Gallant to perform during homecoming

    PRESQUE ISLE — Singer and songwriter Jim Gallant is coming home to his alma mater just in time for Homecoming 2007.
    Gallant, who graduated from the University of Maine at Presque Isle in 1970, will return to campus for a performance at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, in Wieden Auditorium.     Gallant has been playing the guitar – everything from classical and jazz to blues and country – since he was a teenager. He plays acoustic guitars, focusing on instrumental music, and has released four CDs. As a freshman at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, he roomed with Rex Fowler, who went on to become half of the rock-folk band Aztec Two-Step.
qGallant, Fowler and a few others started up a college band known as Second Phloor. By Gallant’s sophomore year, Fowler had moved on, and the college musician hooked up with a number of different groups. After receiving his liberal arts degree, Gallant said he started playing small venues and kept “plugging away” at his music.
    “I had different day jobs but always reverted back to the music,” Gallant said from his home in Mexico.
    “Jim is, as one of the reviews puts it, one of Maine’s best-kept secrets,” Carol Ayoob, director of cultural affairs, said. “He’s a real Mainer and he plays a lot around New England.”
    Ayoob first heard him play last spring at the Maine Performing Arts Network Conference and said it was an easy choice to bring him to campus.
    “When I found out that he was an alum and I was looking for a performer for homecoming, I called him and everything just lined up,” she said.
    Gallant said he is excited to be returning to the area.
    “I always wanted to go back up there and see old friends,” Gallant said. “It’s nice to reconnect with people. It’s been so long since I’ve been to the campus, that it would be nice to see it, and maybe shake up some old memories.”
    Van Buren folk singer/songwriter Travis Cyr will be Gallant’s opening act. Cyr last performed at the university in December 2006. He also has played at the Common Ground Fair in Unity and at venues around the state and just recorded his first CD.
    Tickets will be available at the door and are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Admission is free for UMPI, NMCC and SAGE students.
    For more information about Gallant, visit his Web site at www.jimgallant.com.