One-time Oshawa/Whitby musician returns home for rare performance

Many of you readers out there have, on occasion, tuned into the telly (shame on you) and would have seen the commercial for Bailey's Irish Cream where a cheeky chap at the last moment scoops the final drop away from the eagerly awaiting mouth of a beautiful young girl.

I have wondered whether the girl turned around and tore him a new one for his contemptible gesture. The chap is one-time resident of Oshawa and Whitby, Steve Puchalski, who is not only an actor but also an accomplished singer-songwriter. His band, Deromantic, will be playing Johnny B's Sept. 4 as part of the New Rock nights hosted by Matt Holtby of Champion Heartache.

They're a good match, the C.H. and Deromantic, with both leaning toward the alt-country side of the indie rock. Puchalski, who is in his early 30s, has a wonderful warm tone to his voice, one could say as smooth as that last drop of Bailey's. On their debut record for Familiar Music, it is supported by the haunting pedal steel work of Stew Crookes. The songs are wrapped in Rickenbackers, Hammonds and Wurlitzers. Brass and wind are also employed. Richard Underhill of the Shuffle Demons plays alto sax on a couple of tracks.

While creating an epic soul sound was important to him, it is rooted in the likes of latter-day Blue Rodeo. Hence the Deromantic moniker; it's a much more practical approach to play, appropriate, I guess, for one brought up in this lunch bucket culture. "It's a made up word" says this prodigal who thanks both the City Of Oshawa and the Town Of Whitby in the liner notes. He's grateful to them for keeping him grounded, he says, and for providing him with a very sensitive bulls**t-ometer.

It's a curious mix for an artist to be an actor and a player . . . two disciplines, one destination. The actor barren of all cover with just his body for his craft, the musician hidden behind gear, kit, guitar . . . effect pedals. Both up on the boards.

Puchalski takes a different tack . . . he is comfortable inhabiting the characteristics of another. It's the nakedness of being himself in front of an audience that makes him nervous. But, as in all things, fear is to be engaged, to be challenged for in doing so, fear itself retreats. Fair play to him for getting up there. Hometown gigs are rare for this prodigal so a hearty welcome is in order.

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William McGuirk is a freelance writer and longtime Oshawa resident. He can be contacted at wmacg@yahoo.com.