For 37 years, music teacher Norm McIntosh ran Confederation Secondary School's wildly popular Evolutionary Band.
The high school rock band has been visited by musicians and groups including Three Days Grace, Keshia Chante, Suzie McNeil, Tragically Hip, Hedley, Sloan, The Trews and Finger Eleven.
It set the Guinness World Record for the deepest concert in 2007 after performing at Vale's North Mine. McIntosh himself was the inaugural recipient of a Juno Award for Music Teacher of the Year.
But all good things must come to an end. Last June, McIntosh retired from his job, having stayed on eight years after he qualified for retirement. With McIntosh's retirement, Evolutionary Band also came to an end.
After enjoying retirement for awhile, McIntosh said he's “tired of the quietness.” So he's decided to start a community rock band.
“The reason I had to retire was for this reason — I could no longer teach all day and then go into rehearsals four nights a week with Evolutionary,” he said.
“It was just too much for me any longer to do. It was very hard. Now with my new situation, I can still have my days all to myself and I can go into rehearsal at night. I've cut the workload at least in half. It'll work great.”
McIntosh said he's been in contact with some former Evolutionary members on social media about the project, and the response has been overwhelming.
He said there's still a lot of details to be worked out, including where the band will rehearse and raising money for equipment.
McIntosh is inviting former Evolutionary members and other interested community members to attend a meeting about starting up the band. The meeting is set for Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Hanmer's Centennial Arena.
You can also contact McIntosh at [email protected].
