For Richard Farrow, music has always been about learning, ever since he first picked up an instrument nearly a quarter-century ago.
“I was about 14 years old,” he recalls. “I bought myself an electric guitar and an amp and I had no clue what to do with it.”
Fortunately, his father was also a musician and set him up with a lesson.
“He drew out three chords on a piece of paper and I practised them for a week solid and then me and my brother started playing songs after a week of practising this stuff on paper and then we just kind of taught ourselves the rest,” says Farrow, who’s come a long way since those early days, having been named one of five nominees for best country album in this year’s Indigenous Music Awards.
The nomination came as a surprise to Farrow, 37, who grew up in northeastern Manitoba – Brochet and Lynn Lake – and spent more than a decade living in Thompson before moving south this year so his wife could be closer to family and he wouldn’t have to worry about job security, something that became an issue for him working for Vale’s Manitoba Operations.
“I didn’t even know that I submitted anything,” he told the Nickel Belt News while in town April 20-21 to play a couple shows at Trappers Tavern. “My wife did it all. My wife took it and submitted everything through Manitoba Music and then I found out I was nominated for an award so it was kind of surprising.”
The exposure the nomination will bring is welcome, Farrow says, regardless of whether he ends up winning the award or not.
“It helps open up some doors and that’s just another thing you can put on the resume, right?” said Farrow, who will be performing this Canada Day at Dauphin’s Countryfest. “We’ll be doing an hour and 15 minutes there at country fest on the Bell MTS stage.”
Over the years, Farrow has opened for various well-known bands and musicians, including Tom Cochrane, The Sheepdogs and 54-40 during the Nickel Days social in Thompson and he says every person he’s ever played with has helped shape the musician he is.
“In the last 20 years I must have met hundreds and hundreds of musicians,” he said. “I can’t even remember all of them but you learn something from each and every one of those people and they have something to bring to you, each in their own ways because every musician is different. When you open your mind and open your heart and you learn those things instead of shutting everything out, it works out a lot better.”
Farrow is nominated for his album God Willing, which he recorded in Maple Ridge, B.C. last June with Tom Mckillip of Downe Under Recording. But most of his musical career has been about getting on stage with whoever he can round up at least a couple of weekends a month and having a good time.
“Having a good time is the main thing,” he said. “It’s more fun for me if I can have my friends up there with me and then we’re all having a good time and then everybody’s happy and it makes the stage atmosphere a lot better, too. Everybody’s having fun and laughing and joking around and then you can perform better as well.”
Now that he’s moved down south, Farrow is getting an opportunity to play some shows he might not have had the chance to while he was living in Thompson.
“I just got a call the other day to do a fundraiser in Winnipeg for the homeless,” he said. “There’s a bunch of us guys that are going get together and put on a big show down at the Thunderbird House on Main Street. We’ll be raising money for homeless people to shelter them and feed them through their cold winters so we’re going to all do our little part there and see what we can come up with. There’s a woman called the Bannock Lady. She’s going to be out there doing her bannock thing. I’m going to try to get some fish from some people here up north and if I can get enough we’ll get her to cook that up as well and we’ll feed the homeless and play music for them and just let them enjoy their day.”
The Indigenous Music Awards will be handed out May 18 in Winnipeg, but Farrow says whatever happens, music will always be his passion.
“It makes me happy and it makes me feel at peace,” he says. "That’s my escape time when I’m on that stage. It’s relaxing for me. I feel at peace with the world. You don’t have to think about work, you don’t have to think about your bills, you don’t have to think about anything like that. Just sing your heart out and we don’t worry about anything else when we’re up there.”
That lesson is something ne learned being around his dad and uncles, who all played music.
“It’s something that’s in my heart that I’ve always felt since I was a kid,” he said. “When I was younger, my dad and all my uncles played and they never did it seriously. It was just a basement band sort of thing.”
The pleasure of performing is a reward in and of itself, Farrow says.
“If you can’t have fun doing something that you love, then you may as well not do it at all.”
