When Vince Vaccaro was a young boy he was invited to listen to some music at the neighbour’s house. The house belonged to Bob Ansell, who worked for a major record company at the time. Viccaro was playing with his son Shaun when Ansell asked them to come into the house.
“He took us downstairs and put on the Beatles for us on a reel-to-reel (an old open-tape format) machine. The song was Day Tripper. I just remember hearing the tone of the guitar on the first riff, and then the tambourine followed by the harmonies — that really stuck with me.”
And that wasn’t the first time Vaccaro remembers being enamoured with music.
Victoria folk roots rocker Vince Vaccaro is playing at the Errington Hall May 17 at 8 p.m.
He was only six months old when Vaccaro started banging a hand drum, a few years later he got a red ukulele, and when he was eight he got a guitar from his grandmother. Montreal-born Vaccaro moved to BC when he was still in grade school and remembers jamming in a music class, on ukulele and drums.
“I’ve always been really into music,” he said.
After trying out some local groups in Victoria, and doing stints in Los Angeles and California, where he tried out singing in a band from Orange County, he decided to pack up and head to Byron Bay, Australia. He needed some time to get his spirit feeling good again, he said. There he played and recorded music and also got some exposure in a less than conventional way.
“I’d literally walk into radio stations unannounced and just say something like ‘Hey, I’ve come here from Western Canada, the opposite side of the planet, to give you my music.’ Almost every time, without fail, they’d get super stoked and want to know why, what I’m doing, all of that,” he said.
Vaccaro has shared stages with artists like Mumford & Sons, Sam Roberts, City & Colour, Bedouin Soundclash and Matthew Good.
He has five full-length albums under his belt, as well as two EPs and several singles. He recently finished up his new album Byron Songs, featuring songs written almost entirely in Byron Bay.
At the Erringon Hall on May 17 Vaccaro said people can expect to hear some music performed by someone who does it from the heart. He’ll be performing solo acoustic, he said.
Tickets are $15 at Cranky Dog Music in Parksville, Heaven on Earth in Qualicum Beach and the Errington Store. Under 12s are $5 at the door and under 5s are free. For more on Vince Vaccaro visit www.vincevaccaro.com and find his music on iTunes, Soundcloud and other online music sites.