The John McDermott Trio performs in Ottawa on Thursday, October 25 at Centrepointe theatre at 7:30 p.m. Ticket details here.
They play Cornwall on Oct. 26.
Although the trio has been in Cornwall a number of times, The John McDermott Trio never fails to draw a crowd.
This year the trio will be here to celebrate 25 years, performing to residents of a city that make him feel so welcome.
“I think we pretty much, every two or three years we come to Cornwall,” said McDermott. “This is our 25th anniversary this year and I’ve been working with the same promoter for 25 years, Terry MacRae of Shantero Productions. So it’s nice to be able to do the tour with Terry.”
McDermott said one of the special things about this tour is he has two new recordings to be released.
“I’ll have one of them with me, but the Christmas one is just about finished,” he said. “It won’t be finished in time for the tour, but I will have a new recording called An Evening with the John McDermott Trio, Vol. 2. It’s a collection of some songs people are familiar with and some new stuff as well.”
McDermott said they wanted to change it up a little and bring in some new material, but nothing that would shock anybody.
“But I think they will be happy to hear the stuff we are doing,” he said. “And we will perform all of the old favourites of course.”
McDermott said a lot of people come to his shows to hear the old favourites and are disappointed when he doesn’t play songs like Danny Boy or The Old Man. McDermott said he enjoys the interaction with his audiences and can often be seen in the lobby prior to the show, during intermission and after the performance.
“I like to welcome the audience and I think a lot of the stories I tell during the show are pieces they all relate too,” he said. “Maybe they bring maybe some fond memories of their heritage if they are Scottish or Irish. So you tread carefully when you are telling those stories, because they do mean a lot of different things to people.
“People think of Danny Boy as a piece one of their family members used to sing, or it is attached to a memorial service or something like that. They all have different meanings but they certainly carry a lot of weight for the audience.”
McDermott said he will often get people dancing in the aisles or singing along with the band and recalled one incident when he chose a lady from the audience to dance with who turned out to be his old girlfriend from high school.
“There is always something like that,” he said, laughing. “I’m sure something will come out of it.”
McDermott said he draws on his own life experiences and often goes back to the old traditional Celtic music for inspiration when it comes to his original music.
“There is so much great material from the old traditional either Scottish or Irish pieces that still ring very true and bring a lot of memories,” he said. “I love listening to Thomas Moore’s poetry, the songs Moore wrote. There is just so much. I knew the songs growing up in either Ireland or Scotland where both of my parents are from, so I am blessed with that great heritage of having these old familiar pieces that bring back a lot of memories for me.”
The other two members of the trio are Jason Fowler, an exceptional guitarist, and Mark Lalama, a multi-instrumentalist, said McDermott.
McDermott is a Canadian international recording artist whose albums have gone triple-platinum and he is the recipient of multiple Juno nominations. His other claim to fame is his commitment to veterans’ causes and has a foundation called the McDermott House Canada dedicated to improving care during the final stages of terminal illness and providing warm and welcoming place to stay for Canada’s veterans, first responders and their families.
The concert will be on Friday, Oct. 26 at Aultsville Theatre. Showtime begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the Cornwall Civic Complex box office or online.