Now its a Wally and Joe Show

A few years ago, I was managing two radio stations here in Kingston. Every day, people would just drop in for whatever reason. Some were looking for jobs. Others were trying to sell us stuff. There were people who just kind of showed up to make complaints about our stations, city council or the state of the youth of our nation.

But one day, a friend of mine showed up carrying a pair of signed drum sticks. He was obviously upset, and needed to talk to someone immediately.

It was Wally High.

Wally has helped promote live music in Kingston since forever. He was the energy and effort behind A Joe Show, which raised money for the local Music Lending Library in memory of the great Joe Chithalen.

One of his biggest Joe Shows ever featured the Doobie Brothers, and the day Wally came in, he'd just got news that their long time drummer Keith Knudsen had died of pneumonia. Wally, it seems, knew everyone in the music business. And they knew Wally.

After I talked to him for awhile, he handed me the drum sticks, and asked that I do something with them in Keith's memory.

That's what I remember most about Wally High. Not the Ackroyd-Stones-Bill Murray connections. Not the third-hand stories about him. Just a guy who felt so badly about losing someone dear to him that he had to find a way to get the rest of us to remember that person.

Wally was a poet. He was a musician. A biker.

He was Wally.

I saw him last October at the Brew Pub. It was one of those oh no-Wally-wants-an-interview moments. We talked for a few short minutes, and I invited him to come on the air at FLY FM with me to promote his new cd release. Then days, weeks and months passed, with not a word from him. There was also no Wally High CD to be seen or heard anywhere.

A few weeks ago I heard that he was having that long-awaited party. I came up with the usual excuses, blaming the fact that I have no car, can't stay up late and/or have something "family" to do that night. Then to my shock, found out that I may have missed my last opportunity to see the guy. Wally was dying of inoperable cancer. Crap!

A very good friend of mine was there. She said it was an amazing night. Wally performed with some of Kingston's best musicians, and the mood of the night was light. There was even talk that he was looking better than anyone expected.

Two days ago, the show was over. Wally died.

Kingston is not limestone. It's not just Queen's and RMC. It's more than the prisons, the lake and the quirky little stores downtown. Kingston is a collection of some of the most interesting characters outside of a novel by Dickens or Irving. Wally was one of the last of that bunch.

I'm sure he and Joe are putting a band together, wherever they are.