Brian Vollmer, frontman of Canadian band Helix, announced this week he is working on The Golden Age of the Canadian Bar Circuit, a book about musicians on the road.
“There’s a yearning for times from the past when people used to rub shoulders and get all sweaty with each other at rock concerts, especially at bars,” the 65-year-old musician said in a Facebook video. “We played across the country at a very special time in Canadian rock history.”
Formed in 1974, Helix toured Canada for years before landing a major label deal and releasing 1983’s No Rest for the Wicked. The following year, the band scored a hit with “Rock You” from their album Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge.
“Believe it or not, Helix was the first band to play coast to coast through the bars that broke onto the international circuit,” Vollmer said. “All the other bands like April Wine, Rush… they had already had record deals.”
He recalled how Helix left Ontario and travelled to both coasts and everywhere in between before being signed to a label. “I don’t know of any other band from our era that did that… without a record deal,” said Vollmer.
The rock veteran hasn’t started working on The Golden Age of the Canadian Bar Circuit but said he has a plan. “I want to talk about what it was like because I think young musicians would give their eye teeth to experience the rock ’n' roll gypsy life that myself and the guys in Helix got to experience,” said Vollmer. “That’s what the book is going to be about – unless I peter out with my enthusiasm.”
In a follow-up video message, he said he wants to hear from “bands that were on the circuit that have stories.”