Time doesn't march anymore, it gallops like a Thoroughbred. I haven't updated this blog since before last month's West Coast tour, and lots has been happening. My solo Tuesdays at Mikey's Juke Joint and the Saturday jams at the Blues Can (both here in Calgary) both continue to be fun and popular. Although I lost a guitar camp at Whistler, BC this month (cancelled due apparently to poor advance sales) and didn't get a pair of blues festivals I was in the running for, there's always stuff to do around the shack (even in the endless rain) and projects to develop. Rehearsals are carrying on with the Western Swing band (we have a name now - The Hackamores) and our first public gig will be during Stampede (how fitting) at my usual Tuesday night gig at Mikey's.
The BC tour last month was a howling success, all but one room sold out and I ran out of merchandise one show before the end of the tour. The first date, at The Sandpiper in White Rock, was sponsored by the White Rock Blues Society, who are a great resource for touring musicians in their hood; next, after 3 days hanging with family in Vancouver, was the Hornby Island Blues Society...a concert which was also a birthday party for the wonderful Kathy Banky. After a 2 - day visit (and the gift of an incredible '60s Carvin head/Silvertone with Jensens cabinet) it was off to the Duncan Garage Showroom, the only dead night on the tour. First night of Stanley Cup play-offs, with Vancouver in the hunt. Sold a lot of cds (more than there were people in attendance) and one fan who couldn't make the show paid for my hotel room ! Joe's Garage in Courtenay was the following night, a sold-out show with Milo doing his usual great job as host/soundman/chef. Then up at dawn for the drive to Port Hardy (deer, elk and black bears littering the road) for 2 school shows and a concert (big house, great audience). Sunday was the drive all the way down-island to the Victoria Folk Music Society (always a fun one), through more deer, elk and bears, a night in a cheap motel full of the dying and the dealing (by the looks of it) and the long ferry/car trip home. Next morning in the studio to finish work on Carolyn Harley's cd, Mikey's that night, and a very long sleep.
I played at Locals Pub in Red Deer (thanks, Monty), The Grey Eagle Casino (the stage is on the roof of the bar...strange), a private concert in a house backing onto the Elbow River (swank !), in a converted service station for the opening of my friend Yale's Custom Cycle Shop, and for the annual Bob Dylan Birthday Bash at the Ironwood Stage and Grill (great players, great audiences and obviously great music). Tonight I play with the full version of the Electro-Fires (Ron Casat, keys/vocals, Kevin Belzner, drums, Suitcase James, bass, and Mike Clark, tenor sax), always one of my favorite things to do. For a guy who does so much solo work, I am truly blessed to have such great players to work with on band gigs. More soon (honest)...
Friday, May 27, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Down in Mexico
Back from the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival, I'm looking forward to resuming my usual Tuesday solo gig at Mikey's Juke Joint tomorrow (Mar. 22). The festival was great, a gathering of world-class players from (this year) Canada, the U.S., Mexico and South Africa. Money was raised to pay a music teacher for the local casa de cultura, and Mexico worked the same magic on me it always has. I played the jam at the Blues Can, couldn't sleep, and left for the airport at 4 a.m. on the Sunday morning. -20 and a lot of snow. Everything went suspiciously smooth at the airport, flight on time, guitar and bag checked through to Zihuatanejo even though I changed planes in Phoenix. In Mexico, my guitar and luggage were waiting for me in the baggage area, I hit the lottery button which decides whether you go through one last inspection, got the green light and hit the lobby where I was met by Catherine Krantz (AD for the festival).
The musicians were put up in two guest-house complexes beside one another in Playa la Ropa ("Clothes Beach", named for some shipwreck which deposited fabric on the shore), about 1 1/2 miles from downtown. I was the first one in; I put on shorts and watched the sun set while bands played ranchera and some minor-key local style tune, listening to crocodiles splash in the estuary on the beach.
The week went by in a blur of great music and new friends, a few old friends I'd made when I did the festival before and a handfull of fans from Canada. Flamenco, blues, rock, singer-songwriters and Gypsy jazz mingled with classical and Mexican guitar styles every night with a few good jams thrown in (okay, and a few bottles of local mezcal).
Home again, clear my desk and computer of neglected items which accumulated over the 10 days I was gone, then the Blues Can jam, a western swing rehearsal, and now Mikey's on Tuesday, Rusty Reed's House of Blues (Edmonton) Thurs./Fri., Demmit, Alberta on Saturday, and the Jack Singer concert hall here in Calgary on Sunday with (among others) Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. End-of-the-month brings a 2-nighter at the Blues Can with old pal Big Dave Maclean (Apr. 1-2). Tune in again for itenerary of my West Coast tour April 6-17 !
