Marilyn: 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.

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: Has it been a week already? Time's flying and we're having fun. Here we go again with another edition of the Pulse Community Podcast. This is where we share stories from and about the mid-Vancouver Island region. Here's my co-host, Dave Graham.

Dave Graham: We say we have stories from and about the mid-island region, but that's a loose description. We don't have a legal definition or anything specific like that because we're on the West Coast. We're too laid back for that—too casual. I say, actually, even as I say that, I'm looking at my co-host and, well, he's got his hair combed. He's wearing a button-up shirt. He may be squared away, but he's no square. It's Peter McCully.

Peter McCully: Square? People don't use that term anymore, Dave. It's just not hip.

Dave Graham: Ah, hip, square, casual—they're all labels, man. We don't need labels. We can just let things be. I'll make an exception for one of our guests though, because he's a big-time musician, which by definition makes him pretty cool. He's earned that label.

Peter McCully: Yes. On this edition we chat with Tom Lavin of the Powder Blues. The band will be part of Beach Fest Rocks at the Parksville Community Park.

Tom Lavin: Hopefully through our performance, you know, people that are there will experience some joy, maybe a release of tension, maybe a little buzz of energy. Maybe they want to get up and dance. Like I told people before, I never wanted a band that folks could dance to. What I always wanted was a band that folks would find it difficult not to dance to. And to me there's a difference.

Dave Graham: The Oceanside Community Safety Volunteers are sponsoring safety seminars in Parksville and Qualicum Beach. In August, there will be information about home safety, home security, internet security, and financial scams, says Jaclyn Tereszko.

Jaclyn Tereszko: There have been a lot of cases of residents of our community losing money, and just recently a resident reported losing $30,000 to a call that came in claiming that it was a relative that was involved in an accident. So that would be an example of the grandparents scam.

Another example is there has been a recent cryptocurrency scam where one of our community members responded to an online advertisement selling cryptocurrency, and they lost over a hundred thousand dollars. So there are a lot of examples currently.

Peter McCully: Future guests to the Pulse podcast include Dave and Kelly Hutchison of Qualicum Beach. Their first book is "Out, Vancouver Island: The Art of the Landscape"—a result of 20 years of nature photography.

Dave Graham: Brian Wilford, longtime journalist in the Parksville-Qualicum Beach area, has written a book. It's a satire, actually, a sci-fi satire with a warning about jellyfish. One reviewer labeled it a "cheeky and engrossing thriller." Be listening for a conversation about "Rise of the Jellies."

Peter McCully: On an upcoming episode, we'll also chat with Michael Pedersen about the Oceanside Football's Homecoming Weekend planned in September.

Dave Graham: Be watching our website and social media for the announcement of the winner of our Beach Fest Rocks contest, happening August 8th to 10th. Our prize package includes three days of fabulous music, two beach chairs, one cooler, and $50 on a Smile Card from Thrifty Foods in Parksville.

Peter McCully: Thanks to all who entered. If you'd like to be part of the podcast, navigate to our website and to our contact page. Find our "Speak to Us" link. It will allow you to send a voice message if you have an event or would like to comment on a guest or a topic—speak to us.

Dave Graham: What are you playing, Dave? Well, Micki Findlay spoke to us. She is the organizer of the local Elbows Up campaign. They were out singing the anthem at three locations recently. They sent us a link for more information. Check it out. The link is available in the show notes. And by the way, if speaking isn't your thing, you can type your message. The Pulse homepage is simply thepulsecommunity.ca.

Thrifty Foods: At Thrifty Foods, we love to help nonprofits, charities, and schools. Our Thrifty Foods Smile Card bulk program allows organizations to immediately save up to 6% on the purchase of Smile Cards in bulk, allowing you to keep more money in your organization's pockets. Ask for details at Thrifty Foods in Parksville.

Windsor Plywood: 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 is 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 vision to life from start to finish. Let Windsor Plywood in French Creek help you with your renovation, new build, or building project. Visit them online or call 752-3122.

Peter McCully: Dave, I need to know, what's your favorite classic rock song?

Dave Graham: Oh man, there's so many. Led Zeppelin, Queen, the Beatles. I can't narrow it down. Why are you asking?

Peter McCully: Because Rock the Park is coming up August 8th through 10th, featuring three days of incredible tribute bands at Parksville Beach Festival. There's a Rib band—so like fake Led Zeppelin, but think of them as Led Zeppelin: The Experience. These are world-class musicians, Dave. They're playing your favorite classic hits. It's like time travel, but with better sound systems, and I can still see the amazing sand sculptures and enjoy the free concerts this weekend.

