Been A While

I know it's been too long since I added a new blog post...a combination of events and circumstances.  On this day five months ago my best friend and longtime musical partner, the brilliant keyboardist/bassist/singer/arranger Ron Casat finally succumbed to the liver problems which had plagued him for the last several years.  We toured over more than half of this huge country, and did one tour of Baja California as well.  We did countless sessions together on my recordings, his one lovely solo disc, and the projects of others. I can't remember how many sound designs for CBC Radio we did together - remember when "Morningside" ran a weekly radio drama ? Many of those were produced here and many featured Ron and myself. We were involved in several theatre projects together, including the oft-produced "Big Mama" play about the life of Big Mama Thornton .  And we were friends, the sort who could finish each other's sentences quite often because we were that in-tune, who would come up with the same idea at the same time in the middle of a recording session.  I still find myself wanting to telephone and share some tidbit with him, or bounce a musical idea off him.

So, I haven't felt like writing about it but it's time to jump that particular hurdle.  Ron's passing came while I was in the middle of a tour with Al Lerman, best known as sax and harmonica player (and founding member) of Toronto band, Fathead. Al is also a good guitar player and a lovely singer/writer, and the tour was so much fun (and so successful) we are doing it again in May of 2016. Major club dates in Edmonton and the Okanagan are in place, with more to come.  I know there have been some problems with the website calendar lately but we're working on that, and dates will be posted there.

June began with a BC tour which included the Georgia Strait Guitar Workshop, The Dream Cafe (Penticton), Pat's Pub (Vancouver), and The Campbell River Blues&Wine Festival.  My longtime drummer, Kevin Belzner, played two of these dates with me in an interesting drums/guitar duo we've been working up.  The summer continued with a second BC run (39 Days of Duncan Fest, Duncan Showroom, and Vancouver Island Music Fest) before heading off for my first ever gigs on the European continent. A tornado warning delayed my Calgary flight, causing my entire itenerary to need re-adjusting.  London leg was fine, but in Munich I had to run through customs/security with minutes to spare.  At Genoa I discovered my guitar was fine but my suitcase was still in London.

After making arrangements to have the suitcase sent ahead to Slovenia, my friends Beppe Gambetta and Federica Prina Calvinho loaded my into the van for a drive north to Trento (near the German border). We arrived to an amazing thunder and lightning storm but I still managed to sleep a few hours.  Beppe and I performed next evening at Trento's Itinerari Festival and the next day we headed south and east to Pioraco (in the mountains a few hours from Rome) for PiorAcoustic Festival (an amazing gathering of luthiers set this festival apart for me). Then the long drive to Ambroz Pod Krvacm, Slovenia (halfway up an Alp overlooking the valley where Lubliana, the beautiful capital city is located). After six days of teaching plus a student concert and a public concert (and a way-too-short afternoon in Lubliana) we drove back to Verona, where we overnighted. Truly a magic place. Next day we played in the Piazza di Sol of Santa Margherita, on the Italian Riviera, a fitting end to a great tour.

Next morning, after an effortless flight to Rome, I mis-read a boarding pass, missed a Montreal flight and entered one of those hell-zones every touring musician has a story about.  My luggage was removed from the plane and placed in the lost-and-found of Alitalia in the Rome airport (already a backlogged mess because the airport was shut by a fire two days previously). Again me and a guitar, with my toothbrush in a day pack on my shoulder.  Made alternate arrangements to fly out next morning, found a hotel' and next day was, by noon, headed for home.  My suitcase (which I have named Rover) arrived two days later.

The rest of August and the first three weeks of this month have been spent playing here in Southern Alberta, doing some gigs with Kevin and with a band lineup, and finishing paperwork and such for the new cd, So Low.  It is due out on Nov. 1st, and will apparently be joined shortly after by a trio project cd I did last year with Brandon "Yukon Slim" Issak and Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne.

In October I'll be in the maritimes for a week of house concerts organized by HomeRoutes (you can get the itinerary from their website at homeroutes.ca), and from mid-November to Christmas eve (after a stop at the Vermillion, AB folk club), I'll be joining Dave Kelly for his seasonal presentation at Lunchbox Theatre.

Festivals and guitar camps are already coming in for 2016 (one for 2017 !) and it looks like another great year !

Just before I sign off I would like to say RIP BB King. Your voice and guitar, and the way you conducted yourself in this world, were an inspiration I will always carry with me.

See you at the gig...

The February Blues

Back from the South, back to a mild but still wintery Canada.  I journeyed to Memphis (by way of Minneapolis) to participate in the International Blues Challenge, but first I travelled to Clarksdale, MS, with some friends (thanks for driving, Barry), so I could perform at The Hambone Gallery...a delightful combo of art by co-owner/artist/drummer Stan Street and a juke joint (his partner/wife Dixie is also a drummer, frequently in the company of Leo Bud Welch).  The night was a howling success, ending with a little moonshine tasting, money in pocket and cd sales, then back to Memphis by 1 a.m.  Next day, after an excellent country breakfast (chicken-fried steak, eggs, grits, biscuits and gravy) at The Blue Plate, I went to the New Daisy Theatre on Beale Street to get my accreditation pass and attend exactly the same orientation speech as last year, and put my cds in the IBC store.  The venue I would perform in on Wednesday and Thursday was familiar, Pig on Beale...I'd eaten there on earlier trips and knew the lay-out.  Back to my hotel (sadly the old Main Street trolley wasn't running, making it a fair walk (or a taxi ride, with guitars) to all the action.  Check strings, clean up, and back to Pig on Beale for a barbecued bologna sandwich and a beer before show-time.  I caught several of the other acts in my venue and was hugely impressed with Rob Europe, from Long Island NY.  A rousing set (helped by the fact that I had numerous fans from the Calgary Blues Music Association in the audience), then Blues City Cafe for a late supper of Catfish (the best) and greens.  Next day I did an interview with Vinny Bon Marini for his "Music On The Couch" internet broadcast, and played a song at the Canadian showcase before heading back to the hotel ( I also stuck my head in the door of Murray's Clothing to check out what he had for stage suits).  Another pretty killer set (if I do say so myself) and called it a day.  I woke to find I had made it to the semi-final round, appearing at Jerry Lee Lewis' club, in the 12 Bar (I played there 2 nights last year).  Another killer set, but apparently not what the judges were looking for, as I would go no further in the competition.  This wasn't a bad thing...I finally had time to go see the Civil Rights Museum (and walk around in tears for about 45 minutes), have a last feed of Catfish with a friend, and pack for the trip home (my new suit from Murray's is following by mail after being altered.

Memphis to Detroit to Seattle to Calgary, and back into the local gigs, plus a fun house concert at The Jeans Joint in Red Deer.  I was sad to think I couldn't open for piano giant David Vest during Winter Blues Fest here, as I am at he Canada Games in Prince George, BC that week (as well as appearing for two shows as the guest in Raoul Bhaneja's play "Life, Death, and the Blues" in Edmonton).  Then I got a message from David and I'm touring in Saskatchewan as his guitarist from Feb. 25-28, including Bud's On Broadway in Saskatoon, that city's Winter Blues Fest, and the Stir Crazy Blues Fest in Swift Current (in the lovely old Lyric Theatre).  In early March I start work on a new cd...I'll be working the new originals into upcoming shows over the next little while.  See you at the gig !

2014...Whoooeeee....!

So, no wonder I keep needing a nap in the afternoons...I played over 200 gigs, spent 120 + days on the road, worked as musical director/composer on two theatre projects, answered well over a dozen media requests (everything from phone-ins to a documentary film crew in my music room), played 14 festivals from Whitehorse, Yukon to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and from Vancouver Island to Ottawa, and recorded an as-yet-unreleased cd with friends Brandon "Yukon Slim" Isaak and Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne.

