Two decades after their first show together, the members of Lunch at Allen’s still enjoy each other’s company and songs.
The group, made up of singer-songwriters Murray McLauchlan, Cindy Church, Marc Jordan and Ian Thomas, head back on the road across Ontario this week, stopping June 15 at Brantford`s Sanderson Centre.
The group was born when McLauchlan was asked to do a songwriter’s circle. He said he would take part, but only if he could pick the songwriters and they could play like a band instead of each taking turns singing their own songs, while the others listened.
He pitched the idea to Thomas and Jordan during a lunch at Allen’s Restaurant in Toronto. Church, a singer-songwriter and member of the group Quartet, was asked to join.
Initially expected to be a one-time thing, Lunch at Allen’s tours regularly across Canada, including dates late last year in the Maritimes and British Columbia when pandemic restrictions eased.
They were only allowed to play to half-houses in BC but, in the Maritimes, had full houses, with audience members vaccinated and masked.
“From the stage, it was like playing a horrifying proctology clinic,” Thomas said. “If I’d heard the snap of a rubber glove, I would have been out of there like a bat out of hell.”
Aside from the optics, the concerts went smoothly, he said.
“We’d all been living like the Man in the Iron Mask in our dungeons, and I think to raise your voice in song, there’s some healing in there for sure,” Thomas said.
“It was just wonderful.”
There are several reasons why Lunch at Allen’s keeps going all these years later, Thomas said.
“We’re just good friends, for starters.”
And he added that the dinners they have together are as much fun as the shows.
“Everyone is creatively in charge of their own songs, so they call the shots of what works and what doesn’t.”
Individually, members of Lunch at Allen’s have had successful recording careers and have written songs for Chicago, Josh Groban, Bonnie Raitt, America, Santana, Cher and Rod Stewart. They’ve also recorded several albums together as Lunch at Allen’s.
“What’s wonderful is there’s a personality that this combination has musically that is greater than the individuals,” Thomas said. “We blend like an SOB, even though our voices are so different.”
He added: “When you get into close harmony with friends, it’s uplifting.”
The June 15 show starts at 7:30 pm Tickets are available at the Sanderson box office at 519-758-8090 and online at www.sandersoncentre.ca.