54-40 set for ‘home crowd pride’ at Rock the Lake

Guitarist Dave Genn has been a member of the hugely successful rock band 54-40 for over two decades, which is just half the time the Tsawwassen rockers have been around.

Genn, who previously played for six years with the Matthew Good Band, brought obvious playing and production skills and experience to the 54-40 lineup. But he also came with a different and refreshing dynamic: he was a fan. He’d grown up listening to their songs on the radio, and going to many of their gigs.

“I’ve been in the band now for 21 years; so, I’m the new guy,” Genn told Ryan from 104.7 The LIZARD. After a few years on the job, he told frontman Neil Osbourne, bassist Brad Merrrit, and drummer Matt Johnson that they should let him put the setlists together for live gigs.

“They said, ‘why?’

“And I said, ‘well, I’m a fan first.’”

It’s that continued excitement about playing a huge catalog of hits that makes watching 54-40 so universally appealing.

“The band’s songs are bigger than the band’s name; bigger than the band’s personality,” Genn explained, noting how they still hear from people who had no idea 54-40 are responsible for so many songs they know.

"There are so many songs out there that are top five Canadian radio hits that you might not necessarily know are the band. This is what keeps us in business, and I feel it’s our job to draw that line [link] between the band’s catalog and the band’s name,” he said.

The long list of hits Rock the Lake fans can expect this coming weekend include I Go Blind, One Day in Your Life, Nice to Luv You, She La, and Ocean Pearl.

And there’s new music too, with the recent release of their new album West Coast Band. Genn calls it their ‘COVID record.’

“Essentially it was done in isolation. We started sending files to each other [to our home studios] and we’ve never worked like that before,” he said, describing the album as ‘strange’ and ‘fun’ and completely autobiographical, lyrically devoid of figurative speech and metaphor, [with] inside jokes and stories of their history.

“We think it’s hilarious, [and] a gift to the fans to let them in on the personal mechanics of the band,” Genn said, calling the record a humourous review based on informal conversations they had each week on Zoom.

54-40 will perform in front of a ‘home’ B.C. crowd at Rock the Lake Sunday. They follow Wide Mouth Mason and are followed by Tom Cochrane who wraps up the three-day festival.

The band plays more gigs in Ontario than anywhere else because of the sheer size of that market but Ryan asked if there is somewhat of a ‘home field’ vibe when they play in this province.

“Possibly. You do certainly feel an element of pride from the audience on the west coast,” he said. “I think the crowd feels we belong to them; we’re the local boys made good.”

And for Genn, despite his 21 years with the band, he still reflects on things as the fans do.

“When I was in high school – I grew up in White Rock - I kind of felt like this was the band that was local, 20 minutes from my house. They managed to score an American record label, make albums at a time when it was difficult to make records, and get on the radio. "

So, when the fans at Rock the Lake welcome 54-40 on stage, Genn will know exactly how they feel.