Dennis Kalichuk brought “Love, Lust & Laughter” and an intriguing selection of his stories in song to the Princess Ave Playhouse stage in St. Thomas this past Saturday evening.
Dennis is a fine storyteller whose subjects range from breaking up to bullying, St. Thomas, competition, joy and, as he noted at the beginning of the concert, love and lust. His lyrics are poetic but direct – he expresses his thoughts in an imaginative and sincere manner. Throughout the evening Dennis shared insights into the sources of his music – from the street as he gazes daydreaming out his window, to childhood experiences, and even encounters on his mail route – many have a St. Thomas flavour.
Dennis is a fine storyteller whose subjects range from breaking up to bullying, St. Thomas, competition, joy and, as he noted at the beginning of the concert, love and lust. His lyrics are poetic but direct – he expresses his thoughts in an imaginative and sincere manner. Throughout the evening Dennis shared insights into the sources of his music – from the street as he gazes daydreaming out his window, to childhood experiences, and even encounters on his mail route – many have a St. Thomas flavour.
The powers of observation and shading that appear in Dennis’s visual art are also demonstrated in his lyrics. He matches them to formats ranging from ballad to rock to blues (or vice versa, as Dennis notes that sometimes the music comes first, then the words). Saturday evening, he played a full show with lots of variation in sound and pacing, which is really quite impressive considering he wrote all of the words and music.
The talented musicians who composed the band for this concert seemed quite happy to be playing Dennis’s music and helping him to tell his stories – the atmosphere was more of earnest great musicianship than the “laughter” element of the show Dennis noted was to come from the band members. They included Kim Ladd on bass, Kerry Molen on cajon box drum, Guy Miskelly on guitar, and Dean Greer with back-up vocals. Dennis sounded great playing and singing his songs. There was a nice interaction between Dennis and band members and they seemed to be increasingly in sync as the evening progressed. Let’s hope they find some future opportunities to get together and to invite audiences along to enjoy their sound.
Find out more about Dennis, his music and art at www.denniskalichuk.com.
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