Dave McHugh, beloved Corner Brook musician, has died
Tributes pouring in after local musical icon died Friday
Beloved Corner Brook musician Dave McHugh has died, and friends are remembering him for his magnetic draw, both on stage and off.
McHugh, an award-winning songwriter, died on Friday at the age of 57.
Fellow songwriter and friend Lorna Lovell said his community is still reeling from his death.
"I'm still feeling quite emotional today. I think we've all been thrown sideways. It's a sad day for a lot of people," Lovell told CBC News.
She's coping through writing, and penned a song in tribute to McHugh as her way of saying goodbye.
"I saw the snow falling and the leaves falling at the same time, and it just came to me," Lovell said.
She's remembering McHugh as someone who was kind and larger than life.
"He was so charismatic and magnetic. He drew everybody to him. Always that smile, always trying to make somebody else feel better. He and I had many conversations ... about songwriting, about the industry."
Lovell says McHugh was also a devoted father to his two children. A celebration of life is planned for later this month.
Uplifting and entertaining
Happy Valley-Goose Bay singer-songwriter Richard Neville said his longtime friend was a one-of-a-kind person who had a positive outlook on life, no matter the circumstances.
"I know for the rest of my life I'll think about Dave McHugh," he said.
"He could play anything, really. He was just a multi-talented musician, singer-songwriter, guitar player. I mean, he goes back into the '80s playing in rock bands in Corner Brook."
The pair initially met in the 1990s at a bar called Mulligan's, where McHugh was performing. The place would be packed on nights he was on stage, he recalled.
"The crowds were coming in, immense crowds, every night," Neville said.
McHugh also encouraged Neville to embrace his own style and be confident in his own musical career.
Since McHugh's death, Corner Brook musician Phil Power has been going through old photos and messages McHugh sent to him.
"You get why there's so many people who have the most ... touching, heartfelt accounts of what it was like to know him or be around him. It makes perfect sense, you know, because that's what he was like," said Power.
He remembers McHugh as uplifting and entertaining, "whether it was a passing chat, whether it was just on the street, whether he was coming to your aid."
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With files from Labrador Morning and Colleen Connors