Spencer Rice to solo in Tillsonburg Dec. 15
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Canadian solo artist Spencer Rice will headline a night of blues, country and classic rock at Sammy Krenshaw's in Tillsonburg on Thursday, Dec. 15.
Local openers Anubis and Delbert Schott are also on the bill, set up by Tillsonburg's Blacktop Records. Tickets are only $10 and include both the show and a meet and greet with 'Spenny.' Show starts at 8 p.m. and is all ages. Tickets are available online at OurEvent.ca, the Bell Store Tillsonburg, and at Sammy Krenshaw's, 51 Broadway.
Rice, who plays guitar, harmonica, and sings, had a blues band in Toronto (Delta Devils) and as he grew older - he has been performing for more than 30 years - he started embracing country and classic rock.
"My true love is playing solo because it's so challenging. It's something that I absolutely love to do. Playing solo is very hard, especially if you're doing three sets. This one has opening acts, which is nice.
"(Solo) takes a lot of concentration, at least for me," he added with a laugh, "but that's a challenge, and I just absolutely rise to those occasions to just try to do the best that I can. I just love doing solo."
One of his biggest heroes was blues guitarist and singer John Hammond.
"I saw him when I was in my early 20s, and he was an amazing solo artist. I just thought 'wow.' But it took me years to get to the point where I could fill in two-and-a-half hours of quality music - at least music I think is quality music - and it's a labour of love."
Spencer is also known as Spenny from the award-winning Canadian reality TV show Kenny vs Spenny (2002/2003-2010).
"I don't write songs unless they're funny, so most of the songs I play are by my heroes and until I can write songs as well as them I'm going to interpret their music. The funny stuff I can do because fundamentally I'm a comedian."
His one-week music tour starts Dec. 10 in Ottawa and includes Toronto (Dec. 13), Tillsonburg (Dec. 15), Windsor (Dec. 16) and Niagara Falls (Dec. 17).
"It's about seven dates, I think, all in Ontario. It's just to sort of test the market, see what's out there... see if there's people to be entertained. We'll widen it out if it does well."
Spencer, who still does comedy, has significant name recognition from a successful career in that business, and many of his fans expect it on stage.
"I can't escape that," he admitted. "But philosophically, I like to a lot of creative things."
In addition to writing for a newspaper, he entertains on university and college campuses, is in the process of releasing a comic book, and he does music.
"I don't do stand-up and I don't act, which is what people assume if they're not that well versed in Kenny vs Spenny, which was a reality show.
"So I do a lot of things and I know that's sort of a bad thing for a career because people can't really focus on who you are and what you're doing... it confuses them. But I don't care. I just have to do what I do, and it's a bit of an uphill struggle sometimes."
The music he performs - blues, country and classic rock - is not cutting edge contemporary or commercial.
"I'm not trying to be a rock star or get a record contract. I couldn't care less about that stuff. I go to rooms and I entertain people, and I do it various different ways. And this is one of the ways I do it. I certainly could play music that is more commercial, but I choose to play the music I love and the music that excites me."