S.G. Sinnicks and the enduring power of the Fridge Magnet

Based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events.

The latest magnet added to my collection is a cartoon depiction of Hamilton singer-songwriter S.G. Sinnicks. It came with my advance copy of his new six-song EP, which is entitled, conveniently enough, “Fridge Magnet.”

sinnicks

S.G. Sinnicks will unveil his new CD and video at The Casbah, Sunday, Aug, 13, 3 to 6 p.m.

Take a look at your refrigerator door. It’s probably got more than a few fridge magnets attached to it.

Some may date back a few years. In my case, quite a few years. There are magnetized photos of my now-grown sons from when they were toddlers. There’s a “Stick to Steel” magnet from the days that U.S. Steel owned Stelco. There’s even a postcard from a long-ago concert, dating back to when the Grateful Dead were actually the Grateful Dead.

Fridge magnets are old school. They defy algorithms, ChatGPT and Spotify streaming. They tend to cling to us.

The latest magnet added to my collection is a cartoon depiction of Hamilton singer-songwriter S.G. Sinnicks. It came with my advance copy of his new six-song EP, which is entitled, conveniently enough, “Fridge Magnet.”

S.G. Sinnicks (most people just call him Steve) is an old school kind of guy. He understands the understated value of the lowly refrigerator magnet. He even knows that, in English slang, the term fridge magnet if often used to describe a not-very-bright person, as in ‘he’s as useless as a friggin’ fridge magnet.’

To Sinnicks, fridge magnets are a form of low-cost publicity. And he hopes to see his smiling cartoon face beaming out from fridge doors throughout Hamilton.

“It’s the best form of promo ever,” Sinnicks says over a pint at a local patio pub. “You can’t get too fat from a fridge magnet; it doesn’t fade in the wash and who throws out a fridge magnet? Nobody throws out a fridge magnet. It’s a great promo.”

As you have probably gathered, Sinnicks possesses a rather dry and insouciant form of humour. It radiates from the new album’s first track, a hilarious little love song called “When You’re Gone.”

The song simply makes the point that Sinnicks is a much better person when his wife Vanessa is around. It lists all the things he doesn’t do when she’s away … like “when you’re gone the plants always die, maybe they know something I don’t” … or “when you’re gone, I don’t press garlic, the sauce comes from a can.”

Sinnicks and local filmmaker Peter Riddihough have made a delightful video for the song, which features Vanessa flying off in her plane (yes, she owns a Piper Cherokee) and Steve (sorry, I meant S.G.), trying to cope at home by himself.

He’ll unveil the new video at a CD release party Sunday, Aug. 13, 3 to 6 p.m., at The Casbah (King Street West at Queen). You can pre-order “Fridge Magnet” on his website sinnicks.com.

As I said, Sinnicks is an old-school type of guy. He’s decided to release “Fridge Magnet” as a CD, a near-dead form of recording device that has been largely superseded by streaming apps and the vinyl revival. Sinnicks briefly considered releasing it on vinyl, but vinyl costs too much and, like fridge magnets, CDs tend to stick with us longer.

“A CD is a lot more affordable and you don’t need a needle for it that you have to replace,” says Sinnicks, who admits that only people with “crappy cars like mine” now own CD players.

Sinnicks, 53, has been a fixture on the Hamilton music scene since moving here from his hometown of Niagara Falls some 30 years ago. He has served as frontman for the popular Tartan Terrors, and drummer for Stompin’ Tom Connors and various other acts. But his first love is songwriting and, over the years, Sinnicks has released a half-dozen solo albums.

“Fridge Magnet” was recorded by Carl Jennings at his Westmoreland Recording studios in Hamilton and features a cast of top-flight musicians including Jennings on bass, Randall Hill on mandolin, Blue Rodeo’s Mike Boguski on keyboards, and Bill Majoros and Steve Petrie on guitars.

Fans of Sinnicks will warm to the tracks on “Fridge Magnet,” including “White Charlie” — a cautionary tale about the addictive qualities of smartphone apps — and “Landlady of Boxhill” — a traditional folkie about what happens when a Canadian backpacker finds his way to an English pub south of London.

It’s a collection worthy of anyone’s fridge door.

For those who can’t wait for the CD release party, Sinnicks also performs Sunday, Aug. 6, 4 p.m., on the acoustic stage at the Festival of Friends at Gage Park.

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is a former music editor with The Hamilton Spectator. He has an Ontario Newspaper Award for entertainment writing, and has been media person of the year 5 times at the Hamilton Music Awards. In 2015, he was presented with a special HMA lifetime achievement award. During his 40-year career, Rockingham has been a reporter and editor with the Vancouver Sun, The Vancouver Province and United Press International.

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