By Carl Begai
The remaining members of legendary Toronto club band Slash Puppet, who were a fixture on the Canadian scene from 1989 – 1995, paid tribute to late guitarist Lou Garscadden on August 4th, marking 10 years since his passing. He was 36 years old.
The band issued the following statement:
“Ten years ago, Toronto, Canada, and the world lost a phenomenal guitar player and a true rock star when Louis Peter Garscadden passed away on August 4, 2001. It is truly unfortunate that more people the world over were not able to experience his obvious and overwhelming talents as a guitar player and his warmth and charm as a unique personality. A true original, and a true rock star who deserved a hell of a lot of more notoriety than he ever received. One of the best… period.”
No Strings Attached, a CD version of Slash Puppet’s 1989 demo tape known as The Demo, was issued through Sun City Records out of Australia on September 3rd, 2007. I caught up with frontman Mif for BW&BK to discuss what was an unexpected release, and during the course of the interview he addressed Garscadden’s tragic passing:
“So far as we know, it was due to a heart attack. I remember his family telling us that Lou had come home one evening around 5:00pm or 5:30pm to his grandmother’s place where he was residing at the time, told his grandmother that he was going straight to bed as he was feeling a little run down that day, only to have his grandmother find him deceased in bed the next morning. The word spread around like wildfire as all the guys in Slash Puppet and myself rallied to make sure that all of his friends and associates knew. His funeral was packed to capacity and the service was heartfelt, not a dry eye in the house as his coffin was escorted out of the chapel to the Slash Puppet song ‘Hitch A Ride (On A Train)’. Ironically apropos if anyone is familiar with the lyrics about a journeyman always trying to find his peaceful place in the world. Canada and the rock ‘n’ roll world lost a true talent verging upon legend by my estimation when Lou passed away, and he will always be sorely missed by his friends, family and bandmates, and always remembered. Believe me when I say, Louie was one of the finest guitar players in Canada if not the world. He was definitely one of the most charismatic Canadian artists and personalities out there. This guy lived and breathed rock ‘n’ roll, he was the real deal, and had Slash Puppet not been sideswiped by the whole grunge thing and had made it to loftier heights, Lou Garscadden as well as Bart (guitarist Frank Bartoletti) would have been iconic guitar players and international guitar heroes. No doubt in my mind!”
Click here for the complete interview.
Check out the official Slash Puppet tribute page on Facebook here. Go to this location to watch the band’s video for ‘Slowdown’, taken from their original demo.
