I've been meaning to send this along for over a week, but things got pretty hectic culminating with my gig last night. I think I've reached another milestone in my slow climb up the slipery slope of the Toronto blues scene. Following that Thursday night at the Silver Dollar, my duo gig with Scott Cushnie at the Montreal Bistro and a solo acoustic gig at the Free Times, I was now invited to be the "special guest" (ie, you get $70) at Gary Kendall's 'Blues Tuesday' at Whistler's. So I had been practising a few old blues standards that I haven't played for years (if ever), and managed to pull them off. I had the unpleasant experience of hearing the band start up while I was seated in the washroom - I seem to recall this happening before somewhere...perhaps in my early days with Blue Willow. Anyway, I climbed onto my stool halfway through the tune and it worked out fine, then I proceeded to pull out all the most predictable tunes I knew since the bass player (Gary) had never heard them. In the end, I could have thrown a lot more at him. The only time there was a problem was when I tried to simplify on the fly and the other guys (who knew the tune) played it the old which left Gary in the lurch. Mostly, I could tell the whole band was having a good time...I felt it really lifted off - we were flying! I was sitting on top of the world as I stepped down off that stool and then I see that my fly was open. Back to earth, Brian! I seem to have this built-in curse that the moment I get too big for my briches a bird shits in my eye, or something like that.

I remarked to Rod, who was playing piano instead of his usual organ - and playing it great - that at least the people at the front table will not have been bothered by my 'deshabille' because they were both blind. They were the greatest listeners, really. They stayed til the end and chatted for awhile. The guy's name was David and he must be a collector because whenever I did a song he recognized, he would shout some acknowledgement, and he knew some of the more obscure ones. After this, I don't have a single gig lined up. And I haven't even started looking. What I need is one place where I can play every Thursday, or every Tuesday...

Just did a duo gig with Professor Piano and I didn't sing a single song. In the past I've called the tunes, but this time I called some, but I never called one of my own. Waiting to see if Scott would, I guess. He just kept pulling out these great old tunes and I was glad to play them. But to go from that to fronting this gig at Whistlers...well I guess that's what a lot of musicians do in this town. One night you're the star, next night you're the sideman

Wine de Vine

Played with Prof at the "Taste of the Kingsway" event, this time I just sat back and let Prof fly and he pulled out at least a dozen songs we'd never played - many of them "swing" tunes that I'm anxious to learn. At the risk of being accused of jumping on the swing bandwagon, I'd like to pursue some gigs with Scott that offer an evening of Swing. That'll be a lot more new chords for me to learn, but I love that chunky-chunk rhythm guitar. Tonight we were fooling around with a tune for "Swing, Stalker, Swing" which might be close to the truth as we find out more about a certain swing dance instructor (SWSRN) who can't take no for an answer from his female students.

Lily's Rehearsal Room

Allan Fraser dropped in yesterday to spend a couple of days in Toronto - meeting with some record exec about how he might "ressucitate" (his word) his career. We had a happy dinner with Al and his buddy Joel Axler, who I met for the first time. Joel is managing a jazz singer called Terry Cade and played her tape. Then we jammed a little in my basement studio and Joel played rollicking piano while Allan played guitar. His acoustic was being troublesome and hard to tune, but when I got a close-up look, I could see the bridge had raised a quarter of an inch on one side and was held by strands of hardened glue. Allan and I drove to Hamilton to jam and were joined at Lily's by Kim Deschamps. Kim played some haunting dobro on an impromptu version of "Who Paid You (To Give Me The Blues)?" and then in my spaced out enthusiasm I said I wanted to hear what he could do on "Last Time I Saw Lenny" a song I had never sung for anyone before (except Daisy) and probably never will again. Who else would write a tune about a dead musician he had known briefly, and then kept adding verses everytime another musical aquaintance/colleague passes away. There's something sick about this.

Daisy's loft

I drop in with Allan on our way to Hamilton. Daisy wanted to discuss with Allan about promoting a Fraser & DeBolt re-issue. When we got there, we didn't discuss it very much past trying to find Bob DeVere's phone number. But then Daisy's son Jake arrived and it was something to behold him connecting with Allan. The last time he saw Allan, he was three years old. Then Jake picked up Daisy's guitar and while she sang, he accompanied her on "Matchstick Man", a very personal song Allan had written long ago about his deceased father. And here was young Jake - the same age as Allan & Daisy when Fraser & De Bolt were shaking up the folk scene.

Free Times Cafe

I get a call at the end of August from my friend Sootara saying that she's geetiing back to gigging and that she had called Judy at the Free Times requesting a Saturday night. Judy didn't hesitate and offered her Sept 5. When she realized how soon it was, and how much preparation she would have to do, she asked me to split the Bill and I said impulsively that I would. Then the first two people I mention it to ask me if I realized it was Labour Day Week-End...No wonder it was easy for Sootara to get *that* Saturday night. Most venues consider that week-end as a write-off. Anyway, we got a few people out and it was a most appreciative crowd - lots of laughs - and they kept calling me back until someone who shall remain nameless (SWSRN) requested "Don't Paint That Wall" - the B-Side of my only solo recording, and I botched the lyrics. That was the end of the encores - but I qualify it as a successful gig and I intend to pursue more solo gigs in folk venues.

Well, tonite I went to see the movie "The Big Hit" with Joel. Seventeen bucks for two tickets, then another seven for a couple a specialty coffes that Joel enjoys (when I started to walk into the Starbucks - he stopped me and gave me a whole speech about how Starbucks are taking over the worls and that we should support the smaller (and more Canadian) player, Second Cup. He said "Even if there's a Starbucks right in front of me, I'll walk a couple of blocks to the Second Cup. It sort of speaks to the proliferation of these places in Toronto. Oh yeah, then I found a $20 ticket on the car. Expensive outing, but father & son and all that...

This is the movie that Jonathan Savan was "location managing" or whatever he was doing - but he rented some of my music equipment (a Revox, a keyboard, cassette machine, road case and my little Yamaha FB01 synthesizer. I rented 8 pieces and when he brought back my stuff, there were eight pieces but two of them weren't mine. Anyway there I was watching my stuff on the big screen and trying to figure out if I should send one last message to the president of Sony or something. "Your movie sucks. In the unlikely eventuality that it makes any money, might I request that that the FB01 synthesizer you rented from me and never returned be replaced or compensated...."

I'm listening to "Celebration Starsong," the new age radio show. - they're talking numerology - if you have a K in your name it means you have a spiritual mission in this life (among other things). Think I better get back to the website now. Joel has done what he was going to do all along - he's dropped out of the science and society course, though he says he will still write the ISU (for practice). So the only two courses left for this semester are art and drama. what a joke. The teacher did not tell me that it was a forgone conclusion that he would fail...he could have tried to pull this one out, but he didn't budge. Now I told him, that I didn't care if he just sat in the library but that I wanted him at school by 9:00 am and of course that has not worked either. As you have said, we should be glad that he is at least alive and in school. But I hope we can convince him to get back into a real school next year...

I just spoke to Beverly Glenn Copeland today (hadn't spoken to hear since Christmas) - She said lots had been going on in her life since then. she says "One morning my wife woke up and decided she was heterosexual"....hmmmm.

