Rock N' Roll Is a Vicious Game: New documentary explores the history of April Wine

It has been a little more than a month since Maritime musician and long-time April Wine lead singer Myles Goodwyn passed away at the age of 75. A new documentary about the group has since been released and is sharing the band’s history.

"Rock N' Roll is a Vicious Game: The Story of April Wine” claims to be “the most complete and thorough documentation of April Wine and Myles Goodwyn there is."

One of the band’s founding members, Jim Henman, first met Goodwyn more than 60 years ago.

“He was 15 and I was 16 and I had just moved from Clam Harbour (Nova Scotia),” he says. “I was the only guitar player in Clam Harbour down on the Eastern Shore, and he came running through the woods and said, ‘I hear there’s somebody who plays guitar,’ and that started it.”

Goodwyn and Henman -- along with Ritchie Henman and David Henman -- then formed April Wine and moved to Montreal in the early 1970s to pursue their musical dreams.

After the release of their first album, Jim Henman left the band and returned to the East Coast – but says he was still proud to watch the group’s massive success.

Decades later, Goodwyn returned to Nova Scotia as well and wanted to reconnect musically with Henman, who said it was a no brainer.

“I didn’t even hesitate,” he says. “I always wanted to be back some day, playing music with Myles and writing songs with him.”

That story -- and much of April Wine’s history -- is being told in the new documentary made by New Brunswick musician, and fan, Steeve Hennessey.

“In Campbellton we didn’t get a lot of bands touring through there, but what we did get was April Wine, so my first concert, like many people, was April Wine, so that left a lasting impression,” he says.

Hennessey spent the better part of last year meticulously piecing it together – using old footage, music and interviews.

“I was just totally impressed by the quality and the information and the research,” Henman says.

Hennessy’s original plan was to present the video to Goodwyn, but he didn’t get a chance to before he died on Dec. 3, 2023.

Hennessy now hopes his documentary will help Goodwyn’s legacy live on.

“Hopefully this documentary offers the viewer a little more insight into the incredible body of work that Myles and his bandmates left us,” he says. “And, at the same time, maybe help console and comfort those of us that are still in mourning through the healing powers and magic of music.”

The documentary is available to stream on YouTube.