Dave Graham: Absolutely. The Circus by the Sea exhibition continues daily. Vancouver Island's best musicians performing at the gazebo. The Tim Hortons free summer concert series happens August 1st and 2nd as well. Wow. This is a veritable music festival buffet.

Peter McCully: Tickets are on sale now for Rock the Park Parksville Beach Festival, where classic rock meets classic sand art. Details at parksvillebeachfest.ca. Oh, Beach Fest is the largest event in the area, period. Nothing else comes close to it when it comes to the sheer numbers of people who attend, and I think it would be okay to label the event—uh, ooh, trying to boil it down to a single thing. Okay. Call it excellent.

Peter McCully: The sand sculptures get better every year, and I would use that fact alone to encourage anyone who hasn't been there in a while, especially locals, to check it out.

Dave Graham: You know, that's a good reminder. It's easy enough to say, "Oh, they'll be back next year," but every year is unique. So I say, don't let the opportunity pass you by. That kind of reminds me of when I was a kid. We lived in England for a while, and when we learned we were going to be moving back to Canada, there was this mad scramble in the last couple of weeks to do all the touristy things we'd been putting off, because in our minds, those things would be there tomorrow. And then we learned that our tomorrows were numbered. Well, you get my point.

Peter McCully: Let's bring on our first guest, Dave. Here's Marilyn.

Marilyn: In the green room is Gordon Maurits, a member of the Oceanside Community Safety Volunteers, and Jaclyn Tereszko, program coordinator. The Oceanside CSV are presenting two seniors safety seminars in August in Parksville and Qualicum Beach.

Peter McCully: Welcome to the podcast today, Gordon.

Gordon Maurits: Thank you for inviting me.

Peter McCully: Gordon, tell us about your organization, the Oceanside Community Safety Volunteers. What do you do and how many volunteers do you have?

Gordon Maurits: Oceanside Community Safety covers an area from Nanu Bay all the way up to Bowser and then out towards Coombs. So we cover a very big area. We've presently got about 120 registered volunteers. We do various events. We've got a block watch section where people in neighborhoods look after their neighborhoods, just keeping an eye open for any unusual things happening, and they report to a block watch captain who, if there are enough incidents, will mention it to the RCMP.

We've got what's called KIT calling, which means Keeping in Touch. Keeping in Touch is a program that we have for people who are confined to their apartment due to medical or physical problems or age. What we do is we have people who call them 365 days a year. They call them every single day: "Hey, how are you doing?" Just talking to them, see if they're okay, if they require anything. It gives them a chance to talk to somebody too, because being stuck in your apartment or a condo can be very confining.

We also do traffic watch. A lot of people have probably seen us along the highways with the visible sign showing the speed limit. We do that to educate people on speed limits and just give them a reckoning that there are speed limits in this area. And we do that from police requests as well as community requests. Of course, sometimes we'll get somebody say, "Hey, we get a lot of people speeding on this road. Think you could come and just set one up and just take a look at it?"

Then there's the one that I'm mostly involved with, and that's the events. I'm the events team leader. And we set up events throughout the year. One big one that we did was Qualicum Beach Family Day. We had a stand set up—a table with all information from community safety, family safety, child safety, senior safety, and even some wildfire safety information. And as well, for the kids, we set up one of our speed boards so kids could run and see how fast they could run.

We've got upcoming Beach Fest days, and we're going to be working as gate ambassadors, so greeting people as they come to look at the sand sculptures. So these are various events that we do. A lot of it is more educational. And then of course the big one is our senior safety seminar, which will be coming up in August.

Peter McCully: Before we talk about this senior safety seminar, Gordon, you mentioned that you had youngsters running in front of the speed gun to find out how fast they could run. At the risk of sounding old and slow, what was the top speed?

Gordon Maurits: The top speed was 28 kilometers per hour, and that was in a distance of about 50 or 60 feet from a standing run to where the signboard registers. So that's a pretty quick little sprint.

Peter McCully: And when you were at the Qualicum Beach Family Day event, you had a lot of information available to people. What did they seem to gravitate towards?

