Blessed is the humble potato, that versatile cornerstone of the food pyramid. It has been the foundation of many a fine meal, and in times of both feast and famine, it has been there for us almost without fail.
With the new challenges we’re being presented with the current pandemic, there have arisen certain questions of food certainty. Prince Edward Island’s Agricultural Industry have been working double-time during less than ideal circumstances to keep the province’s #1 foodstuff on the table, and their efforts haven’t gone unnoticed or unappreciated.
Mark Phillips, a marketing specialist at the PEI Potato Board, which represents all the potato growers on Prince Edward Island, and Peter Cann, of Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys, lead the charge. The pair reached out to some friends to help get their message across.
Fortunately for all of us, counted among Phillips’ and Cann’s friends are some of Prince Edward Island’s most talented musicians. They recruited Nudie, Rachel Beck, Liam Corcoran, Tim Chaisson, Nick Doneff, John Connolly, Meaghan Blanchard, Patrick Ledwell, and Gordie Mackeeman to show their appreciation with a song.
Naturally, there was only one choice: the industry’s longstanding anthem, Stompin’ Tom Connors’ “Bud the Spud.”
“We put out a Facebook post thanking all the essential workers involved in getting food to our tables throughout COVID-19 and our GM thought perhaps a video would be a nice compliment to that expressing our thanks,” explains Phillips. “When social distancing measures first were in place the demand for fresh potatoes was through the roof, and the challenge to get them to the market was even greater. Although the general public was being told to stay home, our workers were being asked to cross borders to deliver potatoes and work long hours.
“I wanted to make sure people knew what they were doing was appreciated, and certainly essential. I had an idea that perhaps the message would be even nicer coming from Island musicians than our staff members. I’m blessed with some very talented friends!”
Phillips reached out to Peter Cann, guitarist for Gordie Mackeeman and his Rhythm Boys, (who also happens to be Phillips’ neighbour and long-time friend) two weeks ago to see if he thought it was a good idea.
“He was all for it and started helping me get things in motion. The artists I reached out to were super gracious, and eager to help. We realized we would need a key and tempo to help link up the videos. So Peter made a backing track with guide vocals and sent it to all the artists. When we realized this was going to be more complicated I asked Ivan MacLean from Red Wave Studios to help us pull it all together at the end and the results were great! As with every project, there was more to it than I initially thought, but it was all worth it.
“It’s amazing we were able to get Island artists together in such a unique way. We even had one artist who was in Australia when the whole thing started.’
With sufficient planning, expertise, and effort, we were lucky everything turned out. While it’s not unheard of for bandmates to record remotely, this new era of social distancing has caused more than a few musical collaborations to turn sour.
“We were very happy with how it turned out and hope it brought some good news to an unusual Easter weekend,” says Phillips, “and most importantly I hope it helps our essential workers realize their efforts are appreciated!”
“I was so happy to help out,” says Rachel Beck, who appears in the video right around the 13-second mark. “I think this crisis is reminding us just how essential our agricultural sector is. Where would we be without our farmers? Making this video with so many buds (pardon the wordplay) was a lot of fun. Major props to Nudie for his jacket, to Liam for his potato boom box vibe, and to Tim for the perfect PEI pronunciation of potatoes: ‘Puh-tay-dahs’.”