James Murdoch Band

Reflection

2009-10-10T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back.
I've had a pretty busy summer, promoting the new album, "Wondering Where the Rush Has Gone". At the end of the summer, I felt pretty burned out and was feeling the wear of what felt like two and a half straight years of making and promoting records.
And in fact that was essentially the truth. I went in to the studio to record "In Transit" in July '07 and then released it in Nov '07. We promoted that for 8 months and then I began writing for the new record, hitting the studio on October '08, a year ago next week to be exact. We released the new CD in June and toured through the summer to promote it. And the fact is, I am proud of the hard work that was done and very proud of the albums themselves. But I have to admit that I had hoped my career would be in better shape than it is now. I've been hard at it for close to 8 years and don't feel that I've made as many advances as I wish I could have by now.
So I needed to take some time to reflect and decide what my priorities are. Which is what I've done this fall.
I've realized that I really haven't been enjoying music for some time now. That was a shocking realization. I needed to find a way to change that. I needed to start having fun playing music again. I may not have direct control over the success of my career but I do have control over doing what I enjoy.
Ironically, as soon as I came to the decision that I wanted to start enjoying music, I did start enjoying it and I've also had some great successes...
I'm off to perform an official showcase at the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals next month. It's a great opportunity for me to showcase my new songs in front of festival programmer from across Canada and the world.
I really believe the material on the new CD is ideal for the folk festival circuit, a world I've really been trying to break in to.
My hope is that next summer, I'll be playing each week at another folk festival...
Fingers crossed.

New CD out now!

2009-06-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

The new CD is available now through iTunes! I'm super excited.

Also, the new website is now launched. It's my first ground up build of a site and I plan on tweaking it as I learn more about the whole process...

This Friday, we'll be playing a CD release concert. We had an excellent dress rehearsal but I'm hoping that the saying "bad dress, good show", doesn't apply!

In other news, I've been busy producing the Wheat Pool's new album. We just finished tracking last week and now it's off to mix.

Looking forward to getting out on the road and playing the new stuff live.

Make sure you check out the website for dates near you!

Summer is a'coming!

2009-05-05T16:24:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost here!

That means that my CD will be out soon too and touring to follow! I'm pretty excited though at the moment, a little on the overwhelmed side.

The artwork is completed, the venues are booked and the tickets are printed...
And despite it all coming together so smoothly, I'm still convinced I've forgotten not just something, but a million things...

Here's some good news! We'll be releasing the new album on Shameless Records! They are the home of many great bands and close friends of mine including The Wheat Pool, Nick Perreault, Deon Blyan and F&M.

So look for a new website coming soon and make sure you download or pick up a copy on the new CD "Wondering Where the Rush Has Gone", on June 9th when it hits iTunes and stores across Canada! And enjoy this beautiful Spring. Maybe see you at a show!

Live on CBC

2009-03-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

Make sure you tune in to to Canada Live on CBC Radio 2 across the nation from 8pm-10pm on March 21st to hear a broadcast of James' concert at the Yukon Arts Centre, recorded April 2nd, 2008.

I'm pretty excited to hear it myself!

Things are coming along smoothly for the CD release. We are expecting a release date of June 9th, with a release tour to follow.

Be sure to join the mailing list. If you are a member you'll have the opportunity to download a track which won't be available on the new CD.

Click here to join.

The Pharmacist..

2009-02-23T04:53:00.000-08:00

I had no idea before today that there even was a 6 AM!

At any rate, I'm up and about to head out the door to go be in a movie! The scene is being shot at a local punk club. I'll be playing the role of the guitarist in a Goth band..?? Chris, the drummer in my band will be playing drums too.

The movie, entitled The Pharmacist is a movie being shot here in Edmonton and stars Clinton Carew. Clinton was the director for my video, Transportation and was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award for it.

I hear we'll have our choice of either Tim Horton's OR Starbucks coffee, on set! This is the big time folks!

New Album name....

2009-02-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

Been a little busy as of late.
Sorry for my lack of presence in the blogging department...
The band and I have been busy with photo shoots, mix approvals, touring arrangements and a the other cool things that the music biz entails...
After the original songs for the album were recorded, I wrote a few more songs that I felt were strongest I'd written in a while, so just when I though the record was done, we went back in to my studio and tracked 2 more songs.
John Whynot is now working away, mixing the record and I gotta say, so far, it sounds really awesome!
Dustin Delfs and his assistant Micheal of Laughing Dog Photography were extremely generous in donating an incredible photo shoot for the album artwork.
The photos are now off with Nick Perreault, who designed the award winning artwork of my last record, In Transitwhere he is putting together the new artwork.
Now.... The answer to the burning question.... What's the name of the record?
Drum roll....
"Wondering Where The Rush Has Gone".

2008-12-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

My friend Jon Nordstrom just popped by. Jonny has played bass with the band for almost 8 years now. He lives in Calgary now but was up to go to an Oilers' hockey game.
He dropped off a small Christmas gift; an edited video documenting the making of our doomed record, "Rise & Fall". It was a record that was never released, due to several reasons, primarily being that my record label wasn't crazy about it, which was too bad because the band and I were very proud of it...
At any rate, Jonny edited together an hour long documentation of the process, including our 3 day drive up to the Yukon, where the recording took place.
It re-invigorated my love of that record. I've actually re-recorded a couple of the songs which will be included on my upcoming CD, due in the spring. I'll try to post a few snippets of the video on my website in the next week or so.

