In October I played a variety of stuff . . .

- a quick trip to Montreal with Trevor Finlay at Bourbon St. West (which is always a cool room),

- a gig with Tony D at Tucson's was cool too especially because I had proposed to Rachel the day before and we were starting to tell everybody

- another gig subbing for the Gruff Sisters (nobody died this time but they informed me that the guest of honour's brother or cousin had killed his wife and himself the week before - yeesh - bad things DO come in threes)

- 2 cool recording projects

- one with the students and instructors of The Audio Recording Academy at Raven St. Studio playing with The Cheap Seats - this is such a fun one because it forces my brother Marty to play music (which is what it takes these days - forcing - good thing he is an instructor there!) thanks to him for the opportunity yet again ( I think it's the 4th year in a row we have done this) doing this is also fun because we record the songs close to how they were written and then it's part of the curriculum for the students to manipulate them so that they may learn how . . . the songs always come out pretty different but always very cool and better than they started!

- another was recording an album with songwriter Jeff Meleras.  It was a neat approach - he hired Jason Jaknunas to bring all his gear up to a cottage in the Gatineau Hills for 5 days and lay down the tracks a la The Band's Big Pink.  Jeff's songs are kind of a cross between Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Jerry Garcia - very laid back, earthy vibe.  It was quite an exercise in restraint for me after coming out of the studio the previous week having bashed out pop rock songs with super slick production in mind . . . but that's what it takes to be a succesful hired gun . . . the ability to switch gears on command.  I played brushes on every song but one, I think.  All in all, it was a succesful session - Jeff seemed ecstatic with what was accomplished and I look forward to hearing the finished product in early 2007.  You can hear 2 of the tunes we did (17 Again & Boom Boom Boom) on Jeff's page (link to it from my top friends)

- the month ended with a fundraising auction/cabaret night for the daycare Rachel works at.  This is always a fun event because of the variety of cool musicians involved - myself, Sean Burke, the super-cool Billy Mitchell and Trevor Finlay were the core band with a ton of guests including Red Wood Central, Steve Marriner, Teri Loreto, Kelly Craig, Richard Vernon and many more - not only was it a blast, but it was a great success too raising close to $5000 for much needed funding for the daycare.

Only 3 gigs in September this year - that's cool - snuck in a bit more cottage time.  Had a good one with Tony D at the Rainbow and another with Joshua Morin at O'Reilly's in Perth.  The third one was, well, one for the books for sure.  To save space and time, I'll summarize it in point form . . .

- substitute drummer on gig with Gruff Sisters Kitchen Party (country, rock, Top 40) in Otter Lake, QC for a fundraising/tribute party for a friend of the band who had been paralyzed  the previous summer after falling down the stairs drunk after a family wedding (which the Gruff Sisters played at)

- arrived around 6:30pm to setup and soundcheck - huge buffet dinner with side of beef is served around 7:30 . . . ate food, drank beer with Roch & Kris from the band, hung 'til we needed to start playing

- just as dinner is finishing, an elderly woman seemingly goes outside for fresh air (or for a smoke) and proceeds to collapse and fall to the ground.

- people rush over to help, nurse bandmate does first aid/CPR - woman isn't breathing - ambulance arrives 20 min later and takes her to hospital

- guest of honour drives wheelchair down hill towards lake because collapsed woman is his MOTHER! 

- others catch him before entering lake and "talk him back up" to the party

- guest of honour apologizes and after some deliberation, insists that the show must go on, band plays 3 sets, a good time had by all (considering)

- end of the night announcement that guest of honour's Mom died by choking on the beef, not heart issues as previously thought

- the lady was choking and embarrased so she went outside . . . DON'T BE EMBARRASSED if you are choking!!!!!!!!!!!

yikes . . . poor family

John Mayer - Continuum

This is great - John can sing soulfully, play pretty good guitar and write some cool tunes - produced by Steve Jordan and including Steve on drums & Pino Palladino on bass - it's an extension of the live record they did as a trio last year - very funky cool bluesy soulful groove music that gets under your skin in a good way!

Jim Cuddy - The Light That Guides You Home

Another very good solo record from the Blue Rodeo frontman.  Produced by Jim & Colin Cripps (Mr. Kathleen Edwards) - it picks up where his first solo record left off - I really like the combo of Jim & Colin - again, another excellently written, recorded and sung collection of songs that get inside you and linger . . . like other Jim&Rodeo stuff - these songs will last a very long time on the soundtrack of my life . . .

