'Absolutely extraordinary': Saskatoon woman featured on Rod Stewart's new album
A Saskatoon woman, living in the U.K., can be heard on six tracks on Rod Stewart’s new album.
Melissa Veszi-Gawanas remembers getting a call last year from her choir director asking how fast she could get ready to sing with Stewart.
“I got changed faster than I’ve ever gotten changed in my life,” Veszi-Gawanas said, laughing.
Veszi-Gawanas, who goes by her stage name HunnyB, followed an address to what she thought was a recording studio — but when she arrived, she learned the studio was actually in Stewart’s home.
Stewart has a soccer pitch in his garden and a locker room he’s turned into a recording studio, according to Veszi-Gawanas.
“That was really something special because all of a sudden, all the pretentiousness goes away … he was so chilled, so welcoming and it was just like being in somebody’s living room making music,” the singer said.
“It was just absolutely extraordinary and unreal.”
She and the other members of the choir learned the songs on-the-spot, at Stewart’s house.
“We would run it three or four times and then we’d record it, and that was it,” Veszi-Gawanas told CTV News.
The highlight for Veszi-Gawanas was ad-libbing with Stewart on the track, “Some Kind of Wonderful.”
“I was just kind of improvising bits and pieces as it was going and (Stewart) was like, ‘I love that,’” Veszi-Gawanas said.
Veszi-Gawanas called the experience with Stewart “totally monumental.”
Harlano Weekes, the director of CK Gospel Choir, thanks the COVID-19 pandemic for the recording opportunity with Stewart.
Weekes said because of travel restrictions, Stewart’s album was recorded in the U.K. instead of Los Angeles.
“The producer was looking for a gospel choir. They would have normally used an L.A. gospel choir, but fortunately they came to the U.K.,” Weekes said.
“It was a bit of a last minute thing.”
Weekes said he’s hoping the choir can go on tour with Stewart.
“It’s fun. We’re very, very blessed to do what we do and very lucky to work with such great singers,” Weekes said.
Stewart’s album, The Tears of Hercules, was released on Nov. 12.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.