A chance meeting in 2003 has led to a unique return to the classic rock world for former Triumph guitarist Rik Emmett.

He first hooked up with Mike Shotten, formerly of progressive hard rock band Von Groove, when the two were performing on the same orchestra show in London, Ontario.

A few casual remarks about maybe working together morphed into recording sessions, which then became the framework for a new partnership called Airtime.

Airtime, with Shotten behind the drum kit and mixing board, and Emmett doing the primary vocal chores, as well as all guitar and bass, released the CD Liberty Manifesto earlier this month. It’s on Emmett’s own label in Canada, but has been picked up by labels in Europe and in other parts of the world.

For Emmett, the personal and musical connection happened almost immediately.

What he likes about Shotten is his seemingly boundless energy, as well as his talent as a vocalist, instrumentalist and producer.

“He’s a very interesting character ¬ a very different guy than I’ve ever known in my whole life, because he’s not a jock, but he’s got jock energy,” Emmett told the Advance.

“And he’s kind of ADD … he just doesn’t sleep. He sleeps maybe two or thee hours every now and then. But there’s a lot of nights where he stays up all night working on his house, or working in the studio, or tinkering on his motorcycle.

“So there’s tremendous creative energy … plus he’s a drummer, but he plays bass and he plays guitar, and he’s an incredibly good singer.”

So why isn’t Shotten’s vocal work featured on Liberty Manifesto?

“He should have sung half the stuff, but he wouldn’t let me talk him into it. He sort of pushed me,” said Emmett.

In fact, the 54-year-old, who has put out numerous solo albums over the nearly 20 years since leaving Triumph, said that Shotten was really the driving force behind the Airtime concept, sometimes needing to cajole Emmett to move the project to the next level.

“I think he had a game plan all along,” he said. “I was reluctant at every stage … but there was some stuff where I didn’t need much poking and prodding. I started playing bass and it was so much fun.

“So I sat there playing the bass with a pick and going, ‘hey, look at me. I’m Geddy Lee (from Rush). Hey, look at me, I’m Chris Squire from Yes. I was just doing imitations of my heroes,” he said, with a chuckle.

Liberty Manifesto contains many elements of what would be called classic rock, with progressive rock overtones. The tunes on the record owe as much to Rush and Led Zeppelin as they do the more melodic sounds of Queen and Journey, particularly in the lush multi-track vocal arrangements.

Of course, there’s a huge nod to the Triumph sound, with many Airtime songs having hints of old Triumph chestnuts like Fight the Good Fight, Lay It On The Line and Never Surrender.

It’s a style of music that Emmett has largely ignored over the past 15 years or so, particular when it came to his recorded work. He had produced albums of smooth jazz, blues, acoustic music and classical pieces, and had only started playing rocked-up versions of Triumph songs in the past three or four years.

So Airtime was a chance to come full-circle, but a different collaborative environment, and with a different set of values as in his Triumph days.

“We knew we wanted to stay hard and heavy. There were certain things that we’d writer and we’d say, ‘nah, that’s too wimpy, no, that’s too pop.’ And it’s not like we don’t have those sides to our personality, but I’ve got lots of other venues that I can get rid of my yah yahs for that stuff,” he said.

“And because we’re both singers, the music keeps coming back to a melodic kind of approach. Other musicians I worked with, they think rhythmically, or harmonically. Singers think melodically … I think that’s one of the reason why I like (Eric) Clapton so much, because he’s a singer too, so he plays guitar the way a singer plays guitar, he phrases like a singer.”

Emmett said he’s been pleased with the positive feedback the material on Liberty Manifesto has received from fans and from fellow musicians.

“There’s been a lot of musicians that have sat and listened to it and said to Mike, ‘Oh my God, you guys have made it, this is like a classic. This is your masterpiece for your life,’” he said. “And I’m sitting there thinking, ‘no it isn’t. Not yet, it isn’t.’ We’re getting here. We made a pretty good start. We’ve still got a long way to go.”

Lyrically, many of the songs, particularly the epic Liberty, and the Rush-like Rise, are all about rebuilding, rising from the ashes to a better time ahead – that positive vibe that infused many of the Triumph songs penned and sung by Emmett, especially Magic Power, Hold On and Never Surrender.

At present, there are no plans to tour as Airtime, but depending on how the record is received, offers from promoters could soon start rolling in, especially from Europe and the Far East, where this brand of melodic hard rock has never really gone out of style as it has to some extent in North America.

In the meantime, Emmett still tours throughout North America and occasionally across the pond in Europe, playing solo shows, acoustic duo shows with bandmate and another collaborator Dave Dunlop, as well as his Eric Clapton tribute show, and a Triumph-based show.

It is in the latter variation that Emmett will perform in Barrie, at Random Ranch, on Thursday, Dec. 6, at 9 p.m.

For more information on the show, visit www.ticketbreak.com. For more information, on Airtime, visit www.rikemmett.com/airtime/

-    Jim Barber is the Arts, Sports, and Lifestyles Editor for the Barrie Advance. Contact him at jbarber@simcoe.com.