Gordon Maurits: A lot of it was home safety. We have a lot of things for kids. We have coloring pages, puzzle pages, we got handouts of that. But one of the ones that was very popular was the Child Find kit. It's a card that you hand out—or a package—and what the parents can do is they can fingerprint their children, then get a photograph of them, put it into an envelope, seal it, and then if for any reason their child goes missing, they have fingerprints, photograph, description, their height, and everything that they can give to the RCMP to help with their search. So it's a really good thing. A lot of people were coming for those and picking them up.

Peter McCully: You mentioned, Gordon, you have a couple of safety seminars coming up in August. You're covering a number of topics and you have some guest speakers lined up. Could you tell us about that?

Gordon Maurits: Okay. The first guest speaker we have will be a member of the RCMP. They'll be coming there—one on each day—and they'll be talking about Oceanside crime stats as to what the conditions are, where our stats are, up or down, if there are various different crimes that are happening. Our area here, Parksville, Qualicum—we go from a community of maybe 12,000 people during the winter. We're up at 40 or 50,000 with all the tourists, so our crime rates fluctuate up and down.

That's one of the things. We're going to have a fire captain from each of the areas, Parksville and Qualicum Beach, and they're going to be talking about fire safety—how you can protect yourself from fires in your condos, your house, your apartment, and what to do if an alarm goes off. Some people don't realize that you can't use the elevators, and if you've got mobility issues, you're of course going to have trouble going downstairs. Where the fire doors are at the top of the stairs is called the fire block. People with disabilities can go there and wait until fire departments come. In fact, it gives them a good 90 minutes safety barrier. So these are the first things that the fire department will be talking to them about.

The other one is SOS. They're going to be coming in talking about resources that they have, because they've got a lot of resources for seniors. If you've got a medical appointment, say in Nanaimo, they will make arrangements for you to be transported down there for your appointment and then later picked up and then brought back. They provide meals. There's lots of different resources that they have with services, so if you need these resources, that's what they're going to be talking about as well.

We're going to have a representative from ICBC and they're going to be coming out talking about the new changes to senior driving. I believe it's, if they're 80 or older, there's going to be changes as regards to driver tests. They'll be explaining all the different changes to regulations and also they'll probably be talking to people about transitioning if you're getting older—nineties or so. If you're going to transition to not driving anymore, these are the options that you have available so that you're still mobile, but without the actual driving part.

Peter McCully: And Gordon, you're going to be tackling a topic as well: general home safety.

Gordon Maurits: That involves a lot of how you lay out your home—making sure that you don't have obstructions where you're walking, or making sure that there's no tripping hazards, cords that are in the way. A lot of older people like to have area rugs. Area rugs sometimes have corners that can curl up, which causes a tripping hazard. So there again, what can they do to prevent that and how can they reduce that? If they're having mobility issues, they can look into putting in hand bars in washrooms or in a hallway so that they have something secure that they can hold onto. Various things like that. So these are different topics I'll be bringing up and discussing.

Peter McCully: We hear a lot about internet fraud, cryptocurrency scams, unfortunately on a regular basis. And I understand that those folks attending those seminars will be receiving information on the latest scams and what to watch for.

Gordon Maurits: Yes, that's right. There's a few that are current that are relatively ongoing. There's cryptocurrency scams where people are called and they're getting scammed—"Oh, hey, if you put in this much cryptocurrency, you're going to make this large amount of profit." Whereas it's not—it's just a scam of somebody taking the money and then not fulfilling the whole package.

A big one that you've heard on the news is called a grandparent scam, where an elderly person will be called and told, "Oh, hey, your grandson is hurt and we need you to send money to help with medical," or if he's in jail or whatever, and try and get people to go down to the bank and send money to these people, which is just a total scam. And I've talked to a couple people who've been nearly caught by that.

And then there's just your regular phishing. Phishing is where different scams come out, usually from banks or CRA, which most people know they will not send you an email. If CRA wants any information, they will send an actual letter. So if you get something in the email from CRA saying, "Oh, we need you to do this," that's wrong. So what they're doing is phishing for information from your identity that they can end up further down the line utilizing.

And there's a lot of them. A person who's on a computer and they think they're getting tech support, and they're not because they do a search, but they can't tell if the search is actual tech support. And again, what they're doing is phishing for information on them so they can turn around and use their identity.

Peter McCully: Gordon, the program coordinator, Jaclyn Tereszko, is joining us now. And first, welcome to the podcast, Jaclyn.

Jaclyn Tereszko: Thank you.

Peter McCully: Could you give us some pointers on how to avoid being a victim of a scam?

