Growing up, Newmarket resident Patrick Fockler’s grandfather used to buy crates of records and bring them up to the cottage where they had hundreds to listen to.
Fockler would spend his summers going through them and listening to everything, he particularly gravitated to the Beatles and other rock ’n’ roll albums.
Years later, as he learned more about the history of music, he stumbled onto the blues, the roots of rock ’n’ roll. He dove into the blues and found his passion in that genre.
“I realized the blues is where it all came from,” he said.
That inspired Fockler to follow his own musical path playing the blues, and in January, he’ll be heading to Memphis to compete in the International Blues Competition from Jan. 16 to 21.
Acts from around the world compete for prizes and glory, says Fockler, but to him the most important aspect is the exposure.
“You have all these folks that book festivals and events and they all come,” he said. “It’s like a big scouting, networking event.”
Fockler has been down there before competing in the band category in years past, however this time he’s going as a solo act, while fellow Newmarket musicians Glenn Marais and the Mojo Train competing in the band category.
Initially Fockler had actually assumed he’d miss the date to even enter the competition, but one of the members of the Mojo Train gave him the heads up that there was a last minute casting call for the solo category.
“I just decided to jump on it,” Fockler said. “I thought, why not? We’re getting out of COVID and I want to reconnect with a lot of these people down there that I’ve met before.”
The timing was perfect, Fockler said, and he plans to go to Memphis to have a good time with his friends in the Mojo Train while playing his music and aiming to put on the best show he can to help build his name.
While playing solo in Memphis will be new to Fockler, he’s been performing that way more often in recent years after the pandemic made it more of a necessity.
He said he was never much of a solo performer before, but had to pivot during the pandemic and even now coming out of it, he’s been getting more solo work with venues wanting musicians in smaller format.
“There’s ups and downs with both,” he said. “With solo, it’s a new avenue and it’s different for me. It’s more personal and exposed. It’s a new territory for me.”
Fockler said this trip to Memphis feels extra special because he’s going down there with his good friends from Glenn Marais and the Mojo Train.
“We’re going to be cheering each other on,” he said. “We have a big crew, friends and family, that’s planning to make the trip to come out to support us. It’s going to be huge to have people in our corner down there.”
With the International Blues Competition just a few months away now, Fockler couldn’t be more excited as the reality of it all starts to creep in with fundraisers and promo events for it coming up.
On Dec. 14, Fockler, along with Glenn Marais and the Mojo Train, will be playing Old Town Hall to raise funds for the trip to Memphis.
He says it’s amazing to feel such support from the community and local businesses and that it’s very humbling to see how much Newmarket cares.
“I play music for the love of it and I don’t expect anything back,” he said. “It’s all a bonus to see how much they have our back. Newmarket is an unbelievably supportive community.”
Purchase tickets for the fundraising event at Old Town Hall on Dec. 14 here.
