Great shows

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.

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...

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

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....

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

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!

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!