Now Joel is off to another rave tonight after having done a big cleanup in the house (not including his room, of course) He stands there next to me looking into this disaster area and says with a straight face "that's clean."

Canadian Music Week

After a couple of days of conferences, panel discussions and showcase, I've had a chance to sit and listen to Sir George Martin in conversation (the celebrity interview) and he talked as he must have many times about starting out with a wire recorder, or whartever. My first studio experience was in the Montreal Studios of RCA Victor. It was 1963 and there were three tracks. Two of them contained pre-recorded band-tracks from europe and I was there with my trio to put on a vocal. (three part harmony).
Following Sir George's appearance, I found myself in the big room at Manta Sound. I hadn't beenm in that room since 1970 when I produced Fraser & DeBolt With Pleasure - we were the first paying customers in that place. Jack Ricghardson had tested out the room with a band called Hope. Now I'm at Manta Sound for the taping of a Blue Rodeo radio special for the Sound Source network - which I presume is owned by Gary Slaight. It was the second time in a week that I crashed one of his parties. The week before, Lily Sazz invited me to a Ray Materick showcase at the Phoenix and it turned out to be a priovate showcase of several Gary Slaight favourites that he wanted to present to his friends.

Who Paid You To Give Me The Blues?

Tomorrow I go to the tape duplicator to get a bunch more cassettes of “Who Paid You to Give Me the Blues?”. I gave a copy (plus a video) to exactly one promoter and I’ve got three festival dates out of it. I knew I was in the big time when we played the Dollar last February and it cost me money. I had to dip in to the tape sales just to pay the musicians. And even at that, it was less than what I promised them.

Here I am listening to Muddy Waters sing “I’m ready” and writing out the words. I think in the blues circles of Toronto any 50-year old bluesman would be expected to know the words to every single Willie Dixon song. But I guess that’s why I haven’t had a chance to play around on the blues circuit. I just don’t have that repertoire of blues standards that everybody knows.

I’m going to publish these updates on my website (since I don’t have a lot else to put up there). This is my first letter in a long time so I’ll use it to chronicle my recent adventures in Toronto. Colorblind’s Toronto Blues Diary. There’s been so much going on that I forget to write, but here’s a good place to start.

Installment #2 of Colorblind Brian's Toronto Blues Diary

Thanks to the great response to my first post last week, I am following up with a second report from the front lines. What a week it's been for the blues! Tonight is my gig at the Silver Dollar (to get *that* out of the way) but ever since the Maple Blues Awards last Monday we've had a flurry of blues activity, some focused on the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis and lots in town too. Even a little controversy, but I won't get into that.

For this gig I will be joined by Rod Phillips and Mike Fitzpatrick, two very soulful musicians - both of whom were featured on the cassette of seven original tunes that I will be offering for sale at the Dollar (if I get them from the duplicator on time). If this message is addressed to you tell them you're on my e-mail guest list.

(There's a rumor that it's all a carefully orchestrated media hijack by Derek Andrews and Eddy B and so far they've gained more ink for the blues from mainstream media than even the wildly successful Maple Blues Awards could generate.) And that's all I'm going to say about that. What I want to know is: "Eddy, I guess it would be out of the question to get those prints of me..." Seriously, I don't think Eddy could bring himself to say anything less than friendly about me. He gave me my first solo gig in Toronto when he was booking Rowers. And he had me on his show playing live for an entire hour

The lighhearted commentary expressed here is not necessarily shared by the more serious people at the Toronto Blues Society, du Maurier Downtown Jazz or anybody else that I work for. If you would like your e-mail address removed from this list reply accordingly

The Silver Dollar Room

Well now I know I've made it to the blues big time. I'm playing a Thursday night in the same room where I've watched my guitar heroes like Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson and Duke Robillard.

Three clues that I've arrived at the "big-time":

- When I spill coke on my hand, I get handed a towel by Rocky the sound gal and a wet nap from Roy who's does the video.

- A drunk female patron climbs up on the stage and starts dancing

- The drunk female patron has to be removed from the stage by the bartender when she starts rubbing her breast against my hand in the middle of a guitar solo.

Big Time, here I come!

The first Maple Blues Awards

The Maple Blues Awards presentation - This was a great day for the blues in Toronto and had repercussions across the nation as a lot of talented people were recognized for decades and even lifetimes of dedication to the blues. My enjoyment was hampered by some kind of stomach flu so I was unable to partake of the delicious buffet that I had a part in arranging on behalf of the Blues Society (I kept needling Bistro owner Lothar Lang that some of these burly blues types would need something a little more substantial than the finger-foods usually presented for the jazzy set - I had a back door into the Bistro, literally, because I work for Downtown Jazz whose offices are directly upstairs).

Now that I'm back from my sick bed, I'm glad to share some of my happy (if slightly foggy) recollections. I hope this will be the start of some kind of semi-regular postings to the Maple-Blue list. I'll be gathering these ramblings on my website (as soon as I build one!) - think I'll call it "Colorblind Brian's Toronto Blues Diary" I expect to be performing more in '98 (hell if it's one gig a month it'll be more than last year).and may I mention my next gig:
**The Silver Dollar Room this Thursday, February 12 with Rod Phillips and Mike Fitzpatrick (mark your calendars).**

As I looked over the photos of the evening I was sorry that I didn't have the energy to circulate a bit more - I don't think there's ever been such an assemblage of Canadian blues celebrities under one roof (if someone had dropped the proverbial bomb on that place, etc, etc).

The ceremonies went smooth as silk with host John Dickie (my favourite line was "There's hundreds of dollars to be made playing this music."). I think Gary Kendall's acceptance speech was more talking than a year's worth of his stage patter and it was fascinating to follow his life journey from Thunder Bay to Toronto to the world (or at least to Florida). Maureen Brown also received a true hometown-hero ovation as did the ever-modest Chris Whiteley.

I had stepped out of the Bistro after the ceremonies and when I was walking back in, I was struck by an amazing voice. I asked Al Lerman if he knew who that was and he didn't know, but as I turned the corner I saw that it was John Ellison with Vann "Piano Man" Walls and several other winners & nominees who had kicked off the jam session. Tyler Yarema invited me to sit in on guitar (I did, after all, provide my trusty Vibrolux for the occasion) and I found myself launching into a blues shuffle with a stellar group including Al, Gary Kendall, Pat Carey, Chris Murphy and when I looked down at the drummer I saw more bare thigh than I've ever seen in my life in the person of the 6-foot Michele (formerly Bohdan) Hluszko in a severly slit evening dress. This was a first for me and for the entire blues world, I expect. John Dickie was singing and he knocked me out! Being a relative newcomer to the Toronto scene I had never heard Mondo Combo or any of his legendary groups and although I heard him singing on his radio show a few times, I never got the full blast effect - and here I was playing along (and he must have been wondering who the hell I was and how I got there). As the City-tv camera-guy swung into the room, Teddy Leonard of Fathead was invited up to play and I handed off the guitar to him and worked my way back into the crowd to start saying my goodbyes. What a night!

