Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 31/00) - Long-time Yellowknife favourites, The Gumboots, return to the NACC stage in April, where they will be joined by a Canadian singing sensation.

The five men who make up the group -- Bill Gilday, Bob MacQuarrie, Rich Hintz, Chic Callas and Ray Bethke -- have been busy over the last year. Preparation for their 10th annual spring concert began six months ago, with discussions on who they would bring up this year.

They chose singer/songwriter Mae Moore, who has four albums to her credit, including the 1999 self-titled release Mae Moore, produced by Jann Arden.

"It was Rich who brought her name forward," says Chic Callas. "And from what we've read, I'm certainly looking forward to the concert."

Moore's music has been described as "melodic pop and folk stylings, with some jazz influence."

"She's not just a good singer, she's entertaining as well," says Callas.

As for the guys, they started digging in their toes in earnest in January.

"We fleshed out the set list, and started rehearsing," Callas explains.

This year the audience is in for a special treat -- a new Gumboot trilogy.

"It's something unique," says Bob MacQuarrie, an ex-history teacher who continues to write the historical songs in the Gumboots repertoire.

"It's fortunate (that I write). I can't play anything. They'd be booting me out," he says, laughing.

This trilogy captures the essence of the police dog team patrols that began in 1895.

"The Dawson patrol -- from Dawson to Fort McPherson -- met with disaster in 1911. They died. But, of course, there were a lot of successes too," says MacQuarrie.

The three songs will be linked by narrative.

"I think they're the three best songs we've done," says Callas. The songwriting department, Bob and Bill, just keeps getting better and better," says Callas.

And lucky for all of us who love their music, a new CD is on the way. Recorded with Norm Glowach at his Spiritwalker Studios, the CD will be released in late May or early June.

"I think people will be surprised, and yet it is still the Gumboots," says Callas.

Until now, the Gumboots recorded in their living rooms -- five men to one microphone.

"We'd decide which of the takes had the least mistakes," says MacQuarrie.

And the Gumboots will not only be entertaining Yk audiences. They've been asked to perform at a conference in Vancouver and details are being worked out for a performance in the Yukon.

The Gumboots and Mae Moore will perform at NACC April 14-15. Tickets are available at the Birchwood Gallery.