Peter McCully: This is The Pulse Community Podcast. Welcome back. I'm Peter McCauley. Thanksgiving weekend is now behind us, and I hope everyone get a chance to sit down at a table with the people they love. 

Dave Graham: And I'm Dave Graham. I got to spend Thanksgiving with, well, a lot of foods that I love, and while the occasion is technically over, the celebration continues.

Peter McCully: Leftovers, Dave? 

Dave Graham:Leftovers. That's a word that gives leftovers a bad name. It simply doesn't do justice to the, to the magic that can happen when food is revisited. No, that's not a good word either. Anyway, I have a system using color-coded lids. Blue is turkey, green is stuffing, red is cranberry, yellow is something. I can't remember, but it, it's working really well. 

Peter McCully: You color-coded your leftovers? 

Dave Graham: It's a system, a food re-enjoyment protocol found it on YouTube. Day one is turkey sandwich, day two turkey soup, day three turkey sandwich, only cut diagonally, day four is turkey quiche, day five toasted turkey sandwich, day six- 

Peter McCully: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Clearly, you're enjoying your Thanksgiving dinner's legacy. Today's podcast is brought to you in part by Ian Lindsay and Associates, serving the mid-Vancouver Island area 

Dave Graham: Legacy. Ooh, that's a good word. Oh, and I want you to know that you will find real estate professionals at ianlindsay.ca. 

Peter McCully: From his solo debut in Up and Down in Shaky Town to nine record-breaking CBC specials and a best-selling memoir, Ron James has turned the highway between our small towns across the country into his own personal stage.

Ron James: I ruffled some feathers in Alberta last time. I was playing Red Deer and I got a Facebook DM that said I was very disappointed when you made fun of Donald Trump, Pierre Poilievre, and Danielle Smith. And he said, I came for some light comedy. I said, then you came to the wrong show. You should have saved your money up for Disney on Ice. Because it's a comedian's job to rock the apple cart to a certain degree too, you know? 

Dave Graham: Disney on Ice. Ooh, there's an idea. After several weeks attending the Learn to Skate program, I think I could make a case for myself. 

Peter McCully: Okay, I'll go along. And what would you do at Disney on Ice exactly? 

Dave Graham: Well, probably just drive the Zamboni. It's big and steady and upright. Turns out I have weak ankles, but you know, I'm working on it. 

Peter McCully: Michelle Wright is a Canadian Country Music Hall of Famer from Merlin, Ontario, whose 1992 hit, Take It Like a Man, carried her from southern Ontario clubs to Nashville. Now Michelle Wright's back on the road with Jason McCoy and Doc Walker for the Great Canadian Road Trip.

Michelle Wright: We have found that the acoustic presentation has a sort of magic to it, like just hanging around the kitchen table. It just has that. We just finished about 24 shows of full band, and then we decided, let's go ahead and do this round acoustically. We're going to go out and just hang out together with our guitars and share some stories and some songs.

Dave Graham: On a future edition of the podcast, master gardener Debra Garrod returns to the podcast to help with fall gardening. 

Peter McCully: Best-selling Qualicum Beach author Bill Arnott, fresh off a Canadian Geographic expedition across central Mexico, will join us. Bill wrote the award-winning Gone Viking travelogues, A Perfect Day for a Walk, and BC's top-selling A Season on Vancouver Island.

Dave Graham: Award-winning singer-songwriter Ryan McMahon of Ladysmith will be joining us, and he'll be bringing new music with him. 

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. 

Thrifty Foods Parksville: 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. 

Peter McCully: Congratulations to Denise Deck of Parksville, the winner of a $100 Thrifty Foods Smile Card. We asked for your entry and for your go-to budget meal. Denise's was grilled cheese with tomato soup. 

Dave Graham: Such a classic and comforting combo. Watch our website, newsletter, and social pages for our latest contests, and there will be a few of them this fall. We have tickets to give away for The Great Canadian Road Trip, starring Michelle Wright, Jason McCoy, and Doc Walker in Nanaimo.

Peter McCully: We also have tickets to give away for the Crash Test Dummies Christmas show, Jingle All the Way, also in Nanaimo. 

Dave Graham: Christmas. I can't think about that right now. More turkey. Oh, I, I think I need a break from turkey, actually. Turkey, turkey, turkey. Even the word is losing its meaning. Turkey. What does that even mean?

Peter McCully: Dave, our first guest has spent close to three decades eating on the road between town theaters right across the country. 

Dave Graham: I bet he could come up with a better word for leftovers than leftovers. He has a way with words. Here's Marilyn. 

Marilyn: He was born in Glace Bay, a Cape Breton coal town, grew up in Halifax, studied history and political science, and somehow ended up making Canadians laugh for four decades instead. From his solo debut in Up and Down in Shaky Town to nine record-breaking TV specials and a best-selling memoir, Ron James has turned the highway between our small towns across the country into his own personal stage. 

Peter McCully: Welcome to the podcast today, Ron. It's really great to chat with you again. 

Ron James: Well, thanks very much for having me. I'm looking forward to being on, uh, the other side of the great divide. 

Peter McCully: That it is. Shall I assume you spent the last two or three months at your summer place in Nova Scotia? 

