Before we begin today's post, I wanted to offer our deepest condolences to the family & friends of veteran local guitarist, luthier, and guitar tech Gregory David Wilson, who passed away on Monday at the age of 69, following a lengthy battle with cancer. Read his obituary on SooToday at this link. Greg is survived by his sister Greta, brother Jay, and nephew Wade, and he was a proud pet parent who frequently shared photos of his orange tabby cats Chloe and Buddy on social media over the years. While Greg's credits as a performer in bands and in concerts are not in easily accessible supply in 2026, he was a very talented guitarist who made his mark with numerous local musicians over the years via his work in Gregory David Wilson Guitarworks, where he fixed, restored, customized, and sold guitars and basses of many kinds, and also helped local musicians on their concert setups and other musical inquiries.
Cremation has taken place already at the O'Sullivan Funeral Home, and a celebration of life will be held at a later date. The family requests that memorial donations be sent to the Sault Ste. Marie Humane Society or the Sault Area Hospital Foundation's Cancer Care Fund. While not a musician myself, I admired Greg's work with guitars, I always looked forward to his cat photos, and I actually sold him some guitar strings and related gear that I had won in a contest many moons ago. The reach and influence he had with so many local musicians from multiple generations is extremely evident, and our best thoughts are with the Wilson family at this time. R.I.P. Greg!
Today's post otherwise looks at some recent videos from Sault Ontario bands, and we'll start with progressive metalcore quartet Convergence, and after posting some amusing (if vertical) Facebook videos re-contextualizing clips from their new song "Gemini" with unrelated viral videos, they uploaded a behind-the-scenes "Inside The Chaos" video to their YouTube channel on Monday, featuring a look at the work that the guys are putting into the album, which has officially been renamed "Gemini" (as their planned third instrumental EP would have been) rather than its prior teased name "In Bloom". The video is helpfully broken into chapters and features hard-coded subtitles added in post-production. In order, you see singer Stephen Gagnon-Ruscio tracking vocals, guitarist Brendan Christie mixing songs at their own Woodward Avenue Studios and tracking his own guitar parts, a look at their studio gear, ...
...fellow guitarist Jake Valois going into the writing process for the album (with some amusing imagery), and drummer David Peredun discussing the songwriting process in voice-over while he drums on screen. Of note, David actually moved to Southern Ontario in recent months to further his own career and make new connections, but he is still in Convergence, is still working on the album, and he explained that they are making gigs work when he can return home. While a little piecemeal in its layout, this is an informative video that shows a lot while also not giving much away, and I really liked the tracking clips at the start, so give this a watch below!
Finally for tonight, let's wrap up our look at the videos publically shared to new local hard rock quartet 5 Dollar Bribe's Facebook page from their matinee debut at Beck's Bar on April 4th! For our coverage of the band's two own videos and what three other attendees shot, check yesterday's post. The venue's own Facebook page posted a (sadly) vertical video from that night featuring 3 minutes of highlights from the day's sets, though the cuts are very quick, and some snippets only run for around 10 seconds. In order, you will see the guys covering Weezer's "Say It Ain't So", The Presidents Of The United States Of America's "Lump", Temple Of The Dog's "Hunger Strike", Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears", Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There For You", Alice In Chains' "No Excuses" (with bassist Randy Lundigran on lead vocals), and Pink Floyd's "Money". Only the first two songs are unique here, and were not among what other uploaders shot.
I do wish that these clips were all longer (if not separate videos outright), but Becky(?) got some good close angles despite the orientation! The Ozzy cover got the most time among the highlights here, and you can see how impressed the attendees to the side of the stage were with the band/guitarist Tyler Greely's solo, and the pan shot of the audience gives a good interior view if you haven't been to Beck's since it opened last year (next weekend is their one year anniversary, even). Give their 5.D.B. video a watch below!
The other three videos were uploaded by Randy's dad Chad Lundigran for his personal Facebook page before the band shared them to their Facebook page. Unfortunately also shot vertically and all running for under a minute each, Chad filmed Five Dollar Bribe covering "Money", the Atlanta Rhythm Section's "So Into You" (what a pull for a band this young!), and as embedded below, "No Excuses". Randy sings lead on "So Into You", for the record. It's good to get a longer look at the A.I.C. cover, and their talents are on good display here for a successful first go at the public stage, so check out Jayce, Tyler, Randy, and Chase's other new Beck's videos above & below!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!
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