Jaclyn Tereszko: The first thing everyone should do is when you receive a phone call from a number that you don't know claiming to be a telecommunications company, a bank, CRA, anything like that—verify on their website. Also do the same for any kind of email. So if you're emailed a bill that looks odd, even if it is your service provider, bank statements, anything like that, and it doesn't look right—check the email address and then go to the website. Usually what they'll do is they'll have their valid phone numbers, email addresses, and you can always call them back as well to verify. That's going to be the safest way to go about answering any calls.

If you receive a call from someone and they're pressuring you to take an offer or you're being told it's a one-time offer, the best thing to do is to hang up and call the service provider or whoever is calling you. For the grandparents scam, which is happening a lot in our community, set up code words with family members. Some people may not know the voices or may not talk to their family members that much, so a code word can really help.

The last thing to be extra cautious about is if you have a cell phone on one of your accounts—any calls that you get offering upgrades or anything that you're going to do that way, be extra cautious because if a scammer can gain access to one of the accounts with a cell phone, they can do what's called a SIM swap, which basically will get them access to your phone number. So for any of your accounts, like CRA accounts, bank accounts, anything that will send you a text message, they would have access to that. So that's a high-risk fraud, basically.

Peter McCully: And Jaclyn, I guess you'll have the very latest in what's happening with scams when the seminars are being held.

Jaclyn Tereszko: Yes, absolutely. There have been a lot of cases of residents of our community losing money, and just recently a resident reported losing $30,000 to a call that came in claiming that it was a relative that was involved in an accident. So that would be an example of the grandparent scam. Another example is there has been a recent cryptocurrency scam where one of our community members responded to an online advertisement selling cryptocurrency, and they lost over a hundred thousand dollars. So there are a lot of examples currently.

Peter McCully: Jaclyn, when summer hits, it can be pretty warm like it is right now. And I know you'll be talking about environmental safety during heat waves during your seminars as well.

Jaclyn Tereszko: During our seminars, we're going to definitely cover the basics of staying cool. So of course staying hydrated, staying inside during peak hours. And we will also just be discussing some local areas that you can go to stay cool. Of course, Nanaimo does have more, because it is a bigger community, but in the Oceanside area you can always go to the skating rink, the libraries, public places like that.

One of the things that I'll mention right now is that we will be going over the severe heat-related symptoms and when to seek medical attention. There's a long list, but just an example of some of them is if you are lightheaded from the heat or if you have stopped sweating, but you're still very warm, that can be a symptom of heat-related illnesses. Seniors and people with preexisting health conditions are at high risk.

Peter McCully: Would you like to tell us when the seminars will be held and where? There's one in Qualicum Beach and one in Parksville, I understand.

Jaclyn Tereszko: Our first senior safety seminar will be in Parksville, and it will be on Monday, August 18th. It will be from 2:00 to 4:00 PM at the Parksville Community Center, 223 Mills Street. The second one will be in Qualicum Beach on August 20th, also from 2:00 to 4:00 PM and will be in the Qualicum Beach Civic Center.

Peter McCully: Where can folks go for more information or to sign up to attend?

Jaclyn Tereszko: Yes, it's oceansidecsv.org. At the bottom it has the information about our senior safety seminars.

Peter McCully: Gordon and Jaclyn, thanks for being with us today.

Gordon Maurits: Thank you so much for covering us.

Dave Graham: Our thanks to Oceanside Community Safety Volunteers for being on the podcast and for all that they do. The safety seminars will run August 18th in Parksville at the Community Center on Mill Street and August 20th. They'll be at the Civic Center in Qualicum Beach to register. Call or visit their office in the Qualicum Beach Town Hall, or you can send an email to this address: programs@oceansidecsv.org.

Peter McCully: Dave, how's your summer going?

Dave Graham: You know, I call it mostly fabulous. I'm still working to dial in the right balance in the ratio between excitement and naps. I believe naps are an important part of downtime, but that's just my perspective. How about you, Peter? How's your summer?

Peter McCully: Well, I haven't gotten a single mosquito bite. My heating bill is zero. I managed to avoid all those beach body ready workout ads. I've spent a fortune on sunscreen and I am constantly getting sand in uncomfortable places.

Dave, because we're based on stories here at The Pulse, we'd like to hear from anyone who has a good story to share about their summer fun. Feel free to leave us a message through the website links.

Dave Graham: While you're there, we invite you to explore our other stories, the Kuku Kid stories. If a label is needed, I'd call them wholesome. We have new original stories coming out regularly about Gracie the Eskimo dog. The latest is about Gracie and her human companion, Peter, meeting people from all over the world on their Parksville boardwalk adventure.

