April Wine to play Sunday night at Summer in the Park

Summer in the Park Committee
News Release

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The “Summer in the Park” Committee is thrilled to announce April Wine will perform Sunday night, August 4 at the 2013 Summer in the Park Festival in Lee Park, North Bay!!

With funding received from Celebrate Ontario, the Summer in the Park Committee is able to provide a concert free of charge to the public. This third night of entertainment will take place in Lee Park. Local bands; Jim Harney & Friends, The Beat Walkers and Terrorbirds will take stage prior to headliner April Wine.

Some of April Wine’s greatest hits include Bad Side of the Moon, I’m on Fire for you Baby, Roller, Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love, Oowatanite and You Could Have Been A Lady.



April Wine’s story began in Nova Scotia late in 1969. The Henman brothers, David and Ritchie, got together with their cousin Jim Henman and fellow musician, Myles Goodwyn, to form a band called April Wine - a name chosen simply because they were two words that sounded good together. Fifteen studio albums, three live releases, numerous compilations, a boxed set and thousands of concerts later April Wine has become enormously popular in Canada, the United States and throughout the world.

Following the release of Live At the El Mocambo, a fifth member was added to the band; Brian Greenway joined the lineup for the summer 1977 tour and gave the group some added flexibility. Brian could sing, write and play harmonica but his greatest contribution to April Wine was on guitar. Since Myles was a surprisingly skilled keyboard player it was invaluable to have a third guitar player and April Wine could now create arrangements for three guitars which would develop into the group’s trademark power rock image during the following years.

The studio album, “Back To The Mansion” released in 2001 was April Wine’s 15th studio album and first new release since 1994, and featured original members Myles Goodwyn (vocals, guitars and keyboards), Brian Greenway (guitars, vocals), Jim Clench (bass, background vocals), Jerry Mercer (drums).

“April Wine Live 2003” was released in the spring of 2003 and featured the band’s live
stage show. It was recorded in Kitchener, Ontario. It also featured Carl Dixon on keyboard, vocals and guitar who had joined the band for 3 tours.

In June of 2004 April Wine travelled to Sweden to be part of “Sweden Rock 2004”
They shared the stage with HEART, FOGHAT, UFO and many others.

In 2006 April Wine celebrated their 37th anniversary together with the release of their 16th studio album, “Roughly Speaking”. (Released November 21st 2006)

Jim Clench left the band in January, 2007. He was replaced by Breen LeBoeuf, a talented Bassist and Singer, and a longtime friend of Jerry and Brian. Breen brings the experience of his many years as a member of the legendary Quebec rock band “Offenbach”, with him to April Wine. The fans accepted Breen right from the first show at Higher Ground in Burlington, Vermont in February of 2007.

In November 2008, April Wine signed with ARM Entertainment of St. Paul, MN. to be their US agent. Roger Anderson and his company have been booking many shows for the band in the USA much to the delight of American fans. S.L. Feldman & Associates continues to represent April Wine in Canada. Late 2008 also saw the departure of Jerry Mercer from the band; about to turn 70 years of age in April of 2009, Jerry decided to retire. Jerry had been the driving drumming force of April Wine for 35 years!

Blair Mackay joined April Wine as the new drummer in January 2009. Blair has a Master of Music degree in performance and, like Breen, was accepted by the fans right from the first show, coincidentally at Higher Ground in Vermont.

In March of 2009, April Wine was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame during Canadian Music Week in Toronto. They also received The Lifetime Achievement Award for being part of Canadian Music History for 40 years.

At the Juno Awards on April 18, 2010, April Wine was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

2010 sees the band continue their hectic pace touring both the United States and Canada to acclaimed reviews. They continue to satisfy fans with a live mix of straight ahead rock n’ roll and power ballads, an April Wine mainstay.

In 2011, April Wine performed 62 shows throughout Canada and the USA to very receptive fans, including 14 sold out shows in 17 days in British Columbia theaters.

In July of that year, Breen announced he was leaving the band. After a search for a suitable replacement, Richard Lanthier was chosen as the new bassist bringing a new, tighter bass sound to the rhythm section.

2013 will see April Wine enter into their 43rd year as a band, with just as busy a schedule as ever… quite an accomplishment for any rock n’ roll band!

For more information please visit www.northbaysummerinthepark.ca

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