It feels like a gift, given to you and immediately snatched away. One fateful chance to hear a monster Sudbury bluesman, a master of the slide guitar, and then a week later, he’s gone.
Sudbury.com had just featured that monster bluesman, Dwayne Trudeau, and shared some of his music when we learned that he unexpectedly passed away a week after our story came out. Trudeau died on Nov. 13 at the age of 48. He leaves behind family, four children, and the eternal respect of Sudbury’s music community.
Born April 29, 1975, Trudeau was originally from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, and moved to Sudbury in 1987. He told our sister site Sudbury.com in early November he began playing on the streets just to make a few bucks for diapers, and ended up playing just about every stage in Sudbury.
Trudeau, however, never quite made it big. Not the fame that would match his talent, anyway, because if anything, Trudeau had chops.
After his death, musicians and fans across the city took to social media to express their sadness, including Matt Foy, Vic Theriaiult (of Sudbury's Bluez Brothers) and even Dominic Beaudry, Associate Vice-President, Academic and Indigenous Programs at Laurentian.
One of them was Paul Loewenberg, the musician and long-time manager at the itself-legendary Townehouse Tavern and the former artistic director of Northern Lights Festival Boréal. Loewenberg has booked some of the biggest bands around for decades, and he liked booking Trudeau.
“I'm not sure how to sum up how I feel about Dwayne Trudeau,” reads the post. “He was possibly the truest representation of the musical form called The Blues, that I have met. That includes Colin Linden and Guy Davis and a bunch of other senior American players. He was our direct line to ‘Mississippi’ John Hurt and Skip James. I booked him as much as I could. I loved watching and listening and especially cherished the few times we shared the stage. Rest in your Creator's arms, my friend. You will remain beautiful in our hearts.”
Life wasn’t easy for Trudeau, several family members told Sudbury.com, which maybe why he loved blues as much as he did. He loved his children and his family deeply, they said, and will be remembered for his smile and his desire to be better for everyone.
While his love of the slide guitar came from family — his uncle showed him how the blues could sound — he was a self-taught musician.
“The sound of the slide really got to me because I could feel the emotions of the players,” he told Sudbury.com Nov. 6.
For him, playing music has always been a release of his emotions, his thoughts, his stressors; and more so today. That’s why he says every show is different.
“I put a lot of emotion into it now,” he said. “I never used to, but now that’s changing, the sound changes around how I feel.”
Trudeau was the grandson of Edna and Ambrose Trudeau (both predeceased) and son of Doreen and Theodore Trudeau (both predeceased). He leaves behind his siblings, Alison, Craig, Merence, Mary and Shelley; his children, Damon, Emily, Liam and Logan and a grandchild, Joey. He will be especially missed by his cat, Goat, said his obituary.
He was a carpenter, artist, musician and “jack of all trades,” it read, and he loved performing in front of people. He also loved his children, and thought the world of them. It also notes that “Dwayne didn’t appreciate green eggs and ham.”
A small service for family and friends took place in both Sudbury and in Trudeau’s home in Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory.
For those who would like to pay tribute to Trudeau’s legacy, the Frood Hotel at 557 Kathleen Street will be hosting a Celebration of Life with an Open Mic Night, and Little Montreal will be the site of the first annual Dwayne Trudeau Memorial Blues Festival.
Information regarding both these events will soon be available on Trudeau's Concert page, found here.