Avril Lavigne sings at Chapter's in Kingston in 2001. (YouTube)
It was clear quite early on just how talented Avril Lavigne was as a teenager in the tightly-knit Napanee music scene — both onstage and in the recording booth.
The rocker from Napanee joins Canada’s Walk of Fame at a ceremony in Toronto this weekend.
Newburgh musician and playwright David Archibald recalls being floored by her early maturity as a performer. Lavigne sang vocal tracks on a handful of projects that Archibald was involved in in the late 90s. He could tell that as a 15-year-old, Lavigne already had many of the qualities that some singers take years to perfect.
They also collaborated on Archibald’s marine-heritage-themed album from 2000, Spirit of the Inland Sea. Lavigne sang back-up vocals on a couple of the tracks, including “Nothing But the Wind.”
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But it wasn’t just Lavigne’s talents in the recording booth that impressed Archibald. She had a confidence on stage that can’t be taught.
“One of the early signs that things were starting to happen for Avril, is that she won a contest to sing on stage with Shania Twain, up at what was then the Corel Centre in Ottawa,” says Archibald. “And so, a bunch of us went up and saw her, and she was great. Afterwards, we said, ‘So, how was it, Avril? Were you nervous? And she said, ‘Oh no, I’ve sung with a band before.'”
Archibald laughs. “I thought that was good.”
Written by David Rockne Corrigan