After a fun, chilly evening at Blues At The Bow, in Bow Island, Alberta, I've been hanging close to home...trying to get material ready for a new disc I thought I would have had out by Christmas and playing all my favorite gigs around Calgary (still getting songs in shape for the new disc).  An interesting year shaping up...I go to Memphis on Tuesday, drive to Clarksdale (Mississippi) and play at The Hambone Gallery, then compete again at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.  I am crazy enough to think lightning can strike twice in the same life, in the same place.  I'll also be playing a tune at the Ottawa Blues Society's showcase in the Kooky Kanuck bar, and guesting on Vinny Marini's "Music On The Couch" on-line radio broadcast.

In February I'll be playing at The Canada Games with Brandon and Kenny under the name "Blue Note Express," as well as a solo show before heading to Edmonton for an interesting guest shot.  March is The Calgary Folk Club, April includes an Alberta tour with Al Lerman (of the TO band Fathead), and May brings a return to the Kelowna Folk Club.  June will see me at the Georgia Strait Guitar Workshop, The Dream Cafe (Penticton), and The Campbell River Wine and Blues Festival.  I am also teaching at Beppe Gambetta's Guitar Workshop (in the Slovenian Alps) and returning to Foothills Acoustic Music Institute in late August.

I'll be touring the East Coast of Canada this year, in a series of house concerts co-ordinated by HomeRoutes of Winnipeg, plus some additional dates (I'm in discussion with the East Coast Blues Society about that now) and quite possibly returning to Southern Ontario (I had a ball there in early November, thanks to Dennis O'toole, Al Black, Gary Kendall and others).  So, on to Memphis and beyond...see you somewhere down the road !

Home for a minute...

Well, I'm writing this post in between the end of the Legendary Blues Cruise and my flight to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, for the first annual Yukon Roots & Blues Festival.  Since I last posted I have played the excellent Hot Springs Blues Festival in Arkansas ( a town with a crazy history...go check it out), where I had a chance to touch base with IBC Band winner Mr. Sipp, and runners -up Ghost Town Blues Band; driven to the West Coast and taken 2 ferries to chill in a lovely waterfront house on Gabriola Island; and played (among others) a wonderful show at the 100-plus year-old Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod, Alberta.

The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise was a blast, catching sets by Taj Mahal (and daughter Deva Mahal, a gorgeous singer), Los Lobos, The Royal Southern Brotherhood, Low Rider Band, and numerous others.  My four shows were very well attended and received, as was the workshop I sat in on with the great Doug Macleod, plus I sat in for a few tunes with friend (and wonderful pianist) Leon Blue, and caught two sets by my friend Carolyn Wonderland (both excellent).  Basically a giant festival on a cruise ship with a bar around every corner, it gives the fans a chance to be "up-close" with the musicians, and makes for a great sense of community among the players...informal chats in the coffee and food lines with Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos and Cyril Neville of Royal Southern Brotherhood, praise from Lloyd Jones, Curtis Salgado, Mike Zito and Bernard Allison, and a crew of very dedicated and competent organizers and sound techs made for a fun week.

I'll be in Whitehorse Oct. 15-22 for a few gigs, then the 23-26th in Saskatchewan.  About as big a change from the West Coast of Mexico as one could imagine.  Southern Ontario November 6-12th, then putting my feet up in Calgary for a spell (with the exception of Blues At The Bow, in Bow Island, Alberta, on November 29th).  You can get specific dates from the calendar at www.cayusemusic.com .

Life After Memphis

Things have been a bit of a blur since I returned victorious from the IBC in late January.  After a little flurry of media attention and another award (this time from the Calgary Blues Music Association...Lifetime Achievement/Hall of Fame) it was time to get back to gigging...after losing and regaining my wallet in the airport, waking up my wife to help pay the towncar driver, getting up for interviews, and a lovely Tuesday night celebration/gig at Mikey's Juke Joint  I played the Calgary Mid-Winter Blues festival with my friend Fruteland Jackson, and Edmonton's Roots & Blues of Folkways winter event (a concert with Del Rey and a panel with Del and the great Allen Toussaint).  A few more gigs in Alberta (including the lovely Ye Olde Jar Bar house concerts, outside Medicine Hat) and it was time to head for Victoria.  A fund-raiser for Blue Bridge Theatre (I would spend the next 4 weeks there as musical director) and a lovely gig for the Victoria Blues Society at The Upper Deck included visits with friends Jason Buie, Tom Gough and Dave "Slim" Harris.  I also got a chance to sit in with David Vest at his cd release for the great "Roadhouse Revelation" disc, at Hermann's Jazz Club.  After opening night, and a house concert within a stone's throw of the ferry terminal, it was time to head to the Hornby Island Blues Week.

Hornby remains one of my faves, a great teaching environment in the company of fine musicians and a chance to hang with friends I've made on the Island over the years.  Following the annual instructors' concert in Courtenay on Vancouver Island, I played a house concert in Campbell River before returning briefly to Calgary.  Then the lovely Dream Cafe in Penticton, a one-nighter in Edgewood, B.C. and home (where the incredibly patient staff at Mikey's Juke Joint and The Blues Can keep my house gigs open to me when I'm not on the road).  Festival season began with The North Country Fair, up north by Lesser Slave Lake, then the Portland Waterfront Blues Fest in Oregon (and a chance to catch up with Leo "Bud" Welch and Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton), Islands Folk Festival (Duncan, B.C.), Mission (B.C.) Folk Festival,Calgary Blues Festival and The Heritage Blues Festival (Wheeling, West Virginia).  Tonight it's Mikey's Juke Joint here in Cowtown, then a week-end teaching at the Foothills Acoustic Music Institute west of Calgary, plus closing the show at the Mountain Shadow fest in Cochrane AB this Sunday.  Back at Mikey's next Tuesday, then the Hot Springs Blues Festival in Arkansas, and a week of holidays with my hone on Gabriola Island.  Therest of September I'll be in town, then playing the Rhythm and Blues Cruise down the west coast of Mexico; the Yukon Roots & Blues festival in Whitehorse, a tour of Saskatchewan, and the first week of November in Southern Ontario.

Come on out, catch a show and say howdy !

Memphis !!!

     Where to start ?  After touring frozen Saskatchewan, playing one of my favorite gigs on New Year's Day (the annual "Hankover" show at the Ironwood Stage & Grill here in Calgary) and assorted other gigs, I got on a plane for Houston to make connections with a flight to Memphis where I would compete in the 30th annual International Blues Challenge.  This is not your usual battle-of-the-bands horseshit where a bunch of people play for free and club owners line their pockets with beer sales...this is the premier gathering of blues talent on the planet, sponsored by The Blues Foundation.  I was in the solo/duo category, along with 101 other competitors from Canada, the US, Spain, Croatia, Germany, Denmark, Australia and the UK.  Each of these acts had to win a qualifying round put on by their local blues society just to be in Memphis.

     I got to Houston without a hitch, but while having a beer in the bar adjacent to my boarding lounge the bartender mentioned that a bad snowstorm was rolling west.  I looked at the monitor and could see flights beginning to be delayed, so I paid up and got a seat in my boarding lounge.  Soon a counter person asked to see my boarding pass, and offered me $150 plus hotel, ground transportation and meal vouchers to take a flight the next morning.  I politely declined and watched more flights being delayed and cancelled at airports further and further west.  The counter person returned and doubled the offer, but I explained to her that I had to be in Memphis, on Beale Street, by 11:30 and I wasn't going on a different flight from my guitars (which had been checked through).

     We came in from the south, following the river (Mark Twain's river, William Faulkner's river, Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbeck's river) at twilight.  Pure magic.  I got to my hotel and noticed a text from pal Mike Clark, whose band were the other Calgary competitors.  Meet at B.B.King's...which was right around the corner from me, five or six stops down the Main Street streetcar line for Mike.  A few Maker's Mark and Flat Tire beer combos later, after listening to the brilliant Tuesday night house band, I went back to the room for some quiet time and a sleep.  I wanted to have my wits about me for the orientation at the New Daisy Theatre next day at 11:30.