Ron James: I did. I wrapped up my tour in May. My gal and I, we went hiking in Ireland for two weeks, which was fantastic. The Irish are amazing.

They talk about the sun. They said, "Sun's coming out tomorrow. Sun'll be coming out tomorrow. Don't worry about it. It's coming out tomorrow." They talk about the sun like it's an absent father. "He's showing up at Christmas this time. Yes, he is. He's bringing presents for everybody. Don't worry about it." It was wonderful, you know? We hiked about 10 miles a day, and I could start tasting that Guinness at the five-mile mark. And I'm telling you, man, the Guinness in Ireland compared to the Guinness here, breast milk from the Mother Mary would curdle in comparison- ... to a pint of Guinness poured in Ireland. 

Peter McCully: A meal in a mug 

Ron James: There you go, bud. And then we went back east. We were there in June. I don't know where June went. And then I booked myself a gig to open a club in Quebec, which was a fiasco. Not my set, the place itself. And then I went up to Huntsville. They have a summer festival. It was great. I was on stage the night before Steven Page. It was a rocking summertime audience, which was wonderful, cottage country. And then we drove back to Nova Scotia, and we spent the rest of July and August there. Next year I'm saying to myself, "We're going down in June. We're staying right through until," I don't know, "the end of October, when my East Coast tour should start."

Peter McCully: Nice. Ron, your mom is from Cape Breton. My mom is from Cape Breton. 

Ron James: Where's your mom from in Cape Breton? 

Peter McCully: Sydney Mines. 

Ron James: Oh, there you go. Mom's from Glace Bay. She was a coal miner's daughter. And she's still alive, 94 years old. Funny and full life and, you know, somewhat forgetful, but Jesus, I'm just two weeks away from leaving the house without pants on, so I'll cut her some slack.

The boomers I talk to are, again, losing their memory. I can remember a two-hour set, but I can't remember what day the frigging recyclables go out, so- ... I guess that's a sign. Yeah, she's doing good. So aren't we lucky to have had moms from there? And they're a different breed, aren't they? 

Peter McCully: Yes, for sure. And your grandmother, didn't she used to work at the Newfoundland store in Halifax?

Ron James: Lived above the Newfoundland store. She used to clean floors in the South End, but she wasn't scrubbing floors anymore when, uh, when she was living there. I think she'd packed it in. But what's your connection to the Newfoundland store in Halifax? 

Peter McCully: The best salt cod and bologna you could get. 

Ron James: There you go, buddy.

Only a Maritimer would get excited about the bologna. 

Peter McCully: It's hard to get good bologna in British Columbia. 

Ron James: I bet it is. You know what? When I lived in the beaches in Toronto, I used to have a neighbor across the street who used to get me to bring him bologna back from Nova Scotia. 

Peter McCully: I believe it. 

Ron James: Yeah. I still don't know what's in bologna.

It's- I know I had a hell of a lot of bologna sandwiches as a kid at the beach ... 

Peter McCully: mystery meat. Now, I grew up in Dartmouth and you grew up in Halifax at the same time. 

Ron James: Did you go to Dartmouth High? 

Peter McCully: I did. 

Ron James: Did you play football at Dartmouth High? 

Peter McCully: I did not. '

Ron James: Cause if you did, I probably hit helmets with you. I played for QEH Lions, and the year after I left, they won the provincial championships 23 years in a row.

Yeah, the coach, God bless him, just passed away, Mike Tanner. He was an icon back home. Real, real good fellow. 

Peter McCully: Now, I went on to broadcast school, and you went up to Acadia University, and you prepared yourself for a lifetime of writing jokes by studying political science 

Ron James: Well, that was my minor. My major was history.

Actually, I had a double minor, political science and binge drinking and hot knives. I'm from a day where a hashtag was something you got from getting too close to those hot knives, so. You know, I just donated my book and some tickets to my shows to raising money for the football team there. And so many people I know who I went to school with have moved back in and around the region.

It's a spectacular little corner of Nova Scotia. It's magical to be living in the shadow of Bluenose. So is your area. I love it out there. I love the island. You know, my buddies run the Snowdon tour. They're good guys, and they say, "Look, um... " It's their favorite. And they tour all over Canada just like me, too, and they said the island is the best place to play.

I never have a crummy show from Victoria to Duncan to Nanaimo to Campbell River and Courtenay, Comox. It's just a wonderful corner of the country. Really is. I love it. I'm not just saying that. I just get so stoked going over there. 

Peter McCully: It certainly is a great part of the earth. Ron, comedy writers, writers in general, I guess, really, often recycle their material.

New names, places, but, you know, the same basic premise. You must have been over the moon when he who shall not be named was elected for his second term as president of the US. 

Ron James: I'll name him, you know. The Orange Mutant, the Tangerine Genie, the American Id Run Amok. We've been so inundated with his poisonous presence.

People you once admired, like Chelsea Grammer, are long since worn out his welcome. Bill Maher. They kiss the ring and they idolize him, and the Republican Party is involved with a cult. It's one of the greatest ironies that 250 years ago they toppled the tyranny of a king, only to turn around 250 years later and kiss the ring of another one.

It's indicative of the fall from grace a nation that once prided itself on being the greatest on earth. At least it seemed to us as a next-door neighbor during their post-war rise to preeminence during the Cold War. But, you know, speaking of which, British Columbians will remember this, and Maritimers certainly do.

