The Stampeders riding into Vernon, Kelowna
Rich Dodson is not only bringing his “brothers” in The Stampeders to Kelowna on April 8 but his wife and daughter as well.
The lead guitarist for the predominant Canadian rock ‘n’ roll band of the 1970s isn't worried about bassist Ronnie King and drummer Kim Berly on their 13-date British Columbia tour. But he is concerned about the two women checking out shoe stores in the Central Okanagan.
"It will be sort of a family affair. My wife and daughter will be along to do merch (merchandise table) and all that stuff. It's always a good time,” he said.
As for their shopping, “it's the shoe stores. I just don't think there's a lot of shoe stores between Trail and Cranbrook so I'm not worried about that (area) but Kelowna...”
The B.C. tour begins in Victoria on April 4, hits Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre on April 7 (tickets through Ticket Seller: 250-549-7469), Kelowna Community Theatre on April 8 (all Select Your Tickets outlets: 250-762-5050) and Kamloops Sagebrush Theatre on April 9 (Kamloops Live Box Office: 250-374-5483), and ends in Courtenay/Comox on April 19.
With a schedule like that, there is not much time to enjoy the Okanagan's attractions like the wineries, Dodson admits.
“It's a barnstormer. We had an anchor date in Brooks, Alberta we had to get to so I guess there was avails (available dates) for this time in April. So we thought: 'Aw, what the heck? Throw it together and see what we can do.' Rock 'n' roll. One, two, three, go. When we drive it through, we'll see every tree,” he laughed.
As for the Okanagan dates, “it's been a long time since we've been down that way so I’m looking forward to it. We always love coming to Kelowna. We were in Vernon a year-and-a-half ago when our drummer got married. Officially, we haven’t played there (in the Okanagan) for seven or eight years. Hopefully, we’ll miss the (wild) fires and all that excitement. Hopefully, no sneaky blizzards. I think they’re all headed south to the U.S. There’s nothing out here. I’ve got to mow my lawn,” said Dodson in a phone interview from his Toronto home.
Berly lives north of Vernon so his bandmates figured if they were coming to Vernon for his nuptuals, they might as well put on a show for local fans. This tour could be dubbed Greatest Hits Live. “We’re going to do all the tunes that we’re known for, all the hits, and we’ve got a few new tunes to have a little fun with the audience. I look forward to the autograph meet-and-greet thing after that. That’s a lot of fun. And seeing the countryside. We haven’t done that area in a long time. Without a theatre tour, we’d never get to a lot of these locations. So that’s the fun part of it,” said Dodson.
“We’ve always been pretty close. We’re like brothers and it’s lots of fun touring with Ronnie and Kim. Every night is a little different. They like to kibitz and all that kind of stuff. So it’s been pretty good. We enjoy it.”
Like many professional musicians who have had successful careers and don’t have to continue touring to make a living, members of The Stampeders do it because they love performing their music to a live audience.
“I never realized how much I missed it ‘til we stopped doing it,” said Dodson. “I left (the band) in ‘78 and we reformed in ‘92. Every summer, the phone rings and we get our 20-25 dates or whatever. And it’s fun to do it. We see the whole country every year.”
Unlike many popular bands, the Stampeders don’t do tours of Europe, the Mediterranean, Far East or Australia/New Zealand, for example.
“We did the snowbirds’ thing last year, we went to Florida, but we don’t go down south (to perform) that much. It’s mostly Canada; we have such a strong base here. And Canada’s really nice and easy to tour. It’s inbetween a holiday and work; it’s not really work,” said Dodson, born in 1947 in Sudbury.
“My daughter right now is in Europe, Stockholm, Paris, all that stuff, with her band. That place is crazy, trying to get around there.” Daughter Holly Dodson is a singer-songwriter and vocalist in the Canadian synth-pop trio Parallels. Son Nick Dodson is the drummer.
As for retirement, “I don’t think I’ve ever had a job,” Dodson admitted with another laugh.
“Retirement from what? I hang out. I do a little bit of songwriting, recording. Various other little things. The odd project comes by. We still have a studio and do all that stuff. And I sort of manage, book the Stampeders. It’s enough for me. I’m not into doing five things at once. I like being with the family; I like being home. It’s nice to be able to go out and do 20-25 days and you’re done for the year. I feel very lucky in that regard. It’s like 25 weddings. My daughter’s band is pretty active.”
The Stampeders formed in Calgary, Alta. in 1964 originally named The Rebounds with five members: Dodson, Berly, Len Roemer, Brendan Lyttle and Race Holiday. They renamed themselves The Stampeders in 1965 and Roemer was replaced with Ronnie King and Van Louis. In 1966, they relocated to Toronto and became a trio in 1968 when Lyttle, Louis and Holiday left.
Dodson is best known for penning the group’s biggest hit, Sweet City Woman, which hit No. 1 in Canada and No. 8 on Billboard in 1971. He also wrote other notable hits for the band such as Wild Eyes (1972), Devil You (1971), Johnny Lightning (1974) and Carry Me (1971).
The Stampeders have been recognized by SOCAN for their Lifetime Achievement, been inducted into the SOCAN Songwriters Hall of Fame on five occasions and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for Sweet City Woman.
Dodson says he was influenced by instrumental bands of the 1960s such as The Ventures and The Shadows as well as Lovin’ Spoonful and The Zombies. On stage, he is known for playing his selfdesigned Fender double-neck guitar.
Dodson left the Stampeders in 1978 to pursue his interests in music production and built his own 24track recording studio called Marigold Studios where he produced his own solo material as well as producing and engineering Fate Stay with Me for Alanis Morissette in 1987. That same year, he began his nationally-distributed independent record label called Marigold Productions.
His successful solo career produced three top 10 hits in Canada including Lookin’ Back (1981), She’s Comin’ Back/Your Own Kind of Music (1985) and Cruel Emotion (1986). In 1994, Dodson released his solo songs on an album called Secret Hits on Aquarius Records.