‘Guitar nerd’ playing
Alan Jossul, self-admitted guitar nerd, is tuning up with his partner Leslie Eaton for a musical project they call Things with Strings.
Those who appreciate the soul-touching gift of instrumental genius are invited to come out to hear them as featured performers of the 1st Tuesday Fundraiser at the Mex Pub Aug. 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Both Jossul and Eaton carry the belief that every time a person plays a little music, the world becomes a better place.
Their music consists mainly of Jossul’s tricky and sweet fingerstyle guitar compositions that he has spent his life writing. Eaton loves to add mandolin and button accordion to the mix, creating a traditional feel to many of Jossul’s pieces, which range from Celtic to bluegrass.
Jossul has his certificate in jazz performance from VIU and backs up Eaton singing old favourites like Is You Is and Delilah, as well as some new Canadian jazz and a bit of folk.
Jossul and Eaton have chosen the North Vancouver Island Chapter of the MS Society to be beneficiary of the cash donations collected as admission for the night’s performance. Multiple sclerosis is a disease where (basically) the body attacks the lining of the nervous system creating “short-outs” and confuses signals between the brain and the rest of the body.
MS is something Jossul and Eaton know about all too well, since Jossul was diagnosed with it five years ago. “It has been a long haul for the past five years, but thankfully I am determined to keep coming back,” he says.
Determined was certainly the word for it when he lost the sensation in one hand and had to retrain himself to play again. “Thankfully, the music stays in my head, I just had to retrain my hand to work with my brain again.”
The MS Society is the only national voluntary organization in Canada that supports both MS research and services for people with MS and their families. It also raises awareness and provides advocacy and up-to-date information on the disease as well as providing services to those living with the disease.
Jossul has released one CD titled Catnip Casserole and is putting finishing touches on a new CD that is looking to be a late-summer to early-fall release. See www.alanjossul.ca.
For more information about 1st Tuesday events, visit www.judyandbruce.com.
— 1st Tuesday Fundraisers
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