Sarah McLachlan, Straight Lines Guitarist David Sinclair Dead at 69

Guitarist David Sinclair Dead at 69
He certainly put his stamp on the history of Canadian music with a resume that included work with Bryan Adams, Prism, BTO and Sarah McLachlan among others.

Sinclair died this morning after a battle with cancer. The guitarist had success as a solo artist as well as his owns bands like Straight Lines, Body Electric and most recently his duo project with harmonica player Keith Bennett.

Sinclair was also inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame in recognition of a 50-year career and a star on the Granville StarWalk.

Even though his name was not on billboards like Bryan Adams the real music fans and musicians knew better. Sinclair toured with McLachlan including the Lilith Fair tours, K.D. Lang, Valdy, Susan Jacks, Leon and Eric Bibb and appeared on the big shows like Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, Good Morning America, MTV Unplugged, the Grammy awards in 1993 and 1998 and the Juno's the same year.

Sinclair has had a guitar in his hands since he was eight when his grandmother brought it over to his house.

In 1982 his band Straight Lines which also included Bob Buckley had a top 10 hit with the ballad, “Letting Go.” The pair later teamed up for another band called Body Electric. Also that was David Sinclair on guitar on the huge hit 'Tears Are Not Enough” released for famine relief in 1985.

The guitarist talked to Burnaby Now this past August saying that in spit of the stories we hear about the turmoil in Rock n Roll, that hasn't been his experience “The people I’ve worked with have been great people. Everyone’s really been nice and great to work with, I talk to other musicians, and that isn’t always the case.”

Some of the bigger tours on his resume included k.d. Lang's “Ingenue” and “All You Can Eat” tours and that decade with Sarah McLachlan. He told Burnaby Now, “It’s great when you’re on a big tour and a big stage, and it’s full of people and you’ve got someone tuning your instrument and handing it to you, and you feel like a big deal,” he says with a laugh.

He told paper an interesting story about playing in front of millions on the Tonight Show, riding in a limousine only to come home to a sick son with a cold, He added, “We get to Vancouver and it’s November and it’s freezing cold, and my son has a Real Estate Weekly paper route and he’s sick,” Sinclair recalls with a laugh. “Twenty-four hours later, I’m delivering the Real Estate Weekly.”

Reading some of the tributes on Facebook from his friends, family and fans one thing comes out loud and clear David Sinclair was a humble guy – he was one of the good ones. - By John Beaudin