Ask Steve Strongman which he prefers most, being on stage or the creative process, and live performance wins hands down.
No question, said the Kitchener-born Strongman.
It just doesn’t compare.
“I would say wholeheartedly playing in front of a live crowd is definitely where I am,” said Strongman, reached by phone recently in Toronto.
“I have to really work at writing. I’m not the kind of artist who says, ‘Oh, I have to write today.’ Writing I have to work at more, whereas everything else I do, it’s all about live shows. It’s very a high energy and we’re trying to create a connection with a live audience.”
It’s what he’s staked his reputation on, said Strongman, a 2013 Juno Award winner whose latest album, Let Me Prove it to You, last year was nominated for best blues album, losing out to Steve Hill’s Solo Recordings, Vol. 2.
When it happens, it happens, he said.
“You can feel it in the energy you’re giving out. You can feel it coming back from the people that are there,” said Strongman, who now calls Hamilton home.
“I always try to say this when I’m performing live. Obviously we live in a digital world. You can pretty much open your computer and watch anything that you want. But I really believe there’s nothing like being there as part of a live music experience with a crowd.”
The audience is as much a part of the show as the music being put out, he said.
“And when you get that energy back, it’s such an incredible experience.”
Strongman, who last week finished laying tracks for his next album, learned his chops from the best.
He’s played on stage with a who’s who of blues over the years, a list that includes the legendary Buddy Guy, the late B.B. King and Joe Cocker, and Robert Cray.
Also heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin’s blues-heavy catalogue, Strongman said if someone had told him when he was starting out touring the country in a rock band that the blues would take him to the heights it has, he wouldn’t have believed a word.
But his true influence was found a little closer to home.
“For me, I would say growing up with a guy like Mel Brown, who is an absolute legend. He had such command over his stage,” Strongman said.
Strongman is scheduled to perform at 3:45 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, the final day of the all-Canadian Thunder Bay Blues Festival.
The full Blues Fest schedule follows:
Friday, July 8
Tom Cochrane (9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.)
Serena Ryder (7:45 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
Gowan (6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.)
James Boraski & Momentary Evolution (5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.)
Camden Blues (4 p.m. to 5 p.m.)
Saturday, July 9
Colin James (9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.)
Jonas & The Massive Attraction (7:45 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
Downchild Blues Band (6:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.)
David Gogo (5 p.m. to 6 p.m.)
Steve Hill (3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.)
Carson Downey Band (2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.)
Terra Lightfoot (1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.)
Loose Cannon (12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Sunday, July 10
Burton Cummings (9:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.)
April Wine (7:45 p.m. to 9 p.m.)
Jack De Keyzer (6:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.)
Dawn Tyler Watson (5 p.m. to 6 p.m.)
Steve Strongman (3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.)
The Devin Cuddy Band (2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.)
The Chain (1:15 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.)
The Roosters (12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
