ABBA Fernando Waterloo Adele Make You Feel My Love Rolling in the Deep Set Fire to the Rain America A Horse With No Name Sister Golden Hair Andy Williams Moon River Antonio Carlos Jobim The Girl From Ipanema Waters of March Arlo Guthrie City of New Orleans Barenaked Ladies Brian Wilson Beaudoin Soundclash When the Night Feels My Song Bee Gees How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? To Love Somebody Words Bette Midler The Rose Bill Haley Rock Around the Clock Bill Withers Ain’t No Sunshine Billy Joel Piano Man Black Crowes Hard to Handle Blue Rodeo Five Days in May Lost Together Try Bob Dylan Blowin’ in the Wind Hurricane Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door Mr. Tambourine Man Bob Marley No Woman No Cry Bob Seger Night Moves Bob Seger Old Time Rock and Roll Bobby Bloom Montego Bay Bobby Darin Mack the Knife Bobby McFerrin Thinking About Your Body Bread Make it With You Bruce Springsteen Dancing in the Dark Let’s Be Friends (Skin to Skin) Bruno Mars Just the Way You Are Bryan Adams Summer of ’69 Buffalo Springfield For What It’s Worth Carly Simon You’re So Vain Carole King It’s Too Late Carpenters Close to You Cat Stevens Father and Son Morning Has Broken The First Cut is the Deepest Where do the Children Play Wild World CCR Bad Moon Rising Green River Have You Ever Seen the Rain? Proud Mary Celine Dion My Heart Will Go On Cheap Trick I Want You to Want Me Chris de Burgh Lady in Red Chuck Berry Johnny B. Goode You Never Can Tell City and Colour The Grand Optimist Coldplay Clocks Counting Crows Mr. Jones Creed With Arms Wide Open Crosby, Stills & Nash Helplessly Hoping Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Helpless Teach Your Children Crowded House Better Be Home Soon Don't Dream it’s Over Dan Hill Sometimes When We Touch Dave Loggins Please Come to Boston David Bowie Space Oddity Del Shannon Runaway Dion Runaround Sue The Wanderer Dire Straits Walk of Life Dixie Chicks Landslide Dobie Gray Drift Away Dolly Parton Jolene Don Henley The Heart of the Matter Don McLean American Pie Donovan Mellow Yellow Eagles Desperado Hotel California Lyin' Eyes Peaceful Easy Feeling Take it Easy Ed Sheeran Perfect Thinking Out Loud Elton John Bennie and the Jets Candle in the Wind Candle in the Wind 1997 Daniel Elton John Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me Honky Cat Rocket Man Texan Love Song Tiny Dancer Your Song Elvis Costello Alison Elvis Presley Blue Suede Shoes Can’t Help Falling in Love Hound Dog In the Ghetto Jailhouse Rock My Baby Left Me Suspicious Minds Engelbert Humperdinck Spanish Eyes Eric Clapton Lay Down Sally Promises Wonderful Tonight Everly Brothers Bye Bye Love Fleetwood Mac Dreams Landslide Frank and Nancy Sinatra Somethin’ Stupid Frank Sinatra Fly Me to the Moon My Way Frankie Valli Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You Garth Brooks Friends in Low Places The Dance Gene Kelly Singing in the Rain Genesis Follow You, Follow Me More Fool Me George Benson On Broadway George Gershwin Summertime George Michael Faith George Strait All My Ex’s Live in Texas The Chair Gerry Rafferty Baker Street Gilbert O'Sullivan Alone Again (Naturally) Gipsy Kings Bamboleo Glen Campbell Wichita Lineman Gordon Lightfoot Canadian Railroad Trilogy Did She Mention My Name? If You Could Read My Mind Sundown Talking in Your Sleep Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Graham Nash Military Madness Wounded Bird Great Big Sea When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down) Harmonium Pour Un Instant Harry Belafonte The Banana Boat Song (Day-O) Harry Chapin Cats in the Cradle Taxi Helen Reddy I Am Woman Jack Johnson If I Had Eyes Jackson Browne Doctor My Eyes James Taylor Fire and Rain Long Ago and Far Away Sweet Baby James You Can Close Your Eyes You’ve Got a Friend Janis Joplin Me & Bobby McGee Jim Croce Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown Jim Croce Operator Photographs and Memories Roller Derby Queen Time in a Bottle Workin’ at the Car Wash Blues You Don't Mess Around With Jim Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville Joe Cocker You Can Leave Your Hat On Joe Dolce Shaddap You Face John Cougar Mellencamp Hurt So Good John Denver Annie's Song Leaving On a Jet Plane Take Me Home, Country Roads John Legend All of Me John Lennon Imagine Mother Stand By Me John Prine Fish and Whistle Johnny Cash A Boy Named Sue Folsom Prison Blues I Walk the Line Ring of Fire Johnny Nash I Can See Clearly Now Johnny Reid Let's Go Higher Johnny Rivers Take a Letter Maria Joni Mitchell