Inverness Oran Entertainment

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Ringing in the New Year with Risin’ Tide in Chéticamp

Members of the new and uprising band in Chéticamp - Risin' Tide. Left to Right: Dwayne Poirier, Marc Neary, Nicholas LeBlanc, and Mark Poirier.


January 5, 2022

-by Rosie Aucoin-Grace
     For many households in our county, New Year’s Eve was far from the norm. Feeling anxious about being in public places due to the omicron variant, and with businesses following COVID-19 restrictions meaning cancellations of celebratory activities, a large majority of people chose to stay in and celebrate at home with their family and close friends.
     When fans heard the news that the band Risin’ Tide scheduled to play on New Year’s Eve at the Doryman Pub & Grill in Chéticamp had to cancel their gig, many were quite disappointed. This new four-piece cover band play all-time favourite rock and roll and country party songs. They play everything from Luke Combs to The Beatles, Alan Jackson to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Joel and the list goes on. The musicians are Marc Neary (drummer/singer), Nicholas LeBlanc (lead singer/12-string acoustic guitar), Mark Poirier (bass/vocals), and Dwayne Poirier (lead electric guitar/vocals).
     I had the opportunity to chat with band member, Marc Neary and he spoke about the formation of Risin’ Tide, “The band first got together in early May 2021. As owner of the Doryman Pub & Grill, and a void in the entertainment options ever since The Phantoms disbanded, I wanted to start a group that could do two things: encourage people to come to the Doryman, party while having a great time!”
     “We played for about three weeks worth of rehearsals. In the beginning, our group comprised of Dwayne Poirier on lead guitar, Nicholas LeBlanc on bass, and me on the drums,” says Neary. “We then asked veteran musician, Adrien Aucoin to join the band as bass player and Nicholas switched to a 12-string acoustic guitar. Eventually, this was too much of a commitment for Adrien as he had other projects on the go, so a few other names were thrown in the mix. We decided to ask musician Mark Poirier to join as bass player. He joined us at the end of June and learned about 45 songs in three weeks before our first gig on July 17th!”
     Neary continued, “We started with putting together a good set list and rehearsing for many hours until we felt like we had a strong enough product to try our luck by playing in public and we gave it a shot. Our first performance was on Saturday, July 17th, 2021. There was a crowd of about 100 and it went very well. We played five other times at the Doryman with our largest audience of 148 people. We also played a gig at Wabo’s Pizza, outside on the boardwalk, as part of province-wide Patio Lanterns Festival, a performance at Radio CKJM’s annual radiothon in October and another on December 23rd, a show as part of their Thursday live music series.”
    I asked Neary about the connection among the band members and he responded with, “I took drum lessons in 2002 from Real Beaudry but did not continue. In 2019, I bought a drum kit and started playing daily. I was looking forward to the day I could play with other musicians.” He continued, “While we were playing hockey, Dwayne and I talked about playing and mentioned jamming together at some point. At the time, Nicholas who was working for me at Wabo’s Pizza, was part of a local trio Second Hand News but they were disbanding because one of the band members was moving away. I asked him about his summer musical plans and he said they were wide open, so that is how the three of us got together.”
     We talked about the name Risin’ Tide and Neary explained, “It was not an easy feat. We were getting closer to our first gig and still did not have a name. Practising three to four times a week and one night we decided, we had to pick a name the following day and to come prepared with a few suggestions.” He added, “We made a list of potential names and Risin’ Tide was the one we came up with. We originally thought of Rising Tide but there was another group somewhere else that went by that name, so we decided to drop the G and go by Risin’ Tide.”
     With a chuckle, Neary said, “Some terrible mentions included Missing A Piano, Wild Ride, Highland Time, Yellow Snow, and Overdrive.”
     We talked about hopes for the future, “So far, we have been playing for local audiences. In the next year to date, we have a private booking in Glace Bay and we hope to make connections to perform at other venues as well.”
     This brought us to how the virtual gig came about and Neary explained, “Before the latest COVID-19 restrictions were put in place, we decided to go ahead and play on New Year’s Eve at the Doryman and the 160 tickets sold out in two weeks. Everything was falling into place. We were rehearsing quite a bit and were working on six new songs for the show. This was so encouraging and we were getting very excited.”
