Had a great gig on Halloween week-end at this legendary Toronto blues club, right on Queen Street (the artsy beat). I've got a fabulous band with Don Vickery on drums, Suzie Vinnick on bass and Papa John King on guitar. In addition to the weirdos that walked in to the club, the stage overlooks the street and it was quite something to glance back and see the processions of zombies and goths. Actually, Queen Street is one place where you have to be careful about commenting on someone's Halloween costume - it might be their everyday look! I was reminded of the first gig I ever did in a Toronto blues bar. It was in the early 80's at Chicago's. It was the first time I ever tried to get a gig in a Toronto blues bar, I was visiting my mother in Kitchener and I drove into Toronto and auditioned for a guy called Robin Harp who was booking Chicago's. I had my "one-man-blues-band" rig (a Roland TB303 Bassline and a Drumatix drum machine) but I didn't have any promotional material so he said he would get a friend to make up a poster. This was the poster created by the friend who never saw me or my picture:
I kept that poster because it bore an uncanny remblance to...my father (pictured on the right with yours truly a long time ago). Dad had passed away only months before that gig and didn't look anything like me (I was adopted, you see). See for yourself: The nose, the chin, the glasses and later in life my father always wore a hat like the one pictured in the poster... I like to think it was some kind of message of approval from beyond the grave (seeing as my father never approved of my music while he was living)