Ouch!

2008-12-10T12:36:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, I played two games of hockey back to back... It was awesome!
I'm in two leagues that both hold their games at the same arena, so I was able to just stay in my gear and go right back out on the ice...
The first team we played were very chippy. Considering this is a "no-contact" league, they were bumping and generally playing on the dirtier side... I finally told one guy in particular, who we had nicknamed, Elbows, to lighten up a little... Well maybe I didn't say it that politely, but the next thing I know, I'm in the corner trying to dig out the puck and along comes Elbows and he gives me a good shot in the ribs... well, I went down and in the process, my stick went up. I received a high sticking penalty, while Elbows skates away, no call, looking like he was doing the Chicken Dance or something, his elbows still high and stuck out...
Well, that was in the 1st of my two games and I didn't really notice until the 1st break of the 2nd game that my ribs were still pretty sore.
Well it's 3 days later and they don't feel any better and having had broken ribs before, I can pretty much say that I have at least, cracked ribs at the moment...
Not sure if I'll be playing this weekend or not...

Snow day / Channeling ghosts...

2008-12-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

So the first snow of the year has finally arrived! I was sort of wary before it came, it was looming in the distance for too long! Despite the cold, it's kind of a relief that it finally arrived...
I really like cross-country skiing, I used to ski competitively when I was growing up in the Yukon. I'd go on tours of different race circuits and did quite well... I was 4th at the Canadian Junior Championships about a billion years ago!
At any rate, now that the snow has fallen, my brain is fairly preoccupied with getting out on the trails.
The album....
Well, it's coming along slowly but surely. I got my friend and the band's former keyboard player, Dave Aide to play Hammond organ on it in a very unconventional manner: Dave lives in Nashville now so I emailed him the songs I wanted him to play on, he recorded them in his apartment with his keyboard. He then sent me his tracks back and I ran them through a real Leslie speaker cabinet (a rotating speaker that gives an organ it's recognizable "warbling" sound), re-recording it into the computer...
It was funny to be listening to the organ through the Leslie, without Dave actually being there... It was almost like channeling a ghost or something.

Deets on the new record...

2008-11-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

Yikes!
Hard to believe it's been over a month since my last posting!
But when I think of all the things I've been up to, it's obvious why it's been so long...
Since October, I've been to Nashville, showcased and was nominated at the Western Canadian Music Awards AND... Recorded a brand new record!
The band and I just finished recording my 4th album. Unlike last record which took over 3 years to finally complete, this one has been recorded in less than a year since the last one (In Transit) was released.
For the first time, I am producing the record on my own. This is a very exciting endeavour for me. I get to make the record that I really want to make. I've been producing several records for other artists along with my studio partner, Chris Wynters for the last 3-4 years and felt that it was definitely time to try my own material.
We rented a space and brought in a bunch of gear from my studio. The idea was to capture the band in a very live state. I was really looking to limit the amount of overdubs and record the band the way we sound live at a show. The production was also very "dry" sounding and by that, I mean that the use of reverb and delay are limited, consequently the songs sound like they are being performed in your living room. The band lent their skills as well and were really able to shine. The feel of the record is slightly more mellow than previous recordings. There are also a few departures song-wise; there are two songs that we did that are very much story driven. By that I mean that the lyrics are very much a narrative. We recorded one song, "Canadian Summer", with just one microphone. We all sat in a circle around the mic and played it completely acoustically, in a very stripped down, rootsy feel.
At any rate, I'm excited for the record to be mixed and ready to be released for the spring of '09.

Ahhh, Nashville!

2008-10-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

So my trip here to Nashville is rapidly winding up.
I've been staying at the SOCAN Nashville House. It's a house that is graciously provided, free of charge to members of Socan, who successfully apply. This is an amazing tool to have at our disposal and my hat is off to both Socan and the house hosts, Lee Ann and Darrell Burgess.
This is a truly amazing town. Music is everywhere.
And if ever there were a great example of how lucrative a business the arts/music can be, it's here. And by no means does it mean that money usurps creativity. In fact if anything, they go hand in hand.
You can't help but feel inspired by the history of the place. The Ryman Auditorium (original home of the Grand Ol' Opry) is a beautiful old building. Brown's Diner is the great, seedy, greasy spoon where all the great writers through the town's history drank and commiserated.
There are plaques everywhere, each one explaining some historical event or another that took place in that spot.
I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with a friend who lives down here, Mike Plume.
Mike was just finishing up the polishing touches on his new record the first day I was in town and he was good enough to let me hang in the studio with he and his producer. I was even able to contribute a small, line change for Mike's tune "8:30 Newfoundland", a song you will all be hearing soon, as I'm sure it will be a hit.
The producer Mike was working with was a walking storybook. Brent Maher has worked with Elvis and Carl Perkins and pretty much every other successful musician Nashville has ever produced...
I managed to finish off 4 new songs and may still complete one more before I head home tomorrow.
We'll be starting to pre-produce the songs with the band as soon as I get home and we'll hit the studio shortly thereafter.

Great shows

2008-09-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

Just got home after seeing two fantastic shows:
Andrea House and then Smashula. Complete dichotomies. But both excellent.
Unfortunately being able to see both meant leaving Andrea's early, which broke my heart because it was so beautiful.
Andrea and Smashula were both releasing their CDs. I strongly suggest you check them out.
I have a big show tomorrow with the band at the Haven Social Club. We're going to be recording the show for eventual release...
I have two shows on Saturday for the Arts on the Ave/Kalideo Festival and then on Sunday, I'm flying to Nashville to do some writing.
I'll be sure to keep you all posted...
J.M.

