From Teacher to Bluegrass Musician!

Tom McCreight

Sometimes what we do in our retirement is an extension of what we did in our earlier life. Tom McCreight was a teacher in North York and he loved being a teacher. His career took him to all areas in the board where he taught math and sciences. One day the music teacher at his school came to him and told him that he was putting together a band and asked Tom if he would like to be the bass player. Well...... Tom had never played the bass but hey he knew a few chords and before he knew it, he was playing in a band. Ultimately that group went where most groups go but by now he had become involved with the Toronto Bluegrass Committee. He received a call and was asked to put together a house band and they started playing The Brunswick Hotel in downtown Toronto on Saturday afternoons. Ultimately this led to the founding of SILVERBIRCH of which Tom is the sole remaining member.

SILVERBIRCH

Retirement came and Tom got more and more involved with bluegrass. The band continued to play and Tom started selling bluegrass CDs under the name Coot. His business grew as did his nickname, "The Old Coot."
This ultimately led to his publishing a quarterly newsletter and you can still find his column at The Blugrass Music Association of Central Canada website. http://www.bmacc.ca/

Through his association with "his hobby" Tom met Mike Stevens, the famed harmonica player which led to his involvement with Arts Can Circle.
http://www.mikestevensmusic.com/

During a layover in Gander, Mike talked a reporter into taking him up to Davis Inlet. What he saw and experienced http://archives.cbc.ca/society/poverty/clips/11525/ led to the founding of Arts Can Circle, an organization which, in their words: "is an independent, volunteer-run group working to link creative artists with Native youth at risk in Canada. Our hope is to encourage self-esteem amongst Native youth in isolated communities through a cooperative exploration of the arts."

So Tom continues to play bluegrass but now his hobby has led to a much greater involvement with a much larger project.
You can catch Tom and Silverbirch on Saturday March 28, 2009 as they play a concert fundraiser for Arts Can Circle at The Uxbridge Music Hall. He has been very grateful for past support from the merchants and people of Uxbridge. Previous concerts have been extremely well received and supported especially by The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 170 and by the Rotary Club. There are only 300 seats in this wonderful hall and tickets can be puchased for only $15 at The Blue Heron Book Store. Come on out for a wonderful night of Bluegrass!!

When I asked Tom for a favourite quote he said, "I'd rather be sorry for something I did than something I didn't do."
Ya gotta take a chance and get out there and do it!!