Albert Deigan on unlocking the mystery of music
Albert Edward Deigan could be defined in many ways. He is a musician, a producer and host of a radio show, a locksmith and a family man. It doesn’t matter which hat he wears at the moment, music has been and still is a great part of his identity as a human being.
Deigan was born in Westmount, Quebec, in the Herbert Reddy Hospital which no longer exists as a hospital.
“My family lived on the other side of the tracks, in what is now called ‘Little Burgundy’. My dad was a military man. My grandfather was military as well. My mom was raised in an orphanage after the first war. My parents met on a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in Montreal. I came into being after Dad got back from Wwll,” he said in an interview from his home.
The musician had two siblings, sisters, who have passed away and he is the only one in his family who had any interest for music. He’s got souvenirs of loving music when he was a child. Little did he know then that he would make a career of playing music.
“I used to listen to Buddy Holly and Jimmie Rodgers on the radio. I have a memory of lying in front of an old wooden radio waiting for the new Cricket`s song called ‘Maybe, Baby’.
Our family legend is that my late sister, Violet, was a friend of Oliver Jones a well-known Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Apparently, he used to come to our home and practice because we had a piano,” he recalled.
“My first instrument was of course a guitar. A Stella. I learned how to play Peter Gunn. To this day I still use an acoustic guitar for live performances. I love the sound of a well- played baritone guitar.”
Deigan never stopped honing his skills even if being a musician was not his dream as a young man. He was just a kid with two working parents who had a lot of time on his hands. Music will do that it grows on you.
“My first influence was from a live band called the Fendermen. I was 14 and one of my older friends took me to the Esquire Show Bar. I smoked a cigarette and pretended to look older. They let me in anyways because it was a Tuesday night. The guitarist at the time tuned to D in order to be in tune with the saxophones and I am sure that is where I fell in love with the sound of a baritone guitar,” he stressed.
His first ever performance was at Vincent Massey school, in Mackayville, Quebec (now renamed Lafleche). Today he calls Cowansville home but the odd thing is that the Hotel Maurice in Cowansville was his first away from home seven-night gig. He was 15, the head full of dreams and ready to hit the road.
“I made a living as a musician for the first 15 years of my working career. I joined the band Eddy and the Prophets and toured parts of Canada and the US. We landed up leaving Detroit to come home for Expo’ 67 just as the riots started,” he recalled.
“The Prophets re-emerged as a ninepiece band in the late 60s. The bands Raphael Exchange and Northern Lights followed until a move to Toronto where I joined the Buddy Knox (Party Doll) band touring Canada.”
Deigan moved back to Montreal in 1980 to pursue his locksmith career. Musically he became as he said a ‘weekend warrior’ like so many musicians have to do.
“Once I married and had children, being on the road nine months a year was not the best interest for a growing family. So I took a correspondence course and became a locksmith. That was how I supported the family, playing music became insignificant as a monetary source” he explained.
He credits James Brown, Chicago, Pink Floyd, Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks as his main musical influences. For many reasons, his top pick as an entertainer, singer, and songwriter is Garth Brooks.
“I play mostly country music these days. Some of the bands I have played with, working backwards, are current band Smokin` Country, Silverado, Mason Dixon Line, Les Gars D’orchestre. I can say that I have played with some of the best players and of course like 90 per cent of musicians, some of the worst. I enjoy playing with good and great players but even those who are not up to those levels have something to say with their music,” he commented.
After all these years of listening and playing music, Deigan now appreciates another side of the industry.
“I came to realize that most music we hear is created in the studio. Not by those who sing the songs but by those who work in the background, playing the sound on the mixer, reading the charts and then walking away after the recording,” he clarified.
“The world has changed since those early days of the electric instruments and seven-days-a-week gigs. Now my favorite instrument is a computer where music CDS can be created.
His daily routine now involves computers, writing songs, creating CDS and radio shows. “At this time I am taking a leave of absence from producing and hosting radio shows for CIDI-FM in Lac Brome after 10 years of work as a producer, host and board member. I am working on a CD right now containing tunes that were favorites of the people at the legion in Cowansville,” he added.
He has fond memories of his life as a musician, the peers and people he got to meet. Of course a lot of good and bad things happened on the road but also very peculiar experiences.
“The strangest experience is literally making up a song while playing before a large audience and getting an ovation for it,” he remembered.
Sadly for us, with the confinement we don’t have the pleasure of hearing our favourite musicians but there will be an end to this and eventually they will all be back to entertain us.