The Blue Goose

Rod Phillips, who plays organ with me whenever I can get him, has been running a regular Sunday afternoon matinee at this club and last week his group, The Pie Guys were backing up Chicago bluesman Little Mack Simmons at the Silver Dollar. Also on board was Kevin Higgins on guitar - he had played with Little Mack, knew his repertoire, and on stage Kevin was acting as bandleader and go-between with the band. As I was hanging out in the dressing room on the break, Rod said "we need a guitar player to play with Mack at tomorrow's matinee". At first I declined because this was the sunday when I was supposed to finish off laying out the MapleBlues newsletter but I caught myself and came right back and said "Never mind, I'll do it - what time should I be there?" I never thought to ask what about Kevin, but for whatever reason he wasn't going top be there so I paid special attention to the second show and on Sunday I couldn't decide what to bring, since I knew it was a pretty big room, so I decided to bring my Strat and Fender amp...then I listened to Little Mack's album and found it quite acoustic so then I found myself loading in the flat top and cube amp as well. I get there at four with two amps and two guitars (I only had one of each at my own gig the previous Friday!) Then as I pull up at the club, who do I see unloading his Fender amp but Kevin Higgins. For whatever reason, he was able to come and play. Oh well, I spent the afternoon watching Kevin do the identical show I had seen the night before and then at the end of the second show when Mack had to leave early to catch his bus to Chicago (?) Rod had me up to play a couple of songs and I did receive some genuine admiration from Kevin, who is a great player. I was watching him take his instructions from Little Mack, who sometimes changed his mind after the band had started an intro and waved them to a halt, looked like he might be a stern taskmaster and I was starting to feel a bit relieved that I didn't end up there with him - especially when he called "Rainy Night in Georgia"...not exactly a 12-bar blues.

Trying to remember "The Story of the Magic Pick"

The Islington Golf Club. Did an afternoon private party with Professor Piano (Scott Cushnie). I realized my repertoire is wanting beyond the 50 or so originals (that I barely know anyway). (ACTION ITEM*** I need to learn some blues standards.***) Now I’m back home and I’m trying to run over a few folky tunes (don’t know why) and I can’t even remember the first line of "The Story of the Magic Pick", the B-side of the only record I ever made under my own name. I have to dig out the disc and check the lyrics which were printed on the back of the sleeve. And this man wants to make a career in music?

This is the last date booked with Prof. I’ve got to get some trio gigs with Mike & Victor. But before that i need to (ACTION ITEM***learn some blues standards.***)

My first CD

Toronto. Had a few friends over and we listened to the tracks I recorded at the Studio at Puck's Farm with Victor Bateman on bass and Mike Fitzpatrick on drums. Scott Cushnie (aka Professor Piano) played piano on 4 of the cuts. We recorded at Puck's Farm, a studio/theme park owned by my producer from the 70s, Frazier Mohawk. Fraz gave me some studio time and the musicians all did it for no charge, probably because they knew if they didn't nudge me it would probably never get done.

It started when Victor Bateman heard some of my original tunes at my 50th birthday party/jam session. I hardly knew him but he mentioned that he knew someone with a DAT machine and some good mics and we should go over and record some of my originals. The DAT machine belonged to a guitar player/radio guy...Bill Grove..and we spent an afternoon recording some of my new tunes. Next thing you know, we're in the big studio at Puck's Farm with the renowned engineer Phil Sheridan. Phil was a bit of a curmudgeon ("I don't like mixing other people's shit and I don't like other people mixing my shit"). The first session I started to rattle off the full names of the songs as he was writing a track sheet and he said "make it one word - I'm going to be writing this many times."

I lassoed Scott Cushnie at the Silver Dollar at the Toronto Blues Society's Birthday Party and when I mentioned that I was going to be driving up to the studio the following Monday, he asked me for a lift because he needed to have a meeting with Frazier Mohawk. I happened to have a rehearsal tape in my pocket so I gave it to him and asked him to listen to the tunes and see if there was anything he'd like to try putting a piano track on. He overdubbed some great piano tracks. Later Gene Hardy put some horns on a couple of tunes (actually, Gene was the only one who didn't do it for free - he asked for fifty bucks for gas). For the cover art I used a drawing (a self portrait, I guess) that is one of my rare attempts at producing a piece of visual art. At least I made the most of it.

After listening to a great set by Morgan Davis (who has a new drummer, Paul...) I went over to Grossman's to give Mike Fitzpatrick a rehearsal tape - he was playing with Michael Picket. Pickett was playing great, but in his inimitable style, refused to do an encore and even teased the audience by walking back up to the stage not once, but twice, to gather his gear.

Wade Hemsworth

It's a couple of days after Mother's Day, the day I had hoped to make a tradition by having the second "annual" Mother's Day Blues Bash with Colorblind Brian and friends. Is that asking too much? One gig a year!!!

Well, it was not to be. There was a nice consolation, though. I travelled through time to the Yellow Door in 1972. Or was it Rose's Cantina. It must have been Rose's, because there at the door of The Tranzac stood Penny Rose herself. Giving out little printed nametags to the stream of Montreal folkies that came through that door. When I walked in, Bill (that Cajun guy) was on stage. He was having a nice exchange with the audience, I found out later that he had forgotten the words to one of the Wade Hemsworth songs he was performing to the old fella himself.

Did I mention this event was a CD launch for Wade - The recording was made by Penny Rose who went up to Wade's house with a DAT machine on three or four occasions. But the event was star-studded, in a Montreal folkie kinda way. Next on stage was Ronney Abramson and Bill Garrett, she singing a very old song of hers that I'm sure I remember from back then. She had such a distinctive sound. Ronney is one of the not-too-many (I hope) women whom I have let down in this life. I wonder if she remembers? It's nothing romantic, at all. Ronny was moving to Toronto, or at least driving to Toronto and a trio of us guys were going the same way in a nice reliable Mercedes owned by Gary Howsam. Ronny was driving an old Peter Falk Peugeot and was reassured to know that we would hang together on the 401… Except we didn't. We turned off at Ottawa so Gary could drop in on a girlfriend or something like that. Anyway, I can remember watching Ronney riding off into the sunset, without the benefit of these three musketeers. That's pretty low isn't it?

Next on stage was Anne Lederman - who was one of Wade's Toronto connections - she has an organization called Worlds of Music and puts on concerts and workshops. And she sure can play that fiddle. We shared an office at the blues society. She worked with a South African lady - Lizzie. I had only seen Lizzie one time since that office-sharing period. It was the green room at the Bamboo. I was hanging out with Loraine Klassen's back up band and Lizzie was there too. I noticed as she was introduced to Lorraine and they chatted a little. Next thing you know, Lorraine's is into the second set and invites Lizzie to come up on the stage and do a tune with her. They do this complicated call-and-answer (trad) song - dance steps and all, and they've never even met! I guess it was a well known "duet" among South-African musicians. She managed to get real animated, but would reel herself in when she came too close to stealing the show. Anyway they had great harmonies.

After that, the stage was filled by Kate & Anna McGarrigle & crew with Danny Greenspoon on guitar and Wade himself. He wasn't playing guitar and the first tune he attempted was a bit challenging. Then they did the "Black Fly" song and the entire room was resonating with singing-along folkies. I guess Wade could have died and gone to heaven. He was conducting the endings, and getting right into it.

