Saturday, February 19, 2000
Minglewood returns with hard drivin' new CD
By Stephen Cooke -
The Halifax Herald
It's a three-way tug of war for Halifax's fans of Cape Breton music tonight,
with the dueling fiddles of Ashley MacIsaac and Howie MacDonald at Your
Father's Moustache, Natalie MacMaster playing up a storm at the Rebecca Cohn
Auditorium and the man who helped blaze the trail for both of them, Matt
Minglewood, rockin' the blues at Dartmouth's Penny on the Park. The show is his
first visit to Metro since the release of his latest CD, Drivin' Wheel.
If there's a rivalry, it's a friendly one; Minglewood and MacMaster have been
close friends ever since they shared the stage in the Cape Breton Summertime
Revue a decade ago, while MacIsaac shares the screen with the Man in the Black
Hat in the recent homegrown comedy New Waterford Girls.
Minglewood hasn't seen the movie yet, but he says he enjoyed the long day of
shooting his appearance with the eccentric Creignish fiddler, who pays homage
to him by singing his familiar hit Whiz Kids. The scene is meant to capture the
essence of a night out in 1970s Cape Breton, and Minglewood's music provides
the perfect backdrop.
"It was done at the old City Club, which I didn't think existed any more," he
recalls. "They used the exterior too, because it looks so authentic. It's down
in this warehouse section in the north end of Sydney.
"It's just a little privately owned bar where hardcore drinkers, businessmen on
their lunch break, go to drink when they don't want to be seen drinking. It's
bizarre."
Minglewood's wife Barbara appears as an extra in the scene, and she was also
responsible for ensuring that the singer's presence was felt elsewhere in the
film, via old posters and record covers that would have been omnipresent at the
time.
"They called me and asked if I had anything from that era for the film, and
believe it or not, I did up in the attic," Minglewood says with a laugh.
"It surprising to me, 'cause I didn't know I had it. My wife found it."
While Minglewood's music has obviously had an impact on anyone who's grown up
in Cape Breton, the island's influence on him is plainly felt throughout
Drivin' Wheel, from an old recording of his grandfather Johnnie Batherson's
fiddle to the boogie cooker Cape Crusader.
"I didn't consciously sit down and decide to have that theme. Those are the
songs I had, about being on the road and stuff. It's all true," says
Minglewood, who put the tunes on tape at Point Aconi's Lakewind Sound.
The homeland theme extends to the CD artwork, which features a variety of
picturesque Island shots, including one of the "Welcome to Cape Breton" sign
that greets visitors as they cross the Canso Causeway.
"When I saw that photo I got the same feeling I always get when I see it in
real life," admits Minglewood, "when I've been out west for three months and I
get back and I finally see that bridge. I tell you, it really is an uplifting
experience. It's like crossing the border into another country, I go 'Ah, I'm
home.' "