Peter McCully: And in our other series, we follow the escapades of Captain Dave and his first mate, Larry the lobster, aboard the Mellow Submarine. Their most recent adventure involves the use of a special switch on the Mellow Submarine called the Shrink-o-matic in order to follow spawning salmon. The stories about Gracie, the Eskimo dog, and the Mellow Submarine can be found at thepulsecommunity.ca, kukukids.com, Apple, iHeart, Spotify, Amazon, and YouTube.

Marilyn: 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.

Beach Fest: Summer's getting even better. Parksville Beach Festival continues with the stunning Circus by the Sea Sand Sculpture exhibition. Plus amazing free entertainment every day. Catch Vancouver Island's best musicians at the gazebo and enjoy another weekend of the Tim Hortons free summer concert series, August 1st and 2nd. But here's what's really exciting: Rock the Park. August 8th through 10th features three days of incredible tribute bands that'll rock your world. Tickets are on sale now for this festival within a festival. Don't miss the summer's most explosive musical event, Parksville Beach Festival, where the fun never stops. Visit parksvillebeachfest.ca.

Dave Graham: Well, you can label us here at the Pulse: grateful. Grateful for the support of the Parksville Beach Fest. There are still some sponsorship opportunities available, by the way. Just contact us through our website. Oh, that's all. You can also sign up for our newsletter.

Peter McCully: Yeah. Getting the newsletter means you'll be among the first to know about new episodes and contest opportunities. You're also welcome to send in story suggestions. Click on the contact link at thepulsecommunity.ca and speak or type your message.

Dave Graham: Our next guest is amply qualified for the label "cool." Other qualities might include multi-talented, highly regarded, award-winning, and chronologically advanced. Well, I mean, this year marks the 47th anniversary of the founding of his band, so unless he was a five-year-old prodigy—and I'm pretty sure that's not the case—then he's getting up there. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Marilyn's here to introduce.

Marilyn: Tom Lavin is the legendary front man of the Powder Blues band. For over four decades, Tom has been a driving force in Canadian blues and rock, helping shape the sound that emerged from Vancouver's vibrant music scene in the late 1970s. The Powder Blues band has released numerous albums, toured internationally, and become synonymous with high energy performances that blend traditional blues with rock and roll swagger.

Peter McCully: Thanks for making time for us on the podcast today, Tom.

Tom Lavin: Pleasure.

Peter McCully: You've been making music for over four decades now. When you first picked up a guitar, did you ever imagine you'd still be performing at festivals like the upcoming Parksville Beach Fest in 2025?

Tom Lavin: You know, back in Chicago, my dad owned a furniture store, which we lived behind. The store at the time didn't have a lot of money, and he hired a square dance caller from Oklahoma as sort of a handyman and salesman. And this guy brought me a ukulele probably around when I was four and a half, and he'd been married once for a year. But things didn't work out that well for him. So the first song he taught me was "I Only Want a Buddy, Not a Sweetheart," 'cause buddies never make you blue. So I guess in a sense I've been learning to sing and play blues since I was a kid.

But back then I was more in the moment than dreaming about the future. I mean, I'm thrilled to be asked to play the Parksville Beach Festival, but then at my age I'm pretty well thrilled to be anywhere. I first came through Parksville in August of 1969 on my way to, of all places, Hornby Island. I knew a gal from Texas who had inherited some oil money and she wanted to buy some property.

In 1969, there were only 40 people living on Hornby Island permanently, and she bought a place just up from the Shingle Spit there—a lot of acres, maybe 80 acres or something with a quarter mile of shore. I remember driving up the Old Island Highway and seeing an ancient trailer cafe called Dot's with a picture of a piece of lemon meringue pie on it. I think that was there forever. You know, fond memories of days gone by. Courtenay was the big city for getting my supplies at the Overwaitea.

Peter McCully: You know, I go back some. How old were you when you moved from Chicago to Canada?

Tom Lavin: Nineteen.

Peter McCully: So you had some years of experiencing the Chicago blues scene.

Tom Lavin: I did, I did. I was playing professionally full-time from the time I was maybe around 16 and had a team band in Chicago that got pretty famous around the Midwest.

Peter McCully: And what brought you to Canada?

Tom Lavin: Well, I followed a girl. In fact, I'm still in touch with her. We're still friends. She lives in New York. I met her when I was 17, so almost 58 years of relationship.

