It was 20 minutes to 7 when I arrived at Caleb Village in North Battleford for the “Jimmy’s Old Time Radio Show” 7:00 concert. I found “Jimmy,” also known as James Skarnikat, in the common room playing the piano for the residents who had already begun to gather.
He played very well.
Between pieces he chatted with residents, learning from them about the piano — a real piano, which had been donated to the residence and delivered that very same day.
Skarnikat writes a regular column for Respect. We had only talked over the phone before finally meeting in person at his concert last Thursday. He stopped playing piano long enough for us to shake hands, and he introduced me to his new friends in the room. Then he picked up his guitar and began to sing for them.
It was still a few minutes before showtime, but those who had come early got to enjoy a little bit of extra music. Skarnikat kept playing past 7:00 without formally starting the show, allowing a few stragglers to make it in before he introduced himself.
This was his 334th show so far this year. His previous high for a full year had been 332, a record he broke that same afternoon in Rosetown, Saskatchewan. It’s a gruelling tour schedule, but the performances have an easy-going and friendly quality.
It’s as if, among the thousands of kilometres and hundreds of nights spent sleeping in his van, stepping on stage and performing for people is when Skarnikat is most at home.
Although he doesn’t have a background in radio, his speaking voice is perfect for the “radio show” concept — it is deep, with a clear edge, but Skarnikat speaks softly and with a gentle smile that you can hear in his words. His patter is easy and conversational.
That vocal quality carries over to his singing.
“Knock on wood, my voice so far is mostly good,” he said after the show. “It’s a little tired tonight because I’ve done the three shows and I’m a little hoarse.
“But I don’t talk a lot during the day. And, you know, these shows aren’t that strenuous. It’s not like I’m singing Massey Hall or the Air Canada Centre or something like that. I’m just doing these simple little shows. I try to keep my music within my range.”
His range includes everything from a deep Tennessee Ernie Ford bass to the sweet high yodel of Tex Owens’ “Cattle Call.”
Retirement homes and long-term care facilities don’t pay on a rock-star scale, which is why Skarnikat’s tours include so many shows. He tries to play at least two shows a day, and plays three whenever he can. He lives frugally on the road so he can keep ahead of his expenses.
But he loves to play, and he loves his audiences.
“I used to be a drummer in rock bands. But seniors don’t really care for rock drums too much, so I started performing in bars and restaurants and little things like that,” he said. “I was working as a nutritional manager at the time in long-term care, and I saw entertainers coming in. I would cater their events. And I thought I could do that. I know a lot of these songs in my head, I listened to all these songs. My mom and dad enjoyed these great songs.
“So I put together my first show 13 years ago and it just took right off. Within less than two years, I left the kitchen and I haven’t been back since.”
Skarnikat lives in Hanover, Ontario. Most of the year he can find gigs within commuting distance of his home, and then he hits the road when the weather’s better and the roads are safer. He did a Maritimes tour this year before heading west, but he didn’t cross into Alberta or BC on this year’s Western swing.
As he goes from town to town, chatting along the way, he picks up local news that he shares on his next stop. In that way his shows are true to the troubadour tradition.
In North Battleford, he reported to his audience what he had been hearing in southern Saskatchewan about drought conditions and poor crops.
“Not here!” people told him.
“That’s why I show up early and why I like to linger after the programs,” Skarnikat said. “It’s part of my job, as far as I’m concerned, to not just play, but to also bring about fellowship and communication and build a relationship.”
It’s important work, and not every musician is up to it. The response from audiences is naturally more subtle and understated than you would see at a rock concert, of course; but while the residents weren’t hooting and cheering, you could see them smiling and tapping their toes, or leaning over to the person next to them and singing along with “Jimmy.”
The connection to the music is tangible, and it’s powerful. For an hour at a time, in one place at a time, Skarnikat is able to bring people together to enjoy themselves.
“I tell my musician friends that they should try doing what I do,” he said. “They often say they’re intimidated by it or they don’t know if they’d like it.”
But he says there’s nothing intimidating about playing for older people. “They’re just people. They’re older people, sure. We’re all going to be older people someday. Eventually. Hopefully.
“But they’re adults. You can talk to them like adults. You can joke around with them. You can just be open and honest, and they’ll appreciate that.”
The audiences are open and honest too. Skarnikat remembers one woman who seemed to have a particularly negative outlook on life. “At the end of the show I said ‘I hope to see you again some time.’ ‘Maybe,’ she said. But that’s fine.
“And one time I was in the Maritimes and this lady just flat out said, ‘Drop dead!’
“I don’t mind. I don’t take it personally. Bless her, you know. ‘Drop dead’ — it was the funniest thing I ever heard.”
Another thing about playing old-time music for older audiences is that they know these songs better you do, Skarnikat says, and you’d better get them right.
“I’ve had that conversation,” he said. “Sometimes you learn a song and then after a while you kind of modify it and it becomes your own. And I had a guy once, he was upset. He said, ‘don’t mess with the music.’ And I always remember that. So sometimes I like to go back and revisit a song just to make sure I haven’t gotten too far off the track.”
Showtime is where Skarnikat earns his pay, but he insists the value of what he does carries over into the connections he makes before, during, and after every performance.
“After the program people come up and share a little story about what a song meant to them or what memories are brought back to life from these songs. I often hear about their childhoods back home around the piano, fiddle, and accordion,” he said.
“I hear these stories every show and they never really get old, you know, because it’s such a precious thing to them.”
James Skarnikat’s next Old Time Radio Show column will appear in the October 3 issue of Respect. He also has a YouTube channel online, where you can watch his videos.
JEFF GAYE