2008-09-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

So if you count the Caribbean as a separate ocean (sea), then I have visited 3 in as many weeks...
First the Pacific for the Edge of the World Music Festival, then the Atlantic for my East Coast tour, which I'll get into later and now... The Caribbean where I am currently hanging out, pen and paper in hand working on tunes for the new record. Don't expect any steel drums...
Great cigars and the rum flows like water. Trust me, you get more hydrated from a bottle of rum here than you do from the tap water...
My east coast tour was a great success. Nick and I managed to finally be in Fredericton and actually have a gig, instead of a dead car. All the shows were excellent but what stood out were the people. Be that the family that let us crash at their house after our gig in Annapolis Royal or the great folks at the Union Street Cafe in Berwick who took us to a fantastic gathering/kitchen party after our set.
I managed to get a few songs written and recorded a demo of one.
Next week, when I get back, I'll start getting together with the band to run new material for our show at the Haven Social Club and for the new record.
Gotta go, time for a swim!

In Halifax, it rains and then stops. And then rains again...

2008-08-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Sitting on the patio of the Economy Shoe Shop, a regular musician/artist haunt here in Halifax.
I arrived this morning at 6:30am, local time. 3:30am, my time.
I've arrived earlier and my touring partner, Nick Perreault is arriving on a 5pm flight...
Needless to say, I have about 10 or so hours to kill in Halifax.
I was in no hurry and next to no sleep to go on so, upon my arrival at Halifax Intl. I found a bench and slept for an hour or so, at which point I was a little more with it and rented a car.
The fog was so thick when we landed, that half the plane gave out a bit of a yelp when we landed, thinking we were still up in the clouds... I was not among the yelpers but don't blame them, as it was a bit of a shock.
So I rented a car and drove in to downtown. As soon as I hit the city limits, it just began pissing rain. I figured I was going to be held up in some cafe for the duration of my layover. But it let up, just as I parked the car and I was able to get out and go for a bit of an exploration. As luck would have it, I parked right beside the Alexander Keith's Brewery building which also is the home of the local farmer's/artisan market.
Truly an amazing spectacle. The building was packed with shoppers feasting on the plethora of incredible products and edibles. It dwarfed the Edmonton Farmer's Market in comparison.
I settled on a breakfast wrap, which was sauteed up, right in front of me with my choice of veggies and meats. Best $5 I've ever spent on a breakfast wrap.
At this point, all the excitement had taken whatever reserves my 1 hour airport nap had provided and it was time to go back to sleep. Besides, the rain had started up again so I drove up to the Halifax Citadel, the 200+ year old fortress in central Halifax.
I parked the car and slept for another 2 hours. I awoke inspired and began jotting down lyrics for my next #1 hit...
Keep your ears peeled when the next album comes out, you may just hear a few Halifax references in a tune which, at the moment is called, "Canadian Summers".
Time to go get Nick and make the 2 hour drive to our first gig...

Driving and more driving

2008-08-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

Just returned from the beautiful Queen Charlotte Islands.
Dave and I were playing the Edge of the World Festival.
We drove 1500 kms to Prince Rupert, got on a 6 hour ferry and arrived on the pristine island where we were greeted by our excellent billet hosts, Pat and Lucy.
We had a bit of a scare on our drive to Prince Rupert when we caught a rock in the windshield. Now this is a fairly common occurrence except that this chip made such a huge bang when it hit, I had ringing in my ears... The result was a massive spiderweb smash in the middle of my window. So hard that you can feel the crack on the inside of the window...
We were treated to local hospitality. This included a small army of a dozen or so people searching the island for diesel when we went exploring the island on an empty tank...
There were plenty of gas stations, just none with diesel. Oh, except the one that was closed...
We played a short set on Sunday to an appreciative crowd. Couldn't help but think that we would have gone over better at this particular festival if we were playing with the full band. Here's hoping we get the chance to do that next year!
The drive home was extreme to say the least. We got on the ferry at 9am, arrived in Prince Rupert at 6pm and drove straight home through the night arriving in Edmonton this morning at 10am. Now I'm off to play at the Druid open stage tonight...
Then bed.

Craziness....

2008-08-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Phew....
This summer seems to be flying by!
I've been zigging and zagging across the country with no end in sight.
The day that we flew out to Toronto to play with Spirit of the West at the Horseshoe, we found out that the new record, In Transit, was nominated for THREE Western Canadian Music Awards; Outstanding Pop Album, Album design and Video of the Year for Transportation!
In case you're wondering where you can find the video, we haven't released it yet but it will be coming soon so keep an eye out for it on YouTube.
This year's WCMA's will be held in my adopted home town of Edmonton from Oct 16 to 19. Congrats to all the other nominees.
Check the website or click here for pictures of the craziness at the Horseshoe.
If you're on the East coast, mark you calendar for the last half of August as I will be out there on tour for a handful of shows.
Thanks for tuning in!

