Why a Grammy award-winning producer is opening a music venue in rural Newfoundland
Greg Wells turning old church in Winterton into the province's latest music hub
Greg Wells is as big as it gets in the pop music world.
His credits include working with stars like Katy Perry, Missy Elliott and Keith Urban.
He won a Grammy this year with Michael Bublé.
He's currently working with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo on the film version of the musical Wicked.
But there's another project, in a rural town on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula, that has been taking up a lot of his time this past year. And all at his own expense.
This week was the grand opening for the Trinity Hall in Winterton, N.L., the newest music venue in the province and a dream come true for the Los Angeles-based music producer.
"I've always had a fantasy of buying a church, because my dad was a minister. I grew up in the church. I'm a trained pipe organist. I used to play church organ all the time," says Wells.
So he bought the former Anglican Church in Winterton, and started a non-profit organization to restore the building and grounds, including restoring the historic headstones, adding a new heating and light system, and bringing in an antique pipe organ to the stage.
Wells says it's a way to help him connect to his roots.
His grandfather was a minister in the same town, at the church just behind the one he owns.
His mother, Judy, moved away in her teens, he says, and she always missed the place. So for him, it's not unusual that he would end up here.
"For me it was like pushing a door that was already halfway open," said Wells.
His idea for Trinity Hall is a place to host concerts with local artists and workshops for people in the local music industry, sharing his knowledge and that of his peers.
He has also started a new record label, Scilly Cove Records, as a non-profit to help local artists, with half the profits going to the artists and the other half to community charities.
Local Ryan Gates, a director of the Trinity Hall board and one of the people helping Wells realize this dream, says he was skeptical when he first heard someone from out of town bought the church.
"I wanted to get involved primarily to make sure that the interests of the town were being looked after, because at that point I didn't know who else was involved from the town. All I knew was a guy was buying the church," says Gates.
Gates works as an artists and repertoire rep with Scilly Cove Records, signing artists like Courtney Wicks, Summer Bennett and Yes, Officer to the label.
And he's even been given a few pointers from Wells on how to use the top-of-the-line equipment in the recording studio.
"It means the world to me. I can say without hesitation that all Greg's intentions and what he wants for Newfoundland Labrador and the local community is nothing but pure," he said.
"We're very, very, very fortunate to have him."
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