BUMS Out and Here to Party!
Brant Kiessig of P49
Story by Jimmy Wiggins, Photo by Billy Shaw
A few summers ago I spent the weekend at Amberlite Wilderness Resort, thinking it would be a pretty standard campground vibe. Little did I know that I would get to experience one hell of a rock show with some of my favourite local bands playing on a stage right on the beach with a sound and lighting system that would rival most in-town venues. Needless to say, the vibe was incredible—especially because the whole show was organized and produced by the campground and its seasonal campers, who had come together to share their love of music. These folks call themselves the Boreal Ultimate Music Society, or BUMS.
Born from the hardworking musicians, volunteers, and their families who helped put together the very first AmberJam concert in August of 2017 at Amberlite, BUMS has been a growing force in the music community in Thunder Bay, and from what I can tell, they’ve only just begun. Made up of a group of key members—including Chrissy Klaas, Tony Biscardi, Jim Bailey, Ellen Dorfman, Bob Chabluk, Rob Nickerson, Jim Hampton, Steve Lazar, Dan Zadkovich, Billy Shaw, and Scott Macsemchuk—along with countless supportive volunteers, the BUMS’s goal is to bring awareness to the amazing home-grown talent we have in the Northwest.
“We are a collective of predominantly local live music enthusiasts who love to support our home-grown musical talent,” explains board chairman Scott Macsemchuk. “We provide a proper ‘Fair Pay for Live Play’ pay level for upcoming and established talented musicians, who at times are expected to play for no income to get band/artist exposure or gain stage experience.”
In a short period of time, BUMS have worked with over 150 local bands and musicians in a variety of genres, including Nancy Freeborn, The Honest Heart Collective, Mother of Wolves, Forever Dead!, The Selfies, Chris Krienke & Strawdawg, Femur, Sunday wilde, Back Forty, The Scott vanTeeffelen Band, Danny Johnson, Blood Red Moon, The JB Band, Jean-Paul De Roover, Arley Cox, Toxic Neighbour, and many more. Together, the BUMS have been busy hosting annual events like Rock the Dock, BassHunt, Thunder Country at the Lake, and the campground’s flagship event, AmberJam, as well as an annual 11-night concert series, Summer in the Parking Lot, held outside the Da Vinci Centre, and several one-off tribute nights, with more in the works. On top of all of that, the BUMS, through the Boreal Oasis Studios, recorded, produced and self-released a compilation album that featured 33 local musicians, titled Eleven, with accompanying music videos for all 11 tracks. They’ve also been working on their own magazine, BUMS Exposed, and have their own hot sauce through Marie Sharp.
So what’s next for the BUMS? “Personally, I feel what we have created here with our BUMS community in bringing awareness of local live musical talents and showcasing them on a concert stage setting with professional production [is special]. In the next five years, I would be so grateful if we could replicate and bring the whole concept to other city/town communities across Canada to support, celebrate, appreciate, and develop their own city’s hidden musical talents on local concert stage settings for the local communities to be proud of,” says Scott Macsemchuk. “I feel very blessed to be surrounded by the BUMS volunteer and fan community, and I am filled with gratitude and so very thankful for all the friends, family, and musical community who have supported me.”
Catch the next BUMS event, the Red Hot Chili Peppers Tribute Show featuring The Selfies, on May 12 at the Da Vinci Centre.