Peter McCully: Tom, the Powder Blues band emerged in Vancouver's music scene in 1977, which incidentally is my first year working in the media. These things click along pretty quick, don't they? Time flies. Groucho said, "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." Can you paint a picture of what the music scene was like in Vancouver back then, and did it help you shape your sound?

Tom Lavin: Well, there wasn't that much blues in Vancouver when I showed up. There was rhythm and blues, you know, that was coming up from Seattle and there were some R&B bands. Powder Blues actually started at a tiny joint in Gastown called the Spinning Wheel. That was back March of 1978—little over 47 years ago.

But my music career in Vancouver started in September of '69. I enrolled in the Vancouver School of Art, which later became Emily Carr University, and I needed a way to make a living. So I started playing in the bottle clubs and strip clubs along Hastings Street, Main Street. I mean, there were so many venues. There was the Smiling Buddha, the Shanghai Junk, the Kit Kat Club, Frank's Cabaret, the Golf Club, the Blue Unicorn, Sammy's Blue Note—so many places like that. You played six nights a week, sometimes up to six sets a night, but it was a great training ground for an aspiring musician.

I think my first Vancouver recording was a single with a group from New York City featuring Smiling Jack Smith. And after that I formed a trio called Uproar. We recorded a single that I wrote called "Different Drummer," which hit the airwaves, and shortly thereafter I did a cross-Canada tour opening for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. That was really fun. And then I recorded studio demos with so many up-and-coming acts, including Ben and Alexis and Jerry Doucette and a band called Under Construction, which later became Prism, which was really an offshoot of the Seeds of Time, who I also played with briefly.

And I toured with Prism for maybe about a year, and then I left to join Canada's first fusion band called Dale Jacobs and Cobra. We signed to Columbia Masterworks label and had an instrumental hit on the radio called "Cobra." We toured across Canada with Buddy Rich's big band and a number of other acts. Then I left that group to form Powder Blues in '78.

Peter McCully: Tom, what's changed most about the music industry since your early days? Not counting the formats like cassettes and DVDs and CDs—what's stayed constant in the music industry?

Tom Lavin: Well, you know what? That's a good question and I think a lot of stuff has changed. For one thing, I mean, there's not nearly as many live music venues. When I first got to Vancouver, any given night, even on a weeknight, you could probably see 30 live bands or groups or whatever you want to call them, or more. Everybody was working. As far as musical trends go, I mean, they come and they go, but basically blues, R&B, rock and roll sure seem to have staying power.

You know, we don't have those six-night-a-week gigs. Sadly, one of the things that stayed the same is the amount that musicians get paid. A hundred dollar gig in 1970 meant you could pay your rent and buy gas for your car, and today it means maybe you could take your girlfriend to lunch. That's a tough thing, right? That has stayed the same.

Peter McCully: Looking back at your discography, which album or song are you most proud of and why?

Tom Lavin: When I started out, initially, the thought I had in mind was that I wanted to make music that had staying power. You know, there's so much of it was really trendy and it would come and go. So our first album, "Uncut," was released in September of 1979. Initially, privately, I just pressed it myself and started selling it. Then it had "Doin' It Right" on it, and it had "Hear That Guitar Ring" on it, and those two songs are still regularly played on radio 46 years after they were first recorded. I'm proud of that. I set out to make music that had some staying power and it seems to have aged pretty well.

Peter McCully: And you've covered a wide range of musical artists in those 46 or 47 years. What makes a song right for the powder blues treatment, we'll call it?

Tom Lavin: I guess it comes down to feel and story. A song that speaks to me and moves me is what I'm most drawn to. Certain songs are inspiring to play and they fill you with energy, and it's great to have those in your repertoire to give you a boost when you need one, right? So you could sort of ride on the coattails of somebody else that's done that song and feel and use that energy. We did a lot of original stuff and we did a few covers. You know, as far as the original stuff goes, I think the reason I started that band is because I tried to make records that I heard in my head, but I couldn't just go out and buy, like I heard the Powder Blues song in my head, and if I had just been able to find a band that played like that, I'd just have bought the record.

But it's sort of, you know, necessity being the mother of invention, and I wanted that sound so I tried to please myself and make a band that would make that sound. And I was fortunate that it's worked out over the years that when I try to please myself, a few others seemed to be pleased as well, and I think that that's basically contributed to our longevity.

Peter McCully: Well, you've been keeping a lot of us happy for a long time, Tom.