America had always been the land of the second chance for us. So many from my corner, from Cape Breton, went to the Boston states for work as far back as the '30s. In fact, my girlfriend's mother... I'm dating a woman, by the way, who when I was 16 and she was 14, we first started going out together. We got together again online, uh, having dinners during COVID.

Her mother was from Cape Breton, too. But her mom used to tell this story about a fella from Mabo. He went to Boston, and he went into the post office, and in that high Cape Breton Gaelic lilt they have, he said, "Is the mail in from Mabo yet?" And the guy in Boston said, "Where the hell is Mabu?" He said, "You don't know where Mabu is?

Well, we sure as hell know where Boston is, boy." He couldn't see the world. He couldn't understand it. But, you know, one of the ironies of Trump threatening to make us the 51st state is that 97% of Americans can finally find us on a frigging map. I can't go to the States anymore, though, and I loved going there.

I put three years in in the early '90s in Los Angeles chasing the sitcom dream. I was in Second City at the time. We created a series. We sold it to Imagine TV. We were a late-night syndicated show. It was eventually helmed by Cynthia Stevenson, who last I was in contact with her, I believe she lived in Courtenay.

A wonderful actress who's showing up on Yellowjackets this year. Anyway, it was canceled, and I braved it for three years. But, you know, I hiked the Santa Monica Mountains all the time. We camped in Joshua Tree. It's just such a magical corner of the world because winter is only about a two-week chilly tickle.

That was the saving grace for me in California, was the accessibility to nature, Topanga Canyon, and the Pacific Ocean and such. But it's a carnivore's arena, and coming back from LA and writing a one-man show about my time there propelled me into solo work as a stand-up. So that was the silver lining in the cloud of America.

My chase for the grail there was coming home and creating it here. 

Peter McCully: When you came back, you created and starred in your own series, Blackfly, a comedy set during the Canadian fur trade. 

Ron James: Yeah, yeah. I wanted it to be Blackadder, and it was influenced by, of course, Monty Python and what they did with historical parody.

I was on Global TV at the time, and they turned me into Gilligan. But I had a great cast, and it was a great premise, and it had the potential to grow. I never knew how big the job was until I stepped into this fort that was surrounded by a crew. It was something that had a validation of the imagination.

It had come from my head. But it was the hardest work I'd ever done. You know, it's 24/7, 365. I was writing it and starring in it. The producer at Salter Street took over editing. That was a big issue. But I learned hard and fast lessons there, and when it was canceled after two years, this is one of the frustrations with Canadian television, especially with the independent networks like Global at the time, is they don't wanna promote you.

They don't have the money to promote you. Then what the hell did you put me on the network for? So it's something you're constantly fighting. Of course, if they buy a show from the States, they get all that money to promote it, and that's the situation. Canadian content was always paddling uphill, but now thanks to Crave and CBC as well, you can plant your flag and find some real estate to call your own in Canadian television, which I eventually did seven years later when I got my own series again on CBC, The Ron James Show.

But prior to that- And I gotta tip the hat to my producer, Terry McCray. We started blazing trail across the big wide open. What a heady time that was, brother. There were no other acts on the road playing soft seat theaters. It was virgin territory. I'm proud in saying that we struck the template for how to tour Canada.

Just for Laughs came to see me at Centerpoint Theatre, I remember, during my second sold-out show, and they said, "Do you do this all the time?" I said, "Oh, yeah, sure." So I basically pointed them toward the trope pools, and they were out. But they're gone now. They exhausted themselves. You know, they would have a couple Canadians on the bill that was stacked with American and foreign talent who were saying nothing about Canada.

That was always my mandate. When I came back from Los Angeles, I wanted to embrace the virtues and the idiosyncrasies, get my comedic mileage out of those and of people and place. I was able to start building that catalog of specials with The Road Between My Ears being the first one in 2003, and then subsequently by the time we were canceled from CBC in 2017, we had nine one-hour specials and five years of a series.

But it was the country and the people in it and, and the places I played that were the fuel for the creative engine. 

Peter McCully: As you say, it's Canada, so I guess it's safe to assume that folks are happy to greet you and tell you their favorite Ron James story when they see you. 

Ron James: Well, they are for the most part, but, you know, uh, I, I ruffled some feathers in Alberta last time.

I was playing Red Deer, and I got a Facebook DM that said, "I was very disappointed when you made fun of Donald Trump, Pierre Poilievre, and Danielle Smith." And he said, "I came for some light comedy." I said, "Then you came to the wrong show. You should have saved your money up for Disney on Ice." Because it's a comedian's job to rock the apple cart to a certain degree, too, you know?

We're in a very interesting time right now, a demanding time and a dangerous time, actually, with all this inflammatory, threatening rhetoric coming from south of the border with a man at the helm now, Carney, who certainly seems to be the man of the hour. You gotta keep your eye on how we develop ourselves as a nation as well, a strong nation.

And I don't wanna see those Canadian values, like care of the environment, for instance, to be sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed. 

Peter McCully: I wanted to go back to something you said, Ron, about the West, and it's been called the land of second chance for Maritimers. Are there Maritimers out west that you meet on the road?

