Artist Profile: The Whisky Hunter

Apart from an obvious love and devotion to family, these days Toronto’s Chris Gormley has two really big passions.

The first one has entirely shaped his career. It has enabled him to travel Canada and beyond doing what he does best – play rock music for screaming fans.

For those who don’t know, Chris is the drummer for the popular Canadian rock band The Trews.

Gormley (far left) with The Trews

The second one is enjoying good whisky.

Not too long ago, Gormley managed to effectively fuse these two passions into one single entity called, The Whisky Hunter. The Whisky Hunter sees Gormley writing, recording and performing what he calls ‘whisky ditties’; very catchy, heartfelt and earnest acoustic songs that all sing a similar theme:

the celebration of whisky.

Recently, while enjoying some Kentucky bourbon and fine cigars with Chris, I was able to toss a few questions at him about music, career, family, and of course – whisky.

INTERVIEW: THE WHISKY HUNTER

TGF: Chris, can you give a little rundown of your musical career so far?

TWH: Though I’ve loved music for as far back as I can remember, I started playing drums very late at 18.

Cigars and music were to meant to be in Gormley’s future

I was a basketball freak from about grade 6 – grade 12. While in grade 12 I went to a friend’s house for lunch and he had a drum kit. He played for me…and that was it. Hooked. I started studying with his teacher and I got really serious about drums, really quick. I was practicing 2, 3, 4…6 hours a day. I got into Humber College for their 3 year Jazz Program, finished that and started playing a lot; weddings, bars, cafes – even landed a Disney Cruise Ship gig…lots of fun. 

Around 25 yrs old I started my own band with my brother called Daylight for Deadeyes. We did that for 15 years. Put out a bunch of albums, toured Canada, toured over in Scotland and England. We even got our song ‘New York’ picked up by Madison Square Garden. It still gets played at all the NY Rangers home games. The song even got played at the Super Bowl a few years back, When the Super Bowl was in New York. 

January of 2015, my bro and I went down to Austin Texas to record at Willie Nelson’s Arlyn Studio with producer Gordie Johnson (of Big Sugar). We recorded an EP with him and it was a super cool experience. Gordie and I got along great while I was in Texas and I asked if he’d ever be in need of a drummer or a back up drummer for his band Big Sugar. He said maybe – so I started checking out his tunes.

6 months later I got the call and next thing ya know I’m doing my first show in New Brunswick, Canada opening up for AC/DC. Crazy Shit.

Gormley (far left) with Gordie Johnson (far right) and Big Sugar

I played with Big Sugar for three years and ended up leaving to join The Trews. I’ve been with them now for three years, and well, that brings us to now! 

Photo credit: Kris Gelder

TGF: You’re now a family man. How do you balance music and family and find personal time for things like whisky and cigars?

TWH: Balancing newborn twins with the covid pandemic and rock n’ roll is a tricky thing. I’m fortunate that I have a very supportive, amazing wife, so I do manage to kinda keep a daily schedule. I fit in practicing drums, songwriting and whisky tasting whenever I get a chance. Usually I’m up late at night when everyone is sleeping getting necessary work done. 

I plan my ‘whisky and a smoke’ nights like a ninja. Make sure the babies are down, house work is done….them I’m out there, recharging my battery. Some people like to sleep, watch tv…I just gotta get out there with some whisky and a smoke every so often…just to make everything right. 

TGF: How did your experience with alcohol evolve into whisky appreciation?

TWH: I’ve always been intrigued by the sophistication of whisky drinking; since a young age I would notice the older Scottish men at family parties raving about what particular single malts they drink. I immediately started my own collection. I bought bottles – more for the look of them at the time – for the next 10-15 years.

I still have a few unopened bottles that I’ve been saving for a long time now. 

As I got older I slowly started to get more interested in analyzing whisky. I’d buy single malt bottles from different regions to try and to notice differences. I’d compare Irish whiskey to Scottish whisky, started dabbling in bourbon. I always respected the simple art of just drinking whisky for fun, but lately I find myself getting more curious of the finer details. 