The musicians were put up in two guest-house complexes beside one another in Playa la Ropa ("Clothes Beach", named for some shipwreck which deposited fabric on the shore), about 1 1/2 miles from downtown. I was the first one in; I put on shorts and watched the sun set while bands played ranchera and some minor-key local style tune, listening to crocodiles splash in the estuary on the beach.
The week went by in a blur of great music and new friends, a few old friends I'd made when I did the festival before and a handfull of fans from Canada. Flamenco, blues, rock, singer-songwriters and Gypsy jazz mingled with classical and Mexican guitar styles every night with a few good jams thrown in (okay, and a few bottles of local mezcal).
Home again, clear my desk and computer of neglected items which accumulated over the 10 days I was gone, then the Blues Can jam, a western swing rehearsal, and now Mikey's on Tuesday, Rusty Reed's House of Blues (Edmonton) Thurs./Fri., Demmit, Alberta on Saturday, and the Jack Singer concert hall here in Calgary on Sunday with (among others) Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. End-of-the-month brings a 2-nighter at the Blues Can with old pal Big Dave Maclean (Apr. 1-2). Tune in again for itenerary of my West Coast tour April 6-17 !
Friday, February 18, 2011
Brrrrrr...
Minus twenty-one degrees Celsius. Is this winter worse than others or is it my imagination ? It could have to do with the passing of time...I've lived in Canada long enough that I no longer fear the winters, but I resent their harshness sometimes (maybe in that sense I'm just becoming more Canadian). Photos and mementos on the walls, from warmer places...Mexico, Morocco, Cuba, Australia...sometimes offer a little warmth. I leave in just over two weeks for a guitar festival in Zihuatanejo (2 1/2 hours North of Acapulco, Mexico) which is a welcome thought, although it would be better if my wife could accompany me. She's stage managing a show in Edmonton (brrrr...) and Victoria (nice) in that time period. Next time.
March will be interesting. Gigs in Calgary, Mexico, Edmonton, Demmitt (on the BC/Alberta border West of Grande Prairie) and Calgary again. Planes, planes (no trains) and automobiles. Tomorrow, Feb. 19th, is a two-gig day starting with the Blues Can jam, after which I take to the stage at the Ironwood Stage & Grill with the 5-piece version of the Electro-Fires including keyboardist Ron Casat and tenor sax ace Mike Clark. I don't often get to play in town with the bigger band but decided to roll the dice on the crowd tomorrow night because I like the sound of the band so much. This unit opened for ZZ Top at the Saddledome, and Lyle Lovett at the Blues and Roots fest a few years back, and was featured on CBC Radio's Canada Live this past summer.
April will bring a tour of Vancouver Island, with a kick-off gig on Hornby Island on the 9th, then the Duncan Garage on the 13th, Joe's Garage (Courtenay) the 14th, Port Hardy on the 16th, and the Victoria Folk Music Society on the 17th. Then back to Calgary for the Blues Can, Mikey's Juke Joint and the Grey Eagle Casino.
March will be interesting. Gigs in Calgary, Mexico, Edmonton, Demmitt (on the BC/Alberta border West of Grande Prairie) and Calgary again. Planes, planes (no trains) and automobiles. Tomorrow, Feb. 19th, is a two-gig day starting with the Blues Can jam, after which I take to the stage at the Ironwood Stage & Grill with the 5-piece version of the Electro-Fires including keyboardist Ron Casat and tenor sax ace Mike Clark. I don't often get to play in town with the bigger band but decided to roll the dice on the crowd tomorrow night because I like the sound of the band so much. This unit opened for ZZ Top at the Saddledome, and Lyle Lovett at the Blues and Roots fest a few years back, and was featured on CBC Radio's Canada Live this past summer.
April will bring a tour of Vancouver Island, with a kick-off gig on Hornby Island on the 9th, then the Duncan Garage on the 13th, Joe's Garage (Courtenay) the 14th, Port Hardy on the 16th, and the Victoria Folk Music Society on the 17th. Then back to Calgary for the Blues Can, Mikey's Juke Joint and the Grey Eagle Casino.
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Chinook
Although it's set to go away tomorrow, we are still in the embrace of a Chinook wind which is melting the snow and giving a false sense that the winter is on the wane. Gigs in Red Deer and Sherwood Park last month were exercises in patience, outerwear and winter driving. I played a charming little gig last week for TALES (The Alberta League Encouraging Storytelling) plus Friday and Saturday at the Blues Can here in Calgary, then a "Blue Monday" at the National Music Centre (Cantos) with the new house band I helped them to recruit.
