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!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
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!
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!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
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!
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!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Big News!
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....
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....
Monday, June 16, 2008
Back from Hog-Town
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.
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.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Summer's a' comin!
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!
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!
Friday, May 9, 2008
General Update
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
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
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