingle for Beach Fest that I created. I am going to be deejaying the Parksville Beach Festival this summer. I've been doing it for years, providing music for the Sand Sculpting competition in July. Now I like to add something different each year. So for the last couple of weeks, I taught myself music and created a bunch of Beach Fest jingles that I can sprinkle into the mix this summer.

Peter McCully: Taught yourself music, huh? 

Dave Graham: Okay, you caught me, I employed a little artificial intelligence to help me create a bunch of these little mini songs for the occasion. But seriously, as a frustrated musician, I've found this to be a wonderful way to make a product that is far beyond my skill level, and I just want to get the word out that I'm going to be back this year at Beachfest.

Now, I mean I know 100, 000 people don't show up at this thing every year for my music, but I am delighted to be a part of such a fun and productive event. And we'll hear more about the benefits go back to the community as a result of Beach Fest in a future edition of the Pulse Community Podcast. 

Peter McCully:  What do you say, Dave? Time to check Mabel's special in the cafeteria? 

Dave Graham: Oh, yeah, man, I'm Yards. In fact, I'm so hungry. I could actually eat today's special. 

Peter McCully: Well, what's the special? 

Dave Graham: I don't even know. Mabel's working her way through the alphabet. I heard yesterday was beans and broccoli. 

Peter McCully: Were the beans jelly or baked? 

Dave Graham: Well, we're talking Mabel here.Could be either. 

Rockin Rhonda & The Blues Band: Here comes Peter, here comes Dave, oh listen. Bringing stories, making waves. No missing. Spinning tales in the podcast cave. So to speak. Laughs and insights everywhere. What a treat. Peer and Dave. They're on the mics all right. Join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.