TGF: When and how did The Whisky Hunter get started?

TWH: The Whisky Hunter began because of covid. I was home. No shows. Loads of musicians started doing little acoustic shows at home over Facebook and I wanted to try something. One Friday I just went live, reviewed a few whiskies from my collection and sang a few cover songs on guitar in between. I LOVED it. I was back again the next Friday, then the next, then the next. Very early on, I partnered with my friend Peter Woods and we started The Whisky Hunter YouTube Channel. I stopped doing the live streams and started putting up fun, musical reviews on Fridays. Peter brought in editor Josh Ogden and for roughly 60 weeks straight we released a review every Friday. Recently we have switched to putting up content every second Friday. 

TGF: In your words, what is a ‘whisky ditty’?

TWH: I always wanted to have some musical element to my reviews, and because I was drinking and tasting more and more whisky, I started to get really inspired. I started writing these little ‘whisky ditties’ – short songs about whisky that are cute – about the whiskies I was drinking. Next thing ya know I was writing all kinds of ditties…all about whisky! I picked my best six songs and got them recorded by producer Carl Jennings. It quickly became one of my fave things to do.

Writing, recording whisky songs brings me a lot of happiness. September 10th (2021) is the release date for my ninth song called ‘Whisky Prayer’. It’s a song for ALL the whisky drinkers out there. It’s just my way of saying, “whatever whisky you drink and whatever way you wanna drink it, I don’t really care. I’m just happy you’re a whisky drinker. I appreciate you. Cheers and Amen”.

Not sure why I went so religious. I just sometimes feel that the whisky drinking lifestyle is spiritual one. No pun intended – I’m being serious. 

TGF: What whiskies are you enjoying lately? Anything knocking your socks off?

TWH: All summer I’ve been drinking Jim Beam stuff…some of my favourite bourbons. Baker’s, Booker’s and Knob Creek. I kinda just cycle back and forth through those. I’d say Knob is probably the closest thing I have to a regular everyday bourbon.

As far as scotch goes, I’ve loved Lagavulin 16yr for a very long time. I’ve never not enjoyed it. All different seasons, all kinds of social scenarios, the 16 always comes through for me.

Other than Lagavulin, The Balvenie is a distillery I’m very much smitten by. I have a nice little collection of different expressions and overall, they are very impressive. I had some of the ‘Week of Peat’ just last week and it kinda blew my mind. In the midst of our Southern Ontario heat wave, the Week of Peat brought me right into Christmas time in December, so cozy…so comforting. The Single Barrel 15yr and The Caribbean Cask 14yr are also favourites of mine.

So far, The Balvenie can do no wrong. 

A Whisky Hunter favorite: The Balvenie Caribbean Cask

TGF: Is there anyone else in the music industry that you enjoy whisky with?

TWH: I have had a few really good ‘whisky and a smoke’ sessions with Mr. Chill (formerly of Big Sugar). He’s a big bourbon guy, and whenever we can get together we have to smoke and drink something. It’s been challenging with Covid but we did manage to record some music together on my first EP. He recorded some harp in Windsor and I’ve got him all over my track ‘Pour Myself A Whisky’. We’re currently working out another tune and hope to have a boogie-woogie inspired whisky tune out this fall. 

The Whisky Hunter loves a good cigar and a whisky

Other than that, the whisky journey will continue. I’m currently taking the WSET Level I Spirts Course to get more of an overall spirits knowledge. I’m always writing and will be recording more whisky tunes. ‘Whisky Prayer’ drops September 10th. I do have a few secret projects which I will be able to share very soon…and they are next level exciting so you gotta stay tuned!

For now, I’ll be out on tour with The Trews this fall….playing on trains, cruise ships – you name it.

Of course, I’ll be whisky hunting whenever I can!

TGF

Stream The Whisky Hunter on Spotify. Catch The Whisky Hunter videos on YouTube. For The Trews tour dates and info, visit www.thetrewsmusic.com/home.