I played with a band called the Alexander Browne Swing Orchestra for a few years. He’s a local person who does authentic music from the 20’s and 30’s with a big band. That was a neat experience for me to listen to a lot of that old music.
After that I sang with Johnny Ferreira and The Swing Machine for a couple of years and I got to go to Europe with them, which was really fun. Johnny used to play in Colin James’ band. The first time I showed up at a gig for Johnny Ferreira the other female singer in the band (he usually had has a couple of women singing backup parts and take turns doing a few solo songs) . The other singer suggested I be “campy” with Johnny. I thought “What?!” because up until then I was pretty serious and reserved on stage (I still am, but I used to be really hung up about talking to the audience). I was uncomfortable moving around but suddenly I was in a situation where I was forced to do background singer showy dance moves and really perform for this high energy music. It was really fun and a good experience for me to pull out of the shyness a little bit. And of course, going to Europe was amazing.
Where in Europe did you go?
I went to Germany, Switzerland and Budapest (Hungary).
How are the European audiences different than the ones in North America?
They were very enthusiastic and warm and really loved blues music. Johnny Ferreira’s stuff is mostly jump blues and they were so warm and receptive to it. Here (in Vancouver), they tend to be pretty quiet except for clapping between songs, but in Europe they’re hooting and hollering even at the beginning of jazz solos. And they would even sing to us sometimes. There was one day we had a gig, I can’t remember the town but it was a small venue where the walls were made of rock and it felt like being in a cave, which was intriguing and cozy. After a song that I sang the audience started singing “Heidi! Heidi!”, the theme song from the “Heidi” movie. And even though they didn’t know all the words they all sang it together and it was really cool. Those kind of things can happen over there.
Right now, I understand, that your music is being played on a sitcom television series?
They licensed one of my songs, “Play My Game” for an episode. I don’t know when it’s coming up, but it’s sometime during this season. They also got me to sing “These Boots Are Made For Walking” for the opening episode of the show. That was played over a really funny chase scene. I think you can stream it over the website. “Robson Arms” is what the show is called, and it’s on CTV and Comedy Network [this series, starring comedic actor Leslie Neilsen, is currently broadcast only in Canada].
Article comments
1 - Errol Walsh
Happy to endorse Pico's enthusiasm for Heidi McCurdy! Great singer, great songwriter! Its only a matter of time till she hits the heights!