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
Friday, May 9, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Video Shoot and Summer Fun
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
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
Friday, April 4, 2008
Whitehorse
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Hawksley
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...
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...
Monday, March 24, 2008
Exclaim Cup
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!
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!
Monday, March 17, 2008
What a great tour!
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....
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....
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
BC Tour
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
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
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