Trailers, Planes and Automobiles

2008-07-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

Just returned from the Whatshan Lake Music Festival where we payed three nights.
It was a beautiful area. One of the few parts of Canada I have not been to; the Nakusp/Nelson area in S.E. British Columbia.
To get there, we drove to Calgary and then took the Trans-Canada to Revelstoke where we got on the beautiful-but-more-driveway-than-highway #23.
We had to get on two separate ferries both of them crossing the massive, Columbia Lake/River.
Needless to say it was remote and with no cell coverage... well... remote...
But we were emersed in great music and sunshine. We were able to get out on the lake and do a little fishing. Dave, out keyboard player had never caught a fish so it was doubly sweet when he caught two (we threw them both back).
It was a pleasure hanging out with the members of the Salmon Armenians who were also playing the festival.
We rented a little camping trailer to stay in while we were at the festival and that made the trip a whole lot more comfortable. Although traveling at under 80kms/hr on the up hills of the highway, pulling a trailer made the going pretty slow.
The day after we arrived back home, I had the pleasure of playing a show with Ken Tizzard. The former Watchmen and Thornley bass player has just released his second solo cd "Lost in Awe". It was produced by John Whynot. John and I worked together on a few recordings in several capacities.
The show itself was a small but very appreciative crowd and we were satisfied that it was a success.
August is bringing more traveling. A lot more.
First I will be flying with the band out to Toronto for one night playing at the Horseshoe, opening for Spirit of the West.
Join the mailing list and you can qualify to win a pair of tickets to that show.
As soon as we return from that, Dave and I are off the the Queen Charlotte Islands in B.C. to play the Edge of the World Festival.
And as if that weren't enough, I then will be traveling to the East Coast to play a handful of dates out there with my friend Nick Perreault.
Hope to see you all out there on the trail!

2008-07-04T17:08:00.000-07:00

What a great couple of days!
We arrived in Banff to 31 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.
The Spirit of The West guys were just finishing up their sound check when we arrived and were introduced. What a great group of people!
Air Canada lost their bass on the way into Calgary so they kindly asked our bassist, Darcy if they could borrow his bass. Darcy naturally said yes and was honoured to see his bass up there on stage with such a great band!
The audience was packed in to the beautiful outdoor amphetheatre and were a real pleasure to play for.
Congratulations to Natalie Hamilton from Edmonton who won the tickets to the concert through the contest we held through our mailing list. If your name isn't on it yet, make sure you join! You could be the next winner! But you have to join the mailing list in order to win!!!! Click here to join the mailing list.
A day later we found ourselves again playing outside and we were lucky enough to be able to play the patio series at Sherwood Park's Festival Place.
It was a sold out crowd and a pleasure to play for. Opening the night was Andrea House nad her band who wowed the crowd and certainly forced us to be on our "A" game!

2008-06-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to the show tomorrow.
The weather is supposed to be excellent and considering its going to bo an outdoor concert... Even better!
I just played bass for a couple shows with my friendNick Perreault. I love playing bass and don't get enough opportunities to play it. I actually played bass before I played guitar.
We are off to Banff tomorrow morning. We have to leave fairly early in order to make it in time for our soundcheck. We'll be opening for Spirit of the West.
We're all pretty happy about the gig. Nathan is still awaiting the arrival of his second child, due any minute now so in his place will be our former guitarist, Peter Belec.
Peter is a great player and we're looking forward to playing another show with him.
Congrats to Natalie Hamilton who won our contest for a pair of tickets to the concert.
Natalie has lived in Alberta for almost 10 years and has never been to the mountains plus she proved that she was in-fact a pretty excellent and die-hard fan.
Best of luck to all of you on the next contest!

Big News!

2008-06-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Just finished playing the opening show at this year's Works Festival. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day. The sun was shining and many fine folks came out over their lunch hour to check out our set.
After the set Chris, (drums) and I headed over to the remote location that CKUA had set up where we played a couple songs acoustically and had a great interview with Monica Miller on her show "How I Hear It".
As soon as the interview was complete, I received a text from my manager, Karen, confirming a gig we've been working on; Opening for SPIRIT OF THE WEST!!!!!
If you can't tell, I'm pretty excited.
We'll be playing Sunday, June 29th at the Banff Centre for the Arts, in Banff, Alberta.
Keep a close watch on the tour dates section of the website as we may have a few more surprises up our sleeves....

Back from Hog-Town

2008-06-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you who made our trip to Ontario and NxNE such a great time.
In total we played 9 shows in 10 days. Some solo, some full band.
Highlights were certainly the Six Shooter NxNE party, where we saw Hawksley Workman and Hey Rosetta! perform and the Joao Carvallho Mastering party where we played a few songs.
Overall, we left NxNE feeling inspired that the industry, despite all the doom and gloom stories, is actually seeing a real surge of support in new forms.
The Six Shooter folks are showing that great music is being made in this country and can be successful in the new business model.
The shows themselves were all quite good and we want to say thanks to all of you who come out.
This was our first tour with Dave Sheppard on piano. Dave did a great job and will be playing with us throughout the summer.
We're working on getting back to Ontario on early August for a few shows, more news on that in coming weeks.
We will be hitting the East Coast however in mid-August following a stop off at the other side of the country at the Edge of the World Festival on Queen Charlotte Island B.C.

Summer's a' comin!

