Sorry to be so derelict with the blogging, not really my strong point.  Over the last seven or eight months I was working towards the making of a full length record which has now just about wrapped up.  In the summer I returned to Edmonton to hustle some painting work and rebuild the cushion upon which I do music for most of the rest of the year.  I did get to play a few shows out west, doing some solo gigs and bringing the band along for a bunch of opening slots for Bedouin Soundclash.  It was during that time that we made the videos posted here.  The band assembled was Mike Shand (TO), Joseph Lubinsky-Mast (Vancouver), Donovan Rambaran (E-town), Maxwell Roach (TO) and Michael Rault (E-town).  We had a serious time and the shows went really well. This mini tour also served as a warmup for the recording sessions that we just finished with.   At the beginning of October, Michael Rault and Joseph joined the rest of us in Toronto for a week of rehearsals.  We were also joined by a new addition, Waleed Abdulhamid, on percussion.

After that we moved into the Rogue studio, an amazing spot full of vintage gear goodies, total analog heaven.  We were joined by Charlie Chalmers, an old-school Memphis soul session saxophonist, backup singer, and arranger.  Truly a legend in the world of soul music, he has made his mark on some of the most enduring records of the genre (Aretha, Al Green, Dusty Springfield, Wilson Pickett and a host of others).  It was an honour to work with someone who has been so intimately involved with such hi-calibre records. We were also joined by Jameson Elliott who must be the hardest working engineer in town.  Jameson was excited as I was to be making a 100% analog record again, no edits, no pitch correction, only 24 tracks total.  Charlie worked with the band during the day and at night he orchestrated the horn overdub sessions with himself playing tenor sax, Danny DePoe on trumpet and Dennis Passley on baritone sax.  We worked quickly, knocking out an average of 3 tunes a day and found ourselves ahead of schedule and wondering what to do in the end.  We decided on an Undertones cover and quickly learned it and laid it down.  We then had nothing to do once again.  After the band was done, we did some backing vocal sessions with Charlie, Maya Chilton, and Miku Graham.  The vocals gave a beautiful polish to the sounds we had created and finished things off perfectly.  Oh yeah, the tape sounds amazing.

Right now we are in the process of mixing the record and I will post the music as soon as we have some ready.  This process has truly been a dream come true and I look forward to sharing it with you.  In the meantime check the pics I posted from these sessions in the photo section.

Peace, Ben