For Sylvia Barnard and Ron Whitman, retirement has meant new beginnings.
The Midland-based couple have spent the last decade honing their creative talents together; Whitman produces soul-filled roots and rock music while Barnard has embarked on a career as a novelist.
Whitman recently released “Songs From Tiny Towne Studios” and Barnard released Rhubarb Strawberries and Willows in 2022, a time-shifting novel rooted in historical tragedy. Both creatives say their work has flourished as they support each other’s passion projects.
“We act as each other’s sounding boards,” said Ron, describing how he and Barnard each spend their days creating. He’s converted their garage into a studio, and Barnard weaves words in a home office.
Barnard’s goal of writing became a reality once she finished her career as the president of Cambrian College in 2013.
In Rhubarb, Strawberries and Willows, a character travels back in time to just before a devastating train derailment on the Spanish River in northern Ontario which killed 48 people.
“People in Sudbury, people in Espanola, they didn’t know this horrific event had happened,” Barnard said.
Researching the Spanish River Train Disaster of 1910, that so few residents of the area had heard about it, meant reading journals of women who experienced the nearly forgotten crash’s aftermath and diving into other local historical texts.
Sylvia’s writing is also, partly, influenced by her time spent supporting Ron’s music.
Sitting in bars and pubs and restaurants, she’s gathered stories and characters to put in her novels.
“You’d be amazed by how much you learn,” she said. "There were a lot of characters I could find from people and their interactions with each other."
Ron's music was woven into her novel directly, too.
His song, The ballad of the Spanish, was written while he sat by the Spanish River, and is meant to add colour and depth to the world of Sylvia’s Rhubarb, Strawberries and Willows.
He said Barnard has been a constant inspiration and sounding board for his music, too.
Songs From Tiny Towne Studios was partially recorded in Sudbury but mostly crafted at home in Whitman’s Tiny Towne Studio.
"Since I recorded this one I’ve been able to make connections around town,” he said, adding that he’d like to bring in more musicians for an upcoming release.
Just as Sylvia’s work draws on the landscape and history of Ontario, Ron said some of his songs are inspired by the beauty and stillness of wild places nearby.
In Hear the Pine Trees, Ron sings about the ruggedness of Northern Ontario and the sound of wind thrumming through pine trees.
While he loves playing shows — touring at Quayle's Brewery in Severn and other local venues — he said he makes sure not to overdo it.
“I’m 62 — how busy do you want to be? I love playing but I think we’re able to be a little bit more selective about where we play and make sure we enjoy what we do.”
He jokes that he’ll switch up the songs to make sure Sylvia hears fresh tunes, too.
“I have to tell her sometimes to stay home because she’s heard that set list before!”
As for Barnard, she’s already at work on an upcoming novel about her own life as a daughter of German immigrants right after the Second World War.
It will focus on the prejudice her family faced as new arrivals in Canada as well as the “humour, the ups and downs and trying to stay on your feet in more than one culture.”
Both musician and writer said they’ve found their new creative pursuits — as well as volunteering at Midland’s Cultural Centre — to be rewarding and leading to deeper community connections.
“You don’t create because you think you’re going to make money,” said Whitman. “You create because you cannot not create.”
Whitman is playing sets at Quayles Brewery Aug. 12 from 2 p.m.- 5 p.m., Aug. 18 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Aug. 19 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Fionn MacCools in Orillia Aug. 6 at 1:30 p.m. as well as the Coldwater Mill Aug. 19 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Event Horizons Hobbies in Midland on Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. and Fin City Fish & Chips in Honey Harbour Aug. 20 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Songs from Tiny Towne Studios is available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and CDs are for sale at Shows.
Barnard’s novel is available at Georgian Bay books in Midland, Manticore Books in Orillia and online at Amazon, Kindle, Kobo and from the author at [email protected].
