Long & winding road: that leads to Sooke

MapleLine Magazine: Aug.25, 2010 See: ArtsinSooke.com >>

Singing about a one-road town by the sea.

Gord Phillips & The Assimilators gave a bang-up, rockin' good time concert on Sat. August 28, 2010 at Ed Macgregor Park on West Coast Road in Sooke:

more photos to come

Story and event photos by Mary P. Brooke.

COVER HEADSHOTS: Mayor Janet Evans, Elida Peers, Frederique Philip, Gord Phillips

<< Photo of Gord Phllips by Andrei Fedorov.

Magazine cover by Mary Brooke and Robert Kabwe.

What threads our four cover-celebrities together this issue? A highway! Known by many a name – Hwy#14, Sooke Road, the Sooke highway, or simply ‘the road’ – the stretch between Jacklin Road and Sooke town centre and beyond that to Port Renfrew both isolates and inspires an entire town. Feelings shared by many ended up germinating in quick-witted but ponderous lyrics by local singer-songwriter Gord Phillips – time spent on the road without pit-stops, the twists and turns, the memorials to accident victims, and the question “just what is it about Sooke that intrigues”.

Hwy#14 this summer had some of its shoulders widened and some of its trickier turns better marked by BC Transportation and Infrastructure workers but it’s still a route that requires a driver’s full attention, particularly in wet weather or fog, and especially at night (even more so in winter). But this one road is the lifeline that has brought a stream of tourists to our town and harbour for many years, providing a livelihood to B&Bs (including upscale Sooke Harbour House which has put Sooke on the global travel map) and some small shops and restaurants. This one road has held precious at its “Point B” (if Victoria/Langford is Point A) a town that has been the focus of Sooke historian and event organizer Elida Peers, a Sooke lifetimer who has cupped this town in her hands for decades. For Mayor Janet Evans the road has fostered a remarkable journey of community development with twists and turns that are largely a result of the town’s isolation from a full range of urban services.

Driving the challenging ‘course’ that is the Sooke highway keeps the faint of heart (er, driving) at bay (or on the bus). As the Sooke area population increases, increased road traffic also begs discussion about the environmental impact of more vehicle emissions. But we are bonded by the experience of driving this one road that leads everyone to handy-yet-remote Sooke. Whether a strong sense of community is sustainable during rapid population growth will depend on the skill of municipal leadership, the insight and adaptability of community groups, and the will of individuals to lend their hand to the process (if only through attention and responsiveness to issues as they emerge). A stretch of road that entwines and entangles the people who depend upon it – that is Hwy#14.

The road is helping to take Gord Phillips’ music career to a new level (it’s the theme of both his most popular song and his latest promotional photos). He will hold Sooke’s first free outdoor blues-rock concert at Ed Macgregor Park (Aug.28 ~ 3 to 7 pm) with his 5-member band The Assimilators. Phillips will take to the stage and have families hopping to the beat of the blues-infused folk rock that has become his trademark style. “Live music is where it’s at and Sooke deserves a good show. Sooke has embraced me, so why not embrace Sooke? Music is my avenue for talking to people,” he says, attributing influence to Neil Young, Gord Downie and Bob Dylan. “I put pen to paper and the rest happens.”

“There’s no destination when it comes to writing a song,” says the 38-year-old married singer whose young daughter knows Sooke Hiway off by heart. “I’m merely a conduit, motivated by life,” says the poet at heart. “The road makes Sooke a community; we get together and talk about it,” says the singer who did a gig at Serious Coffee in Sooke last year. A self-taught guitarist, Phillips composes using his Australian-made Cole Clarke guitar that “loves to be played”. MM

This page is sponsored by ARTS IN SOOKE, an online magazine about all forms of creativity and art. www.artsinsooke.com

As posted pre-August 28/10: Come to a live outdoor concert in Sooke on Sat. Aug.28 (3 to 7 pm at Ed Macgregor Park) -- blues-infused folk rock by Gord Phillips & The Assimilators.