BACKING from the tracks
Musicians team up with Via Rail for train concerts
A program offered by Via Rail has allowed artists like Montrealer Corey Gulkin to save money on transportation while entertaining passengers.
Three years into her music career, Corey Gulkin had never played at a venue like this before: there was no formal stage, no mic. And the ground was moving. Gulkin was on a train, singing as part of Via Rail’s On-Board Musician program. The company gives artists complementary or reduced fare in exchange for performing en route to their destination.
The idea came about when Halifax-based indie/jazz band Gypsophilia decided to pull out their instruments and entertain fellow passengers while travelling on Via Rail.
“The response was overwhelming,” said Steve Del Bosco, chief marketing and sales officer for Via Rail. “Many passengers commented on how the live music added to their experience.”
So in 2009, Via Rail decided to officially start hosting musicians onboard their long-haul trains — the ones that travel from Montreal to Halifax and Toronto to Vancouver. While there aren’t musicians on every trip, Via Rail has hosted more than 300 acts to date.
Some of the performers initially applied to the program so they could avoid paying hefty transportation costs. The savings could mean the difference between going on tour and making a name for themselves or getting stuck playing only local gigs.
“I was able to expand in a way that I would not have been able to do for a couple of years,” said Gulkin, a 26-year-old Montrealer, who has performed at venues in Halifax, Vancouver and Winnipeg with the support of the program. “Gas is expensive and you need a driver’s licence, which I don’t have.”
But once on board the train, Gulkin, whose stage name is Corinna Rose, said she came to appreciate the unique environment. Traversing the nation, for days on end and with space to walk around, encourages people to reach beyond their comfort zone and get to know each other.
“There’s more room to talk to people and ask them about their stories and have that intimate connection,” Gulkin said.
And sometimes those conversations turn into lasting friendships. Last spring, Gulkin was performing with another Montreal musician, Gabrielle Papillon, on a train ride from Vancouver to Toronto. In the audience was Johanna Nutter, a Montreal actress best known for her one-woman play, My Pregnant Brother. After speaking, the three ladies added each other on Facebook; Nutter made a point to attend Gulkin and Papillon’s shows on the train. Her favourite song? In the Pines.
“They were so wonderful,” Nutter said. “They had beautiful harmony.”
One day, Papillon even did an impromptu version of In the Pines, a traditional American folk song, with a Jewish mother twist.
“My girl, my girl, don’t you lie to me,” she sang to the tune of In the Pines. “Tell me where did you sleep, last night.”
Then Papillon put on an accent inspired by her Jewish roots. “What, you never call me! Why, where are you, why, I don’t know where you’re going!”
Fits of laughter erupted in the car, Nutter said. “It was really fun.”
Like In the Pines, much of the music Gulkin and Papillon performed were folk songs, which complemented the view from the train. Rolling along the prairies while listening to music written by Joni Mitchell or Gordon Lightfoot is enough to make even performers emotional. When the ladies played The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, everyone in the train car sang along.
“I almost choked up,” Papillon said. “I was so moved.”