Our friend Frank Torres from DAWG FM just wrote to let us know that Blues Element / Are You Ready is one of the choices available to vote for in the House of Blues' contest to choose the Best of 2009. You have until Nov. 30 to vote, so don't delay!

http://www.thebluesmobile.com/contests/ecs6.php

There's a wee issue with zip codes apparently..
So here are instructions for entering for non U.S. residents:
http://www.thebluesmobile.com/bluesmobile/club.php

We are honoured to have been included and we'd love it if you entered the contest and voted for us in the process! You could even win some prizes!

And have a terrific day!

Blues Element recently performed in Brantford, Ontario as part of the Brantford International Jazz Festival.

The weather was amazing, the downtown location was perfect, and the people were incredibly receptive and enthusiastic... about live music and the festival in general, and about Blues Element in particular!

The best thing about the day was seeing Jamie's 90 year old Grandmother sitting in the front row!

Visit our photo albums for more great pictures taken Sept 19, 2009 by Jamie's Aunt Julie and Uncle Michael.

We have a video camera and 2 digital cameras at our disposal.
But do you think we remembered to bring ANY of them to our gig at Dominion on Queen Thursday night?

On July 23 Blues Element (Justin & Adam version) opened the show for Gary Farmer and his band the Troublemakers, who that night included Shakti Hayes on bass, Beaver Thomas on guitar, Bob Vespaziani on drums, and special guest Arthur Renwick on dobro.

Everyone looked, sounded, and was marvelous.

So where are the pictures of us! Where are the pictures of them! Where are the pictures of us with them!

Gary plans to be back in town again in March 2010, which is not as far away as it sounds... wow.. double digits are coming...
So we can try again then.

In the meantime please visit our friends:

www.myspace.com/garyfarmerandthetroublemakers
www.myspace.com/shaktihayes
www.myspace.com/bobvespaziani
www.myspace.com/arthurrenwick

Presenting... rough edits of 2 songs from Blues Element's recent Winter Garden performance.

Blues Element live at the Winter Garden Theatre, June 2009.
Footage by Mediaco.
Featuring L to R Adam Rawski (guitar), Russell Williams (guitar), Iain Green (drums), Jamie Browning (vocals), Jason Farrar (bass).



C'mon from the 2005 album "Baby's Got The Blues".
© SOCAN 2005 Browning/Green



Are You Ready from the 2008 album of the same name.
© SOCAN 2008 Browning/Green

Hey! I haven't blogged in awhile...
So, what's been happening? A few cool things...

Well, in March we were the House of Blues Blues Breakers feature.
Thank you Elwood Blues!



In April I found a great chart online at the Roots Music Report website. It was quite startling to see Blues Element at #4 for all Roots genres across Canada. Evidence of airplay we didn't even know we were receiving!



I also found this strange thing online - a guy in San Francisco twittered about us:
By http://twitter.com/baconhax
Blues of the Day: Blues Element - What If You're Not Home. Not too many songs written from the perspective of an escaped convict in love
10:51 AM May 26th from TwitterFon

And we had a great gig at Ten Feet Tall last weekend with both of our current brilliant guitarists, Adam Rawski and Russell Williams, with Jason Farrar on bass for this one. I wish we could play every show with both guitarists! Here they are thrilling us all with an instrumental:



We have some great shows coming up, including some as per above!

And we've been asked to contribute a song, "In The City", to the soundtrack of the upcoming feature "In Faith and Fear"

Okay, whew, I think we're all caught up for now.

And we hope everyone's happy, healthy and enjoying life!
Yes, it's been rather gray and dreary but I imagine summer will have to arrive eventually!

Blues Element is pleased to be a part of... 

The 3rd Annual BRENDA CAROL RENAISSANCE JAZZ FAIR JANUARY 30th – JANUARY 31st - FEBRUARY 1st  2009

At the Renaissance Café - 1938 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
Starting at 8:00 pm each night (Doors open at 7:00 pm)

Blues Element performs a one hour set Jan 31st at midnight.

