Herb Dale

"I like Country," "Uncle" Herb Dale tells an audience of mostly fellow musicians at a small café where he and other talents gather a couple of times a week to share their tunes, making what might well be the understatement of the year. The 61-year old singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist only began writing a couple of years ago but, as the 12 tracks on his debut album, It Was About Time, demonstrate, he's what we call in the biz "a natural", whose songs are heavily influenced by all the greats but exude sincerity and authenticity and have a way of sticking with you long after you've heard them even for the first time. Though Herb is backed by ten musicians on various instruments at various times on different tracks, there's nothing overly clever or artsy-pretentious about this disc -it is, as studio overseer and co-masterer Sebastian Agnello of Turtle Shell music observed, "a songwriter's album." Those familiar with Dale's shows will recognize some of his best-loved tunes such as "Like Good Old Willie Nelson", "Tranquility Bound", "Nothin' But Good" and "Insomnia and Tears" as well as two covers he's known for and some newer originals. This is an album to keep you company and reassure you that it's not the entire world that's going to hell in a handbasket.
-Gary 17
- To-nite magazine #377, Aug. 31 - Sept. 13, 2006

An engaging performer and affable fellow, “Uncle” Herb Dale is a regular participant at the weekly Tuesday and Thursays open stages at Renaissance Café and Café Au Lait in Toronto’s East York areas as well as regularly featured at clubs in the west end and downtown. Somehow his shows end up resembling the open stages he hosted for a few years downtown…lots of performers drop by to sit in for a song or two. Expect that to be the case when Herb takes the limelight at the Renaissance the night of Wed. Dec. 1.
- Gary Seventeen
- To-nite Music Nitelife & Leisure Guide, Nov 18, 2004 edition # 334.1

Herb Dale (“Uncle Herb” to practically everyone), 58, was a gigging musician who fell into organizing the open mic nights at Shakespeare’s Café. ..On Friday and Saturday nights, he and his band, Uncle Herb and Friends, can be found doing the showcase where he struts his country stuff to the tunes of George Jones and Merle Haggard. His 20-plus years of experience, he says, help him deal with the schizophrenic havoc that comes naturally with musicians. “Every Night is a different night. It has its own memorable things with it,” says the host. …Open nights bring out everyone from newbies, full of adrenaline and exhilarated to finally get their shot, to those for who this kind of night is old hat.
Having seen “a big resurgence of live music in the last three years.” Uncle herb continues to do it for “the love of the chance for people who really want to play,” and to inspire “people who haven’t played in years.”
Fortified with generous helpings of dedication and belief in the industry, he is optimistic about the burgeoning scene. On days when he’s not organizing or playing at Shakespeare’s himself, Uncle Herb checks out other open mic nights in the city to see how they are being run, what talent is being responded to, and get a feel of the current music vibe.
But is seems like Shakespeare’s is his musical lifeline. It used to be a bad corner, reflects the host mentioning druggies and general ruffians. But after starting the open mic, he says, the environment has improved: “Now it’s a café as opposed to a coffe shop”.
-Stephanie Dickison
- The Annex Gleaner, ARTS Section, August 2003