This was my week for old-timers. Two previous nights I poked in to the Montreal Bistro to see Jim Galloway (my boss at the Jazz Festival) playing with 91 year-old Doc Cheatham. Well, Doc is something else. His last set was very little trumpet playing and lots of romantic ballads. "I'll just pick up my papers and go..." He was wonderful

New owners at the Silver Dollar

The Dollar is back in circulation. That's the slogan on the poster. Yuri and Gary are having another go. All the previous connections are severed and Gary said it in a way that made you realize that this is the way to have a fresh start. Of course, when it's a new owner and a new bartender, then it's an even playing field and everybody is getting to know each other at the same time. Hangers on and friends-of-the-boss don't tend to make it through the transition. Luther Guitar Junior Johnson is playing and I must look like an idiot because I'm noting the pacing of his set - writing down the way he mixes ballads, shuffles and funk. He has a formula that I want to emulate in a show, mostly for it's machine-gun delivery. The applause has not died down before he's into the next song. He starts all the songs, and the band jus has to jump in as fast as they can. That's the way I'd like to do it.

One local writer that was very upset that I changed her story (doubly upset that I regarded it as a "trivial matter") but I'm still friendly and she came up to me all out-of-joint that she didn't get an invitation to the Jazz festival media launch.

Trying to get somebody to write a story about Morgan Davis for the Blues Newsletter. I'm directed to Michael Picket and although he doesn't have time, he mentions that he had previously written a story about Morgan. I was ready to use it when Al Lerman came through - then I find out that Morgan was livid about the story - particularly the part where he makes fun of Jeff Healy's blindness.

Met a guy who was in Sweet Blindness today. Ed White is playing with Al Lerman in Fathead.

Kim Wilson

The Silver Dollar Room. Kim Wilson is in town and I’m wondering if I’m going to be able to schmooze my way into this big ticket show. Reggie the doorman has been waving me in the last few times (and I was on a lot of guest lists before that). Now I even made a failed attempt at salvaging a newsletter file for him and he did say he’s buying me a drink (I don’t know if this means permanent free access to his venue. . .) I wait until after 11 thinking I’ll get there after the first show – even though I would have loved to hear the whole show. As it turns out, Morgan Davis played an opening set and Kim played on long show till almost one. I guess I got to hear most of it – Kim is the best (I had Peter Sidgwick come to check it out and he brought Jim Galloway). Gene Taylor was playing his ass off. I spoke to him afterwards and he asked after Lorraine. I particularly wanted to hear Kim do “Tigerman” and still don’t know if he did. I walk up to the front of the club and there’s no sign of life except for a tiny satellite dish next to a CBC minivan. As I walk in they’re live on the air following the 11 o’clock news and Kim is watching himself on TV. They cut to the entertainment reporter and after he says his piece they go back to the studio. But they cut back to the club to fill out the end of the show and Kim looks up at the TV screen and sees that he was still on the air…so he just stretched out his harp solo …maybe trying a little too hard for the cameras and even going a bit off pitch – the minute the camera was off, he backed off a tiny bit and he was right in the pocket again.

Making an album with Blue Willow

Getting ready to lay down some bed tracks with David James and Omar Tunnoch.

Street Brothers Rehearsal Studio. Blue Willow is about to begin recording a full blown CD. The girls have invited me to play on the CD but another guitar player is being brought in to do some other stuff. Lorraine is quite intent on having my sound as part of the Blue Willow sound (Dawn too, I guess) so I’m going into this playing my little heart out. I shouldn’t expect to get any second chances, so I want to be cautious but I don’t expect to play the song the same way each time.

Drummer Dave James had arrived from Halifax the night before, and had obviously been on such a bender that he couldn’t play – he literally fell of the drum stool and all he could say was “I feel so sad”, “I’m hurting”. When he was sent off in a cab, he stood in the doorway saying “You know what?. . . (long pause) I feel so sad”.

Day 2: Rehearsal with horns: Dave shows up bright, alert and apologetic. He hands out apples to everyone – apples that he picked himself in Nova Scotia. Except for a scab on his face from some kind of scrap – he was not playing his best, and his playing was so aggressive the cymbal stands were always teetering and sometimes crashing down on the floor. The horn players have joined us but we only run over the songs that they’ll be playing on – which turn out to be the songs we had run over the previous day. And I’m very surprised to hear that the studio is too small to allow sufficient separation between the drums and the piano, so the piano tracks will all have to be done over.

Day 3 – 5: The sessions start and Linda arrives in town – (I don’t see her till the Wednesday night). We recorded the beds with a guide vocal (and what turned out to be a guide piano). The guitar bass and drums are the only thing recorded live – the rest is overdubs. Bed tracks go down great, everything sounds good – no wasted time with this engineer, Ed Stone. Michael sets himself up with his fixins and every night when we’re out getting food, he’s on another search.

Day 6: Piano and Guitar overdubs. I went into the bed tracks assuming I’d by living with whatever I did so I took my solos then and there and when I could see time was pressing I just said we might as well just keep them. I did two overdubs, one solo and one chinky chink on a tune that isn’t going to be used. The solo guitar sound good (I think because I had the amp in the same room as me – whereas it was isolated during the recording of the bed tracks). Maybe I should have pushed for more time to do solos (first mistake). Carlos Del Junco comes to play on some tracks but he arrives late and has to leave early – he plays great and as usual if he plays it through one time without a boo-boo, they grab it. That evening Joe Mavety is scheduled to come and do some guitar parts, but I don’t hang around for that.

Day 6: earmarked for horns and vocals. The horns came in very well prepared, I gather. They probably stayed for 3 – 4 hours – then they were supposed to do some vocals.

Day 7: Boyfriends Night. Clint and Robbie are in the studio when I get there – a little subdued. And when it came time for them to sing they tried to do some interesting things but nothing worked out. In the end, to get some “hops” that were in tune they had to sample a good one and then Michael knelt on the floor tapping it in at all the other spots.

Day 12: We finished the album last night. I had dropped in a couple of times for the mixing and last night was the final sequencing – the tunes had been mixed down to DAT and they used Sound Tools to record all the songs onto the hard-drive (totaling 630 meg. As I listen to the final mixes, I start to think I should have been around for the mixing – asking for the guitar to be turned up. Then again. . . harp made an entrance and didn’t appear again for a long time but Michael pointed out that the harp was there after his entrance doing low stuff – but I still can’t hear it. Then I realized they were giving prominence to the harp but they weren’t just losing the guitar, they still had it wailing in the background, and it really wasn’t working with the harp. And there was the guitar pick-up just before the harp came in and it just made you expect a guitar solo – instead you get an even greater harp solo – but that’s the problem with Michael's theory of getting everybody to do a solo and picking the best one! So I lost out on a couple of solos, but we made a pretty good record and we did it with a tighter budget than most:

Rehearsal Studio 12 Hrs @ 17.00
Recording Studio Booked Time: 10 days @ 10 hrs (noon – 10 pm)
Recording Studio Additional Time: 2hrs/day
Organ Rental: $225
Two Rolls of @” tape @ $280.