Ron James: Oh, I meet them all over. Yeah, I mean, we're like the lost tribe of Israel, man. I mean, you meet Newfoundlanders everywhere. You can be way up north and you'd run into them. They're remarkably resilient. Back before the American, uh, economy collapsed, back in 2007 and '6, Fort McMurray, I'd go out there for three shows.

You know, I have two encore dates and, yeah, I meet them all over. I've been in Toronto for 46 years. I raised my family in The Beaches. I came from Atlantic Canada in 1980 after graduating from Acadia with intentions of getting into Second City. Yeah. That's where I got my BA in, in comedy really, and it was a heady time to be on stage at Second City because SCTV was on the air, and I see there's a Netflix special coming up about them.

And they would hire me and another cast member to do sketches with them. So you got to sit in the makeup chair beside Eugene Levy and Marty Short working on a character. John Candy would be passing through. Catherine and Andrew were there, and Rick, and Dave Thomas. Upon reflection, you know, I just felt fortunate at the time to be a young actor who was able to make some extra money for rent.

You realized what technicians they were about the craft and how seriously they took the work. And it sounds like a bit of a misnomer for comedy, but I have a saying where the road takes no prisoners and comedy doesn't suffer fools. It's important to have discipline and to have a work ethic, and those guys definitely did.

Peter McCully: Well, Ron, it would be interesting if you added up all the miles and how many times you've been back and forth from the East to the West Coast. 

Ron James: A frightening amount of time. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed I'm not dealing with an atmospheric river there this time. 

Peter McCully: Now, if you could paint one sentence on the welcome to sign of a province or two, what would the provinces be and what would the sign say?

Ron James: Oh, geez, buddy, that's a tall order. Oh, let's go from Newfoundland then. Welcome to Newfoundland, ambassadors of the human heart. Welcome to Nova Scotia. You better like Keith's 'cause it's all we drink here. Welcome to PEI. Have a potato. Come on, have a potato. Welcome to New Brunswick. Irving owns everything.

Welcome to Quebec. We don't like you, but we like your money. Welcome to Ontario, land of Big Daddy Doug and his corrupt cabal of Guidos. Welcome to Manitoba, the province the coolest premier in Canada rules. Welcome to Saskatchewan. It's not all flat. Welcome to Alberta. Have a shot of bitumen. Welcome to British Columbia, the land of the second chance.

Welcome to the Yukon. If you come here once, you'll come again. Northwest Territories. Welcome to the Northwest Territories There's plenty here that will eat you. 

Peter McCully: Ron, I know you're heading out very shortly, so I just wanted to get in the fact that you're gonna be on the island. Courtney, Campbell River, Nanaimo, Duncan, Victoria.

Ron James: It's on my website, if you wanna go to my website. I don't know if your listeners knew that... 'Cause the last time I was talking to you, my book hadn't been released. But I wrote a book called All Over the Map: Rambles and Ruminations from the Canadian Road. BC is featured in it. My first time out there when I landed in Victoria in February, and it was balmy and idyllic.

And I'd rented a vehicle there for a drive for a gig in Prince George, where winter came down so hard on me. I found myself stuck in a blizzard a yeti wouldn't wander, where the snow was so thick I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, and I was in the frigging car. It was an eye-opener. British Columbia's a massive province.

Five countries in one province. So you're constantly shifting your content to kind of adapt to each place and writing new pieces. I hope I have a little bit of something for everybody. If there's anything about my show, it's some local perspective, national perspective, and global perspective on what's going on in the world.

You know, with this tariff war. You know, with a peaceful neighbor whose only rude thing we've ever done to America is have migrating Canadian geese defecating on Florida fairways. And then also stories about life in general. Adapting to all this change, and the constantly shifting ground beneath our feet.

'Cause really, the whole point of laughter or stand-up comedy, for me anyway, is to try my best to process the daily trauma and chaos in the language of laughs. 

Dave Graham: Ron James. From a coal town in Cape Breton to nine record-breaking CBC specials, and decades of entertaining in theaters across this country in towns both small and large.

With two hours of new material every time, I think he just might have a future as a stand-up comic. Rocking the apple cart, as Ron puts it. Part of the job. You'll find links to Ron's Vancouver Island tour dates in our story notes. 

Peter McCully: We have stories. Our Skookum Kids stories feature Captain Dave and the crew of the Mellow Submarine, and Peter and Gracie, the Eskimo dog.

Dave Graham: In this week's news story, the Mellow Submarine is called out on a rescue, as Captain Dave and Larry the Lobster help rescue a stranded seal pup. And to add to the experience, we include coloring pages to go along with each new episode. 

Peter McCully: Aaron Halusak and Chef Jonathan Fraser of the Comox Valley are back.

With the return of football for another season, we invite you to join them on F3: Football, Food & Fantasy. 

Dave Graham: Cindy Thompson of Parksville is part of The Pulse Community with her podcast, A Resilience Project. 

Peter McCully: And for your listening enjoyment, we dip into history with our Radio Archaeology series, bringing back original episodes of Gunsmoke with Marshall Matt Dillon and Dragnet featuring Sergeant Joe Friday.

Dave Graham: And this week on Too Old or Movie Gold, host Olin Vander Leeden of the Comox Valley leads a team discussion on the Jim Henson classic, The Dark Crystal, noted for being one of the highest grossing puppet movies of all time. Then I'm thinking, how many are there? Anyway, how has it held up? Be listening to Too Old or Movie Gold.

