Local music legend Armitage needs no introduction. After stints with local bands starting back in the ‘60s he has played drums with bands on either side of the Ottawa river for years.

Armitage is perhaps best known for the band he founded in the 80s, Raccoons on Ice. The band was successful and toured all over Eastern Canada and even making its way as far as Mexico. In 1997, he retired Racoons on Ice and started the Mick Armitage Band.

By 2017, however, Armitage felt he needed to take a step back from live performances. He had already retired after a decade of working at the Department of National Defence.

Armitage said the show at the Coronation Hall could be his last show. “I’m not saying it’s our last show, but it is,” he said.

The second part of the duo, Dubeau, has known Armitage for years and isn’t so sure. This isn’t the first time he has retired, she said.

The singer, songwriter and guitarist hasn’t been in the scene quite as long as Armitage, but she is well known to the community and has been playing guitar since she was nine and singing since she was three.

The two have played together for years. “All these bands that you ever play with become like a family, because we always look out for each other,” Dubeau said.

Sixteen months ago Dubeau and Armitage were set to play Coronation Hall, and then COVID hit. “It’s been a wild couple of years,” Armitage said.

Dubeau’s clothing store Dubeautique in Shawville is very busy and she is finding it hard to devote time to music like she once did. She is considering taking a step back as well.

Regardless of the future, the two are looking forward to performing together again.

This will be the first opportunity for the duo to perform in front of a live audience in 16 months. “I want to play so bad. It’s incredible,” Armitage said. It’s a tight community and three quarters of the audience are likely to be people they know. It’s very different from playing in front of a group of strangers. “It’s a good feeling and Joanne’s a great singer,” he added

The music loosens people up, people sing along, “It just becomes group therapy,” Armitage said.

Dubeau agrees, “It really feeds my soul,” she said.

“I love love music. I love singing, I love performing. I love the stage, I love it,” she said.

“Mickey is a lot of fun. The jokes roll out of him. He tells a little story with everything,” she added.

“There is a saying from Hans Christian Andersen that says, ‘Where words fail, music speaks,’” Armitage said.

Guests can expect dinner and music starting at 5 p.m.

Tickets for the Sept. 4 show are on sale now and can be bought by calling Norma at Coronation Hall, 819-647-2547, from Joanne Dubeau at Dubeuatique in Shawville or from Mick Armitage via email: mickarmitage@sympatico.ca or 613-859-7740

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