And it occurs to me that I should have insisted on more than just the one overdub. But it took me six takes, I think. More than you’re allowed in the studio. In fact, if you’re stepping into the studio you better be ready to play something perfectly great on the first take – and that’s what most of these folks did. Carlos played harp and did great.

Two weeks later, Lorraine gave me a cassette of the final mixes, though not in the final order, and I was able to sit back and listen at home. The standout track for me was “It Would Be Easy” – the only tune where I overdubbed my guitar and the only take where I get close to the “tone” that I’m able to get on stage. And I figured out why: That overdub was the only time the amp was in the same room with me. The unique sound is created by the loop between the speaker and the pick-up and when they are isolated from each other, it’s just not the same.

A week after that I get a call from Fazier Mohawk praising my solo in “that ballad”. He said it was the most soulful thing on the album, but not in those words. Michael Fonfara had dropped by and played him the tape. That night I was at the Montreal Bistro listening to a singer from Montreal, Ranee Lee. She was a great performer and her husband/guitarist Richard Ring was incredible. He’s playing things I would never attempt and which I could never even figure out. Nothing like a little perspective. . . but when I sat down with Fay Olson and Don Vickery, I told Don about the experience and he reminded me that we can only do what we do and give what we have – and that’s what people (some people) will like about you.

King Sunny

Saw a film on King Sunny Ade on the previous Saturday and now had a chance to see him in person. It was a delight and when I saw all the gaily-dressed Nigerian women climbing up to the stage and sticking money to his sweaty brow I knew that was the African tradition of “Spraying” because I had seen it explained in the film “In Africa”, if you spray a musician enough times he will put your name in a song and then you will be highly thought of in your community.

Bobby "Blue" Bland

Drove way up North to see Bobby Blue Band and a new 1200 seat venue, the Jerk Pit North. Bobby was great – an exquisite show, but he does this weird “horking” sound all the time – I wonder if he did it once a long time ago and somebody said they liked it and he just kept doing it. Not a well attended show and he didn’t come on till midnight – I would have had time to see John MacLaughlan and Joey DeFranesco if I’d planned it better.

Mel Brown and Margie Evans

Margie Evans is playing the tent after a great set by Monteal’s Ranee Lee. I’m at the front and I see Mel Brown and a lady friend speaking to the ticket-taker and being directed to the back stage area. I saw my friend Alyson, who was the box-office manager, right there so I called out to Mel, and told Alyson to stamp him. She did, but later that night when I met up with her she was asking "what the hell??" and who was that guy I let in. As we watched, right after Margie’s second tune, she made a big deal about Mel being in the audience and had him up to do a couple of tunes with her. I guess they had worked a lot together in the past. In fact, he covered a lot of time for her and it may have been deliberate on her part because she did sound like she was having a little trouble with her voice. Meanwhile, I hope I have occasion to refresh Mel’s memory of me someday and tell him that when I got him into the show I didn’t expect he was going to take over the show.

DuMaurier Downtown Jazz

The du Maurier Ltd. Downtown Jazz Festival started today and the Blues Society All Stars played again. They did a great set in a huge tent that cost a lot more than anybody thought. Gatemouth Brown’s tour bus arrives at 8:00 p.m. with barely enough time for a sound check. I was standing close as he walked over to the food area from backstage and I tried to get his attention with a nice “Welcome to Toronto” smile but he did not look like he was in a good mood. I found out later from his driver that they had been caught in the middle of the only real violent activity in Quebec City’s slightly out of control Fete Nationale celebrations. A police car had been overturned in front of their motel and they were not allowed to return to their rooms until the police did their investigation – they finally got some townie to show them a back way into the motel. They were really freaked because, as it turned out, they had been trapped similarly during the LA riots and this seemed even more dangerous because it was a foreign country and all.

The Chicago Blues Festival

Here I am at the "mother" of all blues festivals, The Chicago Blues Festival (thanks to the generous encouragement of a wonderful lady called Rosemary). First night we signed up for the bus tour of South Side clubs which was sponsored by the Theresa Needham Foundation – she had been a great support to all the early bluesmen who arrived in Chicago in the fifties and now they wanted to convert her old club into some kind of social centre. Anyway, it was a great opportunity to see three clubs in one night (four, if you count Buddy Guy’s Legends where the tour started). The first club was called the Cuddle Inn and it will always occupy a special place in my heart because the style of guitar playing I heard there just made me realize that without even trying, I have developed a style which is closer to what I heard in those South Side clubs than what I hear from Toronto’s most accomplished blues guitarists. Interesting, considering my style evolved with hardly any influences – no blues record collection, no blues bands coming through town, and only one blues radio show on the French CBC. The singer at the Cuddle Inn was Johnny Laws which I would never have remembered if it hadn’t been painted on his old Cadillac convertible parked right in front of the club. Back in Toronto, I was trying to tell someone about the singer and couldn’t remember his name but the person I was talking to said right away “Was it Johnny Laws?” because he’s been playing that room for years. He was terrific – the way he worked the crowd – but as I saw over the next few days, that’s standard issue for a blues act. You say “how about the band!!! Give it up for the band. . .” then the band says “Let’s hear it for . . . whoever” and pretty soon they have the audience applauding themselves. The Cuddle Inn was really a hole in the wall and yet very big on premiums and merchandise – they hade these special foam holders for beer cans with their logo on it. Everybody got a bumper sticker. We got back on this old schoolbus with quite a cross section of blues devotees (including an entire Italian blues band); and went off to a couple of other rooms, the Celebrity Lounge and the Checkerboard, both similar establishments with similar shows. Each club synchronized their show with the bus arrivals and departures so that the minute we all got seated it was Showtime and they brought out all their special guests and put on a great show for us. We traveled to clubs on the North Side and the West Side as well.

I wanted to go to B.L.U.E.S. to see Jimmy Johnson because I had been playing a song of his for years. As we drove up, John Valenteyn said there he is – and he was standing outside the club on his break. We spoke to him and I asked if I could make a request. He said sure and I asked for “Strange How I Miss You”. This is a song I performed for years without knowing who wrote and/or sang it. But Jimmy doesn’t even remember right away. Then he turns to the drummer and says “. . . when I haven’t even lost you yet”. Jimmy says "naw, we don't do that anymore" but during his set he played a tune with exactly the same chord changes…only different lyrics and melody.

Then we got in a cab to come back to the hotel and the cab driver asked if we were in town for the bluesfest and told us not to miss Vernon Garett who was on the next day.

The last night we went to a club that was very different that the others and we saw Aaron Burton, Albert Collins’ old bass player backing up a guitarist called Jack Johnson. He had a very powerful style of guitar.

Associate Editor!

I have raised my profile in music Desktop publishing. I am now the Associate Editor of the TBS Newsletter and Barb McCullough made sure to put my name in the jazz festival program. These things do get noticed as I am becoming more aware.

We're going to make a records

Chicago’s: Our new record producer Fred Xavier came by and was to bring Andy Hermant but it was the long week-end and Andy went away – there hasn’t been any further discussion about him co-producing. Blue Willow getting some play and now they are talking about doing a full CD in August (contingent on a Factor Grant) – When I saw the song list, I mentioned that “Dump That Lump” should be considered (I knew that I would not be doing any vocals. . .) but Dawn said “That’ll be on the next album”.

