A bartender in Gastown is raising funds for a long-time customer and friend, late punk musician Mr. Chi Pig, to be immortalized in art.
Jameson Trenholm told Vancouver Is Awesome he became good friends with Chi after 8 years of bartending at The Cambie Pub.
“Chi was there every day,” Trenholm said. “He would draw or doodle his art there.”
“I remember one time he came up to me while I was bartending and said ‘Jameson you know what I get a bit down and a bit sad but you know what? I can go to any jukebox in the world and play my song, and that makes me happy’.”
Chi was a legend in the Vancouver scene and as punk band SNFU’s lead singer, he helped pioneer a generation of music influence across the globe.
In 2019, he was given a month to live. Chi, also known as Kendall Stephen Chinn, died the next summer at the age of 57.
“When he passed away I thought that we at the Cambie needed a memorial or tribute,” Trenholm told Vancouver Is Awesome.
Now, staff and friends of the pub have partnered with Vancouver artists to create a mural image of Chi in the front of the pub.
“He touched so many people's lives. It's the least we could do for him,” Trenholm said.
Donations to cover the costs associated with the mural can be made through GoFundMe.
