Steven Page to headline Academy Park concert in Lewiston

Former Barenaked Ladies singer has found success with Steven Page Trio

Preview by Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

One of Canada’s biggest, most recognizable voices is heading to Lewiston for a free concert.

Steven Page will perform Friday, June 6, on the Alphonso I. DiMino Memorial Band Shell. He will be joined by Steven Page Trio bandmates Craig Northey (guitar, vocals) and Kevin Fox (cello, vocals).

“Barry-Harden Productions is very excited to present Steven Page (formerly of Barenaked Ladies),” promotor, artist and music teacher Ray Barry said.

“This show has been a few years in the making, as I have been in contact with Steven’s manager for several years trying to make this work, so we are excited that it is finally coming to fruition.”

Roy G Biv and Darryl Tonemah will provide support for the concert, which will run from 6-10 p.m. (5 p.m. “doors”).

“This is also a free, open-to-the public event!” Barry said. “VIP tickets are available, as well, for those who want to guarantee a close spot to the stage.”

Page said, “I think there might be nothing I like more than playing outside when the weather is great, and being able to see the audience.”

“Just watching the audience sing is the greatest feeling for me,” he added.

Fans will have no shortage of material to share with Page, who brings a catalog filled with songs from his time with BNL, solo efforts, and contributions from his trio.

Page shared more in this edited Q&A.

•On his entry into music and a career as a musician:

Steven Page: Listening to music was always the thing. Hearing Beatles records or just putting headphones on, listening to albums as a kid, was what made me imagine being a musician.

But I never thought I was good enough at anything to do that for real. I sang in choir for years, all the way through high school, and when I was at York University, too, and I loved choral singing. I love the feeling. I was not a sports person, so I didn't have that experience of trying to achieve excellence with a group of people, or achieve something bigger and better than what you can do on your own. And that's what was so exciting about choral singing.

The voice is such an intimate and personal thing. To share that with other people, to do it in close proximity with other people, it's a real leap of faith. And that's the thing I think I enjoy the most about making music is being able to sing with other musicians and also with the audience.

When I started doing Barenaked Ladies, it was just because Ed (Robertson) and I really enjoyed singing together. We loved harmonizing, and we also laughed all the time, and we just enjoyed the time we spent together. The band was, like, almost a joke; we didn't really think we were a real band until we started doing shows and people started coming, and then I was like, “Oh, I guess this is what we do.”

I think it took me many years inside of that to kind of feel like, “Oh, OK, I'm actually a singer.” It's funny how your brain kind of tells you for so long that, “It's not real; you're not a real singer; you're not a real musician.” It took me a long time to kind of feel like it was a real vocation, that I was actually good enough to do it.

Steven Page rocking out on stage. (Photo credit: David Bergman // courtesy of SRO Management & Paladin Artists)

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•On what makes a great frontman:

Steven Page: For us, when we started, we had tons of time to fail on the road in crappy bars and comedy nights, whatever else, because we were opening for comedy groups – we were just playing everywhere we could. And a lot of it was, like, “How do we keep the audience's attention?” You have to engage with them.

But it was also watching other performers. For me as a teenager, going to see somebody like Billy Bragg was totally inspiring to me. Or I remember seeing John Prine, and these people like that who are great. They could tell stories in a way that it felt like your friend was telling you a story, not that this was the same story they told the night before. And somehow they'll weave that into the show.

Somebody like Billy Bragg – we'd be in Toronto watching the show, and he would know enough about Toronto to kind of like, somehow in his banter, tell you about the last time he was there, or things he knows that are going on politically in town, or whatever else.

It doesn't have to be a lot, but enough to let the audience know that you know where you are, and you know what is unique about it. And that really meant a lot to me early on as an audience member, and I think that's the thing I carried with me – I still carry with me – when I'm doing shows. I think it's important to actually have real connection with the audience. It doesn't have to be completely personal, but it's in the sense where you aren't doing exactly the same thing every night.

I think the way I approach it is like I'm catching up with old friends; so, we have some time to reminisce about the nostalgic stuff, and time to talk about what's going on now, and share some jokes. I think that keeps people engaged in the show.

•On fans who miss him being in BNL:

Steven Page: I appreciate that people feel a connection to what my contribution to that group was, to BNL, and I'm proud of that contribution and of what we did together.

I sing a lot of those songs in my sets now, and I hope that you have memories of coming to see us play. People come up and say, “I saw you at The Icon in Buffalo in 1991,” or whatever. I want those people to come back and reminisce with me about that at these shows.

Whether or not they go see the current BNL lineup, that's their call. I haven't seen them, but I would assume it's still an entertaining show. But I know that I brought something different to it.

And I think when I first went solo, I thought, “Oh, I'll put out the solo record; people will go, ‘Oh, he's the guy who did that in the band. OK; I'll follow that.’ ” And it was not as easy as that.

It's taken a lot of years to reestablish myself for my own contribution, whether it's through my solo material, or through the BNL stuff. I think there are a lot of people who, they love the band, and they love some of those songs, and they go see the show. They don't pay attention to who's in the band, or who sings what, or whatever else.

It took me a while to realize, “Oh, that's right”: When you have mainstream success, you're playing to all kinds of people – people who are obsessed with music, and people who just want to go out and have a good time. And that's all fine.

The Steven Page Trio (Photo credit: Robert Georgeff // courtesy of SRO Management & Paladin Artists)

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•On building a setlist for each show:

Steven Page: Well, yeah, I mean, it's 35 years of music you’ve got to cram into one set. And so, I'll definitely play new stuff, because, like I said, it's like catching up with old friends. I want to show people where I'm at; and I want to find out where the audience is at, too. But there's also lots of opportunities for us to sing “Brian Wilson” and “Enid” and “The Old Apartment” together.