     Breakfast in my hotel, the Westin On Beale (more correctly it should be called The Westin Almost On Beale, but what's half a block ?).  Sort of up-scale, definitely could have been anywhere cuisine, but the coffee was good, the waitresses were friendly and it lay directly between me and my destination.  The New Daisy Theatre (right across Beale from The Daisy Theatre) is a run-down, waiting for a loving restoration kind of a place, and once the doors opened there were line-ups (bands one side, solo/duo acts on the other) all the way from the bar (where passes were being handed out) to the stage and across the front of it.  It took awhile to get through the line-up, to be told we had to come back later for the orientation.  I went down the street to Ugly Juanita's, where eventually I got a schedule, and paid $3 for a lanyard to hang my pass from (I grumbled for a second, but then I remembered all the good work the Blues Foundation does for the music I love).  Back to the New Daisy where we are told we are all winners, and told not to mess up and to be at our venues on time or lose points.

     I changed strings and went for dinner at Pig on Beale, a fine Barbeque place where both large front windows are full of BBQ trophies and they serve one of my favorite southern comfort foods, a barbequed bologna sandwich (with slaw and beans).  It was time to wash offr the barbecue sauce and head to my venue, upstairs in Jerry Lee Lewis's club, in The 12 Bar.  A nice little room, no stage but wood walls and floor good for that one warm sound bounce, and a soundman who seemed to know what he was about.  On at 7, playing to a pretty full room with three judges sitting directly in front of me along with a time keeper (you lose points if you exceed your 25 minutes).  I start playing and notice the judges and time keeper looking at me with big smiles and think "Damn, these are friendly folks."  After the set I run into Alberta blues pals Cam Hayden (Edmonton Blues Fest/CKUA) and Holger Pederson (CBC/CKUA/Stony Plain Records) and head off with Holger and some folks from other blues societies, back to B.B.King's to catch thre Papa John Band, who are magnificent.  I finish my evening with a feed of catfish at Blues City Cafe and head to bed.

     Thursday is busier.  A showcase at a knotty-pine paneled bar hung with moose heads, called the Kooky Kanuck.  Noon, the place is full of people drinking beer and trying to either do business or listen to the blues.  I opt for the latter, playing "Shake 'Em On Down" with the Mike Clark Band, then hustle back to Beale.  I had taken a cab to the bar because it was cold and I didn't know where I was going, and the cabby wasn't taking any money...this is a city that loves it's musicians.  1:15 and I'm upstairs at the Rumboogie Club, doing an interview with Vinnie Marini for his internet radio broadcast, "Music From The Couch."  A quick bite at Polly's Soul City Cafe and then try to fix my malfunctioning pre-amp...no luck, I'll have to play the set through a Blues Jr. amp again tonight.  Judges dig it, two of them come up to tell me how much they dig it.  I listen to some of the other acts, then head to the lounge at The Orpheum Theatre to catch my friend Brandon Issak, then we head for a beer (and discover we've both made the semi-finals).  And more catfish.

     Friday I discover my venue is right beside my hotel...a strange combo of  Irish pub and southern food.  I had been in earlier to catch Barbara Blue, a Beale Street fixture.  The place is loud, but the soundman is cool and competent...things go down pretty good, and I head to the back room for a pulled pork dinner.  Heading out to find a venue that's announcing the finalists, I run into Eddie "Devil Boy" Turner, and we have a good little hang while waiting to find out they're announcing finalists at the New Daisy.  It's freezing cold in Memphis (colder than Calgary) and freezing inside the New Daisy.  I get a beer and sit up at the back until, in amazement I hear my name announced as a finalist.

     Next day starts out tense.  The e-mail detailing finalist orientation at the Orpheum doesn't get to my cell phone (it's on my computer when I get home, however).  I hustle to the theatre and apologize profusely, find out when I play, and then hang back stage for an eternity.  A good visit with Lionel Young makes the time pass somewhat more pleasantly.  I walk out to play my 20-minute set in the beautiful old Orpheum Theatre...I can't even let myself think about all the greats who've stood on that stage.  Three acts later, it's over and I hear my name being called...I've won Best Solo/Duo and Best Guitarist (Solo/Duo).  Holy Shit...more later (sooner than later).

That Time It Never Quit Snowing

Wow...2014 ! How did that happen ?  Well, it went like this.  In January I stayed home, doing my house gigs at Mikey's Juke Joint and The Blues Can (both here in Calgary) plus a gig at National Music Centre (also Calgary) and taught a few private lessons...lying low and trying to recover financially from the collapse of a Spanish tour in December 2012.  I also continued to work on my most recent cd with co-producer Russ Broom and a handful of other folks.  February brought a winter blues fest in Camrose, AB (at the beautiful Bailey Theatre) and a 10-gig duo tour with my old pal Big Dave Maclean (including the gorgeous Dream Cafe in Penticton), and the annual blues & burlesque "Dirty Valentine" night at Mikey's.  March saw the cd completed, plus my house gigs and shows at Legacy Guitars in Cochrane AB and a concert in Vulcan, AB.  April 4 saw the release of the new cd, The Blue Highway (LowdenProud Records) to a full house at Ironwood Stage & Grill, then a flight to Ottawa to rehearse and perform "Big Mama" with Jackie Richardson at The National Arts Centre.  The show was a howling success and I had time to hang with friends Tony D and Steve Marriner (Monkeyjunk), folk and blues radio hosts Chris White and John Tackaberry, and several guitar buddies passing through (Paul Pigat, Doug Cox, Morgan Davis),.  We closed May 11 and I was back in Calgary May 13, playing the Blues Can, Bob Dylan's birthday party at Ironwood, two days as guest guitarist at Mount Royal Conservatory, a guitar clinic and house concert (also in Calgary) and a night at The Grandview Stage, just outside Rocky Mountain House AB. 

In June I played Carlsons On Macleod, a beautiful club closed by the floods which hit downtown High River (fortunately all my friends there escaped without physical harm) and drove with my wife to California via old Highway 95 (Idaho-Washington-Oregon-Nevada route).  After a lovely visit there with my family and my wife's sister's family in the SF Bay area, we drove home in time to play the Pincher Creek Cowboy Poets Gathering, where I put my back out...it wouldn't settle down and caused me to spent the night of our intense flooding in emergency, having to cancel Works fest (Edmonton) and North Country Faire appearances.  July brought Stampede gigs with The Hackamores (my part-time Western Swing band), 2 performances of "Big Mama" at Vancouver Island Music Fest, and more.  In August I played the Canmore Folk Festival for the first time in 20 years, including great workshops with Jim McLennan, Chic Gamine, and Matt Anderson, and returned as a teacher at Foothills Acoustic Music Institute (FAMI) just west of Calgary.  I finished there, went by home for an hour, and flew via Seattle to Anchorage, from where I was driven to Wasilla (yes, Sarah Palin's hometown) to teach at Acoustic Alaska camp and play concerta in Anchorage and Seldovia.  September was largely taken up with a tour of the Okanagan Valley and Vancouver Island, Hornby Island and Gabriola Island in British Columbia.

Early October was spent with friends in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, and (on returning home) a benefit performance for pal Amos Garrett who lost a considerable amount in the June flooding, followed by local gigs and students.  November and December were a time to stay close and lie low with in-town gigs and teaching (and a three-day tour of Saskatchewan...nice to see friends Richie and Katherine Pollack, and Ken and Heather Peat Hamm out that way).

2014 : The 11th annual Hankover on New Year's Day sold out, and this week I play a house concert in St. Albert AB and the Saturday Night Special folk club here in Calgary, plus other in-town gigs and a house concert in Red Deer on the 31st.  I will compete in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN, Jan. 21-26, and February will see me at both Calgary and Edmonton winter blues fests.  Keep the faith, support traditional and original music, and I hope to see you at a show sometime soon !  Stay warm and drive safe...