2008-06-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well the sun is shining today and it finally feels like summer has descended upon us!
I likely won't be found without my flip-flops until September.
I feel like once summer hits, even on colder days I need to wear the flip-flops as a kind of sign of solidarity or support. (The only real exception is gigs - kind of a workplace hazard when I'm stomping around on stage).
Speaking of stomping - I'll be heading out to play in Ontario and hang around some of my favorite stomping grounds.
I will however be hitting some places new to me too. Guelph and Kitchener are on the list.
I haven't played in Ontario since I recorded the record, last June. So it's a long overdue trip!
Aside from recording the record in Ontario, I also co-wrote two of the songs on the album with a couple of Toronto-ites. "Good Night", with Andrew Cash and "Transportation", with Jeen o'Brien. Both artists are fantastic performers in their own right.
I encourage you to check out the TOUR DATES section of my website for details regarding the shows but the big one is our North by Northeast showcase at the Savannah Room on June 12th at midnight.
We had the official video premiere a couple weeks ago at a great little venue called the Haven Social Club, in Edmonton. The video was a huge success and we followed it up with what I felt was a great set, to a sold out crowd. Tonnes o' fun!
Well that's it for now.
Keep an eye out for shows as I will be traveling from Queen Charlotte Islands in B.C. all the way the Newfoundland and will likely be playing a town near you!
In the meantime, show that when it comes to summer, you mean business, and put on your flip-flops!

General Update

2008-05-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

Been a while since my last posting.
Been spending a bit of time with my buddies at Yellow Pencil, making the internet.
Those guys are a great bunch and a wealth of knowledge in the online and web department.
They also happen to be the sponsor of Edmonton's second most excellent, hockey team, The Yellow Pencils, on which I am a winger.
Hey, The video is pretty much done! It looks great and I want to send my gratitude out to the director Clinton Carew for doing such a killer job! Also, another thank you to all you extras who gave up your afternoon to be in a music video. You Rock!!!
It should be available online in the next week or so.
If you live in Edmonton, you can also come to the premiere/live performance on May 22nd at the haven Social Club.
The Ontario tour is coming together (though most of it will be in Toronto).
We have been accepted in to NxNE music conference and will be performing there June 12th at the Savannah Room at Midnight! Hope you can make it!
James

Video Shoot and Summer Fun

2008-04-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you who came out to the video shoot last weekend.
I was great to see all of you! In total we had over 60 people show up!
We couldn't have done it without you.
I apologize to all you young fans (and their parents) that I was so short sighted as to book an after party at an all ages venue... (I'm a tad inexperienced on that front) but we will make it up to you in the near future.
So those of you who were there experienced a lot of waiting... All I can say is, that's show business! Lot's of hurry up and wait. But I do applaud and appreciate your patience.
Now, on to other news...
We are in the midst of planning the summer and we are happy to say that at this point, it looks like we will be playing a lot and, better yet, in most areas of the country.
So keep an eye on the website and make sure you make it out to a show near you!
Cheers, James

Whitehorse

2008-04-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Last night, my flight from Whitehorse got in at 7:19pm. I was supposed to be running the sound at The Crown Pub at 8:00pm. The Edmonton Airport is 50kms out of the city.
Somehow, with the excellent driving of Chris' dad, we made it there only 4 min. late.
That was the pace of the previous 3 days during our trip to Whitehorse, Yukon.
I arrived in Whitehorse a day before the rest of the band in order to do some radio/tv and also to catch up with my Grandparents, who at 88, still live up there on their own.
I got off the plane and had an hour to have lunch with them before I was off to do a couple radio interviews and an in store performance.
The first radio interview was taped and was going to air the next morning at 7:00am. I chose to tape so that I didn't have to get up that early.
Ironically enough, the next morning, I received a phone call at 7:15 am from a newspaper photographer who wanted to get a few shots. He had heard my interview and assumed I was up and about... No harm done, I suppose. I was able to get up and have a bit more visit time with my grandparents.
The show was a great experience all around. The crew were very professional, the venue was beautiful and the event was very well planned.
The best part was the show itself though. What a great audience. Enthusiastic and polite.
CBC was on hand to record the concert. They will be airing it, nationally at a later date. I'll be sure to post that info as it comes in.
At any rate, despite the hectic pace, we had an excellent time in the Yukon.
Thanks to everyone who showed up and made it such a success.

Hawksley

2008-03-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

We went to see Hawksley Workman last night at the Winspear.
Last summer he and I had convened at his studio on his ranch, north of Toronto to record my new CD. Since then, I've maybe spoken to the guy once. To his credit, he's been extremely busy with a new record of his own.
At any rate, last night was one for the "top 10" list. What a great show from start to finish. The show started off with Hawksley perched on a child's drum kit and his piano player "Mr. Lonely", on a "Linus & Lucy" style, tiny grand piano.
The show took off from there and included a true acoustic performance, when all of the band lined up across the front of the stage, with no amplification and did 2 amazing songs.
After the show we went back to say hi and i was greeted with a bear hug and Hawksley's infamous, infectious smile from ear to ear, which I left wearing on my own face.
Thursday, we'll be playing in Saskatoon, the same day he will be. I suspect there will be some level of shenanigans...

Exclaim Cup

2008-03-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

So close!
It was within our grasp.
This last weekend, I was out in Toronto with a handful of friends including the boys from The Wheat Pool and Paul Bellows
as we banded together to form the Wheat Pool Wailers; a rag-tag group of musicians-turned-hockey players.
As some of you may know, my team, The Yellow Pencils are 0 and 20 this year... A perfect season. So you can imagine the shock that was felt amongst us who were there playing for the Wailers when we actually won a game. Shock and awe...
It felt even better to score a couple goals and get a 1st star of the game vote too!
I have to admit, the first goal was a spectacular feat of athleticism on my part when the puck was fired in by one of our defensemen, bounced off my ass and went top shelf, into the net! They gave me the first star for that, you ask?!!?? I'll tell you right now, I had to be in the exact right spot, with the exact right, ass-angle for that shot to have gone in. No one else's ass would have done the job.
At any rate, I guess we decided that winning was fun because we ended up playing in the finals against Dave Bidini, of the Reostatics and his team.
Apparently, they wanted it more than us because we lost 5-2. It must have been at least partially the fact that we were all doubting the reality of the situation.
It was fun!