Peter McCully: You'll find these podcasts and more at thepulsecommunity.ca. While you're there, sign up for our weekly newsletter and keep up to date on the latest podcasts, guests, and contests. 

Fireside Books: Fireside Books in Parksville and the Book Worm in Port Alberni offer used books at just $5 or less. Both locations make growing your personal library easier than ever.

New and used books and so much more. Order online at firesidebooks.ca and pick up at either location. Details available online. Ask about returning books for a book credit. Two locations, one amazing adventure in browsing. 

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: Our next guest went from the clubs of Southern Ontario to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and she's coming our way with a couple of friends. 

Dave Graham: Oh, I'll tell you what, Peter, I've adopted her song Take It Like a Man as my official theme song for leftovers.

Peter McCully: I'm not sure I see the connection there, Dave, but that's nice. 

Dave Graham: Well, music is art, and art is subjective, and I'm just seeing turkey leftovers in everything these days. Maybe I need a salad or something to snap out of it. Anyway, here's turkey... I mean, here's Marilyn. 

Marilyn: Michelle Wright is a Canadian Country Music Hall of Famer whose 1992 hit Take It Like a Man carried her from Southern Ontario clubs to Nashville.

A staunch advocate for children and families, Michelle has traveled as an ambassador for the child sponsorship organization World Vision. Now Michelle Wright is back on the road with Jason McCoy and Doc Walker for The Great Canadian Road Trip. 

Peter McCully: Michelle, I'm glad you could take a few minutes out of your busy schedule for us today.

I know you're packing up your tour bus to head out this way. 

Michelle Wright: We sure are, and I just can't wait. I'm so excited. I love being on the road with my brothers, my Great Canadian Road Trip brothers, Jason McCoy and Doc Walker. It's fabulous. 

Peter McCully: Well, let's talk about you before we talk about the tour. You grew up in Merlin, which is a small farming town in Ontario.

I understand both your parents were performers? 

Michelle Wright: Yes, they were. Oh, my story has many twists and turns to it. My mother had my brother when she was 16 and me when she was 17, so she married very early. And then needless to say, by the time she was about 19, that marriage had run its course, and we had some tough years there for a few years.

And then my mother got married to my stepfather, Doug Wright, when I was 10 years old, and we moved to the farm in Merlin. During that time, my mom would play music even when I was a baby, right up through my whole life, and gosh, right up until a few years before she passed. She was out there finding a way to sing, and it was pretty incredible.

And my real father, he played music as well, so when I would go visit him, he would be putting on his rhinestone suit, and he had a case of Molson Ex under one arm and a guitar in the other, and off they'd go to a Legion or, you know, somebody's house party. But I grew up around my parents performing country music, and needless to say, it was a huge influence.

Peter McCully: Well, let's talk about music influence. Merlin's not that far away from Detroit. I think it's probably less than an hour. How much of that Motown and R&B radio that pounds out of Detroit ended up in your country voice? 

Michelle Wright: Big time, big time. I would say that country and Motown are my strongest influences, and I think you hear that when you hear me sing.

Take It Like a Man was such a perfect record for me because it was a perfect combination of contemporary country music and that R&B Motown sound, so it was a huge influence, and I just grew up, like so many, with the, the blanket over my head and my radio on when I was supposed to be sleeping, listening to the sounds of Motown coming across the airwaves.

And my stepbrother, Lloyd, had a huge record collection, and he lived up in the attic. Us girls had the bedrooms downstairs in the farmhouse, and he had a pretty awesome space up there. I would go up and listen to his records, The Beatles and rock and roll, and I think I am of that generation of artists that had access to all kinds of music.

My mother growing up, they didn't have TV. They would get The Grand Ole Opry over the radio station. She grew up on a farm, and they had access to not a whole lot, but she did get to listen to some country music, and that was her influence really. But we kids coming up, the next generation, had access to all kinds of music, so I think perhaps I'm one of that first generation of country artists in the '90s, too, that brought a lot of influence to our music, and that's how I express myself is by bringing all of those influences into what I do.

Peter McCully: But music wasn't your first ambition, I understand. Now Siri tells me this, that you wanted to be an Olympic athlete? 

Michelle Wright: I don't know. I guess, like, maybe every kid out there has all kinds of crazy dreams and ideas of what they might like to do, but I was athletic. We were farmers. Farm girls are strong. And I came from that little small town of Merlin.

It was a population of about 500 people, and our high school, from grade 8 through grade 13, had 130 students, and the gym was open all the time. So first thing in the morning, we'd all be in the gym, and then the 10-minute break in between, we'd be in the gym. Lunch hour, we'd be in the gym. Afternoon, like, all the time.

And I was just naturally inclined as an athlete and still am today. Long jump was my track and field event. I went to the All-Ontario championships for long jump, and I also played basketball and volleyball. I was short but strong and could jump high, and I could spike well and serve well, and I went on to college to play varsity volleyball.

