A Hell Raisin' Good Time at Grape Growers Luncheon

A hell raisin’ good time at Grape Growers luncheon Tim Hicks shares stories of his rise to country music stardom Niagara This Week - St. Catharines By Luke Edwards A hell raisin’ good time at Grape Growers luncheon LUKE EDWARDS/STAFF PHOTO Leo Gautreau, senior vice president and chief risk officer for Meridian Credit Union, takes a video of Tim Hicks as he performs at the Grape Growers of Ontario celebrity luncheon Wednesday. Niagara This Week - St. Catharines By Luke Edwards ST. CATHARINES — If Tim Hicks learned anything from an ill-fated cruise diverted from Brazil to Africa that ended with the St. Catharines musician having a beer with a music legend, it’s that sometimes you just have to go for it. Hicks, the country musician known for songs such as Hell Raisin’ Good Time and Here Comes the Thunder, was the guest speaker at Wednesday’s Grape Growers of Ontario celebrity luncheon. The event, co-sponsored by Meridian Credit Union, Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, and the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival, is the unofficial kick-off to the Niagara Grape and Wine Festival. “You never know what doors are going to open, you have to be willing to let it happen,” he said. Hicks’ trip to Africa is a perfect example. Working as a 20-something on cruise ships with his band, Hicks was making his way down to Brazil, playing on the ships for a stretch and then going to port and getting some time on land. When he got to Brazil, though, authorities weren’t satisfied with his documentation, specifically the lack of a visa. If he stepped foot off the ship, he’d be arrested, they warned. “I was 25 years old and didn’t want to see what the inside of a Brazilian jail looked like,” he said. The ship’s captain had the solution: just stay on the ship, head to the next port and make arrangements there. Seemed like a perfect idea to Hicks. However, as the ship left port he and his band thought they should at least ask where they were headed. Turns out it was a six-day cruise across the Atlantic Ocean to Dakar, Senegal, in West Africa. When they landed they happened to run into Percy Sledge, the musician who wrote When a Man Loves a Woman. Sledge invited the band to his hotel room for a beverage. “So here I am, landed in Africa by accident, having a beer with Percy Sledge,” he said. It was his willingness to embrace those adventures that eventually led Hicks to music success. In between his countless gigs at local wineries and other events throughout the peninsula and beyond there were plenty of low points where he wanted to call it quits and ask his then girlfriend to help get him a job at the Niagara Region. He remembers one particular low point when he approached Amanda, now his wife, about ending his music career. “She told me, ‘a lot of people would give everything to go out every night and do what they love.’ That moment I let go of all the pressure,” he said. “As soon as the pressure goes, things change.” Shortly later Hicks, Amanda, and their five-week-old child loaded up the minivan – “like a couple of kooks,” Hicks joked – and headed to Nashville. A few breaks later, some which were thanks to Hicks’ creative interpretations of rules for cover bands, and he hit it big with Get By, the first single from his debut album Throw Down. The Niagara Grape and Wine Festival takes over downtown St. Catharines over the next few weeks, wrapping up on Sept. 27. Events take place each weekend at Montebello Park, and there are also ancillary events and a passport program. Grapes Growers of Ontario CEO Debbie Zimmerman said organizers expect 50,000 visitors during the festival. For more information on the festival, visit niagarawinefestival.com. ledwards@niagarathisweek.com http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/5917422-a-hell-raisin-good-time-at-grape-growers- luncheon/ SIDEBAR Hicks preparing for a homecoming performance He got his musical start playing his grandmother’s organ in her Niagara Falls home, and on Nov. 27 Tim Hicks is returning to the area. Hicks’ “Get a Little Crazy” tour rolls into the Scotiabank Convention Centre Nov. 27. The tour is in support of his new album, 5:01+ and will feature special guests Jason Benoit and Cold Creek County. The album features a mix of the gritty, fun anthems he’s known for as well as some more introspective and personal songs. Tickets are now on sale for the show, and can be purchased by visiting ticketpro.ca or calling 1-888-655-9090. St. Catharines mayor Walter Sendzik also invited Hicks to perform in his city. “There’s a centre in downtown St. Catharines that needs to have you,” he said. “I know you can fill the Meridian Centre.” .

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