The last time Vancouver-based singer/songwriter John Pippus played music in a Squamish venue, bell-bottoms were the fashion.
I played in Squamish at The Chieftain Hotel back in the 70s, he said. I remember I was in a rock band and I was wearing a pair of silver lam pants. The guys in the band gave me a hard time about those silver lam pants, but when a couple of girls came up and were eyeing me during the show I think they started thinking about getting some silver lam pants of their own.
On Saturday (Jan. 15), Pippus returns to Squamish for a show at the Howe Sound Brew Pub, minus the silver lam pants, and with an urban folk sound that sits somewhere comfortably between the gritty songwriting of Bruce Cockburn and the working-man melodies of John Hiatt.
In the 40 or so years between Squamish shows, Pippus spent some time away from music, but eventually found himself back with a guitar in his hands and a different mindset, thanks to experience and maturity.
When youre young, you have these dreams of being a star, he said. So when I started out I was all about the rock n roll and the girls.
But after several years playing in bands, Pippus decided to settle down.
Music doesnt pay, he said. There are a lot of musicians but very few make it to stardom. If you want to make a living but arent a star, then you have to play covers six days a week, and I didnt want to do that. So, I settled down for about 20 years, got a job and raised a family.
However, music was still in Pippus soul, even if he didnt have a way to express it.
I didnt even have a guitar, he said. But after the kids grew up and left home, a friend of mine told me I had to have a guitar, so he gave me one and its the one Ill be playing on the 15th at the Brew Pub in Squamish.
Pippus is also a successful playwright and actor and just this past summer, he performed his award-winning, one-man musical memoir Oh Winnipeg! at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. In 2009, Oh Winnipeg won Pick of the Vancouver Fringe Fest.
He has also shared the stage with the likes of Jackson Browne, earned a lot of critical praise, and recently released his second full-length CD called Born a Genius.
Plus, only a few days ago he was sitting in Bryan Adams studio working on more songs for yet another release.
On Dec. 29 I had the opportunity to record a song at Bryan Adamss studio in downtown Vancouver, he said. The producer of Born a Genius was doing some work there and I got the opportunity to go and work in this crazy, state-of-the-art studio.
It was a far cry from the basement studio where he recorded Born a Genius, but Pippus takes it all in stride these days, thanks to having arrived here by a longer road.
Whether youre playing with a band, solo or in studio, youre just trying to nail a performance, he said. Now, I have a humbleness and a thankfulness about things. I celebrate my little successes. I wish I had the energy I had to rock all night like when I was young, though. What is it they say? I wish I knew then, what I know now?
Maybe he would have re-thought the silver lam pants.
Catch John Pippus at the Howe Sound Brew Pub on Saturday (Jan. 15). Theres no cover charge.
Go to johnpippus.com for more info.