My Immigration card will be here on the 2nd of March (nice, sense I fly to Mexico on the 6th and it's hard getting back into Canada without it). Cat-sitting is arranged, now the only hitch could be changing planes in Phoenix with only a 50 minute layover. If you find someone in a good mood sometimes they'll check your luggage through to its' final destination (I've had it happen) which would be nice. Last time I came back from this same festival my guitar was lost at LAX (I eventually got it back - lucky !) and I had to proceed on to Victoria with a spare instrument and no deodorant.
Tuesdays at Mikey's Juke Joint continue to be a very fun solo gig (I was hired to do "a couple of Tuesdays" three years ago). If you're in Calgary on a Tuesday night when I'm not on the road, that's where you'll find me. This is the longest I've been off the road in a long time, since mid-August with only a few nights out-of-town. I'm enjoying the time at home but part of me (the road-dog part) is anxious to do some touring again. Next month will take care of that...check the calendar for March/April and you'll see what I mean !
My Immigration card will be here on the 2nd of March (nice, sense I fly to Mexico on the 6th and it's hard getting back into Canada without it). Cat-sitting is arranged, now the only hitch could be changing planes in Phoenix with only a 50 minute layover. If you find someone in a good mood sometimes they'll check your luggage through to its' final destination (I've had it happen) which would be nice. Last time I came back from this same festival my guitar was lost at LAX (I eventually got it back - lucky !) and I had to proceed on to Victoria with a spare instrument and no deodorant.
Tuesdays at Mikey's Juke Joint continue to be a very fun solo gig (I was hired to do "a couple of Tuesdays" three years ago). If you're in Calgary on a Tuesday night when I'm not on the road, that's where you'll find me. This is the longest I've been off the road in a long time, since mid-August with only a few nights out-of-town. I'm enjoying the time at home but part of me (the road-dog part) is anxious to do some touring again. Next month will take care of that...check the calendar for March/April and you'll see what I mean !
Thursday, January 20, 2011
A Break In The Blizzard
Well, finally, a few days where the temperature rises above -23. January's turning into a fun month musically, however - both the Blues Can Jam and the 8th Annual Hankover (a tribute to Hank Williams at the Ironwood Stage & Grill) made Jan. 1st a cool one. A Saturday night at Mikey's Juke Joint on Jan. 8 marked the return of old friend and musical collaborator Ron Casat to my electric band (The Electro-Fires) after a 5-month hiatus. A pair of shows with the Front Porch Review (produced by Peter North) were wonderful, although the driving was a little hairy. Thanks to all the guys in the show (Stewart Macdougall, Ron Rault, Bobby Cameron, Crawdad Cantera, Thom Moon, and Dwayne Hrynkiuw) and to the staff at the Matchbox (Red Deer) and Festival Place (Sherwood Park) for such enjoyable gigs.
This Saturday I'm in concert at the Grandview Stage Resort, near Rocky Mountain House. Always a good time ! Greg Godowicz will be holding down the Blues Can Jam for me that day (Jan. 22), and I'll be back for the 29th, as well as playing the club Friday and Saturday nights (Jan. 28-29). Tuesday solo shows at Mikey's Juke Joint continue, plus on Wednesday Jan. 26 I appear with a group of storytellers at JT's Pub in the Tri-Wood Community Centre (7 pm show), and on Monday the 31st I am the first guest to play with the new Blue Mondays house band at Cantos/National Music Centre (7 pm as well).
When I Was A Cowboy, the theme cd I put out a while ago, garnered a very nice review in the current issue of Penguin Eggs, the Canadian folk music magazine. Still no word from Sing Out !, who requested review copies of the two most recent discs a while back.
Progress (finally) is being made on the blues mandolin instructional dvd ! No release date yet but we're approaching the absolute end of editing it. Speaking of instruction, my being listed as "confirmed" at a blues guitar camp at Whistler Mountain, B.C. is a little premature - they have until the 31st to send a deposit and a contract. I wish them well, and if it's a go I will be there.
February looks like a month of good and interesting work. Aside from the house gigs there's a house concert for Jeans Off ! in Red Deer on the 11th, a "dirty" blues Valentine's Day show at Mikey's Juke Joint, the Ironwood Stage & Grill on the 19th, The Blues Can with the Electro-Fires on the 25-26, and producing the second cd for the acoustic blues duo Hills & Lemelin (their debut was one of my favorite projects of the last few years).
Keep on listening, and I'll post again soon !
This Saturday I'm in concert at the Grandview Stage Resort, near Rocky Mountain House. Always a good time ! Greg Godowicz will be holding down the Blues Can Jam for me that day (Jan. 22), and I'll be back for the 29th, as well as playing the club Friday and Saturday nights (Jan. 28-29). Tuesday solo shows at Mikey's Juke Joint continue, plus on Wednesday Jan. 26 I appear with a group of storytellers at JT's Pub in the Tri-Wood Community Centre (7 pm show), and on Monday the 31st I am the first guest to play with the new Blue Mondays house band at Cantos/National Music Centre (7 pm as well).
