The four acclaimed musicians who comprise the Timewalkers are bringing their talents to the Dream Café.
Each member has spent their career contributing their creations to much of North America’s media, including songwriting for Michael Bublé and Anne Murray, CBC programming, and work with Buddy Holly’s former producer.
No member of the band identifies as the frontman, spokesperson Ron Irving said, every musician in the Timewalkers fills an important segment of their musical range.
“It’s not the Ron Irvings show, it’s everybody, because everybody’s a really good singer and songwriter in the band, and we all have a wealth of experience,” he said.
As an accomplished songwriter, Irvings spoke about the challenges of writing music that will sell commercially. When songwriters get word that a musician is in the market for new music, they tailor their new ideas specifically towards that artist.
“You have to know what they sound like, the range of their voice, and what they like to sing about,” he said. “You need to have a basic understanding of that and the song has to be appropriate for their next project – sometimes you write a song that would have been perfect for their last album, but they’re taking their next one in a new direction, so timing is everything.”
When a song isn’t embraced by the targeted artist, which happens more often than not, Irvings said he often salvages the ideas for other musicians, and sometimes applies them to the Timewalkers.
“It’s like the trickle down effect. If they don’t take it, which often happens, there may be a whole other pile of artists around the world looking for that song.”
Irvings said the music he writes is reflective of the 1960s and 1970s, the era he “grew up.”
“Listening to The Beatles and Eagles, and playing so many of their songs, so I basically taught myself how to write songs by learning from other great songs.”
On top of having fresh ideas, songwriting requires hard work and collaboration, he said.
“Sometimes you need inspiration, but there’s a lot of perspiration that goes into it as well.”
Despite pouring his heart into his work, Irvings admits that anything he writes will be perceived subjectively.
“What might be good music to me isn’t always good music to someone else,” he said, though the music of the Timewalkers “really appeals to our audience. They get to hear classic songs they love, and we get to put our own spins on them.”
Though it’s not a tribute show, he said, the crowd will be hearing many Timewalkers originals.
The Timewalkers play the Dream Café on Nov. 6 and 7, starting at 8 p.m. both nights.
Tickets cost $25 and can be purchased by calling 250-490-9012.