Jeff Giles’ BUDDY HOLLY show is rockin’ into town
Hamilton performer is singing the big hits once more at Theatre Aquarius
No, Jeff Giles doesn’t think he’s Buddy Holly.
But he sure can sing like the be- spectacled lad that ruled the rock ’n’ roll stage back in the 1950s.
When he played the starring role in “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” at Theatre Aquarius back in 2011, Giles burned a patch off the stage. He was in fact, Buddy Brilliant. He walked out there a local kid and he walked off a star.
From the raunch of his throat to the twang of his guitar, Giles delivered the goods. You never felt he was just doing a Buddy impersonation. Much of that has to do with Giles’ own endearing personality.
Much of it too has to do with the fire he ignites when he sings the Holly songs.
Well, Giles is back. After many seasons of doing Buddy tribute shows all over the place, he’s returning to the Aquarius stage in a rock ‘n’ roll party that celebrates not only Holly, but some others from the genre’s golden age.
Giles, who grew up in Stoney Creek, fell in love with the Holly songs after finding some of them on LPs his parents had in their eclectic record collection.
“That music just hit me,” he said with the same boyish grin he had when he first played Holly all those years ago.
“I remember I drew a pair of glasses with magic marker on my picture. I was really into Buddy, but I never fantasized about being him. I’ve done a lot of tribute shows since appearing in the musical of Buddy’s life. When it comes to those, there are two sorts: those that are cheesy and campy, and those that take the performer and his music more seriously. I believe I’m in the second camp.”
The announcement of Giles’ show, a fundraiser for Theatre Aquarius, had the telephones ringing off the walls, so a second show was quickly scheduled. Both shows are well sold, so if you want a ticket don’t delay.
“Even in a tribute show, I play Buddy Holly as a real person,” Giles says. “I work to keep the energy up, to keep the audience engaged, to do more than just sing Holly’s hit songs. I’d like to think I’m giving an authentic impersonation. I inject trivia and information that relates to the songs and to Holly’s life.” Giles, 40, thinks for a moment, then smiles his still boyish smile.
“What have I learned over the last 25 years of my life performing on both big and small stages? Well, I’ve learned you have to give what you do everything you’ve got,” he said.
“For this current show, I’ve added more songs, more musicians and more passion. It’s not just about playing and singing the songs just like the records, it’s about making the songs something more. This is not, after all, a bar band show. This is something on a theatre stage with all that implies.”
Giles identifies with Holly’s influence in bringing young people together through music.
“I felt that same thing some years later. Singing Holly’s songs made me look inside myself. From the start, it’s made me look for what I can find that may mirror the man and his music.”
Giles gave up some of his theatre and music aspirations after the pandemic.
“I felt I needed to find more security, I needed the luxury of a steady income — I’ve found that at Theatre Aquarius. Most of my life, I’ve had a connection with this theatre, from attending Lou Zamprogna’s Aquarius Theatre School, performing in shows on the theatre’s stage and even serving as a bartender at one of the theatre’s lobby bars.
“Now I’m the operations and facilities manager here — I make sure the building is standing, I oversee things, I field rental requests, I order repairs, I deal with scheduling events. It’s all very practical.”
When you ask Jeff Giles if he’s given up performing, he grins.
“Of course not,” he laughs. “I’ll be on stage right here in this theatre March 26 and 27. Come see me.”