Barney Bentall - Gift Horse

Barney's first record in a long time . . . he spent 4 or 5 years working a ranch in the BC interior to get away from the biz side of music and comes back with a great bunch of tunes with help from Jim Cuddy/Greg Keelor on 3 tunes, great keyboard work from  Rick "postal" Hopkins.  It also features my favorite Canadian drummer Pat Steward.  I've always loved Barney's songs and singin' and I still do . . . he's still got that nifty swagger about him albeit in a more laidback & rootsier style now.

Colin James - Little Big Band 3

Colin's voice gets better and better with age.  He really belts out these vintage rhythm & blues and early rock'n'roll swingers with power & soul.  Highlights include Jackie Wilson's Reet Petite, Solomon Burke's If You Need Me and an original Please, Baby Don't Do That written with Craig Northey (Hi Craig).  All Star Band and some really swingin tunes - I listened 5 times through before I stopped . . . an a propos continuation of the LBB . . . do I hear #4???? lookout for Christmas '07 . . .

Man, do I ever love it - last night my fave team, The Ottawa Senators won their season opener against archenemies the Toronto Maple Leafs - how sweet it is!  As much as I love watching the hometown team kick ass, I would always rather be playing myself.  And last night I did as I always do late Wed nights - we had a great game and I scored 5 goals - what a feeling!  I can't get enough!  The day before I scored 5 too - Tuesdays I play with a really fast group of guys that includes former Ottawa Senator/Montreal Canadien Shawn Van Allen.  OK, it helps when an NHL calibre player sets you up almost everytime but I still made 'em count!  10 goals in 2 days - with my luck, I'll hit a slump now for a month . . . .

One of my favorite hockey moments of late happened last winter when I played a really fun game of shinny on an outdoor rink near my house with a bunch of music pals.  Craig Northey, Doug Elliott & Steve Hilliam all play with Colin James and I've known Craig & Doug for many years.  When they were in town, Craig contacted me to say that he and a bunch of the boys brought their skates and sticks and were looking to play whenever they could.  Luckily, they were in town for 2 shows at the Casino and that afforded them some time to play hockey!  So, thanks to keyboard man extraordinaire Simon Kendall's friend Doug Gabelmann (who I had never met even though he lives half a block down the street from me), we were hooked up with the rink and changeroom.  Me & my bro picked up the guys that included the FOH sound tech & guitar tech (sorry dudes - forgot names) and headed out to the rink.  It was a beautiful sunny day - a few degrees below freezing and we went for it!  2 hours of end to end 4on4 action!  Oh, and I think the guys played a better show that night because of it . . . . hockey and music - inter-inspirational!  There is a pic from that day in my slideshow . . . Can't wait to do it again . . .

GO SENS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, July '06 was my busiest month playing music - ever.  21 shows in 31 days!

It started with a double whammy on Canada Day - afternoon show with Joshua Morin at Andrew Haydon Park & evening show with Tony D at the Rainbow.  So, I was supposed to play at 6pm for a 45min set.  This event was a very poorly organized city-run event and the one sound technician that was hired to run a multi-band outdoor event appeared to be on his first day on the job.  Lots of respect to him - he did his best but he was way behind the 8 ball on this one - we ended up going on way late - had awful stage sound, apparently really bad sound out front too but the troopers that we are - we gave it our all despite the late start, lack of monitors, howling feedback and rain towards the end of the set.  I blasted out of there right after the last note - drums in hand (and on back) to attempt to get down to the Rainbow and sure enough, made it with enough time to set up, soundcheck and play a great show as usual with Tony, Zeek & Sean - it was a great time with a packed and enthusiastic (read: DRUNK!) crowd so it made up for the crappy afternoon and parking ticket!

BLUESFEST! - This year was especially cool because I was part of the Power Hour on the Blues 'til Dusk stage 7 out of the 10 days of the festival - this was basically a jam set up to recreate the many memorable late night club jams in years past on the festival site.  The Tony D Band was hired to host with the Texas Horns lead by Kaz Kazanoff.  This was a huge treat as they are one of the most in-demand Blues, R&B and jazz horn sections in North America - google them and find out . . . It was a great festival and we got to jam with a whole bunch of cool artists including Sue Foley, JW Jones, Jimmy Bowskill, Elmer Ferrer, Thornetta Davis and her awesome band, Eddie Turner, Steve Lund, David Maxwell, Rick Fines, & Wayne Baker Brooks.  A great and memorable time - the only drawback was that we never got to play a real "Tony D Band" set - just jammin on standards but I feel very lucky & appreciative for the opportunity to have played so much at our festival. (biggest in Canada & second biggest in North America!)