So sports were a big part of my joy as well, and my discipline, and taught me how to set goals and how to achieve them. And you know what? Just like working the fields, you'd get up in the morning, you'd get on the, on the plow, and you'd have to get this many acres done before the sun went down. And so I think working hard on the farm, going to this small school where I could pursue sports, and then having the music around me, all of those things taught me discipline and dreaming and imagination and goal-setting, and that served me very well, I think.

Peter McCully: Now, there's another thing that served you very well, because it says a lot about your personality, is that you sold Electrolux vacuums and Mary Kay door-to-door. 

Michelle Wright: You've done well, my friend. Digging up some of the facts. My mother was something else, and I am who I am because of her. There, there's no doubt about that.

She had a tough childhood. She lost her mother when she was five years old, and sadly, her father married a woman with six children, and that kind of changed the life of my mother when all of a sudden, all these stepkids were in the scene. By the time she was 16, she was having babies and trying to find her way out of that environment, and she realized that she needed to be able to, uh, pay the bills.

Quite frankly, she worked the fields when the, when it was field time. She would drop us kids off. We had a family member where my brother and I, when we were just young children, she would drop us off there Sunday night. She would hitchhike out to the f- fields, where she was gonna stay for a week, and then we stayed with the family member, and then Friday, she'd come home.

And she did that during the farm harvest times with picking tomatoes and cucumbers. And so as a young woman trying to keep her kids taken care of, she did that. And then eventually, she started selling Electrolux vacuum cleaners. And then she started selling Mary Kay Cosmetics, and then she was a real estate agent as well during these times.

I think I was about 16 years old actually when I started selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Can you imagine? 'Cause I remember I had a car, so I could load up my car, so I was obviously at least 16 years old, and I would go knock on people's doors with my vacuum cleaner in my hand. We don't even answer the door now if somebody knocks on it.

We just pull the blinds, I hate to admit. But yeah, door-to-door. And then with Mary Kay Cosmetics, the same thing. Again, that taught me a lot, and my mother, she taught me that kind of work ethic. 

Peter McCully: And you carried that on into your music because you were playing six nights a week in clubs right across the country before you got signed.

Yes. What did those years teach you that you still use on stage? 

Michelle Wright: Sometimes people ask me about how to get into this business or how to create a career, and of course, I could write a book on it. But at that time, you could play clubs six nights a week. Within a short period of time, you're going to decide, "Do I wanna live this life while I'm pursuing a, hopefully, a record deal that will perhaps take me out of this six nights a week in the club scene?"

Which was the goal. But that time taught me everything I needed to know about whether I had what it took from the standpoint of the grind. For a few years, I worked as a hired singer, and then I put my own band together, you know, and I had to learn how to manage the books, and I had to learn how to surround myself with the right people.

I had to let players go because they didn't have the vision. Their vision was something different than mine. So it just taught me that I knew that I was on the right path because I really loved it. I really wanted to give myself a shot by being out there and pursuing this career. So I used to fix the alternator on the side of the road if it needed to be fixed, or change the tires, or I bought a PA system.

I learned about sound. I learned everything that you needed to learn to be a road band. So that's one side of the thing, and then the other side of the thing is trying to make the connections and the inroads to those people that might be able to help you then get to the next part of your career. Quite frankly, though, and this is something else I say to young artists, too- They came to me.

It was like, "You gotta be out there so that you can be heard and you can be seen. You've gotta be at events where you can be shaking hands. You've gotta be very proactive in introducing yourself to people. And in that process, people are either gonna decide to come on board or they're not." I guess I was fortunate enough that once somebody saw me, they were like, "Yeah, I wanna be your manager."

And somebody else saw me, and they were like, "Yeah, I'd like to write songs with you," or, "I'd like to sign you to this record deal," or I ... You know, that kind of thing. It ... Every year something would open up for me, so the road was good. Taught me everything I needed to know. 

Peter McCully: Speaking of being on the road, when you hit it, as they say, you were touring with Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Alabama, George Strait.

Surely one of those bands or one of those artists had a good piece of advice for you that you still carry around. 

Michelle Wright: Yes. The biggest thing they taught me is how to treat the opening act. They were top-notch. They were classy. I never felt like I was not relevant. George and I would have lunch together.

Teddy from Alabama and I would sit on his tour bus, and we would chat and visit. Everybody was always very kind, very respectful, and had me out there for a while. Every act had me out there for an extended period of time. They taught me how to treat people 

Peter McCully: Last October, you sang Snowbird at the Grand Ole Opry for Anne Murray, with Anne Murray sitting right down front.

What was going through your head on stage at that very moment? 

Michelle Wright: It was her 80th birthday, and the Grand Ole Opry decided we needed to celebrate our own Anne Murray. My gosh, when you think of the career that she had, you just start doing any kind of research on Anne Murray; she broke down all the walls for Canadians.

She did it all, and I grew up listening to her. As a Canadian artist, there were very few female Canadians that I could look up to. Of course, we had Joni Mitchell, we had Anne Murray, we had Carole Baker, Myrna Lorrie. Lucille Starr, to some degree, for me, was somebody, but not a whole lot of female artists that a young artist could aspire to be like, and Anne Murray was certainly one for me.

And a lot of people, when I was singing in the clubs in the early days, and even before, while I was in high school, I had a little band that I played in as well, and people would say, "You sound like Anne Murray." I always sang Anne Murray songs in my cover bands, and to this day, I still sing Snowbird. To this very day, on the Great Canadian Road Trip, I do Snowbird.