Circle Game José Feliciano Light My Fire K’naan Wavin’ Flag k.d. lang Constant Craving Kansas Dust in the Wind Kenny Loggins Footloose Kenny Rogers Lucille Kenny Rogers The Gambler King Harvest Dancing in the Moonlight Led Zeppelin Rock and Roll Leonard Cohen Bird on a Wire Hallelujah Suzanne Loggins & Messina Danny’s Song House at Pooh Corner Lonestar Amazed Louis Armstrong What a Wonderful World Luis Fonsi Despacito Lynyrd Skynyrd Free Bird Sweet Home Alabama Mama Cass Dream a Little Dream of Me Marc Cohn Walking in Memphis Marvin Gaye What’s Going On? Mary Hopkins Those Were the Days Meatloaf Two Out of Three Michael Bublé Save the Last Dance for Me Michel Pagliaro Lovin' You Ain't Easy Mike & The Mechanics The Living Years Murray McLauchlan Farmer's Song Nancy Sinatra These Boots Are Made For Walking Neil Diamond Forever in Blue Jeans I Am… I Said If You Go Away Tom Kovacs with Jan, Thorntin and Malcolm Macdonald on the ARTIST TO WATCH patio of Erin’s Bistro Riviere. Sundays are Thorntin’s day off but when Tom is performing Thorntin kicks back along with the Thomas Kovacs rest of us, enjoying the show with his mom and grandfather. by Yevgenia Casale finished doing a couple of movies.” Having earned a decent amount of money off those two films Tom holed up in his room About a year ago an email popped into my inbox from and completely immersed himself in his music. He began to hear Belfountain Inn owner and head chef Thorntin Macdonald. It was things he wasn’t aware of before such as the “careful enunciation about as excited as an email can get. He was over the moon at the of each syllable.” His eureka moment occurred when Tom realized prospect of presenting Thomas Kovacs (pronounced ko-va-t-ch) he had to turn the guitar around and play left-handed because as a special musical guest. it felt more “personal, immediate, and exciting. It felt like I was That got my attention. It usually takes something pretty special creating a beat instead of following one.” to get the normally low-key restaurateur quite so animated. I For the next fifteen years Tom held down an assortment of immediately put a call in to Tom and asked to do a story about mundane jobs to support his music. Once he got to his 30’s Kovacs him. I had to know more about this guy. decided that he needed to “get a real job” so he landed working It took us a few months to coordinate our schedules. In the night shifts as a security guard. That’s where he discovered that mean time, I started noticing Tom promoted as the headliner at he had an aptitude for computers. He taught himself how to some of Caledon’s favourite dining establishments. programme at the lobby desk workstation, completed a six- Kovacs was thrilled to have Caledon Spectrum profile him but month course at York University and from there walked into a with a caveat: first I had to witness one of his shows. He was right thirteen year stint in the Information Technology department at to insist. Some things you just have to experience in person. Canadian Tire. “What’s a couple of hours?” I thought, taking the opportunity Despite the obvious creative elements, a full-time musician to head off to Erin. Thorntin owns Bistro Riviere as well as the is very much a small business owner. Tom credits his years at Belfountain Inn so we knew that at the very least the food would Canadian Tire with giving him invaluable IT skills, insights into be amazing. Well, it wasn’t just a couple of hours but the meal was running a business and learning how to connect with people: terrific; the sangria was delectable and the show was pure joy: so Tom manages his own website, promotion and business affairs. much fun! As an entertainer his professionalism is one of the first things to Afterwards Tom sat down with me so that we could get to know come through in any of his performances. Kovacs is so comfortable each other before our official interview. We had decided to film in his own skin that nothing seems to faze him. He engages with it live at the SouthFields Village Farmers’ Market the following the audience in a fantastically intimate way and brings people out Thursday so this was supposed to be a casual preinterview through conversation. meeting. Before either one of us knew it, three hours had gone by. If they want to join him, they do, if they want to just listen He’s just that easy to talk to. they do. The driving force appears to be his desire to deliver a “In April 1980 I realized that music was my strength,” he started memorable and positive interplay for the audience.