Friday, February 15, 2019

By Chelsea Ives

The looming building with tinted windows and The Pogue – Irish Pub gilded across them beckons you. A neon four-leaf-clover- shaped open sign buzzes merrily, and below it a wooden sign welcomes you with the Gaelic drinking toast; Slàinte – to your good health! You can’t see the crowd inside, but as you reach the heavy wooden door it swings open wide as a couple emerge laughing, floating out on the cacophony of bar chatter. You step in and are immediately enveloped by the warm conversation and the aromas of battered food and Guinness. The atmosphere is casual, easygoing – everybody is here for a good time, including the musician setting up in the front alcove opposite the bar.

A cozy gathering of locals waits, as Terry “Lager” Lobzun, a Wheatley wonder, sets up his equipment for the intimate audience, adjusting his mic with his guitar slung across his back and his suave tweed fedora perched on his head.

Finally, with I-Pad on stand, he plays.

And I understand why people call music transformative.

Terry’s face is transformed with emotion when he plays. Even for an audience of fifteen, Terry Lobzun’s soul flew through his fingers as he strummed, and his heart was on his tongue as he sang. The music fills your ears, but it’s Terry’s voice that fills your soul. It doesn’t matter if the songs are covers, he plays each with his own intensity and passion. His voice is a blend of Johnny Cash and Hozier – the perfect meld of old and new; soulful and breathy, like during his rendition of Howard Tate’s, “My Soul’s Got a Hole in It,” or Vance Joy’s “Riptide” – or driving deft punches in songs like Nathaniel Rateliff and the Nightsweats, “Son of a Bitch”. Every shout-out between verses is perfectly timed and playfully accentuated by a wink or eyebrow raise – always with a smile at the crowd. He had the perfect Barenaked Ladies fast-paced energy crammed into a tight space.

Terry played into the night off his own curated playlist or by request. Moving between folk, rock, and country songs effortlessly. I had the pleasure of asking Terry some questions during the intermission:

(Chelsea): “Do you make playlists with certain themes or audiences in mind for shows?”

(Terry): “Well I have a list of about 100 songs prepared – I never get through them all. But I just try and make sure everybody has a good time, I don’t really stick to a theme – that’s why you see I have my I-Pad up there – it’s a real Godsend,” he chuckles, “when you had music sheets, every time a door opened pages would fly everywhere and I’d lose my place.”

(C): “I noticed you take a lot of requests, but I heard you played an original song, ‘Just Breathe’ as well.”

(T): “I like all music, Gretta Van Fleet, George Ezra, Strawberry Alarm Clock…But I love to write songs. I have about 200 sitting in a file. Everybody can sing, but not everybody can write, and that’s what I like about it, it’s unique.”

Terry resumed by playing his original “401”. The name Stompin Tom jumped to my mind as I clapped along to the rhythmic country twang. The song is about a lover travelling down the 401 from Kingston to Windsor to surprise his girl, only to find that she had done the same. As Terry presented it with a humorous tone, “That damn radar gun – caught me goin’ 130 down the highway 401,” the crowd was roaring.

Terry plans to continue doing shows because he loves making sure people have a good time. His son, Preston, works at a recording studio in London, Ontario, and they plan on working together to get Terry’s original work recorded.

Terry, whatever you do, you will always leave your audience stunned. I’m eagerly awaiting more.

So Do dheagh Shlàinte! Everybody – to your good health as well.