A handful of Ottawa business people will show off their musical chops this Friday, taking to the stage to perform everything from classic rock covers to folksy original music as part of an open-mic event designed just for them.
CAPO – the Capital Professionals Open Mic – will be held for the fourth time Nov. 1 at the Rainbow Bistro.
The event, which takes place twice a year, features a lineup of local business professionals — consultants, executives and entrepreneurs by day, they are all longtime music lovers. Some will take to the stage for the first time, while others have been performing for decades.
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Ted Carty, a business development consultant, founded the event when he realized how many people were living this double life.
“I’m a musician, I’ve been playing music for a very, very long time,” he told OBJ. “I’m also a business person. And I started (Open Mic) because there were many more people like me who wanted to be involved in an event like this. It’s been very successful.
“We have a huge bed of musically gifted but also musically connected professional people. Giving them a stage and giving them an opportunity, they do not disappoint.”
Each concert is hosted in partnership with a different charity. This time around, the event will support the Ottawa Cancer Foundation, an organization that Carty said hits close to home for almost everyone.
“I lost my mother to cancer last year,” he said. “She died very quickly. So I was very well aware of the Ottawa Cancer Foundation and my own family has had to go through the disease and its reality without those resources. So I know how important they are. They’ve been a wonderful partner for this event.”
This iteration of CAPO features a number of familiar faces from the business community. OBJ connected with four of the performers to discuss their love of music, who inspires them, and what they’ll be performing this coming Friday.
John Sicard, CEO of Kinaxis
John Sicard’s childhood dream might not have come true, but that doesn’t mean he loves music any less today than he did back then.
“(It’s been) a very long time, well over 45 years,” he told OBJ. “In fact, I thought my primary vocation would be drumming. I actually didn’t finish high school. I left early to pursue a career in music and thought I would become a rock god. But you learn very quickly that music is mostly a labour of love. For a lot of musicians, it’s very difficult to make a living in music.”
Instead of drumming his way up the charts, Sicard changed paths, attending university and joining Ottawa supply chain management company Kinaxis in 1994. Since 2016, he’s held the role of president and CEO.
Despite his busy schedule, music remains a vital part of his life and his interests have even expanded.
“During COVID, I started learning how to produce, mix and master music,” he said. “I have the equivalent of a professional sound studio in my house. I’ve opened the studio privately to other musicians, so I’d say the latter part of my life will not only be about getting behind the drums and playing with my band, but also in helping emerging artists that might not be able to afford studio time.”
Sicard will headline CAPO with his band Open Channel D, in their debut performance with three new members. Their set will include a blend of new and old, from classic rock to dance tunes.
While he was never able to make it big, Sicard said this is the next best thing, and he won’t be giving up music any time soon.
“I have a sign in my studio that says ‘Music is my therapy’ and I’m sure that’s true for a lot of musicians,” he said. “Especially playing drums. I always found it cathartic. I’m not a polite drummer, I’ll say that. I’m more of a John Bonham or Foo Fighters type.
“But primarily, I just love the creative aspect of it. I fell into computer science because it was the perfect blend of science and art. There are a lot of great computer scientists out there who are also musicians because of it.”
Jessica Gosbee, owner of Jessica Gosbee Design
It started with classical piano lessons as a kid for Jessica Gosbee, who nowadays runs a small boutique interior design firm under her own name.
“That turned into an interest in guitar,” she told OBJ. “My father is a musician, so that’s how it began. Through high school, I started performing in front of the school and locally (in Sarnia) at some coffee shops and things like that. Then I came to school at uOttawa, so I would be playing some of the pubs on Elgin (Street) and in the (ByWard) Market and hitting all the open mics.”
Like many young musicians, Gosbee drifted away from music as professional and family obligations caught up with her over the years. But since switching from her career in the nuclear industry to interior design, she’s started to get back on the circuit.
“We actually purchased a piano a few years back and I really enjoy sitting down, singing and playing,” she said. “Mostly cover songs, kind of soft rock, folk, the pop stuff that I grew up with. There’s influences from my dad with Simon and Garfunkel, Led Zeppelin and the Eagles. Sarah McLachlan was a really big influence, and Alanis and Jewel. Now it’s more with my kids, so there’s some more Taylor Swift and other recent stuff.”
She’ll be bringing those influences to her performance at CAPO, playing a solo set that includes a Vance Joy cover and some other songs.
When life gets busy, Gosbee said her guitar is always nearby to provide a meditative escape and a release from all the stress. And this time around, she’s looking forward to sharing her passion with a like-minded audience.
“I’m excited to bring friends out that have never really gotten to know this side of me as a musician,” she said. “It’s really exciting.”
Darren Fleming, CEO of Real Strategy Advisors
Darren Fleming’s musical potential showed itself in glimpses throughout his younger years, but it was until his mid-30s that he fully embraced his love of music.
“I ended joining my church choir and that kind of started it,” he told OBJ. “I think when you finally get some instruction in anything, you start to see pretty quickly if you have any talent. My director, who’s a classical vocal coach, said, ‘You want to take some lessons?’ And I ended up sticking around after choir for an extra hour and did that for four years.”
Since then, Fleming, who is the CEO of commercial real estate consulting firm Real Strategy Advisors by day, has taken to his newfound talents with gusto, doing performances and picking up guitar to accompany his voice.
During COVID, he also dabbled in songwriting.
“These days, I’m back in a choir,” he said. “I sing Irish folk songs and I’ve been trying to hit the open mic circuit a little bit. I have half a dozen of my own original songs that I feel comfortable presenting to the universe and so I’ve gotten some good feedback.”
His musical influences range from jazz, Irish folk music and rock to classical pieces, Broadway showtunes, and the soundtracks of films and television shows like Game of Thrones.
He added that taking to the stage at the Rainbow Bistro is a meaningful experience for him.
“I was one of those guys who threw in some cash to save the place, so it’s pretty special,” he said. “The last CAPO was my first time ever actually performing there. That was very nerve-wracking. And, for some glorious reason, Ted Carty thinks I should start the show this time.”
Doug Smyth, Counsel at Low Murchison Radnoff LLP
For decades, co-workers Doug Smyth and Gary Boyd have also been co-performers, and will once again be hitting the stage together this Friday.
“Gary and I went to law school together and we started playing guitar together in 1977,” Smyth told OBJ. “That’s how long we’ve been at it.”
Like many young people of the era, Smyth said he got into music and picked up the guitar for the first time when the Beatles hit the scene. He played through high school and university and hasn’t stopped yet.
“I’ve been in various groups and playing solo all through that time,” he said. “I played electric guitar, playing blues and rock, and acoustic guitar, playing pop, rock, folk and country.”
Smyth added that Boyd plays guitar, but really shines with his “more classical voice,” which he’s utilized in choirs and opera.
Music has always been a part of Smyth’s life, but it’s taken on a new meaning in recent years, as he’s started performing at schools and seniors residences across the city.
“There’s something about music that rests in your mind,” he said. “I went into one seniors residence and they were having a birthday party and I had them all sing Happy Birthday. There was a lady in the corner with a gentleman. As I’m packing up, this gentleman walks up to me and says, ‘I just want you to know, she can barely speak, hasn’t hardly spoken for over a year, but she sang every word of Happy Birthday.’ He was almost in tears.
“There’s a power in music that rests in your mind at a level that’s so powerful and fundamental,” he said. “So why do I do it? That’s part of it.”
