“Age means nothing; the thing that connects us all is music.”
Airdrie musical legends, back row: Al Lukiw, Lori and Greg McRitchie; front row: Gayle and Bryant Davies.
What makes someone a music legend in Airdrie? One local musician, with his fingers on the pulse of the community’s scene, has an answer.
“I don’t think I’m old enough for legend status, yet,” Steve Jevne says, laughing. “But I think it’s those musicians who show up week after week [at open mics]. There’s no ego, just a love of playing with others and sharing their talent and knowledge with anyone.”
Based on these criteria, Jevne provided a handful of names. There are many more, he says, but that would be several stories.
Al Lukiw is a pipe inspector by day and a longtime fixture at open mics by night. He’s famous for his ability to play any song on his guitar.
“It’s my ear. I hear it, and it just goes right to my fingers somehow,” he says. “It’s a cool party trick.”
Lukiw has played for most of his life, performing professionally in various bands in Calgary from his 40s to 60s. It was the move to Airdrie 15 years ago that introduced him to the city’s open mic culture.
“I went to a jam at the Legion, and I met Bryant and Gayle [Davies], and the rest is history,” he says.
The “history” Lukiw he refers to is years of jamming and collaborating, and also supporting rising new talent.
“The cool thing for me is all the young folks that have come up,” he says. “You get to witness their beginning from the perspective of all the years that you’ve put into your craft and your passion, the thing that you love. Open mics give you that opportunity.”
Greg and Lori McRitchie have been a fixture on the Airdrie music scene since the 1980s, long before open mics. Greg has been a potter, and Lori is the retired director of the Airdrie Food Bank.
“We’ve been around a while, but I’m not sure if that’s legend-making,” Greg says with a laugh.
Both he and Lori have been involved in music for more than 40 years, playing in a local church, at open mics, and wherever there is an opportunity to jam.
“You know, people who share a love of music, there’s just something about that community that is our people,” Lori explains. “We go and we feel accepted.”
Greg agrees: “You know, you don’t have to be good, but you want to be. It makes you want to be better.”
The chance to help younger musicians is important to them.
“They come and sing a song and ask, ‘What do you think of that one?’ We like to be an encouragement and a sounding board for them as they are taking off in their careers,” says Gayle.
Bryant Davies is a retired pipe fitter and didn’t start playing guitar until he was 41. “I was at the Wayne Hotel, and a group of guys were playing Hank Williams and Pink Floyd, and I went, ‘Wow, I really got to have some of that.’ So, I bought my first guitar at a pawnshop in Forest Lawn,” Davies says.
His wife, Gayle, later learned the mandolin, and the two have played together and in bands for 20 years.
Like Lukiw and the McRitchies, they’ve performed at open mics in Airdrie and Calgary, and host music events in their garage, regularly playing with other local legends and up-and-coming musicians.
“There is this community of musicians in Airdrie, and they’re all friends, and they help each other,” says Bryant.
It’s this sense of being together and sharing with each other that Bryant loves about Airdrie.
“You know, it’s just this connection that goes beyond your humanity,” he says. “Age means nothing; the thing that connects us all is music.”
