Richardson and cleaned up the studio to prepare for some serious recording.
I moved my noisy mac G4 out of the room and man did that make a big
difference.
This is as close to a c-c-c-commitment as I ever get and when I announced
my plans to start a new album at the Borealis/NorthernBlues office
I heard a voice from the back of the room saying "so I guess that will be ready
about 2011." It's a running gag over there but we'll see how fast I can put
this one together.
Of course, the minute I try to settle into a recording schedule,
the distractions begin and Thursday was a banner day for distractions - tow
big ticket CD launches (Michael Jerome Browne and Chris Whiteley and Diana
Braithwaite), the opening of a phot exhibit by rock & roll photographer Bob
Gruen at a fancy Yorkville gallery and the official launch of the Small
World festival. They used to call these "press conferences" then "Media
conferences" but nowadays they don't expect much of a turnout from the
working media unless it's the film festival or some huge sporting event. Now
it's an occasion to invite the "VIP's" and tastemakers... Anyway, I got out
to 3 out 4 of the events - I had just seen Chris and Diana at the Southside
Shuffle, so that was the one I skipped.
Speaking of the Southside Shuffle, I made my way out to Port Credit and did
the walkabout on the street to see lots of friends and familiar faces
playing up a storm. Lots of great talent on one street at one time but in
their effort to hire all the bands they want, everyone is just to close
together and the sound bled into a caucophony that made it hard to enjoy
anyone. Surprisingly, they had the same problem on the big stages in the
park and I felt sorry for the Blues Society Talent Search Winners playing on
the side stage while the Jeff Healey tribute band blasted through the park.
At the risk of eliminating a gig for myself, I have to say they need to hire
less bands, put them further apart, make sure the bands start and stop when
they're supposed to and maybe try to introduce some new faces...