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It's that time of year...tourtiere-time and here we are cooking up a batch - just how my momma did. It was delicious. I've been under the weather for the last couple of weeks - as have many friends. I made it to one Xmas party and I got sick! So now it's New Year's Eve and I'm laying low.
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It's the last day of the year and I'm posting the last Blainletter (it would be #162). No, I'm not going away but I'm leaving the 'Chimp and I've signed up with a new platform called Substack and you'll be hearing from me in the new year, but maybe not every month plugging gigs – because there are no gigs!
I was just watching a tribute to Garth Brooks o TV and yesterday it was Kenedy Centre honours for Dionne Warwick and Queen Latifa and a few others. Big lifetimes full of achievements. Also just watched a 4-part Netflix on Willie Nelson – there's another huge lifetime!
But you know what, even though after 60 years as a recording artist my music never made it to the big stages, it does not diminish the fulfillment and joy of touching a few folks – many some of you reading this – and hearing from you that I put a smile on someone's face, got the feet tapping and especially connecting and locking into the groove with all the talented musicians I've had the opportunity to play with over the years.
Over the last week my inbox has been filled with end-of-year appeals for fundraising from the NDP, many worthwhile charities and even Massey Hall but no, a tax receipt is not going to be much benefit to me…
Substack is designed more for long-form writing (as if these Blainletters did not get long enough) and includes an option for folks to have a paid subscription - but let's wait and see what I've got to offer and if anybody is interested. It can also include videos and ultimately I'll be able to invite you into a jam session and maybe even zoom into your kitchen for a kitchen party. We have the technology!
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When I landed in Toronto in 1990 I started keeping a diary of my musical adventures with a focus on providing a little advice for other musicians on how to survive in this music town. It's all archived at http://torontobluesdiary.com. I would share my adventures trying to break into the Toronto music scene and would also provide some tips for musos who were just getting into email and all the hi-tech challenges that came with it. In fact, let me share a tip that I would pass along every year at this time:
Just now, I gathered all the receipts I've stashed here and there and put them all into the proverbial "shoebox." The last couple of days, I have been going through my computers and deleting or archiving anything that's more than 2 or 3 years old. Just create a new folder and call it "old stuff" and move all those files that are sitting on your desktop into that folder and put it on an external drive. With Gmail, I was able to delete all the correspondence that was in the "promotions" tab (mostly press-releases) and eliminated about 50,000 messages with one click. I created new folders for Clients 2024 and Projects 2024 and may even create a folder called "Music 2024" for any gig opportunities. I shouldn't say I have no gigs, because as I was walking about at the Southside Shuffle one promoter came up to me and said "I know what you do and I want you to play my series next year". You know who you are and you'll be hearing from me!
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Had a great evening at my neighbourhood theatre, The Redwood, with the Okavango African Orchestra which features my favourite kora player, Sadio Sissokho - he played on "The Water Song" and he is one phenomenal musician but this group is all-star world class. Saw several other shows in November and December and posted some clips on Facebook live and on http://torontobluesdiary.com. Check it out at your leisure.
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"Blues is like the pop-off valve on a pressure cooker. When the pressure got too high..."
- Muddy Waters
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Thanks for following the Blainletter and stay tuned for more engagement from "moi" in the new year. 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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