Rising from the ashes of its previous life, local rock band Tooth N Nail is returning to the stage on June 8 for an outdoor concert at the Notre Dame des Lourdes Park.
The band was first formed in 1989 with members from St. Claude, Treherne and Swan Lake. Stephen Dunn, Alain Dedieu, Vern Van De Kerchkove, Dean Desrochers and Michel Dedieu started their music gig playing at socials, parties and small-town bars.
In 1990, the band earned recognition at the International Pub Time Dart tournament in Las Vegas. This brought them into the Winnipeg music scene, where they competed in a battle of the bands contest and placed second to renowned Canadian group “The Watchmen.” With a devoted following from their hometown of small town Manitoba, they caught the attention of industry professionals and landed full-time gigs playing six nights a week for several years.
Between 1990 and 1994, Tooth N Nail took the stage at numerous renowned nightclubs and festivals across Winnipeg and Manitoba. The band also ventured to cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Thunder Bay, Toronto, and Fargo for performances. Notably, they played for a crowd of 30,000 at Gimli’s Sunfest.
In 1991, Burton Cummings was invited to see the band’s performance in Winnipeg. To the band’s astonishment, he showed up to watch the band and join them on stage for a memorable night of Guess Who favourites.
“We became friends, and Burton fell in love with the band,” said Michael Dedieu. “He performed with us at some of Winnipeg’s top night clubs, the opening of the Burton Cumming Community Centre, Gimli’s Sunfest, a couple of Toronto’s Variety Club Telethon viewed by millions, a concert as his backup band and offering us the opportunity to go to Los Angeles and record our debut album.”
According to Michael Dedieu, the band experienced burnout and had too much of a good thing early on.
“It was so much fun, but maybe too much fun,” said Michael Dedieu. “All that did not put the band in a good state of mind to make sound decisions, which eventually led to our demise. Dreams, friendships and hearts were broken and shattered beyond repair.”
In the early 2000s, the band reunited to perform at various shows and had the opportunity to open for popular Canadian recording artists such as Trooper, Prism, and the Queen City Kids.
However, the band then drifted apart for 15 years. Alcohol abuse was a contributing factor and they did not reunite until all members were in recovery.
In 2023, Tooth N Nail reunited and resumed playing their classic tunes at multiple gatherings in southern Manitoba.
“Fate brought us back together, destiny you can call it. Musically things were a bit rough at first, voices were raspy, musical chops needed work but beneath that lied the magic. It was still there after all these years, an underlying comfort of knowing that this is what we are supposed to be doing and knowing there is something bigger than us that keeps bringing us back together,” said Michael Dedieu.
On June 8 at 8 p.m., Tooth N Nail will take the stage for their largest concert since their comeback. The outdoor performance will take place at Notre Dame Park and is being held in partnership with the Notre Dame Ball Diamond Rejuvenation Project.
Tickets are $40 and are available at participating retailers in Notre Dame, Swan Lake, Somerset, Treherne and St. Claude.
“All cylinders are firing, and the band is sounding as good ever,” said Michael Dedieu. “We love performing and hope to see you out for a night of music, love and joy. Let’s make it a ripper and have a good time.”