Mosquito Season

Well, it's been an interesting time (but then, aren't they all ?).  After a flurry of late May gigsJo and I drove to California to visit family in Lancaster and Alameda.  Calgary-Lewiston Idaho, Lewiston - Winnemucca Nevada, on to Bishop CA next day, then Lancaster.  Visited with my Mom for two days, and had lunch with two brothers and a cousin (then evening with neices and nephews and their broods).  104 Farenheit with blowing sand and sagebrush.  Then to the SF Bay area where we spent a day in the city with Jo's sister and kids.  Coast route stopping in Sonoma County to buy some favorite wines, then Brookings for the night, just across the Oregon border.  Giant redwoods and sensational coastlines.  Next day Portland, and a few glasses of wine with brother-in-arms Robbie Laws, before driving to Sandpoint, Idaho for a final night in the US.  I had probably the finest biscuits and gravy ever in a place there...even better than the old May's Diner in Diamond Springs CA.  We crossed the border just outside Cranbrook BC, paying an outrageous extra penalty on our wine because BC is protecting its' wine industry (it's all they have left besides tourism).  A set at the Pincher Creek Cowboy Poets Gathering (nice to see Allison Brock, Martin Hill, and other friends for a brief visit ) then home.

I had a bit of a cold/flu thing settle in, and then put my back out while hooking up a new printer.  The off-shoot was that I couldn't breath after a few days, and spent the evening of the worst of Calgary's flooding in an emergency ward.  After every test known to man, they agreed I simply had put my back out and had a lung full of crap, gave me half a dozen Percocets and sent me home (a marathon 90-minute journey around closed bridges and flooded streets).  I'M FINE !

To the folks at The Works Fest in Edmonton and The North Country Faire, I'm sorry I had to miss 'em.  Thanks to my buddy Paul Pigat for sitting in with my Western Swing band, The Hackamores, in my absence at NCF.

Next up, after a great bunch of gigs with The Hackamores over the first half of Stampede, we headed to Vancouver Island Music Fest for two performances of the play Big Mama ! (me as musical dire3ctor and Jo as stage manager) plus some workshops.  The play was a howling success (I thought I was done with it at this point but we're looking at touring it more), and I got to shake hands with James Burton (totally one of my Telecaster and Dobro heroes) and sing with Terry Evans (check him out either solo, with Bobby King, or on any number of Ry Cooder cds).  A visit with both sons and daughters-in-law plus grandkids Charlie,Vada, Jennings and Xavier, and we were home.  Now it's play some local (nice) gigs while getting ready for Canmore Folk Festival and Foothills Acoustic Music Institute's August camp (teaching songwriting).  Also I have to fit in hang time with my friends Greg and Mary from San Jose del Cabo, and hang out with Blind Boy Paxton, whose acquaintance I joyfully made on Vancouver Island. September brings a more intense tour of BC, and Saskatchewan is being planned for October or January.  Lots more touring in support of the Blue Highway cd to come over the next months !

My heart goes out to my fellow Calgarians and those so deeply affected in High River after the floods...chins up and carry on.

The middle of the merry month of May

Wow, where does the time go ?  I think I can answer that...it gets poured into a million different projects and a few distractions.  Things have been a little bit hectic since the crash of my Spanish tour (tied directly to the crash of the Spanish economy, and indirectly to letting a well-intentioned amateur set it up).  While we both had the time off Jo and I headed to Seattle for a week-long getaway...I play Seattle area now and then but Jo had never been.  We stayed in a boutique hotel mid-way between the Pike Place Market and Pioneer Square, walked the block and a half to the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal, spent a lovely afternoon there Christmas shopping, and had to go twice to Ivar's Acres of Clams (yummmm).  We went to the Experience Music Project to catch a horror and science fiction movie memorabilia display, plus a film about friend Jim Marshall (one of the premier LP cover photographers of the '60s and early '70s).  I held my hands in the air over Hendrix' Stratocaster trying to catch some vibes.  Back to Calgary and back to work...I produced two outside projects (those are getting harder and harder for me to do, because my chops are holding up way better than my patience), and finished my new CD The Blue Highway, on Lowden Proud Recordings...a very cool, mostly solo recording I did with my pal Russ Broom at his studio (The Broom Closet).  It includes covers of numerous traditional country blues, plus a Pachuco blues by Lalo Guerrero (check out Ry Cooder's "Chavez Ravine" cd or the movie "Zoot Suit" to hear more of Lalo's stuff); a Hawaiian tune by Sol Ho'o'pi'i (one of my fave steel guitarists ever); five new songs of mine including a short rag from Alberta Theatre Projects production of Intimate Apparel; and a re-make of a tune from the cd I cut with Big Dave Maclean years ago.

Dave and I did a two-week whirlwind tour in February, catching amazing luck with the weather and having a ball...I love hanging out with no-drama, no bullshit cats who can actually play the music with some passion and some feel.  After some very cool western swing gigs with
The Hackamores (Lolita's Lounge and the Willie Nelson tribute at Ironwood, Carlsons on Macleod in High River, and the Lethbridge Folk club), a killer evening at The Bassment in Saskatoon, a show on the Vulcan, AB arts & culture series, and my cd release party at The Ironwood, it was time to pack up and head to Ottawa for a month-long gig at the National Arts Centre...a run of Big Mama ! The Willie Mae Thornton Story (starring Jackie Richardson, and with myself, Ron Casat and Kevin Belzner in the band).  A beautiful theatre, a great staff, and standing ovations every show from opening until closing.  Had a great time hearing and hanging with Tony D and Steve Marriner (Monkeyjunk); Pat Braden, Bob Hamilton, Brandon Issak, Keith Picot, and Paul Pigat (all in town for Northern Scene fest); Morgan Davis, and Doug Cox.  I always feel blessed to be a part of such a talented and cool floating community.  I appeared twice on CKCU FM's "Canadian Spaces" program (RIP Chopper McKinnon), and once on John Tackeberry's "Black & Blue" show on the same station, and really enjoyed discovering Steve's Music on Rideau Street and The Ottawa Folklore Centre on Bank Street (I brought home a beautiful old bandurria which I'm in love with).

Since I got home it's been the usual madhouse of catching up correspondence and bills that pile up when one's gone, booking a BC swing for September, and gearing up for the late spring and summer season.  I taught three nights at Mount Royal Conservatory's "Campfire Guitar" class, today I resume jam-host duties at The Blues Can for the next 3 weeks, Mikey's on Tuesday nights for the next 2 weeks, a guitar clinic (sold out) and house concert at Asylum for Art on Saturday May 25 (oops, almost forgot The Ironwood's annual Bob Dylan Birthday Bash on Friday the 24th).  The following week I am at The Grandview Stage (outside Rocky Mountain House) for a dinner concert, on the Saturday I return to Carlsons On Macleod for a solo show featuring tunes from the new cd.  Then Jo and I are driving down to California to visit my Mom who will turn 85 next month.  I have to be back for the Pincher Creek Cowboy Poets Gathering June 14th, but if time allows we'll make day-stops in the Bay area and Kelowna on the way back to visit family.  Then it gets really crazy for a bit...The Hackamores play Lolita's Lounge on Sunday the 16th of June, then we're off to the North Country Faire at Driftpile, AB (I also have a 1 set gig in Edmonton on the way through). I play Bookers Crab Shack in Calgary June 28-29 with the 4-piece Electro-Fires.  Then the Calgary Stampede, with The Hackamores playing The Ironwood July 6, Palomino the 8th, and Mikey's Juke Joint the 9th.  Hop in the car and head for Vancouver Island for the Vancouver Island Music Fest where Big Mama! runs one show each on the Saturday and Sunday (plus a side-stage concert for me).  Home to appearances at Legacy Guitar House in Cochrane July 20th, South Calgary's Sundays in Parkland concert series on the 21st,  Canmore Folk Festival on the August long week-end, and teaching at Foothills Acoustic Music Institute in Bragg Creek August 22-5.  Plus the regular Staurday and Tuesday gigs at The Blues Can when I'm in town.