And so when I was asked to join the celebration for Anne Murray's 80th birthday at the Grand Ole Opry, now talk about two amazing things. I- if you'd have told me as a young girl, "Someday, not only are you going to be on the Grand Ole Opry" ... Now, it wasn't my first time, but this time was very special, "But not only are you going to be on the Grand Ole Opry, but you're gonna be singing an Anne Murray song, and she's gonna be in the audience," you don't have the capacity to think like that, to think that's a possibility.

But it is, and it was. And I was gonna sing another song because somebody else had Snowbird, and I was like, "Oh, darn. I wish I could sing Snowbird." And then just about two days before the show, the person that had Snowbird decided they wanted to do something else, and I got to sing Snowbird in front of Anne Murray.

And I don't know. It's almost like it's otherworldly or something. You're almost not present. It, it was incredible, and I love the fact that her manager, he came out to the stage 'cause he thought Anne Murray was up there singing during my rehearsal. So it doesn't get any better than that. 

Peter McCully: That's Bruce Allen.

Michelle Wright: Bruce Allen, yes, yes. 

Peter McCully: Michelle, you're currently on the road with the Great Canadian Road Tour with Doc Walker and Jason McCoy. 

Michelle Wright: My boys, oh my gosh. It's the best time I've had in this business just sharing the stage, sharing the responsibilities, sharing the stress, sharing the everything. We started this two years ago.

We've done about 60 shows so far. We're about to do another 24, and then we've got some more shows coming up in 2027. It has just been one of the joys of my life to share the road with these guys. And when I'm up on stage with them, I'm like, can't believe I'm up there while they're singing all of their hits.

So the way we do it is we are on stage together. It's not like I do my set, they do their set. We're there from the beginning to the end, and we support each other with vocals and guitars and percussion and just a great time together. So needless to say, we're having a blast 

Peter McCully: Jason McCoy, I wonder if he's as much fun on the bus as he is on stage, 'cause he's got quite a personality.

Michelle Wright: He's fantastic. You know what? All these guys, their, their hearts and their souls are so good, and they really care about the fans. They really care that we give the audience what they want and what they need, and that everybody's having a good time. So needless to say, we're having a blast out here right now.

Peter McCully: This is an acoustic show, is it not? The music is built around the stories behind the songs? 

Michelle Wright: We do two formats. So we go full band sometimes, and we run acoustic as well. We have found that the acoustic presentation has a sort of magic to it, like just hanging around the kitchen table. It just has that... We just finished about 24 shows of full band, and then we decided, let's go ahead and do this round acoustically.

We're gonna go out and just hang out together with our guitars and share some stories and some songs. 

Peter McCully: Between the three of you, Jason McCoy, Doc Walker, and yourself, there's 17 number one tunes and 40 CCMA-awarded tunes. Yeah. How do you build a set list around that- Yeah ... without hurting somebody's feelings?

Michelle Wright: That's a good way of putting it, 'cause again, that's the thing that's so cool about it. And even the guys, they'll say, "I can't believe I'm playing Take It Like a Man." And I'm just like, I love It's a Beautiful Life, and there's so many great songs from these guys. And so yeah, it is challenging to put a set together.

It just simply is. Acoustically sometimes people can holler out something to us, and we can sometimes change up the set a little bit, and that's the kind of problem you wanna have as artists on stage, right? Where you're like, "Sorry, we can't fit them all in, but thanks for these." Every single song is a hit.

Peter McCully: And you've released a new single, The Great Canadian Road Trip Rides Again. 

Michelle Wright: What a great song. I'm so proud of this song. We got together, and we wrote this song together, and it was so fun and interesting creating with the three of us, or the four of us really, Dave and Chris from Doc Walker, and Jason and myself.

One of the really interesting things for me as a songwriter, writing with other artists who are actually experiencing the same thing I am, is their point of view in that experience. In this song, we wrote about this journey that we're on together, and it's really a dedication to the fans as well. The Great Canadian Road Trip song is this wonderful combination of the four of us coming together and writing a song, and trying to figure out a way to put all of our points of view and all of our hearts into this song, and we did it.

And then we put together a video. We'd got a lot of footage out there while we'd been performing, and from that live footage, we put together this just fabulous video. And the very first time I saw the video, I was like, "That's it." We did maybe one edit. The footage just so represents the fun that we're having, the genuine, authentic, great time, and you can feel the love and the spirit between us.

And we've been doing this for a couple of years. It's not like we're just new at hanging out together. No, we've been grinding out together for a couple years, and we still like hanging out together, so it's the greatest thing. Dirt on our suitcases,

The Great Canadian Road Trip: miles on our guitars. Traveling from Vancouver to the shores of St. John's. From sea to shining sea, riding on the prairie.

The road trip rides again. And 

Speaker 9: we're right where we belong. And the crowd sings along. 

SONG: The Great Canadian Road Trip

Peter McCully: That's the Great Canadian Road Trip Rides again as we chat with Michelle Wright. Michelle, in the video, which I watched recently, there's a short bit of you, it's really short Of you on the drums. Do you play? 

Michelle Wright: I do. I think I have to say that with all due respect to the real drummers of the world, okay?