What a great tour!

2008-03-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you who made it out to our shows in Victoria, Vancouver and Kelowna and helped us to have such a successful tour.
We arrived in Victoria on Wednesday and managed to cram Dave, Nathan and I and all our gear into a sub-compact, hatchback. Naturally, the car we had reserved was not there...
At any rate, we made it into Victoria and were treated to breakfast at our new buddy, Ian Farish's place. Great hash browns Ian!
We headed over to our first of 2 shows that day; St. Michael's University School, or SMUS for short. What a kick-ass gig! The students were awesome to play for and were really positive.
Our second show was Ian's CD release. Great turn out and the audience was treated to an excellent show from both bands.
The next day, we squeezed into the car and took the ferry over to Vancouver.
There, we met up with Darcy (our new, bass player-extraorinaire) and Chuckles (drummy drummerson). That night was a real treat, meeting up with a tonne of former Yukoners including a couple members of the Pepper Sands, with whom we shared the stage. Vancouver-ite, Winston opened up the show, solo. All the bands had a great turn out and left feeling that we had seen a great show.
The next night in Vancouver at The Main, we played on the world's smallest stage. 5 of us crammed on to a 6' x 4' platform. Some how Nathan managed to have all the room at the centre while we were pushed to the edges... At any rate, it was a unique evening in that Chuckles played standing up with just brushes on a snare and Ride cymbal. It was a great vibe and I think fans will see that format again in the future.
At any rate, this is starting to ramble so...
Kelowna was a jam-packed show with tonnes of great fans. We made it hope in one piece and now I'm trying to recover....

BC Tour

2008-03-04T17:47:00.001-08:00

Looking forward to getting out on the road again.
Next week we'll be playing 5 dates in BC. We'll be meeting up with some new and some old friends to share the stage with.
In Victoria, we'll be playing with a guy I just recently met named Ian Farish. It's his CD release concert and he was good enough to have us open his big night. Ian recently played a great show here in Edmonton at The Crown Pub.
The next couple nights have us in Vancouver, which is always a good, laid back time.
We'll be playing with a couple bands. Both of which I am a big fan of. The Peppersands is made up of a 4 great folks, two of whom are from Whitehorse, where I'm originally from. They're always a blast and I expect to get pretty drunk.
Winston is a great guy/band I've played a handful of shows with and as it turns out, he's actually on the same label as I am.
Winston will also be joining us at our Kelowna show. I'm pretty excited about the Kelowna show. We've been getting some really good radio and press there and I'm expecting a good turn out.
At any rate, if you're reading this and you live in one of the cities I mentioned, come on out to a show. And if you don't live in the area, tell a friend who does...
For more details, check out the website:
www.jamesmurdochband.com

I'm a Star!!....Well...Kinda...

2008-02-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

I answered my door today to find a UPS delivery guy standing there with a very heavy box.
He asked me what the hell I was receiving that was so heavy. I told him, once I examined the shipping label that they were CDs.
He says,"You're THAT James Murdoch!!??". I was a little surprised but sure enough, he knew who I was. He bought a CD right then and there.
Now, if only the J.W.'s were so savvy!...

Last Sunday At Mark's

2008-02-20T21:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all who made it down to the Crown Pub aka: Mark's Place, on Sunday night.
We packed the place for a great concert with Nick Perreault w/ Krispian Schmidt-Paborn and from Victoria, The Ian Farish Band.
Crown Pub is always a great hang out. Watch for more shows coming soon.
Ian Farish has been gracious enough to set up a couple gigs for me and the trio in Victoria in March. We'll be playing an afternoon show at the auditorium at St. Michael's University School and then, later that evening, opening for Ian at his CD release at Hermann's. Looking forward to it!
Check out the website for more details

New Dates!

2008-02-15T15:11:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty excited about all the dates that are coming up. They seem to be flooding in.
We're going to be hitting B.C, Alberta and Saskatchewan in March.
April brings us up to the Yukon! I haven't played up there in at least 4 years!
This summer we will be playing festivals and hitting Eastern Canada!
Continue to check the Tour Dates link on my website for constantly updated info.
www.jamesmurdochband.com
Thanks, J.M.

Thawing Out

2008-02-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

I have many pet-peeves. One of them is the misuse and mispronunciation of words or just simply, making words up all together. Amongst these, I would include: "dethaw", "expresso" (that one really pisses me off) and the inability of people to distinguish between "they're", "their" and "there".
Yesterday, I was watching Deal or No Deal. The woman on the show insisted on calling the cases, "cages". She went on to turn down $540,000 and won close to nothing. Definitely among the world's chosen few...
But, speaking of the former, "dethaw", we have finally hit a thaw here in Edmonton and holy crap, am I glad of it.
My car has started a total of 3 times this month and close to the same last month. It's a diesel, so it doesn't like the cold but usually if I plug it in it's fine. So I plugged it in. Still, no-worky. I finally noticed that one of the wires on the block heater was cracked. So in minus 43 with a wind chill that was more like a balmy day on Pluto, I replaced the plug. The car started an hour later and the next day it was minus 3...
Just finished mixing David Aide's new CD. For those of you who don't know, David is the piano/organ player in the band.
The record was a long time coming. We started tracking over a year ago... It sounds great though. I'm sure it will be ready for the masses in the next couple months.
The studio has actually been pretty busy. This month we plan on finishing the "Songs From The Ave." record.
I have a song on it called "Letters From Home". It turned out pretty cool. Very mellow.
It actually got me thinking about all the songs I have recorded but have never released.
Maybe I'll try to make them available on itunes or my website. Let me know if you're interested.

