Fans of One Horse Blue can rest easy. Rocko Vaugeois has officially moved back home after living in Vancouver for 25 years.
Back in the ’70s and ’80s, Vaugeois drummed for the full-throttle, country-rock crossover band. At that time One Horse Blue was one of the most renowned Alberta representatives to tour the country, parading its unique western style.
Once again the St. Albert-born musician is turning on his magic on March 6 at The Tuesday Moosehead/Barsnbands Open Stage at LB’s Pub.
Vaugeois’ return to his roots was prompted by the downward slide in Vancouver’s club scene.
“People don’t go out as much anymore. The drinking and driving laws are very strict and people are afraid they’ll be stopped. There’s also a very large Asian community and they’d rather karaoke,” Vaugeois chuckles.
When the country-rock singer dropped by Calgary and St. Albert to visit family, he found himself working every weekend.
“I liked the work. I didn’t like winters, but I could handle it,” he laughs.
With a fresh start also comes a new album. Back in 2008, the bilingual singer released a solo album HĂ´tel Chat Noir that received strong interest in both English and French circles.
The gravel voiced singer/songwriter hopes to have his new 12-track, Just Blue, out by the summer.
“The packaging and manufacturing stages have been delayed,” he explains. However, he has posted five samplers on his Myspace page.
The open stage gig mixes his older music with the new sound. There’s Driftin’, a song about “being out of control, going into a skid, but still being in control of the situation.”
And then he plans to revisit the title track of his 1981 One Horse Blue album Livin’ on the Edge.
“It was inspired by a book I was reading called No One Here Gets Out Alive. It was a bio of Jim Morrison. I was walking to the liquor store one night and I just came up with a riff. But this one has a different arrangement, a different feel, a different key,” he said.
For more than 30 years Vaugeois has ridden the unforgiving rollercoaster of the music industry. In the old days it was tough to record because of the expense, but touring used to be the bread and butter for a lot of aspiring musicians.
Today recording with an at-home computer is cheap and allows musicians the luxury to take their time and be more creative, but selling records is often extremely difficult.
“I’ve given away more copies of Chat Noir than I’ve sold. People are wanting free downloads,” says Vaugeois who puts meat on the table as a renovator.
“People don’t realize that to create and sustain music, there has to be an income and that without an income there are going to be fewer and fewer good recordings.”
Today, with high fuel and hotel costs, bands wanting to tour think twice about travelling cross-country.
“My last major tour was in 1993 with Michelle Wright and John Berry and eight guys. We toured 40 cities across Canada. It was a sell-out across Canada but we came home and the principals owed $5,000 each,” he said.
“But we don’t regret it. It was well worth it for the fan base we accumulated. It was great exposure but it came at a price.”
Despite the challenges, this is one old dog that refuses to lie down. At the Tuesday jam, Vaugeois will be rocking out the night, sharing some of his stories and songs along with Shaun Cooney and Jeff Lisk.
“Shaun is a phenomenal player. He worked at the Sun and Journal and retired from music for 24 years. But he pulled a guitar out of the closet and he hasn’t lost a thing,” Vaugeois said.
Open stage host Mark Ammar adds, “His style, whammy bar use and tone has been heard on a lot of stages in the past two years.”
The Chicago-born Lisk was dubbed The Mad Drummer and has been hailed as a virtuoso in jazz and Latin genres.
The open jam starts at 9 p.m. No cover.
