If you go to the Rendezvous in Turners Falls on the first Friday of every month, you’ll come across a man dressed in a sharp vintage suit, playing guitar and singing songs like “I Wished on the Moon” into one of those big ’ole Shure microphones.
Welcome to Drew Paton’s 1940’s Hit Parade.
Paton, who resides in Orange, has been performing his show at the ’Voo every month for close to seven years. He’ll be there Friday night at his usual 7 p.m. time, but this won’t be his usual monthly gig — this is a special show as Paton helps the Rendezvous celebrate its 10th anniversary. To mark this occasion, Paton will have vocalist Zara Bode on hand to sing with him. Bode has an incredible voice and is best known as one half of the Sweetback Sisters, which has a CD release show coming up at the Shea Theater on Sept. 29.
“It’s such an honor to have Zara there and to be rubbing shoulders with a talent like her,” said Paton. “She has a gorgeous voice. We’ll likely be singing anything from Patsy Cline to Ella Fitzgerald.”
The ’Voo staff recognized that Bode and Paton have a shared love of music from the past, so a few years ago they brought the pair together for a holiday show.
“I have to confess, I didn’t know the Sweetback Sisters and didn’t meet Zara until the night of the gig,” said Paton. “And then when she started to sing, it was unbelievable. What a voice!”
Paton’s Hit Parade can best be described as a musical time capsule.
“I like to call it a snapshot of the ’30s or ’40s. I dress like someone out of a Turners Classic Movie and I have that old microphone,” he said. “And to give you an idea of what I play — my musical mentors are Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Doris Day. A lot of swing from the ’30s and ’40s.”
The show also features projected images from that bygone era on a screen behind him as he sings.
Patton has been a working musician most of his life and spent the 1970s and some of the 1980s playing folk-rock hits in various clubs here in the Northeast, including a longstanding six-nights-a-week gig in Provincetown. He said it was a great experience, but after a while, the constant traveling and lack of a steady paycheck took its toll. In the early 1980s, Paton hung up his guitar and left the Boston area to settle here in western Massachusetts.
“But when you’re a musician, it’s in your blood. My friends kept urging me to do something, so eventually I decided to give it a go,” recalled Paton. “But I knew if I was going to get back into it, I wasn’t going to be playing top 40 tunes; I was going to play the music that I loved.”
That music consists of the old songs he remembered his parents singing and dancing to — songs like “Sentimental Journey,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and more.
“These songs tell a story and were so romantic,” Paton said. “Nobody writes a line like ‘I’ll love you to the moon’ anymore.”
So he started learning how to play these old songs and also researching the time in which they were popular. As a result, he came up with a complete show — one that had a theatrical component to it. Paton came up with a format in which he conducted his performances like an old radio show, stopping between songs for commercials for products like Burma Shave.
It made sense to bring this Hit Parade to an audience that would appreciate a trip down memory lane, so he started out by playing in nursing homes.
“It was a big hit and I got a lot of feedback,” he said. “I would see old people sitting in their wheelchairs kind of slumped down and suddenly they’d perk up and start tapping their feet and singing along. It was great.”
But he eventually wanted to bring this music to a wider audience and began playing in clubs, which is what ultimately led him to the Rendezvous.
“The first time I played there, I knew it was perfect for me. It’s this great neighbored bar and the people who run it are great,” Paton said.
The response he received was positive enough that he was invited back again and again, until the club finally offered him the monthly spot where he has been ever since. Paton doesn’t do many shows outside of his ’Voo residency and occasional private shows. He has played at the Luthier’s Co-op in Easthampton, but that’s about it. Unlike his past when he relied on music to make his living, these days it’s more about having fun and sharing the music he loves with audiences — some of who are being introduced to these songs for the first time.
“I’m having a great time and people seem to like it,” Paton said. “I have a tight, little dedicated following and there’s always new people coming in.”
“And I love the ’Voo. It’s a nice venue, and after all this time, I’m still there,” he added with a laugh.
Paton’s Hit Parade begins at 7 p.m. Friday. The 10th anniversary celebration will continue with a dance party at 9 with DJ Yolo Chain (aka Josh Nugent) playing ’90s music, remixes as well as classics. There will be no cover for the celebration. The Rendezvous is at 78 Third St. in Turners Falls.
Sheryl Hunter is a music writer who lives in Easthampton. Her work has appeared in various regional and national magazines. You can contact her at soundslocal@yahoo.com