Radio and Video

2008-01-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

Hi all.
To those of you wondering when they are going to start hearing tracks from the album on radio or see a video, this is what I can tell you;
The first single, "Give Me Your Love", was serviced to radio stations last week, nation wide.
Now, if we're lucky, stations will pick it up and start playing it immediately. Now the other option is that they will "feature" it. If you hear it, I strongly suggest that you call or email your station and tell them how much you love it!!!!
Even if you don't hear it, may I suggest that you request it anyways?
As for the video, if you've been keeping up with the blog entries, you'll know that we are awaiting an edit of the video that we can all be happy with. I won't be surprised if that's this week sometime and we start to see the video on our TV sets by next week...

Hockey

2008-01-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

I've joined a rec. hockey league. This is the first time I've been involved in organized sport since I was about 9 or 10. Needless to say, when I first started this year, I could hardly stand up. That was before I put my skates on...
Now, I'm out on the community rinks twice a week in addition to my Sunday rec league games.
I'm obsessed. I've always loved watching hockey, but now, all I want to do is play. That is, until I fall on my face or knee or elbow or.....
But I did score my first goal last Sunday. And it was a beauty too. Backhanded, caught my own rebound and backhanded it in. The best part was that I actually meant to do what I did!
So now I've signed up with a team to play at the Exclaim Cup.
The Exclaim Cup is held annually in Toronto and features teams from Canada's music, media and hipster elite.
Naturally I had to be involved.
Apparently it's a lot of fun and I have to say it'll be pretty cool to be playing against the likes of Jim Cuddy and Sam Roberts. Maybe I'll ask if I can open for them, as I'm stripping them of the puck and their dignity...

Winter - Thunder Jowls

2008-01-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

Things have been strange lately.
I am known as a complainer, I'll admit. But this winter has just about done me in.
I'm trying to decide whether this particular winter is actually worse than the previous ones, or if its simply my state of mind thats making me notice the cold and dark more acutely.
I know for certain that one of the catalysts for my disdain would be the shooting of th e video for Gimme Your Love. We shot it in the middle of a freak winter blizzard. I feel like I haven't really been able to thaw my bones from that one.
Is it true that if you get really cold or frostbite, then you are more susceptible to it? If so, I've answered my own question.
Speaking of the video, I've received a couple of edits of it to proof over.
Let's just start off by saying that I am not an actor. I can barely hold it together during a Christmas, family portrait.
So needless to say, when the camera is rolling and I'm supposed to sing "Give me your love" to a lovely waitress, I am smiling like an idiot.
Any shot in the edits of this video where I am required to do anything but play guitar and sing are truly painful to watch. It looks like one of those subliminal toothpaste commercials where everyone in the world, regardless of what they're doing, be that playing tennis or shopping for fruit, naturally has a huge grin from ear to ear, exposing their white smile. It's kinda like that except I look even more ridiculous.
Now, if that weren't enough, those of you who know me can say that I'm a pretty skinny guy.
Lean, slim, whatever. Well, somehow I manage to have taken the 10 pounds that the camera adds and placed it all on my neck. Ten pounds, just jiggling around.
So between the infinite smiling and the thunder jowls, my video resembles what you'd see if you gave a fat kid a bulk-o-rama bag of M&M's and told him there was more when he wanted it. As long as he sang, "Give me your love".
Let's hope they can fix it with the third edit huh?

CBC - Key of A

2008-01-03T16:05:00.000-08:00

Hey Alberta!
Tune in to CBC Radio 1 this Saturday at 5pm to hear my interview on The Key of A.
I promise there will be no nudity! But you wouldn't know either way would you???

Too Much Blah, Not Enough Blog.

2007-12-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

Been shooting videos and cats... OK, well not the latter. Though sometimes....
Trust everyone had an enjoyable, non-denominational specific, alloted time.
Let's start up where I left off.
I arrived in Edmonton after an exhausting over night trip from Vancouver Island. I wanted to give a better update when I arrived but I was just too blah and not enough blog.
So I'm in a rec. hockey league. I play on the "Yellow Pencils". We're winless in 13 games. We play on Sundays but I've missed the last 6 weeks due to being away on the road. Now we are breaking for the holidays so it will be 9 weeks without playing a game.
So when we started to play shinny a couple weeks ago, I was mighty happy.
The beginning of the month, I was sent out to Montreal to shoot the video for, "Give Me Your Love".
Winter travel always has a certain "Je ne sais SUCK" to it.
In this particular endeavour, I was to fly out on Friday, shoot over the weekend and fly home Monday morning. Now I must say, it did actually happen that way, but the in between part was not expected.
We got DUMPED on. Described as the worst storm in 60 years, the whole Eastern part of Canada and the Eastern Seaboard in the U.S. was slammed hard. We're talking Foot upon Foot of snow in a matter of hours.
Naturally, the video was scheduled to be shot outside.
Needless to say, it was cold. Like, " I grew up in the Yukon and this is freezing!" kind of cold.
The outdoor scenes were naturally where I was playing guitar, a physical act that requires the player is NOT wearing gloves. My hands swelled up and turned a colour somewhere between Maple Leaf Red and Fleur de Lis Blue.
But the crew was great and we got through it with minimal amputations.
The video also required scenes where I drank. The first shot was where I sauntered up to the bar, ordered a shot, slammed it and left. After the first 5 shots in 2 minutes, my saunter turned into more of a stagger and we soon substituted whiskey with watered down cola. But it was too late. I was quite drunk for the whole shoot. The other shots involved slamming beers and we all know that there is no good substitute for beer...
Look for the video in early in January.
We'll have some new concert dates to announce soon too.
I'd like to congratulate my dear friend Jonny and his wife Elly on the birth of their baby girl, Molly.

