Homecoming

The question that always throws Jamie Gerow for a loop after Flipper Flanagan’s Flat Footed Four have performed on stages across the city is ‘where are you from?’

“Thunder Bay, we’ve been here for 45 years” is always the reply given by the group’s guitar player.

Flipper Flanagan has been a mainstay in the local music scene since the late 1960s. They spent the majority of the ’70s playing bars like the Neebing Hotel and the Lakeview Lodge and later took time in the ‘80s to focus on their families and raise children. It wasn’t until the mid ‘90s when they decided to reunite at the behest of Neebing owner John Beals.

Since then the band, self-described as Canadian Celtic Appalachian folk music, has been playing enough gigs to keep them busy in-between spending time with their grandchildren.

Flipper Flanagan began with Bob Balabuck (banjo) and Brian Thompson (mandolin, other assorted instruments); they went through different names and lineups including the Unknown Five, Six Pack and Behind the Eight Ball.

They picked up Gerow in 1973 and three years later Jack Wall (bass) became the fourth member of the current lineup.

Wall came into the group on a temporary basis.

“Our bass player had a snit on stage and quit in the middle of a show,” said Gerow. “I saw Jack out in the audience and he’d had a few to drink. He said he’d fill until we found someone else, so he’s still here.”

“We made it official on his birthday a couple of years ago,” Thompson added. “We said you’re going to be an official member now.”

Since reuniting almost 15 years ago, the band has gone from playing mostly the bar scene to playing shows in churches and auditoriums. And with their side project, the Grumpy Grampas – music targeted at kids – their fan base spans all ages.

Playing more shows where there’s no alcohol involved has caused the group to make their music tighter and hone their skills as musicians. Although, they’ve yet to find someone who can play left- and right-handed banjo like Balabuck.

Their bar audience today compared to the ‘70s has also changed; they’re not as rowdy and don’t stay as late.

“Like us, they’re getting older,” joked Gerow.

“Playing in pubs years ago, people were really getting into the music,” said Thompson. “They’d be dancing and hooting and hollering. We got a really good response. It can be hit and miss these days. I’m not sure what that’s about.”

He added Northwestern Ontario is becoming known for a non-responsive audience.

“I think they appreciate you, but they just don’t jump up and down and scream like they used to,” he said.

But what has surprised them is the reaction from youth.

“We’re getting a lot of respect from those younger people,” Balabuck said.

“It’s sort of surprising because I would have thought ‘a bunch of old guys up there, oh my god, what’s going on?’” Thompson said. “They really get into it and it’s been a lot of fun.”

But Flipper Flanagan is returning to its roots next weekend. They’ll be returning to their former watering hole, the Neebing, on Dec. 3 for a Party Like It’s 1978 show.

“We had a lot of fun back in the ‘70s at the Neebing Hotel, for about three years there. It was just a gas,” Gerow said.

For this show Gerow said they wanted to celebrate the good times there again and have a good time with people who knew them then or haven’t yet had the Neebing experience.

“The Neebing, we kind of had a real birth there of Flipper Flanagan,” said Balabuck. “We did our first album there, our final LP if you wish.”

On the set list are old staples like Fox on the Run, Black Velvet Band and other traditional favourites as well as some of the original material the band was written in more recent years.

“Our motto when we used to play the Neebing was come and go nuts,” Gerow said. “That’s what we’re suggesting. Come and have a good time.”

Flipper Flanagan’s Flat Footed Four hits the stage at the Neebing on Dec. 3 at 9 p.m. Admission is $5 at the door.