Tom Lavin: Well, thank you.

Peter McCully: After thousands of live shows, what still gets your adrenaline pumping before you hit the stage?

Tom Lavin: You know, I'm one of those lucky musicians that plays not because I have to, but just because I love to. You know, it's too late to stop now. I really like doing what I'm doing. I'm close to everyone on stage. Most of these guys I play with, I've known for many decades. I mean, we're friends. The tunes are always fresh because basically blues is kind of like jazz, and so much of it is improvisation. It's sort of like a six-way conversation between old buddies, maybe like a poker game that's been going on for decades.

You know, it's old and it's familiar, but somehow, I mean, it's always fresh too, right? So, yeah, that turns my crank. I love these guys and I listen to everything they play and they inspire me and our playing, as you know, individually and as a group has evolved. We play different than we were playing when we were 30. Maybe a little slower, but hopefully a little more meaningful. But for me, playing with the band isn't really work, you know, it's something I enjoy. I still seem to have a need for it. I really can't imagine a life without playing music for me. And when I get home from a gig, I sit down at the piano and play just for me because it's just, I'm wound up and that's how I settle myself.

You know, I couldn't imagine not playing.

Peter McCully: I've had the opportunity to chat with Randy Bachman, Bruce Cockburn and Bill Henderson recently on this podcast about the intergenerational audiences that they're enjoying at this point in their careers. You know, parents bringing the kids, and in some cases the kids bringing their kids, so the grandkids are at the shows. Have you witnessed that?

Tom Lavin: You bet. I was just on the plane back from Edmonton this morning. I was talking to my keyboard player, Mike Kalanj. He's the same age as me. He's a great-grandfather. His grandkids have had kids already. Sometimes we get four generations out there. You know, there's hardly a show that goes by that some folks don't come up to me afterwards and they say things like, "Oh, my mom used to listen to you guys all the time when I was at home, when I was a little guy. I know all your songs," and some of these very kids, you know, they're married, they're bringing their own kids to the show. I've had lots of chats with groups of fans that are three generations, and like I said, with my keyboard player up to four.

Peter McCully: The Canadian music industry is producing some very good blues and rock artists. Who are some of the newer musicians on the way up that may have caught your attention recently?

Tom Lavin: You know, Canada is full of talented musicians of all genres, and it's great to hear the younger folks tearing it up on classic forms of music. And blues is a music that stays strong by being passed hand to hand. You know, when my trumpet player, Vince, can't make a gig, his son fills in and does a great job. If I'm short a tenor player, my drummer Darrell's son Eli is a fantastic sub. And if ever my bass player, Tony, couldn't make a gig, I could ask my own son Ruben, who's 17, to fill in. Definitely. In some cases it's jumped the generation, right? Interesting.

Peter McCully: Can you walk us through your songwriting process? Do you have one? Do you start with something like a riff or a story or...?

Tom Lavin: Usually I have a tune in my head for days or weeks or months, and it just goes around there. You know, if I turn on the radio, it's sometimes distracting 'cause it's like listening to two different radio stations at once. Music has always gone on in my head.

It's neat to see the subconscious of it though, particularly now that I've gotten into all the old jazz standards. I probably know a thousand standards and if I hear a melody in my head, I actually go and try and remember the lyrics and often it will tell me something about what's in my subconscious and remind me of what's going on inside. That's sort of neat. So in the case of "Doin' It Right," the tune was in my head and we were in a recording session and we were short a tune for the album and we just sent out for pizza to eat and I tore the greasy top off the box and I grabbed a ballpoint pen and I wrote down the entire lyric to that tune start to finish in one go—maybe took 15 minutes, although I doubt it was even that long. So sometimes you get a good tune by sweating it out and rewriting it and blah, blah, blah. And other times they seem to almost exist already, and you just basically, you write them down, you know? "Doin' It Right."

Peter McCully: Music has taken you around the world with the Powder Blues, Tom, but you remain rooted in British Columbia.

Tom Lavin: I'm just lucky, you know, I think Canada's the best country in the world and I think BC's the best province. I think Vancouver's the best city. I love being here, but you know, sure. I've traveled all over. There's a lot of great places out there. I made my move here in '69. Originally was a US citizen. I gave up my citizenship. I became a Canadian citizen. I'm really glad I did, particularly in view of recent political events south of the border. I'm very grateful to be living here.

Peter McCully: If you could sit down with your younger self, say from 1977, just about the time you're starting the Powder Blues, what advice would you give young Tom about the journey that lay ahead for him?