When I Was A Cowboy, the theme cd I put out a while ago, garnered a very nice review in the current issue of Penguin Eggs, the Canadian folk music magazine. Still no word from Sing Out !, who requested review copies of the two most recent discs a while back.
Progress (finally) is being made on the blues mandolin instructional dvd ! No release date yet but we're approaching the absolute end of editing it. Speaking of instruction, my being listed as "confirmed" at a blues guitar camp at Whistler Mountain, B.C. is a little premature - they have until the 31st to send a deposit and a contract. I wish them well, and if it's a go I will be there.
February looks like a month of good and interesting work. Aside from the house gigs there's a house concert for Jeans Off ! in Red Deer on the 11th, a "dirty" blues Valentine's Day show at Mikey's Juke Joint, the Ironwood Stage & Grill on the 19th, The Blues Can with the Electro-Fires on the 25-26, and producing the second cd for the acoustic blues duo Hills & Lemelin (their debut was one of my favorite projects of the last few years).
Keep on listening, and I'll post again soon !
Thursday, December 9, 2010
That Was The Year That Was
Three weeks (busy ones) left in 2010, and my new year has been made brighter by my acceptance at the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival in Mexico March 8-13 (an event I played in 2007 and very much enjoyed) . This has been a good year, even though I've toured only in Canada's 3 Western Provinces (except for an impromptu performance at a friend's hacienda south of Puerto Vallarta). Playing festivals with David Lindley, Little Feat, and others, and re-connecting with friends including Bryan Bowers and Paul Pigat (only a few among the many), and playing a ton of gigs solo, with my band (The Electro-Fires) and with friends Little Miss Higgins and Foy Taylor have all made the year pass in a happy blur. The re-release of my "live" solo disc "Evenings Among Friends", with a brilliant re-mastering by Dave Horrocks at Infinite Wave, and the release of my "When I Was A Cowboy" disc were both highlights as well.
In the next week I will finish recording and mixing a cd for songwriter Paul Saks, play CBC Radio's Homestretch program on the 16th, play three nights at the Blues Can here in Calgary and three (27-28-29) at Rusty Reed's House of Blues in Edmonton, plus the Saturday Blues Can Jams and Mikey's Juke Joint on Tuesdays. For 2011, I've confirmed the Filberg Festival (Comox BC), Islands Folk Fest (Duncan BC) Northern Lights Folk Club (Edmonton), and many more. There are at least four tentative summer festivals, and one for the autumn as well (confirmed).
Stay warm and hold close to you the people you cherish as the old year passes and the new one dawns, and keep on listenin'.
In the next week I will finish recording and mixing a cd for songwriter Paul Saks, play CBC Radio's Homestretch program on the 16th, play three nights at the Blues Can here in Calgary and three (27-28-29) at Rusty Reed's House of Blues in Edmonton, plus the Saturday Blues Can Jams and Mikey's Juke Joint on Tuesdays. For 2011, I've confirmed the Filberg Festival (Comox BC), Islands Folk Fest (Duncan BC) Northern Lights Folk Club (Edmonton), and many more. There are at least four tentative summer festivals, and one for the autumn as well (confirmed).
Stay warm and hold close to you the people you cherish as the old year passes and the new one dawns, and keep on listenin'.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Goin' Where Them Chilly Winds Don't Blow
The middle of November and Calgary braces for its' first taste of autumn/winter weather. Cooling off and snow in the forecast. The gigs have (for the most part) been going so well I am deeply humbled...thanks to everyone who came out to share in the music. My gig at the Nickelodeon Folk Club here in town Saturday night was the stuff dreams are made of...John Reischman and the Jaybirds remind me of why I play music, and what it can be when you take away ego and flash, leaving only chops and commitment. Summer festivals are trickling in, as are the instructional camps, mostly from B.C. That's fine, the only summer I enjoyed this year was while touring out that way.
Home for most of the rest of the year, with gigs at the Blues Can, CBC Calgary's "Homestretch" show, Rusty Reed's House Of Blues (Edmonton) and my usual Tuesday solo spot at Mikey's Juke Joint. There will be more shows announced shortly, plus several more summer festivals/guitar camps, so keep on checking in !
Home for most of the rest of the year, with gigs at the Blues Can, CBC Calgary's "Homestretch" show, Rusty Reed's House Of Blues (Edmonton) and my usual Tuesday solo spot at Mikey's Juke Joint. There will be more shows announced shortly, plus several more summer festivals/guitar camps, so keep on checking in !
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