Six groups of local musicians are coming together to put on a concert in memory of Daniel Levesque, the talented Revelstoke musician who was killed in Victoria last month. Levesque had recently moved to Victoria to pursue a career in music.
Bon St. John, The Old Souls, The Blackbirds, The Sixth Interval, Bob Rogers Trio and Maritime Kitchen Party will all be playing at a concert that will raise money for the Daniel Levesque Memorial Scholarship at Revelstoke Secondary School on Saturday, Sept. 10.
“Each one of these bands, each one of these individuals, has somehow been touched by Daniel in their life,” said Steve Smith, who is organizing the concert along with Levesque’s band teacher Tessa Davis.
“When Tessa and I sat down and looked at all the people that wanted to play, we said that had to be a criteria,” Smith added. “You had to have been touched by Daniel in your life somehow. That’s all of us, everybody here.”
The idea for the scholarship came from one of Levesque’s best friends, Julian Romeo. “It was in my mind but he was the one who said we should do this,” Davis said.
She put the idea for a concert on Facebook and it was met with overwhelming response. As of late last week, more than 300 people indicated they would be attending on Facebook.
All the bands taking part are connected to Levesque in some way. The Old Souls consist of his good friends Riley Dickson and Jackson Yauck. The Blackbirds is made up of his friends Kurt Clayton and Taylor Roberts, who played at Levesque’s memorial last month.
Bon St. John is a group of high school students that Levesque peer tutored when they were younger, said Davis.
The Sixth Interval is Davis’ band. “It’s a combination of students and adults all playing music Daniel performed while at RSS,” she said.
The Bob Rogers trio is made up of Bob Rogers, Shannon Sternloff and Trevor Wallach. The first two taught Levesque over the years.
Finally, the Maritime Kitchen Party will headline. Levesque was a regular at the open mic nights the band has hosted at the Last Drop over the past two years.
“He started sneaking in here before he turned drinking age,” Smith said. “That was when they let kids in here and I just hit it off with him from there. I was blown away by the charisma, the calmness, the presence.”
Daniel Levesque; Courtesy photo.
Davis, meanwhile, taught Levesque for two years in concert band and jazz band.
“He was a very good kid,” she said. “He peer tutored my band class and my English class.
“He’s the only kid I had that could actually conduct at a concert. He actually did some of the directing.”
In addition to the music, the night will also feature a silent auction, of which the proceeds will go to the Thur Family Trust Fund to support Levesque’s mother Stacy and his younger siblings Joel and Lainey.
A DVD of the concert will be produced by Brent Veideman and will available for sale through the Revelstoke Photo House afterwards. All money from ticket sales and DVD sales will go to the scholarship fund.
After the concert there will be an after party at the Last Drop and $1 from the sale of every Mt. Begbie beer sold will go to the scholarship fund.
While the exact wording of the scholarship is being worked out, it will go to a music student at RSS, said Davis.
The Daniel Levesque Memorial Concert takes place at the Revelstoke Secondary School gym on Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students and seniors; and $10 for children under 10.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said the band The Blackbirds consisted of Kayne Cameron and Taylor Roberts. In fact, Cameron is not in the band, Kurt Clayton is. We apologize for any confusion this has caused.
