First, you open what looks like a shrunken pantry door, offset from the kitchen.
Then, ducking one’s head, you climb carefully down a steep set of stairs into an area just a tad taller than a typical crawl space. It stands in one corner: a welcoming nook decorated with bookshelves to one side and a desk of audio equipment on the other. This is where Dean Reorda retreats to write and record his music.
“I have lots of stuff to say, but I am not very articulate in any other form,” the New Brunswick native notes, explaining his love of the art form.
When Reorda was 19 years old, he left his home in Red Deer, Alberta, to pursue his passion in Vancouver. In his 20s, he completed a two-year audio engineering course and his first band, The Escape Goats, recorded an album at Greenhouse Studios. The folk/rock band did well, landing some airtime at the CFox radio station.
It all came to an end when Reorda got married and started a family. It wasn’t anything to do with his new role and relationship, Reorda says. He just lost interest in music.
“For seven years I didn’t play or listen to any music,” he says. “It just completely fell from my life.”
After living in the Sea to Sky Corridor community for a stint in 2005, Reorda and his family returned to Squamish in 2011. Two years ago, when his parent’s 50th wedding anniversary rolled around, his family asked Reorda to write a song for the event. He picked up a pen and hasn’t put it down since.
“All of a sudden I couldn’t stop writing,” Reorda says, then smiles.
This Saturday, Oct. 24, Reorda will be onstage at the Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG). What was originally scheduled as a show for his new band turned into a solo gig. Reorda’s bandmates – Garibaldi Highlands Elementary School principal Paul Lorette, North Vancouver’s Rick vanHeyst and Nino Celella – had conflicting schedules.
“It wasn’t until the poster came out that I realized I was the entertainment for the whole night,” Reorda says, with a laugh, noting the BAG’s founder Thor Froslev has a way of getting what he wants.
Reorda’s not fazed by the unexpected one-man act. He has been a prolific song writer during his re-invigorated devotion to music. In 2013, he wrote an anthem for Squamish, a song that was promoted during the District of Squamish’s downtown transformation workshops. Last year, Reorda hit the stage in the second annual Squamish Talent show. Now he’s just got to sort through his material before Saturday.
“I write a lot of sentimental, family-oriented songs,” he says, noting his sound has veered from the folk/rock genre into more of the folk department.
For Reorda it’s all about the words. It doesn’t matter how catchy a tune is; the song quickly sours for him if Reorda doesn’t connect with the subject matter.
“It’s about storytelling. The lyrics have always been the most important part to me,” he says.
The show at the BAG starts at 8 p.m. Tickets can be bought at the door or downtown at Xoco Chocolate. Reorda says he’s looking forward to the intimate evening of music.
“The BAG is such a great acoustic venue.”
