A musician first!
Date: October 20, 1964
Credit: The Georgian, vol. 28, no 5
This ad was published in 1964 in the Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) student newspaper. In it, Gary Eisenkraft offers lessons in folk guitar, finger-picking, blues and country.
Indeed, before owning cafes and clubs, Gary Eisenkraft was a musician and folk singer. He made a name for himself on the Montreal music scene thanks to his musical talents. In fact, at the first club Gary opened, the Fifth Amendement, regulars recall him playing a few songs before inviting the main acts onto the stage. If the crowd grew impatient and complained, Gary would reply:
Too bad! You’ll have to listen to me first.
Many who’ve heard him play say that he had a fairly good finger-picking technique. Even if he was primarily an impresario, he still wanted to keep making his own music.