Chick Pickin' Mondays offers local showcase
BILL BROWNSTEIN, The Gazette
Published: Thursday, March 27

On the surface, he may be one of the last guys you'd expect to champion the cause of this city's coterie of women singers and musicians. Yet Gern f, one of the toughest-looking hombres in town, is the force behind Chick Pickin' Mondays at Grumpy's Bar, which kicks off on Monday.

"There are so many outstanding women singers and guitar pickers in Montreal, but they rarely get the opportunity to bask in the limelight on their own," says Gern f. "Finally, they will have their own showcase and hopefully get their due."

Gern f., the mastermind behind Moonshine on Thursdays at Grumpy's, is a part-time bartender there and full-time member of the United Steelworkers of Montreal - not a bunch of steelworkers, but one dynamite, down-home bluegrass ensemble.

Though he could pass as a steelworker, don't let his imposing presence unnerve you - unless you plan to skip out on your bar bill. Gern f. is a man on a couple of missions: to make old-time country music a mainstay in Montreal and, now, to celebrate this town's female singers/songwriters/musicians.

Hosting proceedings with Gern f. will be Cecile Doo-Kingue, the renowned funk and R&B guitarist. Doo-Kingue, who comes from Cameroons, has been winning converts on the local music scene the last 10 years, having founded the group Dibondoko and having performed with everyone from the Aliens to the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir to Sister Sledge.

"Hopefully, Cecile will finally get her due, too. She is, in my estimation, the best guitarist in the city - male or female," proclaims Gern f.

"But she doesn't want this event to be about her. She wants to share the stage. "When we first had the idea for this event, I started making a list of performers for the evening and within a minute, I had 15 names. Now we've got dozens more.

"Then I felt ashamed that we hadn't come up with this idea earlier to provide a venue for women. No other place in the city seems to be doing it, either. The music industry is almost impossible to penetrate at the best of times. Needless to say, it's especially tough on women."

Brie Neilson is the event's debut headliner. A Vancouverite, Neilson moved here a year ago and has already made an impact as lead singer for the Unsettlers.

"It was like a religious experience the first time I heard her," Gern f. says. "Her lyrics and melodies are so haunting and so incredibly beautiful."

"People say my songs are laced with a touch of whiskey and hurt," says Neilson, who has popped into Grumpy's to rehearse. "Getting to sing solo here is a great break for me. But I also think these evenings will draw well. People will know they can catch consistently good music."

Neilson knows talk is cheap. So she picks up a 12-string guitar and starts crooning one of her own tunes, Walking Alone.

Neilson, who had classical singing training in Vancouver, delivers exactly as advertised by Gern f. She brings a velvety, seemingly effortless quality to her vocals. It all goes down like, well, an Irish coffee: sweet and soothing but with a little bite.

"She will soon establish herself as a grand jewel on the local music scene and be able to make her living doing it," pledges Gern f. "Mark my words."

That would suit Neilson fine. In addition to her singing, she works at a B&B, teaches music to toddlers and their parents and paints to pay the rent.

Also slated to perform in the coming weeks are pianist/

guitarist/balladeer Maia Davies (April 7) of the fab Ladies of the Canyon ensemble; jazz-singer Jessica Leger (April 14) of N.D.G Philharmonic fame; and blues-belter Senja Sergeant (April 21), also from Ladies of the Canyon.

Gern f. is quick to point out that Chick Pickin' Mondays will not derail Grumpy's long-

running Bitch About Your Boss contest, also held Monday evenings. For those who have yet to partake in the Bitch About Your Boss contest, participants recount their horror stories on the job. Then the audience decides on the winner, who receives an Irish Car Bomb - the cocktail.

"There have been some sad stories," Gern f. acknowledges. "But the saddest of all had to be the guy who had gotten fired a couple of hours earlier. Why? Because his boss had been sleeping with this guy's wife, and the boss didn't want him around any longer. Now that bites. But what was worse was that the poor guy didn't even win the contest that night. So I bought him a few shots to help deal with his hurt."

Chick Pickin' Mondays starts Monday at Grumpy's Bar, 1242 Bishop St. Music begins at 10 p.m. Admission is free. Men are encouraged to bring baked goods and to buy plenty of drinks. Women in attendance will be offered special deals on their drinks. Call 514-866-9010.

bbrownst@thegazette.canwest.com

 

RETURN TO CHICK PICKIN' HOME PAGE