It's also been a tough time the last while with the loss of so many friends and co-workers...RIP Johnny V, Bob Brozman, Si Garber, Barrie Cline, and Donny Cummings.  Go out and hear some music (or make some) and try to show your family/friends how you feel about them every chance you get.

Hasta Luego, Amigos !

Damn Near Spring

I can't believe I've let this blog sit idle since August or earlier...time flies, but like a jet !  So many changes...the new cd, The Blue Highway, will be coming out (after many self-inflicted delays) in about a month, on Lowden Proud, which makes me label-mates with my friend Stephen Fearing !  Cover art is done and masters go to manufacture Monday (watch here for posts).

I didn't tour Spain in the Autumn, as was the plan; a combo of flaky promoter and economic disaster caused me to pull the pin on that one, triggering a small economic disaster at my house (lost a few grand on that turkey, I'll tell ya).  But, by producing 2 other cds while working on mine, playing every gig that came along here in Southern Alberta, and touring with Big Dave Mclean I've returned things to their normal, shaky footing.

The tour with Big Dave was a riot, mostly sold-out houses.  Thanks to all the presenters and audiences alike.  It also kept me from being able to attend the Folk Alliance conference in Toronto...I'm not sure that's a bad thing, as I haven't left a FA conference with any new work for some time now.  It strikes me a little bit as a party for the entitled (presenters/managers/etc.) and the desperate (performers).  I'll probably do it again but not at the drop of a hat.

My wife and I spent a lovely week in Seattle before the holidays, a consolation prize for the collapse of the Spanish tour.  I've played there many times over the years but Jo had never been.  We had a lovely time and I got to play tourist (The Underground Tour) and visit the Experience Music Project again, while Jo shopped for yarn.


I'll spend mid-April to Mid-May at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa as musical director for the play, Big Mama : The Willie May Thornton Story; then drive to California for a visit with family; then it's festival time (more on that soon !)>

Festival Madness

With August nearing the half-way mark, and 3 festivals yet to go by Labor Day, finally there's time to write a new post (the fire trucks and police cars attending a near-by fire in the middle of the night woke me up anyway).  Just before Canada Day I appeared at The Blues Can here in Calgary, with a band of friends and colleagues under the name The Blues Can All-Stars : Bill Dowey, leader of The Blues Devils and The Hoodoo Sons, former host of The King Eddy Hotel's legendary Saturday jams; Donald Ray Johnson, singer/writer/drummer extraordinaire (Taste of Honey, Maurice John Vaughan, Phillip Walker, Freddie King, and more); Greg "Jr." Demchuk, from the DuRite Aces, formerly from the Rockin' Highliners; Mike Clark, sax player with everybody from Albert Collins to Ian Tyson; Tommy Knowles, bassist for Rita Chiarelli, Kathi MacDonald, Long John Baldry; and me.  Smoking sets Friday/Saturday nights, plus I hosted the Saturday Afternoon Jam...then got up Sunday (Canada Day) to play a set with the house band from The National Music Centre at Fort Calgary.  A rehearsal for a Stampede show, my regular Tuesday night solo gig at Mikey's Juke Joint, and starting on the Thursday, two shows a day at the Stampede grounds playing banjo on a medicine wagon for 11 days.  Add to that a wedding gig with The Electro-Fires (my long-time electric roots & blues outfit) plus 3 club gigs with The Hackamores (the Western Swing band I've been a part of for the last 2 years) and you begin to understand how badly my ass was dragging by the end of the rodeo.  The Monday immediately following, I sat in with Steve Pineo's trio at Mikey's, augmented by Mike Clark on Sax and Greg Haugesag on trumpet/fluglehorn, while visiting with Greg and Mary Hubbard...the 2 of them were my hosts for 3 weeks while I toured Baja California del Sur this past winter.

The next night was my Tuesday solo gig at Mikey's, then Friday with the Hackamores at High River's excellent club, Carlson's On Macleod.  Next day was the Blues Can Saturday jam, which I've been absent from ever since (thanks, Vernon Wills, for subbing) and won't get back to until Labor Day week-end.  After my Tuesday gig it was The Calgary Folk Music Festival with The Hackamores (and a solo roots workshop which ended with Betty Lavette singing "Every Day I Have The Blues" while sitting on my lap).  Shows by Chris Isaak and Junior Brown were highlights, plus workshops with Pokey Lafarge and Chatham County Line.

After a day off, Jo and I hit the highway for Kelowna, BC, for a gig at The Minstrel Cafe and a visit with son Josh, daughter-in-law Heather, and newest grandson Charlie.  Next was a goodly drive and a ferry ride to Vancouver Island where I performed in concert in Spirit Square in Campbell River, then next day we drove to Nanaimo, caught the short little ferry to Gabriola Island, and I performed at Feedlot Studio.  After a lovely night at Hummingbird b&b (wish we could have stayed longer) we were up early for a marathon...ferry back to Nanaimo, ferry from Nanaimo to Vancouver, then a drive up Fraser Canyon to Wells, B.C. for ArtsWells fest.  15 hours including ferry rides.  Tons of deer from twilight on, a virtual wall of moths and dragonflies hitting the grill and windshield, and a cow moose with calf ambling across the highway.  3 sets in one day, get paid and packed and spend a day in Barkerville.  Jo had never been, so we looked over the town (a restored ghost town which, at the height of the Cariboo gold rush, was said to be the biggest town west of Chicago and north of San Francisco), Jo panned for gold, we ate Chinese for lunch in the restored Chinatown, then we were off to Quesnel and 100 Mile House for days off.

Driving down the Cariboo Highway I was able to show Jo the ranches I had worked on in the area, and we joined friends Rick and Liz Jones for a lovely dinner which was cut short by a phone call telling Rick his saddle horse was down with colic.  We took the makings for a drench (basically a way to fill the horse's intestine with vegetable oil so they can pass whatever's making them colic) but the horse was back up on her feet (albeit in a bit of shock) when we got there.  Next a drive across Highway 24 to Clearwater (between Jasper and Kamloops) for 2 nights at pal Doug Fenwick's Blue Loon Grill, then the drive home last Friday.  On Saturday (my birthday) I played with The Hackamores at Mountain View Music Fest in Carstairs, then
Sunday at the Okotoks Olde Towne Show & Shine vintage car show.  Tonight and Friday Happy Hour are both at Mikey's Juke Joint, Saturday is the Central Alberta Music Festival (with old buddy Morgan Davis), and Sunday is the wrap up of the Spaghetti Western Festival here in Calgary, where the Hackamores close it off at The Ironwood Stage & Grill.  Next week it's Mikey's, The Sunnyside Farmers' Market, and The Edmonton International Blues Festival with Big Dave MacLean, Greg Demchuk, and the five-piece version of the Electro-Fires.  September's schedule is a little easier, largely taken up with composing/recording music for Alberta Theatre Projects production of the play, Intimate Apparel .

I turned 64 (!!) last Saturday...I just want to say that I'm truly grateful for the birthday wishes, for my wife and family, and to still make my living from music at an age when most players have either given up, or been given up on.  From mid-November until early December I'm doing a Home Routes house concert tour in Southern Ontario (plus a return to the Greenbank Folk Club), then the Lethbridge Folk Club with The Hackamores, and from December 11-20 I'm doing gigs in Madrid and The Canary Islands for blues societies there...plus arrangements have been concluded for a new cd, on Lowden Proud, due out hopefully this Fall.  Hope to see you at one of the shows !

