Upon a Twice Time

The singer/songwriter known as Huckle was born in 1954 and grew up in Montreal and Toronto. Huckle moved west to Gabriola Island in 1973 and helped organize part of two western tours by Perth County Conspiracy (dne), performing the warmup act for some of the shows. In spring 1974, on the first tour, a live recording was made of eleven Huckle songs, with Gary McKeehan engineering. Nine songs were recorded live after soundcheck for Perth County’s Vancouver concert at Pender Auditorium March 1974. The band included Huckle on vocals, guitar, and mandolin, with Richard Keelan (guitar), Michael Butler (bass), and George Taros (congas) from Perth County, as well as Paul Gellman (vocals, fiddle, guitar) and Wende Sinclair (vocals, bamboo flute). Two more songs performed by Huckle and Paul were recorded live on stage at Gabriola Hall the next night. These tracks became Huckle’s first independent album release, “Upon a Once Time”. 500 copies were pressed and mostly sold off the stage at concerts. One of the very first “indie” records, it has now become rare vinyl and sells for a lot more than it did when it was new ($3), if you can find one.

A summer 1975 tour in eastern Canada included performances by Huckle at many folk festivals (including Home County, Northern Lights) and coffeehouses (including Black Swan, Yellow Door). Paul Gellman and Huckle did a caravan cross Canada tour that fall, with Laura, Cathy, Sam and Jeremy, and Sally Sunshine along, and landed back on Gabriola Island. Huckle and Paul formed a band, Wild Blue Yonder, with Wende Sinclair, Tom Agostino, and Straw. They did a western Canada tour in spring 1976, including a live radio show at the Hovel in Edmonton with Holger Petersen. A third tour in fall 1976 as a duo with Tom Agostino introduced the second Huckle album, “Wild Blue Yonder”, now, you guessed it, rare vinyl. Recorded live and in the studio, the band included Huckle (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, flute, piano), Paul Gellman (vocals, fiddle, guitar, piano), Wende Sinclair (vocals), Tom Agostino (vocals, bass), and Straw (wooden drums), with Bob Walshaw on kit drums for a couple of tracks. 300 copies were pressed.

Upon a Twice Time is a best of collection from these two albums.
with notes from Huckle and Robert Williston

buy this great album here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/huckle