Don't Forget Your Mother

Mother’s Day came and went and I still never got a chance to perform “Don’t Forget Your Mother”. My last thought was to go sing it in the People’s Corner both at City-TV.

On the road with Blue Willow

First attempt at a road trip – we went to Port Coburn. Club loved us and it’s amazing how much better you are treated the minute you go out of town. We followed the Sidemen.

Media Launch

Media launch for the Jazz Festival – missed the whole deal but got there in time to have some salmon and meet some of the guys from Eye.

meeting Brian Cober

The Grover Exchange with Blue Willow. Had a great night – Brian Cober of the Nationals sat in with his unique double-slide style. Colin. . . introduced himself and invited me to come by his regular Sunday Jam at Grossman’s

Canadian Music Week

Canadian Music Week. It came and went and I wasn’t there. No great loss, these things do come around again – I was at a TBS board meeting with Richard Flohil (when I called him Dick on the phone he was quick to retort “I’m Richard – I haven’t been Dick for years” – I guess I dated myself). Anyway I mentioned that I thought I might be entitled to some media accreditation but he said “It’s a bit late for that!” In fact, it was the last day or so. Next year. Every time I see Neill Dixon, the pres of Canadian Music Week I can only remember him as a coffee-house owner, a sweet guy who seems to have become a little hardened (shellacked?) by the music industry. The Juno’s took place without me. I couldn’t even attend the special showcase for the blues nominees – it’s the first time blues has been a category, and I designed the print ad and poster that was part of the advertising campaign that announced “Canada’s Got The Blues”. Met Kathleen Miller at the Record offices and mentioned that I knew her boyfriend Cash. The first thing she says to me is “Yes, we live together. I went out with him when he was in Downchild and he dumped me. Now I make him suffer – You ask him! Just ask him!”

Southern Comfort New Talent Search: Unbeknownst to me, Steve Jones sent in the tape we made in my living room – it was pretty rough and I'm sure the judges were under whelmed.

At Southern Comfort, I didn’t get to the media party after the Etta James show (neither did Etta) but Peter Donato came up to me afterwards saying “Where were you – I had an invitation for you. . .”

Canadian Music Week. It came and went and I wasn’t there. No great loss, these things do come around again – I was at a TBS board meeting with Richard Flohil (when I called him Dick on the phone he was quick to retort “I’m Richard – I haven’t been Dick for years” – I guess I dated myself). Anyway I mentioned that I thought I might be entitled to some media accreditation but he said “It’s a bit late for that!” In fact, it was the last day or so. Next year. Every time I see Neill Dixon, the pres of Canadian Music Week I can only remember him as a coffee-house owner, a sweet guy who seems to have become a little hardened (shellacked?) by the music industry. The Juno’s took place without me. I couldn’t even attend the special showcase for the blues nominees – it’s the first time blues has been a category, and I designed the print ad and poster that was part of the advertising campaign that announced “Canada’s Got The Blues”. Met Kathleen Miller at the Record offices and mentioned that I knew her boyfriend Cash. The first thing she says to me is “Yes, we live together. I went out with him when he was in Downchild and he dumped me. Now I make him suffer – You ask him! Just ask him!”

Unbeknownst to me, Steve Jones sent in the tape we made in my living room as a submission to the Southern Comfort New Talent Search – it was pretty rough and I'm sure the judges were under whelmed.
Never made it to the media party after the Etta James show (neither did Etta, apparently) but Peter Donato came up to me afterwards saying “Where were you – I had an invitation for you. . .”

the part-time (barely)managing editor in action

Called up Sandra Tooze to write the lead article for Blues Newsletter – I would never have considered calling her because she quit as editor of the Blues Newsletter after only one month. But she’s going to do it – and she has a great interview with John Hammond talking about Muddy Waters' music and some great recollections about Muddy’s funeral.

Benefit for Care Foundation

The Black Swan. What a treat – Blue Willow played with a couple of other bands at this benefit – and harp player Jerome Godboo sat in for the entire set. He picked up on a lot of subtleties in my playing and reflected them on the harp. For a guy that looks and moves like Jim Morrison (it was his claim to fame), he sure is a sensitive musician. I heard he was doing solo projects but when I asked what side-things he was doing he said “I only have one project – The Phantoms”. In the washroom someone complimented me from the urinal – I looked over and it was the wunderkind guitarist for the Sidemen – I said “Kyle??? – I’m looking forward to hearing you, too.” He was very friendly and I mentioned “I was just talking to your manager.” He said “RJ?” That didn’t sound like the name I remember – after tossing around a few other names, he finally found one I recognized.

O.P. in the audience

Montreal Bistro. Finally got to see Doug Riley – one of the pioneers of the jingle scene in Toronto – successor to Ben McPeek and then a rock star of sorts (Dr. Music). So he’s about to get on for the first set at the Montreal Bistro and who walks in (slowly) and is placed at the only table in front of the stage. Oscar Peterson, looking a little frail, sat with his back to the musicians but always clapped and looked over his shoulder to nod approval – in particular to guitar wizard Ted Quinlan. Phil Dwyer, the sax player said to his boys “Have a nice set, boys” when he saw Peterson. And they did. But the opening number, “The Lady Is A Tramp”, did start off slightly rocky.

Quote of the Night: Fay Olson leaned over to me in the Bistro holding up a snifter and said “I’ve made a resolution. From now on after every 10 glasses of white wine I’m going to have a double Grand Marnier”.

The P-90

The Grover Exchange. My band was already onstage, and I was racing up the stairs of the Grover Exchange through the crowd when a young guy right behind me says “Hey what kind of pickups you got on that thing?” I only had time to utter one word “Soapbar”. That said volumes, even if he didn’t know what a soapbar was, any music store guy will tell him it’s a Gibson P-90, the noisiest and most aggressive pick-up in the world. They’ve tried to recreate that sound – they even have one that looks the same but quieter (the P-100) but it doesn’t do it for me. I’ve started a search for the perfect pick-up – and I know what I want; I want a whisper quiet soapbar that fits in my Strat without cutting holes in it’s vintage pickguard.

Ultrasound. Saw Penny Lang at a CD-release party at Ultrasound. This was a turning point because it was the first time anyone ever went out of their way to invite me. Usually I’m slipping in to these things but this time Heidi Flemming, Penny’s manager called and faxed and I was there. Penny sounded great but the back of the room was pretty noisy with all the industry types chatting away. That was from five to seven - I hope she got a decent crowd for the evening show.

A Close Call

Well this year started of with a pretty hairy experience. Driving back to my house on New Year’s Day I saw a guy walking down Gerrard Street just a few doors from my place and he was carrying my guitars!!! Both cases are quite unique and there could be no doubt. We jumped the guy and he threw the guitars on the road and took off like a bat out of hell. I was just happy to get them back, but I have since installed a bolt on the back door.

Toronto Blues Society Fundraiser

The Horseshoe Tavern. The TBS had a fundraiser to help pay for the computer that I’ll be using to make the newsletter (and other exciting projects, I expect). Lorraine volunteered Blue Willow’s services and we opened the show for Jackson Delta, Jack de Keyzer and Downchild. I believe it was the first time that some of my fellow Blues Society folks had seen me play, and I think they were pleasantly surprised.

