A special recognition for a local rock band.
The City of Windsor is honouring ‘The Tea Party’ and has presented the band with Keys to the City.
The band is celebrating its 35th anniversary.
Jeff Martin, Stuart Chatwood, and Jeff Burrows formed the band in the early 90s, and now they are celebrating its 35th anniversary.
Speaking on AM800’s Mornings with Mike and Meg, Chatwood, who plays bass feels receiving the Keys to the City is an acknowledgement that you have contributed.
“It gives us pleasure when we’re around the world and people bring up Windsor, and we get to enlighten them because it’s a forgotten part of Canada from time to time, and we just tell them how great it was and how much of a benefit of Detroit culture we were as well growing up, listening to rock ready from their end and Windsor, and it really shaped the band,” says Chatwood.
Chatwood says recently performing at the Opera House in Sydney, Australia, was a career highlight.
“23 tours it took us, but we eventually achieved them,” says Chatwood. “We played with an orchestra and 3,000 people; it was incredible, and lots of people from Windsor actually came all the way to Australia. They’ve been saving up for the trip of a lifetime to go there; it’s like my local band is playing there. Let’s go.”
Band drummer Jeff Burrows says all band members are from LaSalle and went to Sandwich Secondary.
“It started here, and it just started growing, and then organically it just blossomed from here to Europe, to Australia, to New Zealand,” says Burrows.
The city recognized the band Friday morning at Rocket Innovation Studio, which is the former location of the Coach & Horses.
The band is known for a number of hits, including ‘Temptation,’ ‘Heaven Coming Down,’ ‘Save Me,’ and ‘The Messenger.’