Sometimes William Mimnaugh will play shows in strange places. The Vancouver Island-based singer/songwriter—who releases albums as Wil—will do a live show in an unlikely location, as long as organizers have their hearts in the right place.
“To be honest, it’s all about the intention,” says Mimnaugh, who tours with his wife and manager Caroline Mimnaugh. “If the intention is there, we’re on board. We’re not above or below doing any kind of show. That said, I wouldn’t do just anything for money; I would do a lot more meaningful things for no money.”
Rather than money, the reward for Mimnaugh is the positive effect he can have on the people he meets.
“You can tell they’re kind of doing it because there’s no chance in hell you’d say ‘yes,’” laughs Mimnaugh. “So you say ‘yes.’ I love the look on people’s faces when they can’t believe you’re there.”
Mimnaugh laughingly refers to taking on odd shows as the Make a Smile Foundation, alluding to the Make a Wish Foundation. This positive attitude is Mimnaugh’s forte. Everything, he says, is a matter of perspective.
“Everybody goes through a period of time when they can complain about a broken pencil,” he explains, “and then eventually you realize that doesn’t matter. And the next step is it doesn’t matter if your bike got a flat tire. And eventually you graduate to things like, if you got in a car accident but you’re okay, and everyone is okay, it’s no big deal.”
This perspective is maintained when Mimnaugh records his albums. Although he performs primarily as a solo guitarist, he’s acutely aware that putting out albums that are just him performing as a solo guitarist probably isn’t the best approach.
“No matter what we do on records, you can’t just put an album out of a guy playing his guitar unless you’re talking about the Massey Hall Neil Young sessions,” he says. “Those are remarkable songs that have been in our lives for 30 years by a great artist. I don’t mean nobody should; just that sometimes you have to give the song what the song requires.”
Mimnaugh also believes his most recently released album, Heart of Mine, is the closest representation to who he truly is to date. Where Mimnaugh would usually overproduce his albums to give it a vastly different sound from his live performances, Heart of Mine dedicates more time to capturing specific moments.
“I’m a guy who sings stories,” says Mimnaugh. “I’m not this remarkable guitar player, incredible singer, or unbelievable songwriter—I’m not any of those things. I’m just a guy who does all of those things and enjoys them a lot.”
Wil & CR Avery
Upstairs Cabaret
9 pm, November 3, $15-$18
ibreakstrings.com