Souhern Comfort Blues Festival

The Second Annual Southern Comfort Blues Festival. Unfortunately, the organizers chose the same week-end as the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival so by the time they started booking talent, just about every touring blues act was booked at the New Orleans festival. The booking was to be handled by MCA and then it wasn’t and finally Dick Flohil stepped in and helped out but the line-up was a very “inside” group of performers. The headliner was Booker T. and the MG’s and there was a concert featuring David Lindley and the Holmes Brothers. I managed to wrangle a “Roadhouse” pass from organizer Peter Donato which allowed me admission to all the club venues and I wanted to get over to see H-Bomb Ferguson who had a reputation for being a very rude blues man. There was even a story circulating that he was known to play the keyboard with his “vital organ” He didn’t do that at the show we saw, but he was pretty outrageous. It seems he saw Rick James performing years ago with a fluorescent wig and he’s taken up the “look”. He was pretty funny, but the jokes about pimping for his grandma wore thin. The music was solid, with a Mick Taylor look-alike guitar player. The show was opened by a local bluesman called “B. V.” something, a real original – he played an old Gibson semi-hollow with a very raw sound (and carried it around wrapped in a blanket held together with an old belt). Funky. And for those band-mates of mine that complain because I don’t have my endings worked out, this guy did a set where every single tune finished with a train wreck. It got a little tiring, but JV, who was sitting with me thought it was just part of the Garage-grunge blues sound he was putting out. Dave “Daddy Cool” Booth probably didn’t agree; he left after the first tune. Southern Comfort didn’t have the same magic this year. The weather certainly wasn’t with them – the opening concert at Nathan Phillips Square was snowed out. Anyway, they made the best of it. David Lindley was great but the stars of the festival were Booker T and The MG’s. They played a great set which kicked off with “Green Onions” – as the lights came up, we saw the silhouette of a buxom ‘hullabaloo’ go-go dancer and it really fit the mood. She had to be carried off the stage by a roadie and it was only then that we realized she wasn’t part of the show. She climbed back up later when Eddie Floyd was singing “Knock on Wood” and Eddie didn’t mind at all. Throughout the evening there was a grand piano set up and waiting for the “surprise” appearance of Van Morrison who had played earlier that evening at Maple Leaf Gardens. As it turned out, Van had gone to the Montreal Bistro to hear Jay McShann who was playing with my new boss, Jazz Festival Artistic Director, Jim Galloway. I have joined the full-time staff at the Jazz Festival office as ‘office administrator’ in addition to my role as Managing Editor of the LeadSheet. It was a grueling schedule but a great bunch of folks to work with and I did get to meet a few jazz musicians.

More Jam Sessions

The Black Swan. It was nice to walk into a place and know a few people – and now I’m starting to be introduced to a few more. This time I was invited to jam (even though it’s a bit of an all-star jam) the guests were Carlos Del Junco and Gordie Johnson – the latter is bound to be a big star. He has got more talent than any one person could ever be born with. Anyway, they found a guitar for me (I don’t bring my guitar to these jams – I'm happy just to listen) but this time I played and as usual, it was less than ideal – but I had fun anyway. The guitar was plugged into some little stomp box and I didn’t even realize so there was this weird echo for the first couple of songs. I couldn’t begin to list the credentials of all the players – the bass was some kind of local legend and the piano player, John Cleveland Hughes, had been working with B.B. King.

Playing with Gene Taylor

Blue Willow got a return engagement at The Ploughman but I had to sub for them because Dawn had a family emergency. This time I called Mike Fitzpatrick and he suggested Clint or Gary Kendall but when I said it would be nice to have a piano – he suggested Gene Taylor. I said “Whey not start at the top?” and sure enough, we got him. What an evening. He gets a little surly towards the end of the night, but we had some great moments. Gene had used up both his and my complimentary beer tickets by the second set and spent a good chunk of his pay running up a tab for the rest of the evening. I've heard that at Fabulous Thunderbird gigs there was a rider in the contract for a cooler of beer to be placed next to the piano.

“Some Drinkin’ Song" was great and Gene carried most of the show. I asked him if he knew Chicken Cordon Blues by Steve Goodman and he said “No, I never heard of no Steve Goodman. Benny Goodman! And I know everything Jimmy Reed ever wrote”. We stepped out for the last set, and I must have been in a pretty “improvisational” mood because as he sang a tune about a “mean mistreater” I was reminded of a similar tune I used to do and when he signaled me for a guitar break I just started singing my song. I told him how sorry I was, that I didn’t know what got into me but he didn’t mind – he said “You were on it, man. You had it”. As the third set ended there was a table right in front that were really getting into the music – they were really blown away that they just walked into this bar and heard such a phenomenal blues piano player. I start saying “Well, stick around for the next set and you’ll hear more of the same” – I saw Gene sort of waving but I kept up the rapport with this couple at the table, taking there requests for the next set, not noticing the dirty looks from Gene. Finally the girl behind the bar rings this huge bell and shouts out “Last Call!” I’m thinking “Last call, already???” then I look over at Gene and he’s saying “It’s Over, Man. That’s it!” I guess I could have played all night. This is what I have to strive for – more playing situations like this one. This one was positively blissful.

Jay McShann

Montreal Bistro. Saw Jay McShann, the Kansas City piano pioneer – now in his 70’s playing in the Montreal Bistro with Jim Galloway and bassist Neil Swainson. Jay would be playing along and right in the middle of something he would just stop and listen to the bass – and the bass always found something interesting to say. At one point, a small sheet of music kept flying off as he played some barrelhouse boogie woogie and he would always catch it with his left hand and you never heard the slightest difference because he incorporated the lack of a left hand into what he was playing on his right hand so transparently and instinctively – it all seemed like part of the song – one time the sheet just wouldn’t stay put so he had to replace it two or three times and did it with a slightly comedic effect (although it was more like he saw the humour in the whole thing but he wasn’t about to let on). I was standing at the back of the club talking to Rosemary Galloway and he came up and said hello to her – she knew to talk loud into his left ear.

Dance Hall Girls

The Black Swan. Dropped in to the Wednesday Night Jam after catching an early set of Michael Katz at a yuppie bar with a ceiling covered with stained glass lamps. They were hanging so close together that they had to be staggered so they wouldn’t knock each other. Imagine sitting there and listening to some stranger singing “Dance Hall Girls”. I can remember the day I came home from work and Allan played me the song “Look what I just wrote” and when was that? 1968? Anyway, they played the song on Gzowski and Allan got two calls to turn it on. Now I’ve got a tape to send him because the song is on Katz’s independent cassette (which he kept trying to sell me – he says it cost him $25,000 – but he finally gave me one to send to Allan. I just listened – he’s got “If I Were a Carpenter” on there too. Folk music lives. While in that club I approached John Punter, a producer friend of Michael’s who lived in England and produced Roxy Music and others. I mentioned that I knew this organization called Operation Go Home that helps runaways get back home – and that I had a perfect song that could be recorded by the group we had heard the week before at the Horseshoe – they were called “The Blame” and I’m sure they could cover my tune “Runaway”. So I’ve got to get him a tape.

