Jack Semple is a Canadian

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer and guitarist from

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

. Semple was the lead guitarist for The Lincolns for two years; he performs as a solo artist and with The Jack Semple Band, throughout Canada and in the United States."Dance me to the end of love -- and laughter"
''Winnipeg Free Press'', Maureen Scurfield, 02/13/2017

Early life

Semple grew up on a farm north of Regina, Saskatchewan. He learned to play guitar, and earned money as a teenager giving guitar lessons.

Career

Semple started his musical career playing with various Regina-based bands. He moved to Toronto in the late 1980s to become the lead guitarist of The Lincolns, a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

band. He left the band after about two years and returned to Regina to pursue a solo career and to spend more time with his family. After his move back to Regina, Semple contributed to television and music scores and appeared in the title role of ''Guitarman'', a 1994

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

. Semple also commenced a solo recording career that has resulted in the release of eight albums. In 1992, Semple won the Canada-wide

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

"Guitar Wars" contest. Semple was twice nominated, in 1999 and 2000, for a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

for his

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

work on the television series Incredible Story Studio. In 2016 Semple was presented with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by the University of Regina. That year he performed as part of the group True Jazz Pluckers, in concert with the

Regina Symphony Orchestra The Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) was founded by Frank Laubach, in Regina, Saskatchewan, as the Regina Orchestral Society in 1908, giving its inaugural concert December 3 of that same year. Becoming the Regina Choral and Orchestral Society in 1 ...

. Semple continues to perform with The Jack Semple Band, including a concert at the Park Theatre in Winnipeg in 2017.

Discography

Solo/Jack Semple Band

* 1991 ''Live from Formerly's'' * 1994 ''Sneakin' Suspicion'' * 1995 ''Grey and Yellow'' * 1997 ''Saskadelphia'' * 2001 ''Live at Kaos'' * 2004 ''Qu'appelle''Winner, Outstanding Instrumental Recording, Western Canadian Music Awards, 2005. Se
List of Artistic Awards, Western Canadian Music Awards, 2005
; www.westerncanadianmusicawards.ca. * 2006 ''Cool Yule'' * 2006 ''Tribute to Lightfoot'' * 2012 ''In The Blue Light'' * 2017 ''Live at Mount Baker Rhythm and Blues Festival''

Compilation Inclusions

* 1991 '' Saturday Night Blues'' (

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

) * 2006 '' Saturday Night Blues: 20 Years'' (CBC)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Semple, Jack Canadian bandleaders Living people Musicians from Regina, Saskatchewan Year of birth missing (living people) Singers from Saskatchewan Canadian blues singers Canadian blues guitarists 20th-century Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singers 21st-century Canadian guitarists