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Community Editor Andrew McCredie

LISTENING TO local musi- cian Jeff Standfield on stage or on tape, you'd never guess that he has been unable to use his legs since he was a small child.

By Andrew McCredie

Entertainment Reporter

But then why should you? Music comes from somewhere beyond the physical, out there where sound and emotion meet. For proof, wander into The End coffee shop in Lower Lonsdale some Sunday night when the 34-year-old singer/song writer is strumming his 12-string and blow- ing his harp. .

A rare virus visited Standfield's body at age one, then disappeared after a month, leaving doctors unsure of the damage done. At age four it became apparent that Standfield needed crutches to walk. He's been on them ever since,

“I probably would have liked to ski, played football, but other than that there really isn’t anything I haven't been able to do.” the under- stated Handsworth graduate says.

What he has been able to do is win two gold medals in swimming at the Disabled World Games, hold a world record in the [00m back- stroke, and participate in countless national wheelchair competitions.

But back to the music.

“My parents were both folk singers, so | grew up around music.” recalls Standfield of his early roots. “We'd spend Saturday nights having a big hootenanny at our house.”

So it would figure that like most teenage musicians, Standfield would have spent many a deafening hour sweating out his chops in a North Shore garage during his Handsworth days. Not quite.

“I was really involved in sports in high school. and music was always something kind of there — the guitar in the corner of my bed-

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Entertainment Editor Layne Christensen

room kind of thing.

“But a couple of years ago [ real- ized it was now or never for my music, so | went down to Spirals (now The End) and went on stage,” he revalls. “I was just petrified butt really wanted to do it.”

Following his stage debut, the owner of Spirals continued to sup- port Standfield’s dream.

“The really unique thing about going to places like The End is that it's mostly original music.” says Standfield, “But then there is also the risk that itcan be very bad.” This is why so many performers stick to covers — they’re safer (ergo mar- ketable).

“But since | have a day job (as an employment counsellor at a Canada Employment Centre in south Vancouver) [have the freedom to do my own thing.”

More coffee shop gigs fell into place, followed by some folk festi- val appearances and other high-pro- file events. In February he appeared on the Variety Club Telethon.

Being self-taught, Standfield has stuck to writing his own folk- inspired material instead of trying to figure out someone else's.

“EP suppose the music does start the song.” he says of writing. “Usually a phrase hits me und from there the lyrics and music seem to grow together simultaneously. After that it comes down to hard work.”

He co-wrote some songs for a CDreleased by the Vancouver- based band Spinal Chord, a group of disabled musicians fronted by wheelchair-bound city councillor Sam Sullivan. The Vancouver Adapted Music Society (VAMS) release is called Why Be Normal?

His own recording?

“They say you have your whole life to write your first album, so I’ve got lots ready to record.” says Standfield, adding that he hopes to be flogging his own CD at his gigs by year-end.

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LOCAL MUSICIAN Jeff Standfield plays The End in Lower Lonsdale on April 25 and May 5, and Roastmastirs (Lonsdale and 19th) on May 12.

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