In between Bluesfest shows, I played 2 more with Joshua Morin - a showcase night at Zaphod's that wasn't very well attended and a cool one at a park in FarmPoint almost where Chelsea turns into Wakefield.  That was cool as the Gatineau Hills area is my second home . . . I could see the Mont Cascades golf course across the Gatineau River from my drum stool.  5 shows in with Joshua and the band is starting to really gel.  We played our best show yet at the Stewart Park Festival in Perth, ON.  That was fantastic!  A beautiful sunny day and an appreciative crowd made for a fun time.   A short 25minute set of Joshua's 5 best songs - in and out quick - hit 'em with our best and hope it makes an impression . . . I think it did . . . it definately did on my Mom, Aunt and step-daughter!

My next stop was the legendary Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield.  Widely known and respected live music venue and one of my faves to play at or watch at . . . Owner/booker/soundman/ bottlewasher/washroom supervisor Paul Symes is a great music lover, promoter and enthusiast and on this night it was Eric Vieweg's CD release party.  I played on Eric's album and was delighted to lauch his songs into the world live . . . it was a stellar band too - me on drums, Andy Graham on bass, Pat Robillard on pedal steel guitar, my bro Marty on his Telecaster, Darrell O'Dea (Staggered Crossing, Andy Stochansky) on piano, organ, ukelele, baritone guitar and harmonica and we were also backing Eric's cousin Greg Kelly too - who was also releasing his latest CD.  It was a packed house so that got everyone up for the show - as did my favorite pre-show meal next door at Billy's - Chicken burger with poutine on the side - YUMMMMMAAAAAYYYY!!!!  All in all - it was a fantastic night that started quiet with several acoustic songs from Eric and Greg and then ramped up as the band brought it up a notch and then another . . . please check out Eric, he writes terrific songs. 

Up next was a few gigs with Trevor Finlay Band - Trevor and Barry are always fun to play with.  The gig at Cedar Cove Campground was great as I really love playing outdoors - the bugs weren't that bad and I got to bring my family - they had fun too!  Thanks to Josee and to Pete Gilroy for the great sound production.  I have been lucky to play with Trevor over the last several years at the annual CHEZ 106 golf tournament - a day of golf capped off with tunes and an awesome dinner - all in an effort to raise money for CHEO - thanks to Doc & Woody & Eric the intern for everything!

The following weekend, I was in Victoriaville, QC - Thursday night with Tony D on the mainstage and then that night with Trevor Finlay in a local bar.  All was cool other than there was no bass amp for Sean on the mainstage so he went direct just through the monitors (to his chagrin) but we ended up really givin it to them and they seemed to really dig it as all Quebec audiences do . . . The bar gig with Trevor went well & without incident . . . Friday night was another story - I was playing in the same bar with Trevor and in the last song of the first set, my bass drum pedal goes SNAP! so after a bit of panic, I realize that the screw holding the chain to the footboard had snapped in 2 and I didn't have a spare pedal or screw for that matter.  Thankfully, the mainstage of the festival was done for the night and our soundman rushed over to get the backline pedal from the kit there and saved the day!! thanks dude - I would have otherwise had to fashion a replacement solution with a coathanger & bubble gum (my Dad is MacGyver)  Dawn Tyler Watson got up with us to sing a tune - great pipes and presence!  After making throught the rest of the night, I kicked Montreal agent/artist manager Brian Slack's ass in pingpong!  Yessssssss - The next day we whizzed back to Ottawa to play the annual blues cruise on the Ottawa River organized by Claude Lachaine.  Colin Linden played the first set solo and dazlled - I am a longtime fan of his songs, guitar playng and singing.  I played the second set with Trevor and Suzie Vinnick on bass & vocals (Suzie is awesome - check her out!) and guest Al Tambay on guitar/vocals too (Al is crazy!) Then a set with Tony D & Suzie and then Colin joined us for 3 tunes - THAT was a truly wicked time - we NAILED I Just Want To Make Love To You and I was on cloud 9 . . . thanks to Darwin, Andy & Gerry from Retrotown Music for the great sound production and to Claude for lettin my lady on the boat!  The next day - it was back to Victoriaville with Trevor for a set on the mainstage and it was a hoot - Paul Deslauriers joined us for a few songs to make it extra fun and we took it way up a few notches!!!

Whew - what a month!  So many gigs, not enough cottage time but we did manage to fit some in and enjoyed every second of it that we could.