What’s in a name?
For a musician, a name can hold you back, or it can be freeing.
Ryder Bachman knows something about that.
Bachman will perform as a member of The Eclectics, a composite band made up of a changing roster of players, during a concert/dance at Eaglecrest Golf Club on Oct. 20.
Born Paxton Bachman, he has family in BTO, but the guitarist and singer was looking for a way to perform on his own terms, disconnected from his last name. So he began performing as Ryder Hawkins.
After about a year or two, Bachman said he had accomplished what he’d wanted, and took back his family name.
He said he knew it was time because something had changed between himself and the audience.
“All of a sudden, all the people at the gigs that I was playing, they weren’t just random faces,” said Bachman. “They were people I knew.”
“And I guess it started when I started getting a trust going back and forth between myself and the audience… I just realized that people just want to hear good music. They’re not too concerned about who my uncle is or whatever. They just want to have a good time and share some good music.”
That may as well be the motto for The Eclectics, a band local promoter Bart White pulled together at the last minute to perform at a New Years Y2K party.
Many bands were booked, and some had members who wouldn’t perform that night for fear of Y2K itself, he said. So White picked out members of several bands and said they’d play under the name The Eclectics.
The name and the concept has stuck, with The Eclectics (made up of various musicians) having performed more than 40 times over the years, with this upcoming show being their 42 performance.
The idea is to bring together different musicians to play together under a unified name, and see what happens.
And, rather than trading on the names of particular members or bands who may join The Eclectics, the audience grows to trust that White will put together an exciting, unique event each time, he said.
“It’s a beautiful concept,” said Bachman.
This time, longtime Eclectics contributors Shawn Carle and Gerry Barnum will be performing, among others, along with Bachman and members of his band, Bruce Jacobs on bass and Robert Vail Grant on drums and trumpet. The performance will have different groups of musicians at different times, ending in a large group-ensemble.
“It’s always a blessing to play with different talents,” said Bachman. “Like with the jam that I host every Sunday at the Fanny Bay Inn, you get some different jammers every week, you get a different flavour.”
The flavours Bachman and his bandmates will be adding ranges wide, from a country-fried rock and roll, blues, funk, and more. Bachman notes that they particularly like playing to the audience, ready to bring up some Bruno Mars and Red Hot Chili Peppers for the younger crowd, and older standards for the more experienced.
“Our favourite music to play is soul music, funk, RnB, Blues, like a country-fried version of that,” said Bachman.
Tickets for the Oct. 20 show, with doors opening at 8 p.m., are $25 each, and can be purchased at Cranky Dog Music in Parksville, at the Eaglecrest Golf Club, or by calling 250-228-2540. Any tickets not purchased in advance will be available at the door.