Island Time (Again)

After more than 2 months at home, I unpacked from last week-end's Foothills Acoustic Music Institute camp (where I was an instructor for the fourth year in a row) yesterday, and will pack when I finish this post for 4 shows on Vancouver Island.  Joe's Garage in Courtenay tomorrow, Duncan Garage Showroom on Friday, a house concert in Campbell River on Saturday, and The Rendezvous Diner in Nanaimo on Sunday.  Then home again until just after the Calgary Folk Music Festival, where I'll be appearing with The Hackamores (in addition to Mikey's Juke Joint July 10, The Blues Can July 12, and Carlsons On Macleod in High River July 20th).  From August long week-end onward it's the Minstrel Cafe in Kelowna (and a visit with Josh, Heather, and new grandson Charlie;The Roxy on Gabriola Island ; Pier Street Market in Campbell River; Arts Wells Fest; Blue Loon Grill, Clearwater BC; Central Alberta Music Fest; Edmonton International Blues Fest; and a projected tour of Spain before starting work on Alberta Theatre Projects' "Intimate Apparel" as sound designer in the middle of the month.

A deal is in place for the next cd, which awaits some new tunes from me (I'm writing, I'm writing...), and there will be a new post post-Island.  Come on out to a show !

Down In Mexico

Just back from a four-week tour of Mexico, which included three weeks in Southern Baja and the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival. The two months before I left were a blur of gigs (including some very fun ones, like the annual "Hankover" concert (a tribute to Hank Williams)), and a pile of studio work. An excellent 2nd album for singer/songwriter Miss Quincy, the music for Vertigo Theatre's production of "When Girls Collide", and half of a new cd for songwriter/harmonica player Paul Saks.

Mexico remains very much a part of my soul ; really the only thing I miss living in Canada about my upbringing in Southern California is it's very "Mexican-ness" (Mexicanissimo in Spanish). I have never felt particularly at risk in Mexico (except in a few taxis) ; I've been hassled way more in Oakland and San Francisco. In a selfish way, I'm glad of the fear keeping tourists away because I don't have to listen to their casual racism and constant whining. The music, history and culture of the place continue to fascinate me : one gallery owner, in the course of a conversation in Spanish about the regional folk art she had on display, asked me if I lived in Mexico or was part Mexican, and when I replied no she said "Yes, part Mexican...in your soul".

I left at 6 a.m. Valentine's Day (sorry again, honey) and was in Los Cabos airport just after 10 to be picked up by the drummer I was touring with, in support of local charity La Semilla de la Vida (The Seed of Life), and driven to my digs at Tres Palapas in San Jose Del Cabo, a delightful home/guest house/recording studio on Gringo Hill, where my wonderful hosts Greg and Mary quickly transitioned from hosts to new friends. I played a private party at their place, the weekly Artwalk in San Jose del Cabo, two bars and a sunset cruise in Cabo San Lucas (try playing guitar standing up on a mid-sized catamaran with nothing to hold on to because both hands are busy, while singing into a microphone swaying with the motion of the boat as well...interesting), 5 shows at local restaurant/bar Deckmans, and road gigs to La Ventana (near La Paz) and Los Barriles (on the East Cape). Everything from solo gigs to 8-piece bands with 3 horns and my friend Robbie Laws co-starring on vocals and guitar.

March 4 I flew from Los Cabos to Mexico City (waving at Mazatlan out the window on the way by) where the pollution was so bad it infiltrated the air conditioning in the airport and on the plane as it sat on the runway, then to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo airport where I was picked up and whisked directly to the artists' "meet-and-greet" dinner at El Pueblito, a delightful courtyard restaurant which would also be a venue through the week. Next day a press conference while watching the sunset on the beach; then opening show in Ixtapa, a funky old bar called the Black Bull downtown, two nights at Jose Luis Cobo's beautiful roof-top club El Canto de la Sirena, a finale at El Pueblito, and a pulic concert in the Zocalo (town square) also called La Gancha because it houses the municipal basketball courts. This festival is a gem with world-class players from (this year) Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Brazil and Turkey.

Coming home was brutal...only an hour to change planes in Houston, which entails : claiming and re-screening/rechecking your checked luggage with U.S. customs; riding an automated shuttle-train to my next terminal (3 terminals away from where I started); going through personal security again, with not enough metal detectors and moronic security people screaming their instructions to the crowd; finding the boarding gate not on my itinerary but available from flickering on-and-off screens; and arriving at the boarding gate as they were about to seal the airplane door. All good after that except my checked bag didn't make the flight and had to be delivered a day and a half later (mercifully relatively intact). The last 2 times I've broken my rule about not taking flights requiring plane changes in the U.S. they've delayed/lost one guitar and 3 suitcases...back to my former resolve.

I took my new Crafter hybrid electric-acoustic with me on this tour, and for the most part it performed admirably (once I began to get the string guages right). And it held up to the radical climate and humidity changes without an ounce of complaint...are you listening, Crafter ? I like your stuff - maybe an endorsement deal ?

The next night was my regular solo Tuesday at Mikey's Juke Joint, followed by 2 days of trying to catch up with banking, bills, missed sleep, and gigs/session work. I'll be in town now until late May, playing my house gigs at Mikey's and The Blues Can (Saturday Jam, 3-7), plus evening gigs at both of those venues, The Ironwood Stage and Grill, Carlsons On Macleod in High River, The Lethbridge Folk Club, Locals in Bragg Creek, and sessions to finish Paul Saks cd plus contributing slide guitar to 2 tracks on Jared Sowan's new cd. I'll be up-dating the website calendar in the next few days.

Spring and Summer will include some large and many small-ish festivals in BC and Alberta, a swing of club shows on Vancouver Island to make up for cancelled dates on the November "weather from Hell" tour, work on my own next cd, and a huge batch of Stampede gigs including 3 with The Hackamores - the Western Swing band I'v been rehearsing with for quite awhile now.

Thanks for checking in, and supporting live roots music, and I hope to see you at a show soon.

The Time It All Went For Shit

Sorry to be so long getting back to this blog...things have been crazy ! In my last post I was in Kelowna, mid-November, heading for Vancouver Island. The rental car had very used all-season tires and someone had set the brakes so hot I was afraid to sneeze in the driver's seat while piloting the car out to Merritt and over the Coquihala Pass the morning after the Kelowna Folk Club gig (it had snowed for almost 24 hours since my arrival in Kelowna. Ferry ride to Vancouver Island was beautiful, and a good crowd at the Dancing Bean in Chemainus, including old friends Nathan Tinkham and Stephen Sparks who dropped over after their show at the Theatre went down. Next day, off to Gabriola Island where friends Michael and Shauna loaned me a lovely house on the water.

After hooking up with the Steffanson brothers (Ken and Gerry) and Gary Fjellgard, I managed to lose the house key through a hole in a jacket pocket...an interesting evening of meeting with the locksmith (thank heavens there is one on that tiny island) and listening to the wind howl. Power was out next morning, but I found the other key in the front yard, so now my friends have two. Packed the car and caught the ferry to Nanaimo, where I stopped at Fascinatin' Rhythm (one of the last real record stores left anywhere) and headed north to catch the ferry to Powell River from Comox. I caught the last ferry and had a visit with my son and daughter-in-law, then to bed, and the lovely experience of waking up with my grandkids.

After a nice visit, I was trapped in Powell River when gale-force winds shut down ALL the ferries. I had to cancel my Campbell River gig, enjoyed an extra day with family, and crossed back to Vancouver Island for a gig at the Cumberland Hotel, sponsored by old pal Doug Cox and the Vancouver Island Music Festival. A great night, and a drive up-island to Port Hardy for a sold-out house concert. Next morning I awoke to find a massive mudslide had blocked the Island Highway and I was stuck in Port Hardy. A sold-out gig at Duncan Garage Showroom had to be cancelled. After a day of BC Highways moving back the estimated opening time of the highway, I checked with the airport and they had added one flight which hadn't been sold out yet. Natonal Car Rentals, quite possibly soon my EX-favorite rental company, charged me way over a THOUSAND DOLLARS drop-off fee.

Flew to Campbell River, then to Vancouver, rented another car, dove to White Rock and played my gig...a group of regulars there got me a hotel room in town and paid for it...what a crew. Next morning I drove back to Vancouver Airport, turned in the car, and changed my ticket from Kelowna to Vancouver-Calgary, arriving home in time to change clothes and play at Mikey's Juke Joint. Got home to find my Sunday Brunch gigs cancelled, and a night in High River double-booked. Unless National coughs something back my way, I beat the shit out of myself for 2 weeks for a net profit of $250. National sent an e-mail 5 WEEKS AGO saying customer satisfaction was a priority and they'd talk to me soon.

