How do you get to be a professional musician, and one who plays with the greats?
Dennis Pendrith is a Lindsay-area bass player who has enjoyed a remarkable career. He’s worked with Bruce Cockburn, Gordon Lightfoot, Stan Rogers, Murray McLauchlan, Sylvia Tyson, Tom Paxton, Dan Hill and Rita Chiarelli. He’s played with Raffi, Fred Penner, and Sharon, Lois & Bram. He was also the bassist for the Vinyl Cafe Orchestra with Stuart McLean, which ran each week on CBC radio for two decades. He continues to perform and record to this day.
I had an opportunity to talk with Dennis in anticipation of the Raising Stars Benefit Concert in Fenelon Falls on Sunday, November 15. As a member of the Mike Graham Trio, Dennis will be helping the community raise money for The Loft, a youth drop-in storefront in downtown Fenelon Falls. The Loft was launched in 2025 though a collaboration of BGC Kawarthas and Kawartha Works Community Co-op. A music program for youth was seen as a priority from the beginning and the Raising Stars Benefit Concert will help to expand youth musical development.
Not surprisingly, Dennis showed an interest in music at an early age. He grew up in Scarborough in the 1950s and 60s, in a musical family. He and a friend started playing guitar together and working out songs, and then created a band. They rotated instruments at first, but Dennis discovered he liked the bass the best. He’d go to Yorkville, where the music scene thrived in those days. There was one band he heard night after night. He’d stand close to the bass player, listening and learning. One day he learned the band needed a new bass player. Since Dennis knew all the material, he won the audition. He played at the club for long hours almost every night. But after eight months, the original bassist wanted back in, and Dennis was asked to leave.
“That turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened for my career,” Dennis reflects now.
He decided then that he didn’t want to be just a bass guitarist in a band. He was determined to become the best bassist around, and started taking lessons, from the bass player for a prominent Toronto orchestra. He learned the upright bass, and music theory, and expanded his technical proficiency in a variety of music genres.
And perhaps just as important, he started networking and made himself known to other musicians. That’s how he was asked to play on Bruce Cockburn’s first album and became one of Canada’s sought-after bassists. Dennis’ story is instructive. As a young person, he was surrounded by music, and found early opportunities to foster his musical interests. He could create music with teenage pals. Music was taught at his school (he played trumpet in the school band). Growing up in an urban area, he could visit music stores, buy basic equipment, and upgrade as he got better. He could find live music in the thriving Toronto music scene at the time. And when one door closed, there were other opportunities at hand.
What urban kids can take for granted, rural kids can’t. There are many advantages to living in the countryside, no doubt. But there are also constraints in a rural setting that make it harder to find resources, and cultivate friendships based on common interests.
For example, most students at Fenelon Falls Secondary School leave town when the school day is over. That means friendships that form over mutual interests are limited to school hours, unless the friends live in town, or deliberate plans are made, and transportation arranged, to get together afterwards.
Also, if your school doesn’t have a strong music program, it isn’t likely that you’ll discover an interest in playing music yourself, though you may have a keen interest in listening to it. You become a consumer, not a creator. Without the support and opportunity to learn and perform, you’ll miss out on the educational, social, and lifetime benefits of making music with others and nurturing a musical talent.
That’s why it is important that we raise money for The Loft and its music program. The Loft offers a place for young people to mix after school. It can help youth create connections and foster interest in creating music on their own and with others. Studies have shown that music education also bolsters academic achievement, and music performance supports group and individual achievement.
Please come to hear the Mike Graham Trio perform for The Loft at Fenelon Falls United Church, 123 Colborne Street, on Sunday afternoon, 15 November. Follow this link for more information and to buy your tickets.
https://kawartha-works-community-co-operative.bloomtickets.ca/event/4055
Alan Engelstad is a member of Fenelon Falls Live!, a community group promoting live music and hosting the Raising Stars benefit concert. He also plays bass guitar with the BarnKats, a local cover band.