That was my first instrument. We had a garage full of musical instruments on the farm, 'cause that's where my mother would do rehearsals. So my mom played bass, my brother played guitar, and then they were looking at me going, "What are you gonna play?" And I was, like, 12 years old, and I said, "Oh, I'll get behind those drums."

And do you wanna know what? I have a natural feel for it. I can sit down right now and s- play out a song not too badly. That was my first instrument, and of course, Karen Carpenter was an inspiration to me. And so every now and then I'll just say, "Give me them sticks," to my brother Steven on the drums, and I'll get behind there and play a little something.

Peter McCully: The tour is supporting World Vision Canada, which you've been a part of probably since the early 2000s. You went to Zambia, Zimbabwe. I understand you were there in Zimbabwe recently with Jason McCoy? 

Michelle Wright: Yes. I think as an artist, it's really important that you find a cause that you can get behind. It's important to give back.

It's just so important. It's really good for your soul, too. And so World Vision, gosh, in about 2000 or so, they came to me and talked to me about this artist program that they have, where they take an artist out into the field, let the artist see firsthand exactly what they're doing, how important it is, how much of a difference it makes.

I'm telling you, until I was out there in that field, I've been to Africa, I've been to Honduras, I've been to the Dominican, and as you were mentioning just recently, went back to Africa again with Jason McCoy. In order for an artist, I think, to get on that stage and to really express authentically what this is all about, going out into the field will do that for you.

And going to Africa changed my life. I came back from that trip literally, I thought I needed a new couch. I kept that couch for another 20 years. I thought I needed a new car. No, I kept that car for another 10 years. It gives you perspective. It just teaches you so much about what other people are having to deal with, and in particular in third world countries.

You realize at that point that they don't have any government assistance. They don't have any unemployment when they lose their jobs. They don't have any of those things. They don't have any of that infrastructure. We as a society must help these people that don't have access to that sort of thing. So World Vision became very clearly for me the area that I wanted to put my name behind, and I continue to do that.

And most recently with Jason McCoy and I, we went to Zimbabwe and just had an incredible trip, and we'll be bringing World Vision out on the Great Canadian Road Trip. We will be asking people to sponsor a child, and let's continue- To make a difference in the world for these people, it is so basic too, and I don't know if people hear this all the time and it's redundant, but it is simply about giving a community a well, for example, and what a difference just fresh water makes in a community.

All of a sudden, people aren't walking miles just to get a bucket of water that then is contaminated. Just think of that. They walk for miles to get some water so that they can bring it home to their village and boil it, or now there are these little packets that you can put in there that will clump all the icky bits together, and then you have to strain it, and then you're gonna end up with water that's pretty close to pure.

Just something as basic as water. And now they're growing vegetables, and they're healthier, and everything is so much better. And then education is another focus. Education changes people's lives. It changes the world. Building schools, some of these kids are walking 10, 12 kilometers one way to school, literally.

Now we're building schools in these villages where sometimes they still have to walk a couple kilometers, but they're not walking the 10, 12 kilometers, and it gives them life. It gives them hope. It gives them all the basic, simple things. Mark, when I met our sponsor child, Kelly, and she's 12 years old, and she's a little athlete, by the way, which is so cool.

Her and I played some soccer and some volleyball, and as we were leaving, I gave her a big hug and I said, "I wanna take you with me." And she said, "But then I won't be able to go back to my school." I just thought that was the sweetest thing. That girl, she wants to get up in the morning, and she wants to go to school, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

And hopefully, we will be able to get some kids sponsored out there on the road and make a difference 

Dave Graham: Michelle Wright from Merlin, Ontario to Nashville to the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, and now back on the road with Jason McCoy and Doc Walker for the Great Canadian Road Trip. To see video of Michelle's trip to Zimbabwe for World Vision, follow Michelle or Jason McCoy on social media, and you'll find links to Michelle's music and tour dates in our story notes.

Peter McCully: We're giving you a chance to see the show in Nanaimo. A Hall of Famer plus two other great Canadian acts all on one stage. That's a pretty good night out on the island. Details at thepulsecommunity.ca. 

Dave Graham: You can also find us on Apple, Amazon, iHeart, Spotify, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Peter McCully: Head to our website if you ever have a story idea, a comment, or a question.

You can leave a voice or a text message by following the contact links. 

Dave Graham: Once again, our site is thepulsecommunity.ca. And with that, I'd say it sounds like we are just about done here. 

Peter McCully: Yes, Dave, we're calling it a wrap on episode six of season three. Thank you for spending some time with us this week, folks.

Dave Graham: A wrap. Funny you should mention that. I think that's on the schedule is tomorrow's turkey legacy lunch. 

Peter McCully: Turkey legacy meal? 

Dave Graham: Still looking for a better term than leftovers. Look, Peter, I'm, I'm tired of turkey . I, I don't wanna think about it, let alone look at it or smell it or let alone eat it. I thought buying the biggest turkey I could find would be a good idea.

Why did I think that buying the biggest turkey was a good idea? I caught myself looking for a recipe for turkey ice cream the other day. That can't be normal, is it? Is that normal? I don't think that's normal. 

Rockin' Rhonda & The Uptown 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. Peter and Dave, they're on the mics. All right, join the ride. It's gonna feel just right.