Reg Corey

EMC Article by By Michael J Brethour

Belleville - Pure and honest music is what Reg Corey is all about.

That simple phrase is what sums up the musical mission of the Belleville native and his desire to convey his sound to an audience straight from his heart to their ears.

Corey, a self-diagnosed Neil Young fan, said his musical preference tends to find its roots from 1960s and 1970s music and classic folk melodies.

Currently residing in Tweed with his wife and promoter Marjory of 35 years, the 59-year-old Corey began playing music at the age of eight. Growing up in Shannonville, he first picked up the musical bug, that grew into a lifelong love, as a young teenager, but credits the patience and enthusiasm of his father for helping the love of music grow.
“My father was a retail bread salesman. Sometimes he would get up for sales runs at three a.m. He would hear me playing my guitar around midnight and he would get up saying to my mom, ‘Put on some tea; Reg is playing and I’m going to listen,’” said Corey with a wistful smile recalling the memory. “My dad taught me all he could about music, but then suggested when I was 15 that I should join a band because he could not teach me anything else.”
Music has always been a strong factor in Corey’s life, but Corey recalls an offer to go on the road as a young man that he turned down instead electing to put his music on the back burner when he accepted a federal government job.

He never forgot or gave up his love of music; 35 years later he retired and took his music to the surrounding communities delivering his haunting vocal sound in small intimate performances in what he describes as a “Finger plucking good time.”

He played such a set in Belleville recently at the Ramada Inn for the annual Icefest event, sampling cover tunes from folk artists such as Neil Young, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Beatles just to name a few.

Corey plays a variety of genres including folk, country and classic rock; he is currently a member of the Musicians Union in Kingston and a member the Haliburton Folk Society.

He fondly refers to his wife as, “My biggest fan,” a fact she is quick to back up. “Reg is way too humble; he downplays himself. That’s where I step in and let him know just how good he is.”