I
think the second chapter really started with "Bart's", as everyone
affectionately called Bartholomew's Bar and Grill in the basement of the Executive
Hotel in downtown Victoria.
Just
previous to my weekend stints at Bart's I'd been playing at the Medieval Inn.
I had learned a lot of traditional English, Irish and Scottish songs and developed
quite a repertoire of sing-a-long and comedy songs. The Medieval Inn held
"Medieval Feasts" where patrons were given only a knife to cut their
food and mostly ate with their hands (they were often fed peas to add a bit
of humor to the proceedings). There was always a "Lord of the Manor"
appointed. During the evening if a guest wanted to go to the bathroom they
had to respectfully say "My Lord, I wish to make a pilgrimage to Canterbury"
- and, if he was in a gracious mood, the lord of the manor might grant this
wish with the proviso that the applicant sing a song or recite a poem or do
something to entertain the rest of the group. A similar scenario happened
if one wanted some salt.
I
was the musical entertainment and guided the evening to keep the festivities
lively and on track. It was a lot of fun for everyone. (I must confess that
here is where I learned to love English Trifle as well...) Don't remember
why I decided to move on, I think it was because the franchise was closing
down and the place had been sold, but my next gig was at Bart's.
Bart's
was a unique place. It had an old English flavor and the main bar already had
a piano player, Bruce Gardner, who was doing a lot of sing-a-long songs and
got the place jumping on the weekends. The place was always jammed and I guess
the manager figured he could have more of a good thing, so he opened up a banquet
room and made another small bar where I played for almost two years.
It
was great. I felt like I was entertaining guests in my living room and we were
all just having a party together- which I mentioned one day to the manager,
and, as you can see in the ad above, he decided this was a good name for the
room. A lot of the armed forces personnel used to come in, especially the sailors;
and also many of the soccer and rugby teams. The whole bunch loved to sing and
that's what we did for 4 hours straight.
The
patrons at Bart's were a loyal bunch and over the years I became good friends
with many of the 'regulars'. They were also somewhat protective - occasionally
a bit too 'protective'. One night I had a drunken heckler who just didn't seem
to want to shut up no matter how nasty I was to him or how much I embarrassed
him. I was usually pretty good with hecklers but this one got to me. I decided
to take a break in hopes he would just give up and leave. I sat down at a table
with the rugby players and muttered something under my breath about how much
this heckler was pissing me off. I guess they'd noticed what was going on and
were annoyed as well because, to a man, eight very large husky rugby players
stood up and one said "Don't worry Braden. We'll take him outside and have
a chat with him." I had to quickly calm the troubled waters before things
got out of hand and urge them to sit down and that I'd take care of it. The
loyalty was very heartwarming. The moral of this story is: don't piss off the
rugby players.
After
almost two years at Bart's I got itchy feet and began to travel and entertain
all over Vancouver Island and the lower mainland. One of my favorite places
to play was the Black Sheep Pub in Haney - a suburb of Vancouver. A fellow Dutchman,
Bill Kok, was the owner at that time and it was one of those places where we
were made for each other. The patrons liked me and I really enjoyed being there
and we got along fabulously. It was at The Black Sheep that I met Brenda - and
many years later we got married in a hot air balloon.
It
was also during this time that I met Lyle Crosbie. Lyle had recorded a couple
of hit records in the US and at that time was part owner of a recording studio
in Vancouver. We got together and recorded a 45 with "Along came Hopalong
Cassidy" on the 'A' side and sent it out to radio stations all over Canada.
The song got virtually no airplay - except for a small town in southern Alberta:
Stettler - there we rocketed to the number 6 spot. My claim to fame is that
I hit the top ten in Stettler, Alberta. I gave up recording after that and stuck
to live entertainment.
Shortly
after I got married I cut back on my singing and went back to university.
My experience there resulted in a re-evaluation of my life and a whole different
approach to how I wanted to live my life. In 1987 I decided to adopt a new
name as a symbol of this change. I wanted something that each time I spoke
it or heard it spoken I would be reminded of the choices I had made. In May
of 1987, "Hans Meier" officially became "Braden Corby".
After
university my music career became more and more part time as I delved into
other interests. It was revived again for a short while after Brenda and I
separated and in 1991 I went to Japan.
