Lifetime Yellowknifer and musician Norm Glowach will take the NACC stage as a new character named Johnny Cole on Saturday evening.

Through a multimedia performance and music, Johnny Cole 鈥� Meet Me at the Rex tells the story of how Glowach's ancestors came to Canada, settled in Yellowknife in 1940 and eventually bought the Rex Cafe on Latham Island.

Although Cole is a fictional character, his persona is an amalgamation of real ones. From his father to long-time 黑料吃瓜网ers, Cole is inspired by people that influenced Glowach as a younger man in Yellowknife.

鈥淎ll of these people are long passed and I truly believe that I can draw on them to help me find my way in this character,鈥� said Glowach.

When he was searching for a name for this new character, his brother suggested the surname Coe, which is a family name. But Glowach decided on Johnny Cole because 鈥渂ack in the day鈥� the Cole family owned the town's movie theatre.

鈥淎nd I used to work for old man Cole for a very short time,鈥� he said, adding he liked having that connection to 1950s and 60s Yellowknife.

As Johnny Cole, Glowach will tell his family's story, from Quebec City to the Red River Colony to the North, backed by an eight-piece band performing acoustic versions of his original songs.

鈥淵ou will see pictures of my ancestors up on a screen behind us as we鈥檙e going through the songs and as I鈥檓 telling the story as the narrator Johnny Cole,鈥� he explained.

But it took him nine years of research, writing and recording to get to this point.

Glowach has worked at the NWT Archives for 20 years, and scanned over 700 photos in the family collection, ranging from the 1860s to the 1950s. While doing preservation work on the photos, like one of his grandmother getting married in the Red River Colony, songs started coming to him.

鈥淚 feel like I am being led by my ancestors,鈥� he said.

鈥淲hen I was writing the songs, there鈥檚 times where, seriously, I felt like the songs were being written by somebody else. I was being directed.鈥�

One of his songs titled Bootlegging Granny, much to the chagrin of some relatives, is about how his grandparents sold bootleg booze to make ends meet.

鈥淭he reason that they did that was they couldn鈥檛 make a living any other way,鈥� Glowach explained.

In the 1940s and 50s, the Rex Cafe was the only one in town that would serve Indigenous people.

鈥淲hen you take a look at the history of the Rex Cafe, the pictures you see, the Indigenous people were more than welcome in the cafe, because of course, my grandmother was Metis,鈥� said Glowach.

In the early days of this project, Glowach envisioned simply stringing a few songs together for a short show.

鈥淎 story of Yellowknife that I could tell at the Ramble and Ride,鈥� he said.

But his late friend Alex Czarnecki encouraged him to think bigger. This was not just a Yellowknife story, but a Canadian story Czarnecki told him.

鈥淚 have to think of it in a big-scale story of how our country developed,鈥� said Glowach.

鈥淲ith immigrants coming in and mixing with Indigenous people and all kinds of races mixing in order to develop this wonderful country that we have.鈥�

The performance on Saturday night will be the first for an audience, but likely not the last, as the show has already gained interest elsewhere, he said.

鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 a story of Canada, in a lot of ways,鈥� Glowach said

鈥淎nd it鈥檚 a Metis story because of the Indigenous connection through my mom鈥檚 side, so there鈥檚 this interest within the Metis community of this project.鈥�

This show will give the audience a view into what old Yellowknife was like and Glowach's vision of what the Rex Cafe would have been like at that time. And while the musical is based on historical events, it's not completely historically accurate.

鈥淚 know for a fact there were lots of happy times at the Rex Cafe 鈥� but it鈥檚 not all happy,鈥� said Glowach.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the good thing about this 鈥� it鈥檚 not all truth, it鈥檚 not all false, it鈥檚 not all happy, it鈥檚 not all sad, it鈥檚 not all country, it鈥檚 not all early rock n鈥� roll. It鈥檚 not about one race of people to another race of people, it鈥檚 about all of us.鈥�

Glowach said it's important to him that the old-time families of Yellowknife come to the show.

鈥淚f anybody out there knows my brothers, my sisters, any other people in the family, you should come out and say hello,鈥� he said.

鈥淎nd we鈥檙e having pie before the show.鈥�

are $10 for seniors and youth and $15 for adults. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.