House Concerts are something you will more likely find happening in outlying rural areas or small towns where they don't have a club scene but I decided to do one at the jazz office in downtown Toronto. Publicist Richard Flohil was kind enough to drop in and my dear friend Jacquie who was collecting at the door didn't know who he was and charged him ten bucks and and he kindly paid it. I don't think he pays for too many shows...Thursday, March 16, 2000 was Colorblind Brian's Acoustic Blues House Concert at the offices of Downtown Jazz The promo blurb said "Hear the elusive Colorblind Brian in a rare solo performance, "intimate and interactive" (as they say). We'll be throwing a log in the fireplace, pushing back the old boardroom table and sitting back for a set or two of unique, offbeat, some say "kinda quirky" original blues. At Brian's last performance at the Montreal Bistro, Bill Garrett of Borealis Records said "I had a smile pasted on my face all night long". Even old school jazz guys were seen enjoying a twelve-bar blues. Brian will be performing tunes from his recent CD, "Who Paid You to Give Me The Blues?" as well a some experimental new material. Come early as there is very limited seating."
The house concert was a blast. This was my first solo gig since one festival date last summer and I'm going to do more of this because I had a great time and so did the audience. It turned into a bit of a media frenzy because there was a big CD launch happening down the road at the Montreal Bistro and a lot of the photographers came directly to my gig. For a while it seemed there were more photgraphers than audience!
A couple of days later, I attended my first house-concert as an audience member yesterday - it was a sunday afternoon at a big rambling house in the country. Almost 50 folk fans came out to see my friends Bill Garrett, Sue Lothrop and Curly Boy Stubbs. I was presented from the stage when they introduced a song of mine that they perform, The Big Fire, and I thought I might be getting my foot in the door but alas when I thought I might get a chance to play them a couple of songs in the after-concert song circle, I wasn't really agressive enough and didn't get my shot. Tip of the Day: If you want to make an impression, don't be shy.
Blues News: Saw Dutch Mason on Saturday night at the Dollar. He was performing seated and moving quite slowly but the place was packed for the "Prime Minister of the Blues." Still had his trademark scotch in one hand and cigarette in the other.