Home and the holidays were a bit of a blur, with production of the new Miss Quiny cd and part of a cd for harmonica player Paul Saks, plus my own gigs and pre-production work on the Vertigo Theatre production of Stewart Lemoine's play, "When Girls Collide." A slew of in-town gigs and studio stuff this month, then Feb. 14 I return to Mexico for several gigs in Los Cabos, and on Mar. 4th I go to Zihuatanejo for a return appearance at the International Guitar Festival through Mar. 12th.

I'm looking at a swing through the BC interior in June...after the May long week-end during which I teach at Foothills Acoustic Music Institute in Bragg Creek Alberta. The Lethbridge folk club is scheduled for May 15, and I'll also try to make up the missed Vancouver Island shows.

August will see me playing with my band, Big Dave McLean and Greg "Junior" Demchuk at the Labatta Edmonton Blues Fest !

weather woes

Last Road Trip 2011

Left frozen Calgary early in the p.m. yo fly to Kelowna, where the relatively balmy +5 C had me shedding a layer as I walked across the tarmac to the terminal. A painless flight, guitar and suitcase unscathed, and a nice bump-up from National to a red Elantra. Dinner with my son and daughter-in-law (nice baby bump showing there) and update this blog and the web page calender before an early bed-time. Tomorrow is the Kelowna Folk Club, and Saturday is The Dancing Bean in Chemainus, on beautiful Vancouver Island. After a few days off on Gabriola Island and in Powell River, visiting friends and family, I play Campbell River (house concert), the Cumberland Hotel (presented by the Vancouver Island Music Fest), Port Hardy (house concert), the Duncan Garage Showroom, and the White Rock Blues Society before flying back to Calgary in time for Mikey's Juke Joint on Tuesday the 29th. December is a whole lotta studio work, plus Carlson's on Macleod in High River, The Art Station (Fernie BC), The Ironwood Stage & Grill and more. I'll be updating the web site calendar (www.cayusemusic.com) as soon as I'm done here. Drop around if I'm anywhere near you, and watch me road test tunes for the new cd, and my new Crafter SA, a lovely acoustic/electric I've been using lately. Big thanks to the Labatts' Edmonton Blues Festival and the Mountainview Music Festival for being the first summer fests to sign me for the 2012 season, and check out www.pacificproductionscorp.com to read about February gigs in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Adios, amigos !

California to Dawson Creek and back

So it's my birthday...63 years old !...and my wife and I take a taxi to the Calgary Airport, fly to San Francisco, board a shuttle bus to Sonoma County airport, and are picked up by a volunteer for the "Just Strings Music Festival" slated for the following week-end in Geyserville, in the heart of wine country. It's interesting to be back ; I left California in 1970 and rarely go back, especially to perform. We are driven to the Geyserville Inn, a classic little wine country hotel with beautiful grounds and a small pool, about 3/4s of a mile down the road from town - a Gold Rush - era main street of wine shops, one good restaurant, antique stores, 2 corner stores where as much business is done in Spanish as English, a few nice Victorian homes (they appear to be either week-end homes for wealthy Bay area residents or B&Bs), and side-streets of shotgun houses where the Mexican and Mexican-American work force for the surrounding vineyards work.

Our driver is a guy I met before in Mexico (the Artistic Director has also served in the same capacity for the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival, and there are quite a few familiar faces among performers and volunteers). A strong nip of tequila from a flask disguised as a cell phone (love it !) and the evening is under way. Over the week-end there will be reunions with numerous friends (Catherine Krantz, another past Artistic Director from Zihuatanejo), Los Pistoleros (from Dallas), Shelly King (Austin), Nick Vigarino (Seattle), Patric Sweany (Nashville) and my friend Pat Guadano, New Jersey saloon singer extraordinaire. We will do a radio broadcast from Santa Rosa, just south of where we are down Highway 101; discover a truly extraordinary Mexican Restaurant/Tequila Bar in Healdsburg (also just south of us) called Agaves - check it out if you're ever in town. Octavio brings spices from Oaxaca, and the best in Tequilas and fine Mescals (yes, there is such a thing) from Jalisco and Oaxaca, and it is truly cosmic. I'll discover some great players/singers/writers...Carolyn Aitken particularly comes to mind...we'll tour wineries, make astounding music in the evenings at the hotel, and play to virtually no one under a baking sun at a festival which is suffering the "first year" curse.

At the conclusion of the festival, Artistic Director Jeanne Pezzi tries to pay me and I first try to not accept, but am convinced to take re-imbursement for the car I've rented (she's already shelled out to fly me / bus me in, put up Jo and I, and stock the bar in the party room plus a few meals).

On arriving home it's back to my usual house gigs in Calgary (Tuesdays solo at Mikey's Juke Joint and the Saturday Jam at the Blues Can, week-end gigs in both rooms with my band, The Electro-Fires, a rehearsal with The Hackamores - a western swing band I'm part of - a private party, then Bar-B-Q on the Bow, an annual competition/barbecue fest, the Calgary Soul Fest (put on by former Perpetrator Scotty Hills, to a very encouraging response), and off to Dawson Creek. Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway. Along with Grande Prairie on the Alberta side of the border, the commercial hub of the Peace River farming/ranching country and a serious oil industry jumping - off point.

The 9 1/2 hour drive is from Hell : I have a cold, and the cd player/radio in the rental car dies by the city limits...Edmonton is a hideous construction zone of lane closures, rude/terrible drivers, and a complete lack of signage to get you out of the city. I roll into Dawson Creek in time to set up in the Dew Drop Inn (beer parlour for the 1931-constructed Alaska Hotel) where I will play 5 sets a night through Sunday night to farmers who love guitar, 20-something oil trash, and crushed natives, while staying in a room where I can smell the mould even through my head-cold. At its best it was great, and at its worst it reminded me why I play the festivals, folk clubs and dedicated music rooms to the exclusion of booze barns whenever possible. A note to the girl who cursed at me for not playing "Jackson" by Johnny Cash : in Dawson Creek you might be considered a hot date, but in a real city you'd be just another stoned whore. See you next time - NOT.

The owners, Charles and Heidi, are lovely folks with whom I'll always be glad of a visit, but I no longer have whatever it takes to do 5 sets a night for the Great Uncaring. The drive back, although still silent, was beautiful (except for the terrible traffic accident I drove by just over the border). Fields still being harvested, colour beginning on the softwood trees, and my own bed where I could lie down and lose the cold.

September's last few gigs will be Mikey's this Tuesday, and The Last Chance Saloon in Wayne , Alberta, on Friday night. October's gigs include the usual Mikey's and Blues Can gigs, plus Mondays solo at The Blues Can (subbing for my pal Darren Johnson while he's off to Florida) on the 10th, 17th and 24th; Vangelis Pizza in Saskatoon on the 5th for the Blues Society; a workshop at Legacy Guitars, in Cochrane Alberta on Wednesday the 12th, The Blues Can with The Electro-Fires on the 14th-15th; Alberta Showcase in Edmonton the 21st-23rd (I showcase on the Saturday and will have a booth at the hotel - drop around if you're attending and say "Howdy"); and 4 dates with a wonderful group of players ...Steve Pineo and Robbie Laws are the other guitarists/front men, with a "dream band" of Ron Casat (keys), Mike Clark (sax), John Hyde (bass) and Kelly Kruse (drums)... October 27th at The Vat in Red Deer, 28th-29th at the Ironwood Stage & Grill in Calgary, and the 30th at the Old-Timers Cabin in Edmonton (Halloween fund-raiser for the Edmonton Blues Society).

