Best friends Nixon Boyd and Menno Versteeg were neighbours in a small town just outside of Ottawa. It was 1997 and 11-year-old Nixon was learning guitar and had just met his new neighbour three doors down, 17-year-old Menno. Obsessed with Green Day, John Prine and certain that he knew all of the five chords that exist on guitar, Menno determined he was qualified to be just that teacher.

On guitar lesson number two, Nixon showed Menno the actual chords to “Basket Case”, blowing Menno’s mind, and starting off a musical love affair that has so far spanned almost three decades, thousands of shows in 20+ countries, 10 Top Ten singles and enough ridiculous stories to fill Webster’s Encyclopedia of WTF.

 

For now though, they are starting with a 30-40 minute midday set, perfect for people sitting down.