Starting a band is generally associated with young people, but Toronto progressive rock trio Redpath Traffic, whose members range in age from the mid-50s to early-70s, is proving that you’re never too old to start something new.
“There are many pros and cons to starting a new group at our age,” says Richard Todd, the band’s vocalist and guitarist. “But the positive aspects of doing it outweigh any negatives. And we’re having a whole lot of fun.”
Richard and his bandmate Mark Fernley (bass) first met in 2016 through a Meetup Rock Band group. Along with then-drummer Kerem Balci, they began getting together regularly to practice their favourite cover songs.
“Being older guys,” Rick says. “Our musical roots went back decades instead of just a few years. We had a diverse set of songs comprising everything from Elvis Presley and The Beatles to Nirvana and The Black Keys.”
However, their days as a cover band didn’t last long when Richard started introducing his originals to the group. Quickly, Redpath Traffic abandoned playing other people’s songs to focus exclusively on their own.
“I had about 12 songs in total,” Rick says. “We all brought our skills to arrange what turned out to be a great set of genre-agnostic tunes ready to take into the studio. Most of the band hadn’t ever set foot in a recording studio, so the experience for them was exhilarating.”
Teaming up with music industry legend Chris Birkett, the band recorded eight songs for their upcoming LP, Under the Crimson Sun. To date, they’ve released five singles that have accumulated almost 50,000 streams on Spotify.
“One of the bigger challenges of releasing music as older guys are having to learn about streaming,” Rick says. “Mark and I came from the world of vinyl records, cassettes, and later CDs. Navigating this new musical landscape was daunting at first, but we’re really getting the hang of it.”
In June 2023, Redpath Traffic welcomed new drummer Jim Medley, another music veteran with blues roots going back to the 1970s. Finding a new member presented a new set of challenges in a youth-oriented pastime, but the band knew the right person was out there.
“We faced some ageism when looking for new members,” Rick says. “A lot of musicians younger than us were turned off by our ages. We qualified everyone early on by being upfront about how old we were – and most never wrote back after that! A few drummers still came out to play, but we’re really happy to have found Jim.”
Rick also claims that being older means fewer obstacles stand in the way of making music.
“I’ve played in many bands since high school,” he says. “When you’re younger, you have all sorts of commitments, such as homework and part-time jobs. Later on, careers, family, and other activities take priority over music. And that’s okay – we’ve all been there. Now though, we have much more free time and less day-to-day stress to deal with so we can enjoy creating and playing music.”
What words of advice would Rick give other older people thinking of starting a band?
“Just do it, even if you’ve just learned how to play an instrument!” he says. “At first, I felt a little awkward getting out there with my guitar. But so many people – almost all of them much younger – told me to forget about age and just do what I love. I’m really happy I listened to them!”
