Charity Event – In Light of an album release…

Auspicious – the chance/likelihood that the evening is going to be a success seems certain or already guaranteed like it’s already happened, and congratulations are in order. But how can an event that has been carefully planned but not yet executed, that is currently being set up to welcome its guests that same evening, be deemed a success before it has happened?

We can compile a short checklist to help us deduce why:

The event is a musical showcase. It is in fact, an record release party.
Tickets have sold out.
The event is a fundraiser for the local hospital: the CGMH – Collingwood General & Marine Hospital.
The aforementioned showcase/album release party features none other than Shane Cloutier.

Orillia born guitarist/vocalist/singer-songwriter Shane Cloutier has called Collingwood home for the past 15 years. Dovetailing off an established musical career in the GTA, Shane has propagated a new fandom as well as numerous friendships in Collingwood while playing in seemingly every local venue and on every local stage. The established following of fans based on artistic merit alone, over the span of some 25 years of musicianship in total, is impressive enough.

However, the other faction of fandom and friendship stems from Shane’s concurrent career as a musical instructor. Proprietary to Shane’s day job as a guitar teacher, his students have been independently informed, influenced, educated and inspired based on their one-on-one time with Shane alone; without being privy to his previous performances at neighbouring venues.

So familiar faces will be present this evening. Faces of people that are familiar with Shane and familiar with his performances.

But there is an unfamiliar factor in this evening’s show. Our hitherto eclectic electric guitar playing protagonist has recorded his first-ever acoustic album, and will be reciting and releasing it tonight…

It may seem odd that someone with such a deep well of experience would be anxious before a gig. But as Shane says, “This album is a big body of work and is a big piece of me”, it carries more weight than previous album recording endeavours as it’s more personal; and as it is more personal, it can (and highly likely will) solicit a more human response from the listener. In lieu of “Hey what a nice tune” the listener may respond with “I can relate, this song means something to me”. This relationship between the songwriter and listener may, in turn, thread a needle that that listener will use to weave their own story and art.

The show is about to begin and the anticipation builds…

The show ends with the penultimate experience of applause and cheering, the crowd loves it. The catharsis felt upon writing and releasing this album must certainly be amplified. Indeed, it was literally amplified on this evening.

And the final experience of the evening, as the house lights came up and the crowd filed out was, as initially stated; that lingering feeling of auspiciousness. The evening was going to be a success. There was never any doubt…