     “We sort of have an unofficial band policy that we learn a new song for every show, to not be too stale and keep the audience interested,” says Neary. “We also shuffle our set list quite a bit and that helps at making each gig different from the last. He continued, “As with many other businesses, the new restrictions changed and unfortunately we had to cancel the show. It was Nicholas who suggested we switch to a virtual performance. We all agreed and worked on changing our performance to virtual format, to be streamed live on Facebook on New Year’s Eve for everyone to enjoy. Full refunds from the Doryman Pub & Grill were offered to everyone who had purchased tickets for our show, but almost three quarters of them decided to donate the original price of admission to the band. Funds that were also shared with the Doryman staff who were scheduled to work on New Year’s Eve. This was much appreciated, and we hope that many enjoyed our live broadcast.”
     “I have played many genres of music and have performed with many various artists over the last 40 years,” says band member Dwayne Poirier. “I have played along side of performers like Jeff Healey and many others. At the moment, I am playing with a country rock band and it is my first priority since I have been with Drafted for 10 years now. When I decided to join Risin’ Tide, it was to expand my style and a change of music style since there are no active rock bands in the area. Since joining, I have found that I have pushed myself to learn new material. The members of Risin’ Tide are a good bunch of guys and we have fun whether we are practising or gigging somewhere. Besides my other local band, I am hoping to stay busy playing this year if the pandemic allows us. I do believe though that we may see more virtual shows in the future if this is the new norm. We thoroughly enjoyed doing our live New Years’ Eve virtual show. We realized that we reached out to way more audience than we would have if we had played at the Doryman. Minus the dancing and crowd participation, we had a great time and I look forward to 2022.”
     Member of the group, Mark Poirier, talked about his musical background. “I started playing bass at a late age of 22 when I moved back home from Sydney. My first band included Mark LeBlanc, Ephrem Bourgeois, and Adrien Aucoin who was but 16 or 17 years old at the time. From there I got to play with different talented musicians such as Peggy Tramble and Gervais Cormier until I was asked to play with Wendell Roach for 18 years with different band members over the years like Marcel Aucoin, Everett Poirier, Jean René Bourgeois, J.J Tartaglia, Michel Deveau, and many more. As well, I got to interact of some great talented musicians like Ray Legere, Denis à Maurice, Andre Coco McGraw, just to name a few. After that great run and Wendell’s passing, I teamed up with a good friend of mine, Charlie Bourgeois for a number of years until I joined the band Drafted with musician Andrew Poirier.” I also had the privilege of playing with Nova Scotia Country Hall of Fame entertainer, Judy MacIsaac from the band Sugar Time from the Up Home Tonight show. We have been playing together for the past six years during the summer months prior to COVID. We hope to resume when things get back to normal.” He added, “In June 2021, I was asked if I would be interested in joining a new more rock than country band. As country was what I always played, the challenge of learning mostly new songs, I was ready for a change of music style. It has been quite a change but I am really enjoying playing with Risin’ Tide and look forward to what’s ahead in the New Year!”
     Band member Nicholas LeBlanc may be the youngest but adds so much to the group with his musical talents and powerful voice. “I have been singing and playing the guitar at bonfires and kitchen parties for about eight years. I was part of the group Second Hand News as bass player/vocals which comprised of musicians Michelle Deveau and Sebastian Deveau. We played for the summer at the Doryman. When Sebastian moved out of the area, Marc asked me to start a new band with him and Dwayne. The four of us played for a while until I moved to Prince Edward Island to study Music Performance at Holland College. We kept in contact while the three other band members practised together, and they would let me know if I needed to learn new material.” He concluded, “Marc organized a few gigs while I was away so I would gladly drive down for the weekend. It has been great being a part of this group.”
     Many, no doubt, felt they had been left high and dry with no plans for their annual New Year’s Eve celebration. Happy were those who heard the announcement that this band would play virtually via Facebook for a span of four hours. This set the tone for an exciting and fun evening while marking the end of the previous year and usher in the start of a new one. A wonderful way to enjoy this festive evening, right in the comfort of your own home, a glass of cheer and amazing entertainment. It was quite apparent that for these boys, their attitude was “the show must go on and let’s have a blast” With over 4000 hits during the performance, we know that many took in this show and reviews on Facebook are quite positive. What a great way to ring in the New Year!”
     Anyone interested in booking this band, they are available to perform locally or out of town. You may contact them by email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by visiting their Facebook group: Risin’ Tide.
    “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” – Plato


 



 






 

 

 


    

 


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