PLAIN FOLK

by Les Pearson
It’s a Small Folk World or All Roads Lead to Mary (Gauthier, that is)!

The folk world is small and filled with round trip journeys.

Dan Walsh plays dobro back-up for emerging roots singer-songwriter, Romi Mayes. This is South Country Fair and Dan will be on the road throughout the hot summer months. Festival dates unroll like a well-worn rug.

Dan has been a road musician for twenty years. Until last January, when he hooked up with Romi, Dan was with Fred Eaglesmith and the Flying Squirrels.

There used to be 250 shows a year with Eaglesmith. But last year it all went south and Fred down-sized to a four-member band. Now Eaglesmith and his boys are affordable in small town Canada where it all began. Dan and I muse. Eaglesmith is always worth the $25 ticket. Numerous Fred Heads would agree.

Dan has been touring since adolescence when he played in an Ontario heavy metal band. That stint set him up financially. He bought a house and car and even toyed with record producing.

That was the 80’s. In the 90’s he stayed close to home and played in house bands. Then, last year, he met Romi Mayes and their musical karma cooked. They have toured steadily since.

Dan’s loyal praise is laced with genuine admiration for Romi’s talent. She can tell memorable stories with few words. He considers his words carefully. He flatly declares, “It’s one of the things that separates the real good songwriters from the OK songwriters. And I think she’s a real good one.”

But what about Dan’s songs? His head rolls back and he laughs. “Dan Walsh can hardly put a sentence together.” He explains that his career has been based on “…supporting songwriters, trying to make their songs a little better.”

Yes, he helps Romi come up with the hooks. “If I shine, I guess that’s where it is.” But today Dan is more serious about sound production. He helped master Romi’s latest CD in conjunction with Busted Flat, a small Ontario production company. And that should have ended our conversation.

But an echo from Geoff Berner floated to mind. Geoff believes that great sound recording today requires only a good computer. He is not sold on studio production.

Dan reflects seconds and bites the bait. “Yah, you need a really good computer…and a really good ear…and a really good eye to where you place microphones.” And there is no one better at this than Romi’s co-producer and Dan’s friend, Gurf Morlix!

Dan grows ten feet in the instant. And a story about a touring artist changes in scope and meaning.

Just an hour earlier, mention of The Waifs had channelled me to David Ross Macdonald. Now the mention of Morlix re-kindles our conversation. Gurf is studio musician and vaunted producer for Mary Gauthier’s recordings. Yes, Mary is Dan’s old friend. Mine too! I’m a fan. The folk world shrinks. The conversation blazes. Shared stories make us friends.