Felipe Gomez hits the highway for Bike and Bass Tour
Gomez straps his bass to his back to spread his love of music to northern Saskatchewan
Felipe Gomez can really play the bass, but instead of hopping on a tour bus to perform in large concert halls, he hits the road on two wheels with his bass strapped to his back.
On Monday, Gomez will leave his home in Saskatoon for his Bike and Bass Tour of northern Saskatchewan. He'll be braving the northern elements just as the weather turns to fall and winter.
This isn't the first time he is taking on the task. He started these tours three years ago in Tofino, B.C., and the second leg of the tour took him all the way to Newfoundland and P.E.I.
"This is one of those bar conversations that you got to carry on the next morning," said Gomez, on how he dreamt up the idea for the Bike and Bass Tour.
He said that on all his tours, he brings his sense of adventure. He learns something different whether it be how to change a bike tire or how to deal with a grizzly bear.
"I've seen like seven grizzlies in eight days," said Gomez.
"Nature doesn't care who you are or what you do."
His mission...
In all of this, Gomez's mission is to bring art and culture to rural communities.
"I was really lucky to grow up in a really artistic family," he said. "But not many kids had that opportunity, so I want to bring that to their community."
"The bicycle is just a metaphor. To me, that's the goal, that's the mission — jump on the bicycle and go, but it can be something else for other people. The bicycle can be signing up for a new job, going to university, doing something different in their life," said Gomez.
On this tour, Gomez is supported by the Saskatchewan Art Board. He will be going to communities like La Loche, and will end up in Uranium City by mid-December. He hopes that he is able to share his message of creating your own life to those he performs for along the way.
"I want them to see music, to see that there's a lot of beauty, and that you can have different paths of life, you can choose, you can create your own career," says Gomez.
Heading north
Gomez was born in Chile, but has fallen in love with his new home in Canada. He said that he has to see this country from coast to coast, from north to south.
"Not many people have been in north Saskatchewan. There's many people who brave the north daily, like people that work in construction, people that work in fishing camps," said Gomez. "First Nations people have done it for a thousand years."
"[At] some point in the last hundred years, we become disconnected with that part," he added.
Gomez said that through evolution, humans have the skills and the tools to survive the north, and we have the technology. He said that we just have to reconnect with that ability to survive.
That's what Gomez will be doing for himself on this leg of the bike and bass tour.
"We have it. Everything we need is in us."
With files from CBC Radio's Saskatchewan Weekend