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Halloween Sillyness at 8pm
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Hey Hey it's Halloween. Boo!
Welcome my subscribers, followers, Facebook friends and fans. We had a bit of family fun and put together a Halloween show that will premiere on YouTube at 8:00pm (ET). Joel plugged in his gear and put on a ridiculous costume for some ambient jamming with the old man. His mom even makes an appearance and we will all be online at 8pm to answer any questions (like "what the hell were you thinking?" Join us at: https://youtu.be/Fwok_BW3bOU
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And speaking of getting together, thanks to all who came out for my "I'm Not 75 Anymore" Birthday Celebration last month. Amazing performances from Paul Reddick, Steve Marriner, Roberta Hunt, Raoul Bhaneja, Son Roberts, Lorraine Ingle and rotating rhythm section that included Michelle Josef, George Koller, Terry Wilkins, Ric Levenston, Malcolm Gould and I'm sure I'm forgetting some…Oh yes, my son the DJ and electronica buddies Gabriel Lavoie and Patrick Merner who closed out the lovely evening at the historic Redwood Theatre. I joked that this was my "Celebration of Life While I'm Still Here to Enjoy it."
What? You missed it? Well the good news is we got a great audio/video recording which I will get out there as soon as I figure out how I want to do it. It would be a wonderful thing if I could somehow "monetize" it (in my dreams!).
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And speaking of monetization, we are entering a new era for music creators and it's all about finding a way to receive some modicum of compensation for our music. There were royalties and performance fees back when you had a chance to be played on the radio or sell a few CD's but both of those revenue sources have been drastically cut back by all the streaming platforms that pay little or no compensation. I'm told the only way to survive in the "new age" is for the creator to have a direct connection with his audience and they say that the new Web 3.0 will be the answer once we figure out what the hell it is. For now, it's a tip jar and a paypal.
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Hey this is getting to be like the old days - out and about is where I used to be every night of the week - now I don't go nowhere, except last week when my friend Andie Maranda called at the last minute to say she had an extra ticket for Jeff Beck (and Johnny Depp) and so I joined her in a big crowded hall, but kept my mask on (for the most part). I guess it didn't turn out to be a super-spreader or I would have heard – but I know a lot of people whose lives have been severely disrupted (in one way or another) – and these viruses just keep coming! JB put out some great sounds. He had an amazing tone and a killer rhythm section - bass and drums were women and there was an organist who seemed like he was there more for Johnny) Poor Johhny Depp gets a lot of flack on social media but he really can play (though he could have done a couple of songs less). Likewise the opening act who is a musician/tatoo artist who met Johnny in an L.A. tattoo parlour. Here's a little clip of JB, joined by JD (Johnny Depp) who I thought acquitted himself pretty well though I saw lots of nasty comments on the Facebook.
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Then a few days ago I got back to the Jazz Bistro for the first time in years to see the lovely and talented Roberta Hunt doing a solo piano dinner set. What a delight to see Roberta and I'm looking forward to catching her band Red Hot Ramble one of these days. Here she is doing a favourite Randy Newman song, "Louisiana"
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So here I am, getting out the October Blainletter on the last day of October – story of my life…
Thanks for reading this far. I see that the Blainletter gets opened by hundreds of people but not sure how many read through it. But I always seem to hear from someone or other that they enjoyed it and that's what keeps me going. Feel free to forward this to any friend you think might enjoy my occasional ramblings (and maybe my music, too). These bits and more are always available on my blog, www.torontobluesdiary.com.
See you out there, eventually...
BrianB, aka Butch, Nappy, Shaker, Two-Lane Blain, Colorblind Brian, Stringbuster, Buddha of the Blues
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