Brian Fox

Brian Fox can’t remember a time when music was not a part of his life. Born to a father from the Ottawa Valley and mother from the farm regions of Southwestern Ontario, the tradition of making your own music in the home was alive and well. Family gatherings most times had a guitar, a piano or a fiddle and many times all three.

At the age of ten Brian began formal music lessons to learn to play the guitar but before that time numerous elementary school teachers had twigged to his vocal abilities and he participated in numerous choirs and as a featured soloist.

In the late 1960s a new musical phenomenon was “making the scene” and as it turned out London Ontario was at the leading edge of this movement at a time when a guitar in church was just this side of sacrilege. St. Andrew the Apostle Church in London Ontario under the direction of Jerry Woodman and Kevin MacDougal took a group of enthusiastic high school students and created a choir that over the course of 4 years led worship at their own church, numerous churches in the London area and across Canada and parts of the North East USA. The group was in constant demand to demonstrate this new musical idiom at the request of curious pastors. Five phonograph albums were created (remember those big black CDs) and over 150,000 were sold to help fund the travel. This was a formative time in Brian’s musical journal as it led to large amounts of time devoted to rehearsal and public performances. The St. Andrew The Apostle Folk Choir performed at Centennial Hall in London, Ontario place in Toronto and here is a piece of trivia forgotten by history.

Which musical group entertained the multitudes while they waited for the return of the victorious Team Canada after the famous 1972 tournament? St. Andrew the Apostle Folk Choir from London Ontario was the one and only! Who knew?

At the age of seventeen Brian was given the chance to sit in with the New Modernaires at the 401 Plaza dance hall in Lambeth Ontario. This turned into an eight year engagement. Besides playing guitar in the rhythm section Brian was called to also provide a few pop tunes to give the band a bit of relief. At one of the annual rehearsals (yes they only practiced once a year) the bandleader Ron Shadbolt played a vocal recording of the “At Last” and asked Brian “Can you sing like that?” Brian said “Sure” and a new big band singer was born.

After taking an engineering position with CFPL TV in 1980 Brian was less present in musical performance arena due to the time demands of that industry, but he continued working as a music director at his church during those years.

In 1992 Brian was asked to sit in with a little rehearsal Jazz trio setup by Phil Murphy on clarinet with Ron Fleming was manning the double Bass. This was to be another turning point in Brian’s musical journey as the demands of providing Jazz harmonies on guitar in such an exposed ensemble are challenging. After a year of “casual” rehearsals, mandated weekly by Phil, the band starting working the London area and even took a job in Toronto on an occasion. Brian made a study of the art of Jazz accompaniment and developed a new solo sound for this “cool jazz” format.

Brian is currently spending his time managing the interests of Western Union’s operation across Canada but has his own recording facility in Markham Ontario where he does some arranging and production for himself and others.

Audio

Nice and Easy Does It All The Time - Brian Fox vocal. Recorded in his own studio

 

Many thanks to Brian Fox for contributing the audio and narrative.

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