Home

2007-12-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

Back home now after a very successful tour. We played a handful of dates in B.C. and after a 16 hour trip, we made it home ths afternoon after we drove home last night after our final date of the tour in Duncan.
Thanks to everyone who made it out to the shows!
For those of you in Kelowna, Sun FM is playing the single: "Give Me Your Love". Please click on the link to request it:
http://www.kelowna.thesun.net/shows/requests

Drunk drivers and other idiots

2007-12-06T18:34:00.001-08:00

So, as per my last entry, touring in Canada often requires long drives. In the case of our current gig, it was a two day drive. Last night we were about 45 Km. outside of Canmore when we nearly rear ended some jack-ass who was stopped dead, straddling the two lanes, passed out with his head on the steering wheel.
We managed to miss him and pulled over to the side of the road and Dave and Nathan went to investigate while I called 911. Sure enough this guy was completely obliterated, drunk.
Meanwhile a semi, nearly slammed into the back of this guy, missing him by inches.
They managed to get him to pull over and some mysterious person who claimed to be the guy's sister showed up. The cops assured me they were coming so we left him to his destiny.
Today we followed some other idiot who swerved back and forth with a utility trailer in tow. Suddenly, smoke started pouring out of this guys trailer tires and he proceeded to blow out two tires. The shocking part came when, despite my attempts to get his attention by honking and flashing my lights, he still continued to drive, ON RIMS, for at least 20 more Km. finally we came across a place where we could pass the guy and flagged him over. He gave us a knowing nod as though, "I know, I know".
What a Jack-ass.
We're resting at the hotel getting ready for our two sets tonight at The Minstrel Cafe. Sound check went well and I suspect it will be a good gig.

Winter touring in Canada

2007-12-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

Ah, the joys of touring in Canada, in winter.
Most countries, touring involves at most, a two hour drive between shows. So one can rise whenever they are so inlined, get in a vehicle (which doesn't necessarily need to be road worthy due to the shortness of the trip) arrive at their venue, soundcheck and still have time for a meal before they take to the stage.
This is NOT the case in Canada. With the exception of Southern Ontario, most of Canada's major towns of 50,000 or more are separated by at least 6 hours. Now, when you factor in the fact that you are 5-6 people traveling in a van, with various needs for bathroom breaks or junk food or simply the fact that the mysterious van "odour" is just too much, a 6 hour drive can easily stretch to become 8 hours. We, in the James Murdoch Band, lovingly refer to this wasted time as "Clown Time".
Now, in order to make your 4pm soundcheck, you need to leave at 8 am. Now assuming that your vehicle didn't break down, you woke up on time and you went the right way, 8 hours later and $200 in gas later, you arrive at your destination.
Now you get to wait for 2 hours before the sound guy arrives because "the bands never arrive on time". After an hour long soundcheck you are free to check in to the one hotel room, to be shared by the 5 of you. But don't take more than 40 min. because you need to get back to the club for your gig. Now you play your set, get off the stage and hopefully there are fans there to socialize with. You don't want to snub anyone and go back to the shared accommodations too early as you might offend or bore them and they might not show up to the gig the next time you play there.
So, you'll probably get to bed around 2am, with a few too many drinks in your belly only to wake up 5 hours later, hungover, off to do it all again. Only this time, it's Thunder Bay and its a 12 hour drive... And there's a snow storm....Awesome.

My dog's paws

2007-12-04T09:49:00.000-08:00

Eva, my Yellow Lab is 96 pounds. Her paws are enormous. Freakish. Definitely not in proportion to her body. This is something to be expected from a young puppy, but she is almost two now. Whenever I return from the road, she sits at my feet and stares at me for days on end.
I returned last night from a quick stint down to Lethbridge, where I was performing at the local Chapters. I was invited to stop by CBC in Calgary for an interview with Katherine Duncan for the program "Key of A". The interview will air across Alberta on Saturday, Jan. 5th at 5pm.
I've been in the studio for the past two weeks working on a couple different projects; finishing up Dave Aide's new record which is essentially ready to mix now and secondly, starting the much anticipated "Songs From the Ave" record. This project involves 12 artists from the Alberta Ave/Norwood, neighbourhoods. The project asks the artists to write and record a song about the Ave. Writers include: Chris Wynters, Captain Tractor, Joe Bird, Paul Bellows, Corb Lund and of course, yours truly, James Murdoch.
O.K. that's all for now.

New Blog

2007-12-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

Hi Kids!
Here is my new blog.
I'll be posting my thoughts for the world to now see.
I don't have many thoughts at the moment. But I will....