“IF I SAID THAT THIS WAS EASY I’D BE LYING”: Gavin MCLEoD’S BLUESFEST JOURNEY
WRITTEN BY CAMERON BLACKWOOD
It’s a long way to the top if you want to play Bluesfest.
The 2019 Ottawa Bluesfest was full of notable artists such as The Killers, Snoop Dogg and The Psychedelic Furs. But among the countless amounts of talent was a hungry 20-year-old indie rock musician. His name is Gavin McLeod. McLeod, along with his bandmates, guitarist Patrick Mills, bassist Ben Smyth, and drummer Ty Dewar, were set to play the biggest show in their career yet. McLeod’s father, John, recalls the excitement backstage. He said the boys felt like they were true rock stars. They had their own backstage trailer to hang out in. A table full of every snack you can think of, and most importantly, a fridge full of ice-cold beer. As the anticipation grew backstage, a tremendous thunderstorm came barreling in. The sky opened up, and pounds of rain came pouring down. The thunder was reminiscent of 100 bombs dropping. The band was still eager to hit the stage even though the conditions weren’t favourable, but the crashing lightning was the final nail in the already moldy and decaying coffin. McLeod was devastated. Being self-critical and a perfectionist, he thought that it was over. That they would never get invited back again, and that it couldn’t get any better from there. But as fathers do, McLeod’s father, John, gave the band some advice. He said, “You know what, it’s the universe jumping in to say you’re not ready. You guys are only 19.” These words stuck with McLeod for some time.
Growing up in the town of Milton, Ont., McLeod fell in love with music from an early age. Ironically, he first took an interest in the drums. This interest was sparked from playing the video game Rock Band, where at 7-years-old, McLeod jumped behind the plastic kit and started to try and play along. John took notice of this. After packing away his drum set for a number of years, John blew the dust off his old kit and started teaching his son how to play for real. “He picked it up really quickly, and that’s when we definitely knew that he had a talent for music,” said John. This passion for drums later progressed into guitar. “We were going to put him in lessons for drums, but he quickly decided he’d rather try guitar.” Said John. And just like the drums, McLeod was able to learn guitar quite quickly, possibly even quicker than the drums. “The owner of the guitar shop in Milton, Ont., Eddie Fiore, mentioned that they don’t give lessons to 7-year-olds because their fingers aren’t strong enough to press on the strings. But after one lesson, Eddie came back to us and said, yeah he’s talented.” Said John.
As McLeod grew older, this burning passion for music stuck with him and became one of his main interests. But other kids his age didn’t feel the same way. McLeod felt a disconnect with the kids around him. His younger sister, Elvira, said that McLeod lacked confidence due to his height, yet he was doing things that typical 13-14-year-olds wouldn’t even imagine doing. “He was like ‘I’m so short, no girl is going to like me; he was so down on himself even though he was interviewing Tony Hawk,” said Elvira. She also recalls how the stuff he was into was different from what kids were doing around him: “I remember his music being very different and his interests being very different from other kids his age.” He instead was drawn towards making YouTube videos that focus on skateboarding, fingerboarding and guitar, all being niche hobbies given the setting he was in. Luckily for McLeod, he found a buddy with whom he could share his love for music. In 2011, McLeod met Patrick Mills when they both joined their school’s rock band. It was at this moment that a bond would be formed that would last all the way into today. Over the span of three years that McLeod had after he was unable to play at Ottawa Bluesfest in 2019, he and the band worked on their songwriting and musicianship. This can be credited to McLeod’s attention to detail and determination to fulfill the dream of becoming a full-time musician. All hope seemed lost in the Ottawa Bluesfest saga until the hard work the boys put in finally paid off. McLeod and the band got invited back in 2022. But as fate would have it, there was another roadblock in the way that McLeod had to overcome. “He was sick as a dog, with a 104-degree fever, just dying in the hotel room,” said John. Prevailing, McLeod joined the rest of the band and had to go do soundcheck and load in around 4 p.m. After that was done, McLeod went back to the band's trailer and just passed out on the couch. Due to McLeod’s condition, it seemed that there was no way he was able to perform this show. But through his experiences growing up and his commitment to the music and himself, he got up from out of the trailer and made it happen. Although McLeod was fighting a horrible illness, he still found a way to chug a beer before he went on stage and in true rock star fashion, he went out there for an hour and brought the house down. This experience was a true reflection of McLeod’s character. He may seem like a smaller, humble, quiet guy in stature, but when it came to his passion for music and his commitment to the art, it was like he was 6-foot-7 on the stage.
