For many, the May 7 [2011] Elton John concert at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg would have been a once in a lifetime occurrence. For most, a trip to France and cruising around on the music legend’s private yacht would be the stuff of dreams. For Curtis Joseph, a young resident of Sinclair, these are things that he has already crossed off of his bucket list.
Obviously, there must be a link that connects a 16-year-old aspiring mechanic and a music legend so revolutionary that the Queen of England herself recognized the man and knighted him in 1998. That link is Trev Henuset, native of Pipestone and chiropractor to the stars.
In March of 2009, Henuset’s son, Hayden Barré-Henuset, asked Joseph to join him on a vacation to visit his father in Vegas. That was the first time Joseph met Sir Elton John. In January of 2010, Joseph joined young Barré-Henuset again, this time meeting up with the chiropractor and music man in Hawaii. Then, in August of last year, the trio joined Elton John in France and Italy.
By now, Joseph regards the six-time Grammy-winning artist as “a normal person” who is just “really generous.”
For John’s Winnipeg performance, Henuset invited a group of 80 or so friends and family to join him in the audience. Only a few of them were invited back stage prior to the show to meet the singer. Henuset’s grandfather, Elwyn McConnell of Reston, noted how easily Joseph and John struck up a conversation about Joseph’s project car.
The topic was revisited during John’s encore performance of ‘Your Song’ when the singer dedicated the song to the gaggle of fans from Reston and Pipestone, specifically Joseph when he added “be careful with that car, Curtis.”
Joseph has been invited back to France this summer and to Australia in November. “I’d like to go, but I’ll have to see what happens,” says Joseph.
Published in the Virden Empire-Advance. May, 2011.
Being Tori 