Lots more on the go...2 cds to produce and the score for a play at Vertigo Theatre (Calgary) to get ready, RECORD MY OWN NEW CD, and ride herd on the summer festivals already making offers (seems earlier each year). There's now a working website for the festival I'm part of in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in Feb./Mar. at www.pacificproductionscorp.com. See you somewhere down the road !

Another Summer (more or less)

After a cold and miserable spring (and a sparsely employed one, owing to the collapse of 1 guitar camp, 2 festivals, and a cd production gig), the good weather arrived more or less along with the Calgary Stampede Parade. I think it was nice on June 9 when I became a Canadian citizen (dual/US) but my mind was on other things. I played 4 shows at the Stampede grounds in the International Visitors Lounge of the Agriculture Building - lovely audiences of people actually from the ranching/farming global community, and turned my regular Tuesday ig at Mikey's Juke Joint into a debut performance of The Hackamores, a western swing band I've been rehearsing with for quite some time : Al Baekland on guitar and vocal, Charlie Veilleux on steel guitar, Gorb Bregg on bass and bgs, Johnathan Lewis on fiddle, Gary Gelhorne on traps, and me on guitar, vocals, mandolin and button accordion. A great night of fun music.

On the 15th Jo and I headed to Chase for a picnic with her holidaying sister and family, then the next morning we were off to Penticton for a night at The Dream Cafe. Possibly the best club/restaurant anywhere, hosts Debra and Pierre offer stellar food, drink and music in an absolutely charming space. Then 3 nights hanging in Kelowna, hanging with my on, Dr. Josh, and his wife (the newly minted Dr.) Heather. A great barbeque, an afternoon of touring wineries, and a lot of just chillin'. Next was a 2 night stand at The Blue Loon Grill in Clearwater BC, where weather forced the show indoors (and woke me up later absolutely pounding on the motel roof). Sun came out enough on day 2 for a picnic at Helmcken Fallis in Wells Grey park, with a stunning amount of water pouring through in this very wet year. Friday was a travel day, down Highway 5 through Kamloops, west over the Coquihala Pass through Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay, ferry to Nanaimo, drive to Duncan and get my schedule/passes for the Islands Folk Fest. A 10-minute drive later we were in beautiful Cowichan Bay, at the Wessex By The Sea Motel. Next day I played a concert in the acoustically stunning Chapel Room and said hello to countless friends. Sunday was the long shift...a morning blues workshop with old friends Ray Bonneville and Dave "Slim" Harris, plus Kat Danser; a noon mainstage with '70s running buddy Rick Van Krugel (brilliant mandolinist/multi-instrumentalist/luthier), then one more solo concert and a beer with Washboard Hank and Bruce Brackney (formerly of Utah Phillips' Rose Tattoo), get paid and discover I was almost sold out of cds only midway through the tour. Many thanks to pal Chris Hunt for getting more from my office and shipping them out.

Next came 2 days off in Courtenay, with side-trips to Coombs (another family picnic) and Qualicum Beach (for the insanely delicious Fanny Bay oysters served up by the Shady Rest pub), and a beer in Cumberland with dobro-playing pal Doug Cox. Over beers and catch-up (Doug plays with Slide To Freedom, Betty Soo and others, and is the Artistic Director of the Vancouver Island Music Festival) we decided to attend the blues jam at the Cumberland Hotel where we were joined by funny guy and guitar monster Todd Butler for a rousing set.

Then it was off to Gabriola Island for what has become an annual show at the Roxy Theatre, put on bby long-time friend Ken Stefansson of Gabriola Gourmet Garlic, and a night at ate beautiful Hummingbird B&B. Up early for a delicious breakfast, we caught the ferry back to Nanaimo (no time to stop at my favorite record store, Fascinatin' Rhythm, which probably saved me a bundle) and north up-island to the Filberg Festival in Comox. It's an arts & crafts event with 130 artisans, and Bobbie Blue programs a brilliant bunch of music on 2 stages. Catching the last few tunes of Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, while setting up for the blues panel after them, I had a chance to catch up with Jolene (Little Miss) Higgins and Foy Taylor, Lester Quitzau, Suzy Vinnick, and Eric Bibb (lots of hugs all around). Blues Panel was brilliant, 2 solo sets on the Garden Stage both went really well (a few drops of rain as I finished...I like to use up the good weather and then leave), grab the handfull of remaining cds and take off after long-overdue visits with Cindy Church and James Keelaghan. Dinner at the Old House (wonderful food and a great covered patio), a few hours sleep, and the 15 1/2 hour car/ferry trip home to Calgary, where our cat Beulah was quite happy to see us (I think that's what she was saying anyway). Big thanks to Trevor Reuger and Howard Chapman for feeding the old gal while we were gone. Next day I picked up another old friend, Smiling Jack Smith, at the airport to begin a handful of local gigs and be our house guest for the week...like my mainstage set with Rick Van Krugel, hanging out and playing with Jack was the effortless resumption of a musical/personal conversation interrupted by decades.

Tomorrow I play my usual set and host at the Blues Can jam, and on Sunday I play a concert in South Calgary for the Parkland in Summer series. Monday I coach a student through his audition piece for the Berklee School of Music, Tuseday is my regular solo spot at Mikey's Juke Joint, Wednesday afternoon I'm at the Hillhurst Farmers Market, and Thursday (my birthday !) we fly to California where I play at "Just Strings...A Music Festival" in Napa Valley. First paying gig in my home state in 35 (?) years. Back in time for my Mikey's show, the Foothills Acoustic Music Academy camp, a private function, Friday night Aug. 26th at Mikey's with The Electro-Fires, the Blues Can jam next day, and the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne, Alberta (as seen on the TV show "Canadian Pickers" - Fred didn't sell them anything) from 3-6 on Sunday the 28th. Mikey's solo on August 30th closes out this delightfully busy month, and a new blog post will be up for September's gigs and some long-range news: one more western tour before year's end, at least one festival in Mexico in the coming winter, maybe a new cd, etc. I'll also be taking a limited number of students for this fall-spring, so if you're interested let me know !

Festival Time

Well, festival season is upon us...after Stampede (actually I leave just before the Calgary Stampede ends), where I play a few shows in the International Room of the Agriculture Building, and the debut gig of The Hackamores (the western swing band I've been rehearsing) at Mikey's Juke Joint on the 12th, I head out for the first leg of summer touring.

The Dream Cafe, Penticton BC July 16th
The Blue Loon Grill, Clearwater BC July 20-21
Islands Folk Music Festival, Duncan BC July 23-24
The Roxy, Gabriol Island, BC July 28
The Filberg Festival, Comoc BC July 29-30
House Concert, Campbell River BC July 30

Then home to play Mikey's Juke Joint August 2, a workshop on writing and arranging blues for acoustic guitar (for the Calgary Int'l Blues Fest) August 4, the Saturday jam at the Blues Can August 6th, and Parkland Summer Concerts in South Calgary August 7th. Mikey's again on the 9th, then fly to San Francisco on the 11th (my birthday) to play the Just Strings Festival in Geyserville, Napa County. Home the 15th, Mikey's on the 16th, and the Foothills Acoustic Music Institute (FAMI) music camp in Bragg Creek, Alberta the 19-21st. Mikey's on the next many Tuesdays (and Aug. 26th with The Electro-Fires), a private party on the 25th, and the Blues Can jam on the 27th. The autumn is filling up with dates mostly close to home, plus gigs in Dawson Creek, BC and Edmonton AB, also possibly Saskatoon SK and one more swing to Vancouver Island before the horrific weather sets in again. I've accepted a playing/teaching gig in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in Feb.-Mar. : come take a guitar lesson in paradise. All confirmed dates (and some tentatives) will be on the calendar at www.cayusemusic.com in the next few days. To my fellow nominees for CBC Saturday Night Blues' "Great Canadian Blues Award", condolences that we lost to Dan Ackroyd...Mama always said "If you can't say something nice...". Hasta luego, I'll write more and sooner !

Quick...Get The Ark

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)...