Wild T & the Spirit is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
band, fronted by guitarist
Tony Springer.
History
Wild T & the Spirit was formed in 1990 by Springer with bassist Brian Dickie and drummer Danny Bilan (formerly of
Moxy Moxy may refer to:
* Moxy (airline), formerly proposed name for the airline Breeze Airways in the United States
* Moxy (band), a Canadian hard rock band formed in the 1970s
** ''Moxy'' (album), 1975
** '' Moxy II'', 1976
* Moxy Engineering, a No ...
).
[" Wild T & the Spirit"]
''AllMusic'' Biography by John Bush The band released its Warner Bros. debut album, ''Love Crazy'', in 1991. The album featured a single of the same name, which reached #1 on the ''
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
''
Cancon
Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television Broadcasting, broadc ...
chart. Bassist Kojo Ferguson toured with the band in support of ''Love Crazy'', appearing in the video for "Midnight Blues". Nazeem Lakay soon replaced Dickie on bass.
The following year, Springer was invited to play guitar on
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
's album ''
Black Tie White Noise
''Black Tie White Noise'' is the 18th studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 5 April 1993 through Savage Records in the United States and Arista Records in the United Kingdom. Conceived following the disbandment of Bowi ...
''. Following that album and tour, Wild T & the Spirit released their second Warner Bros. album, ''Givin' Blood'';
in 1993, which featured the single "Freedom Train". The band toured Canada as a supporting act for
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...
to promote the album. ''Givin' Blood'' earned a nomination for
Best Hard Rock Album at the
1994 Juno Awards, and gave the band a Canadian chart hit with "Loveland".
In the latter half of the 1990s, Springer spent time in Chicago, Ill. performing as a sideman with various blues artists; he returned to Toronto and the band continued to play concert venues throughout Eastern Canada with new members, bassist Chas Laurie and former
Frozen Ghost
Frōzen Ghōst was a Canadian rock band formed in 1985 in Toronto by Arnold Lanni and Wolf Hassel, who were previously with the band Sheriff. The band received a Juno Award for " Most Promising Group of the Year" in 1987.
The group placed fi ...
drummer John Bouvette. In 2000, the band released the album ''Strange Modern''. Laurie left the band and was replaced by bassist Guenther Kapelle.
The band followed up with ''True Bliss'' on Bullseye/Taxim Records in 2004, with Kapelle.
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " Ang ...
,
Carole Pope
Carole Ann Pope (born 6 August 1950) is a British-born Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose provocative blend of hard-edged new wave rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian entertainers t ...
, and keyboardist Peter Nunn also appeared on ''True Bliss'' as guest musicians. The band toured throughout Canada, the US, the UK and Europe.
["Wild T & The Spirit to Tour Europe"]
''Blues WebZine'', 3 April 2009 In 2008 the band released the album ''Fender Bender'' on Jazzhaus Records and continued on with their tour schedule. The new album was received well by fans and critic.
The band released an album in 2015 called ''Live'', which was recorded live in Toronto. The lineup at that time was Springer, Kapelle and drummer Dave Langguth. That year they performed at the East Coast Guitar Fest.
"First Halifax guitar fest rocks Cunard Centre"
''Chronicle Herald'', Photos by ADRIEN VECZAN April 27, 2015
Members
Current
*Wild T (Toney Springer) - guitar/lead vocals (1990-present)
*Guenther Kapelle - bass/vocals (2000-present)
*Dave Langguth - drums (2012-present)
Touring
*Trevor Bigam - drums/vocals (2012-present)
*Murad Gunduz - drums (2015-2016)
References
External links
Wild T
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups from Toronto
Canadian blues rock musical groups
1990 establishments in Ontario