The Ultrasound

Ultrasound was a real showcase room on Queen Street West. It was owned by the group that included Marcus O'Hara and Dan Aykroyd. Sandra Tooze took some time out from working on her biography of Muddy Waters to take me out to see Chris Duarte, the next “Stevie Ray” direct from Austin, Texas. He was a great guitar player, but somehow there was something missing. I guess his original material wasn’t strong enough – but he might just end up being the next “Jimi”. He sure had the girls swooning.

The Zydeco

Another choice gig at a happening venue, and once again I sensed the presence of lots of guitar players. Teddy Leonard, my favorite, was having dinner with friends and was there most of the night (I saw him at Chicago’s a week later and he did mention that he enjoyed the music). Before the last set I stepped out for a little air, and came back to enjoy the set doubly. Driving home with Dawn, she mentioned that she had fun on the last set – I said I really had fun and she knew why but she wasn’t critical except to say that some of the songs got counted in fast. The next night, we did the same thing and I attempted to do “Girlfriend Blues” at about twice the speed I normally had – In fact, I completely changed the arrangement. Lorraine was still trying to fit in a lick that would never work at that speed and at the end of the night she confronted me and said she didn’t “appreciate what I had done” and that the whole last set was a “train wreck”. She even thought the previous night was bad, but she didn’t say anything. I told her she should have said something then. And I said if my performance was going to suffer, I wouldn’t do it any more.

Albert’s Hall

This was a great way to start the New Year. A gig at Albert’s “It’s not a bar, it’s a legend” Hall. It was the first time we’ve played five nights in a row and you would think that I would just keep getting better but I realized, especially after hearing the tapes, that I was getting a little stale. Still, if you play it with conviction and don’t get sloppy, you’re the only one that knows it’s stale. The first couple of nights there were lots of musicians in the crowd – slightly intimidating. Then on the first night I broke two strings in the first set. There was a columnist from the Sun at the gig and she took some pictures and interviewed Dawn and Lorraine. When the picture appeared in the Saturday Star, it was of Dawn alone and she was disappointed that Lorraine didn’t appear in the picture or get mentioned in the article. When I saw the reporter a week later she said she couldn’t get a decent picture of Lorraine (she was in the dark) but that she had almost used a picture of me. I said it’s a very good thing that she didn’t.

Pastificio’s

Dawn is still not back, so Lorraine and I got Mark “Bird” Stafford to sit in, and he did a great job too. This is the same room I had played the day the Blue Jays won their pennant and the streets were packed with people (the club wasn’t, though). This time it was packed, they are next door to Phantom of the Opera so they get the crowd as they leave the theatre.

El Mocombo

Benefit for Sick Kids organized by Dave Glover of Sizzling Productions (he produces instructional guitar videos). This was not what you would call running smooth. First of all it was poorly attended. The Casby Awards were the same night, but that’s not exactly the blues crowd. Anyway, I went to check out some of the local blues guitarists that I hadn’t heard yet. Tony D. was set to open the show (which was set to start at 8 p.m.). At 9:30 Tony D. walks on stage. We get ready for some music. Then Tony D. gets his coat from behind the amp, puts it on, and leaves the stage. The club was not full, but there were a lot of people who had been waiting a long time. Ten minutes later he appears with his guitar, plugs in, sets up – then leaves the stage. Finally, he takes the stage and his female bassist/singer launches into some rocking (sizzling) blues. Donny Walsh of Downchild sat in and sang a song that should have been called “How many times can I sing ‘been so long’”? All the sizzling guitar playing seemed to melt together at a certain point and by the time Jack deKeyzer took the stage, I had reached telecaster overdose. I was glad to stick it out to the end of deKeyzer’s set because it was something to see him blaze through his finale undeterred by not one but two broken strings.

The Ploughman

Last night Dawn got a call that her father had a heart attack and she raced back to Quebec in the middle of the night. Lorraine called me at 3 a.m. to tell me that we’d have to find a sub for our gig the next night. After going through a lot of options, it finally occurred to me that I needed the money and I had some sort of priority. Lorraine didn’t want to do it because she was still sick with the flu, but I volunteered that I could do it with Steve, the piano player I used at Chicago’s. I told Rosemary, the agent, that I could do it with Steve but he bowed out (didn’t want to move his piano, he had a dinner planned with his girlfriend). She was a little miffed when I called her back to say I wouldn’t be doing it, but then she called in another group – but they couldn’t find the drummer and the leader of that group said he’d do it with me as a duo. We actually met at the stage and did a first set which was fine through on song before I realized I was reading the wrong chart – and at about that moment he launched into a single string solo leaving me to play the chords, which I had not figured out at all. Then I couldn’t pronounce his name, Peter Ochipinti (“Just Peter” he finally said). He had a huge repertoire and the only request he didn’t fill was “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.

Robert Cray at Massey Hall

Massey Hall. Just when you thought nothing new could be done with an electric guitar, along comes Sonny Landreth, a young guitar wizard from Louisiana whose style involves weird tunings, hammering on both sides of his slide and a barrage of effects that provide a sound that is bordering on feedback but always perfectly in control. He opened for Robert Cray at Massey Hall on October 14th providing a stark contrast with Cray’s studied sweet sound. A couple of days later, Tom Principato was in town playing the highest notes you’ll ever hear at the Horseshoe. He follows in the footsteps of fellow D.C.-area guitar players Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton as heir-apparent to the title ‘world’s greatest unknown guitarist’, partly because of his association with Gatton (they recorded an album called “Blazing Telecasters” together). The real surprise for those lucky enough to catch Daisy DeBolt at the Free Times Café, was her guitarist Fred Guignon, a lanky Lyle Lovett lookalike with a sense of dynamics that matches her soaring vocals. He is a mainstay of the Ottawa Music scene and one of the most inventive guitarists to come out of that part of the country. It was a great week for guitar groupies, four days in a row of fine blues guitar. Sonny Landreth has carved his place in guitar history by finding yet another entirely new way to play the electric guitar.

I last saw Cray at Ontario Place on a night when he was breaking strings, out of tune and not having a good time. Well this time he still seemed to be a little out of sorts, although he wasn’t having a technical problems. He seemed to resent people shouting requests and when one fan rushed up between songs and laid out a T-Shirt on the stage in front of him, he just scooped it out of the way without acknowledgement. Cray must worry that his songs are starting to sound the same (the lyrics all seem to be telling a variation on the same story) because he is going out of his way to create chords and voicing which sound very different and occasionally right over the edge. His guitar sound was not processed much except for a cluster of vintage Fender black-face amps. The most inventive of the lot was probably Ottawa guitarist Fred Guigon. He used his basic set-up (compressor-to-distortion-to-delays-to-chorus-wah-volume pedal) to create dynamics that accented Daisy’s soaring vocals. On Sunday, Tom Principato was appearing for a free show at the Horseshoe on World Series Sunday Night. His playing isn’t at all like Gatton, using lots of sustain and he seems quite comfortable when the sound is bordering on feedback. Despite a small crowd, he played some screaming guitar and had a sound and a style of his own.