Tom Lavin: I might tell my younger self that the only thing that is constant in a musician's life is chaos, and that chaos is really not constant at all. Don't let it bother you. Stay true. Make sure that you mean everything you sing and you play, and I still remind myself of this every day. There's been other aspects of my life that have been rewarding beyond music.

I know you mentioned that before. You know, I've toured for 47 years, you know, without a year break or anything. COVID years were slow, obviously, but we still played then. It is rewarding and challenging to do different things. Keep you fresh. I started the first internet provider service in Western Canada, took it public and became CEO of a public company that was called Axion Internet.

And afterwards I became CEO of Mega Chain, which was a NASDAQ corporation that developed software for multi-level marketing in the cloud. I decided to leave the public sector. I started a private post-secondary school called Pacific Audio Visual Institute. I wrote one-year diploma courses for audio engineering and production, for music business, for computer animation. We actually had an independent film program running for a while. Over the years, we had 1,500 graduates that are working all over the world. Sometimes I will show up in a theater somewhere and the head tech will come up to me and go, "Hey, I was a Pacific Audio Visual Institute graduate. How you doing, man?"

And I say, "Were you a good student? Are you going to give us a good mix?" But it's fun. That's rewarding too.

Peter McCully: Is there a song that audiences immediately react to no matter where you go?

Tom Lavin: The radio hits are the big things. You know, when we play "Doin' It Right," "Thirsty Ears," "Hear That Guitar Ring," "Boppin' with the Blues," "Sweet Little Girl"—they've all had many, many plays on the radio over the years, and I think that familiarity seems to help audiences really connect and it also, I think, opens audiences up for when we do things that we haven't recorded or that are not so familiar. They're more attuned to it then.

Peter McCully: For someone who's going to be attending the Parksville Beach Fest who might not know the music of the Powder Blues, what can they expect from your performance and what would you want them to take away from the whole experience?

Tom Lavin: I think the best way to enjoy any music is to start with no preconceptions. Close your eyes. See if you can find a wavelength that can carry you to a new and pleasant musical place.

Now, hopefully through our performance, you know, people that are there will experience some joy, maybe a release of tension, maybe a little buzz of energy. Maybe they want to get up and dance. Like I told people before, I never wanted a band that folks could dance to. What I always wanted was a band that folks would find it difficult not to dance to. And to me there's a difference.

Peter McCully: There is. I remember that well at the Misty Moon in Halifax many years ago. Couldn't stay in the chair while you guys were playing.

Tom Lavin: I love those Misty Moons. I played several. I played one on Spring Garden. I played one downtown and I loved Halifax, man. You were there, huh?

Peter McCully: I grew up in Nova Scotia and moved out here about 25 years ago.

Tom Lavin: Wow. I wish I could go back to those days. That was wonderful. We'd play till three in the morning, and then we'd go out and get gyros, you know, with a stand in the middle of the street on a summer night with all the crowd eating Greek food. Yeah, I loved it. Yeah, it was fantastic and the mussels were great. I mean, a buck for a bucket. They were just about giving them away then, and it was a very fun time in Halifax.

Peter McCully: Yeah, good music scene in those days.

Tom Lavin: It was indeed.

Peter McCully: You'll be saying hi to some of your friends from Prism while you're here.

Tom Lavin: We see them on the festival circuit every so often. We wind up playing similar festivals together. As you know, there's just so many of us dinosaurs in the scene and we bump into one another.

Peter McCully: Well, we are certainly looking forward to the Powder Blues at the Parksville Beach Fest. Tom, thanks for your time.

Tom Lavin: The pleasure's all mine.

Dave Graham: Tom Lavin and the legendary Powder Blues band play the magnificent outdoor stage in Parksville, August 9th. That's part of the three-day festival known as Beach Fest Rocks. The lineup includes some fabulous, talented music, but it's too long to list here 'cause we have to go.

Peter McCully: Yes. It's time to head to the cafeteria to check out Mabel's special for today. You can call me hungry.

Dave Graham: But don't call you late for dinner, right? Oh, oh, that's an old joke. But then so are you—not a joke. It is. No, but you're no spring chicken. Come on, let's not go there, Dave. You want to talk about labels? Where do I begin? Oh, what? Who me? You want to label me? How about charming? Witty, not too tall. Uh, properly dressed. Call me not overly abrasive. Uh, occasionally prompt or fiscally irresponsible.

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.