Complete details including ticket prices and full line up at:
www.bcrjf.com

Or visit Brenda's MySpace page:
www.myspace.com/brendacarol 

Many thanks to the folks at CHMR and the Blind Lemon Blues Show for compiling The Blind Lemon Top Twenty Canadian Blues Albums of 2008!

We are thrilled to have been included and so we of course also want to thank everyone who voted!



Congratulations to all the bands.

Honorable Mentions:

Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir - Ten Thousand

Carlos Del Junco - Steady Movin'

Loco Zydeco - Time To Turn The Key

Wild T & The Spirit - Fender Bender



Top Twenty:




1. Lou DeAdder - Mister Eclectic
2. Jeff Healey - Mess of Blues
3. Treasa Levasseur - Low Fidelity
4. Niagara Rhythm Section - Live at the Anchorage 1.0
5. Julian Fauth - Ramblin' Son
6. Blues Element - Are You Ready
7. Layla Zoe - Live at Errington Hall
8. Niagara Rhythm Section - Live At the Anchorage 2.0
9. Porkbelly Futures - Porkbelly Futures
10. Bharath & His Rhythm Four - Friday Night Fatty
11. Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne - Can't Stop Now
12. Amos Garrett - Get Way Back
13. Paul Reddick - Sugar Bird
14. Harry Manx - Live at the Glenn Gould
15. Whiskey Howl - Whiskey Howl
16. Big Dave McLean - Acoustic Blues
17. JW-Jones - Blueslisted
18. Rita Chiarelli - Uptown Goes Downtown
19. Scott McCord - Blues For Sunshine
20. David Rotundo Band - Live at Roc 'N Doc's

Visit www.chmr.ca to listen live!

Here's our brand new mashup video, courtesy of our song + my brain on Google + your artwork & pictures.

Blues Element - What If You're Not Home

This is copied almost directly from our MySpace friend Layla Zoe's blog on the subject, because she says it all and she says it well, and why mess with a good thing.

We didn't even know about this, (including or our own eligibility) until we read her blog, (thanks Layla!) so if you decide to vote for us but are wavering on your honourable mentions please visit her MySpace page and have a listen if you aren't already fans of Layla! :)


Blind Lemon Top Twenty Canadian Blues Albums of 2008

It's That Time Of Year Again!

Voting for the Blind Lemon Top Twenty Canadian Blues Albums of 2008 will Start on December 1st, 2008. Here Are The Official Rules;

1 - Each E-mail Address can only Vote Once. Any votes beyond the first will be ignored.

2 - Votes can be sent to drcosmic@hotmail.com with "Blind Lemon Top 20 VOTE" in the subject line. If you do not use this in the Subject Like, the Spam FIlter could eat your e-mail and your vote will be lost!

3 - When you vote, select One Album as "Canadian Blues CD of the Year", Plus two "Honorable Mentions". You must include Artist Name, Album Title and Recording Label!
(i.e. Blues Element, Are You Ready, Self)

4 - Eligible albums are Any Blues or Roots recording, released between December 1st, 2006 and November 30, 2008, that was recorded and released by a Canadian Artist (Independent or Otherwise) that would qualify for Canadian Content Status as per the MAPL regulations.

5 - Voting closes at Midnight, Eastern Time, Tuesday, December 23, 2008.

The Blind Lemon Top Twenty Canadian Blues Albums of 2008 Special will Broadcast Live on the Web, on Monday, January 5th., 2008 @ 7:30 pm, Eastern Time. To Listen, just visit www.chmr.ca

The Blind Lemon Top Twenty Canadian Blues of 2008 is produced through the facilities of CHMR FM in St. Johns Newfoundland, and is open to all Canadian Residents.

Please show support for your favorite artists by Voting, and forwarding this e-mail on to anyone you think might be interested in voting!

Below, you will find a list of the eligible CDs.

Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir/Ten Thousand/Shoutin' Abner Pim
Andersen, Matt/Something In Between/Andersen
BelAirs/Live 85-95/Self
Belanger, Guy/Guy Belanger/BROS
Bharath & His Rhythm Four/Friday Night Fatty/Self
Blue Dice/Snake Eyes/Self
Blues Element/Are You Ready/Self
Bonneville, Ray/Goin' By Feel/Red House
Bowen, Dalannah Gail/Mamma's Got The Blues/Quest
Bradley/McGillivray Blues Band/Livin' This Way/Sense & Soul
Braithwaite & Whiteley/Sugar & Gold/Self
Braithwaite &Whiteley/Night Bird Blues/Electro-Fi
Browne, Michael Jerome/This Beautiful Mess/Borealis
Burnside, Steve/Story Teller of the Blues/Prospect
Canadian Aces/Live at Albert's Hall/Pacemaker
Carey, Pat/Jumpin' In Jersey/Self
Chiarelli, Rita/Uptown Goes Downtown/Mad Iris
Chilco, Zoe/One Woman Blues/Self
Cushnie, Scott/2 Pianos, No Waiting/Pacemaker
Daddy Long Legs/King for a Day/Fancy Footworks
Dawson, Steve/Waiting for the Lights/Black Hen
Dawson, Steve/Telescope/Black Hen
DeAdder, Lou/Mister Eclectic/
De Keyzer, Jack/Blues Thing/Blues Star
Del Junco, Carlos/Steady Movin'/NorthernBlues
Fauth, Julian/Ramblin' Son/Electro-Fi
Fenton, Paul & Peter Lazz/Rattlesnakin' DaddySelf
Frost, Lily/Lily Swings/Marquis
Garrett, Amos/Get Way Back/Stony Plain
Healey, Jeff/Mess of Blues/Stony Plain
Hudu Rising Blues Band/Hudu Rising/Self
Jake & The Fundamentals/Jake & The Fundamentals/Shakinsnake
Jardine, Geoff/Once Was A Big Man/RME
JW-Jones/Blueslisted/NorthernBlues
Lawrence, Marshall/(The Morning After)/ML
Levasseur, Treasa/Low Fidelity/Slim Chicken
Loco Zydeco/Time To Turn The Key/flamingcheese
Mainline/Canada, Our Home & Native Land/Pacemaker
Manx, Harry/Live at the Glenn Gould/Dog My Cat
Mason, Garrett/Love & Sound/Soul in Sound
McCord, Scott/Blues For Sunshine
McLean, Big Dav/ Acoustic Blues/Stony Plain
mg blues/Around Sonny Boy/XXI
Mr. Rick & The Biscuits/Whole Grain/ZLK
Myles, David/On The Line/Little Tiny
Niagara Rhythm Section/Live at the Anchorage 1.0/Shed
Niagara Rhythm Section/Live At the Anchorage 2.0/ Shed
Onukwulu, Ndidi/The Contradictor/Jericho Beach
Porkbelly Futures/Porkbelly Futures/Cordova Bay
Priscilla's Revenge/Roadworth/ PR
Priscilla's Revenge/Built For Speed/SWP
Reddick, Paul/Sugar Bird/NorthernBlues
Reid, Mike "Shrimp Daddy"/Blowin' Big Blues/Self
Rotundo, David Band/Live at Roc 'N Doc's/Stone Pillar
Roulette, Slidin' Clyde/Let's Take A Ride/SCR
Rowe, Steve/Five/Howlin' Blue
Shaftmen/Mining The Blues/Self
Sojourners/Hold On/Black Hen
Son of Dave/'03'/ Sparks
Swift, Thom/Into the Dirt/Festival
Walker, Matt/Low Down/MW
Wayne, Kenny "Blues Boss"/Can't Stop Now/Electro-Fi
Whiskey Howl/Whiskey Howl/Pacemaker
Wild T & The Spirit/Fender Bender/Jazzhaus
Zoe, Layla/Live at Errington Hall/Layla

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YFxgI-Ccdo

Recycled Art video mash-up courtesy of Google, you, and some spare time I had. Enjoy!