Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Friday, June 24, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Friday, June 17, 2016
2 amazing sets @NXNE tonight. King Khan was phenomenal but then I walked into @stateofSATE - fuckingonemal!
via Instagram @brianblain
NXNE has re-invented itself and kicked off with a conference on virtual reality and gaming (apparently that's the next big thing :-) It started with a speech from Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Steve Jobs' first boss (yes, he's the guy who turned down a one-third ownership of Apple for $50.000.) Had a disappointing first experience with virtual reality. Uncomfortable headset and glitchy software - they blamed it on a poor wi-fi signal but not ready for prime time. It is one the market, but still needs a high-power desktop computer optimized for gaming. It will trickle down like everything else technological. My friend Jordan was telling me about yet another VR conference taking place this week-end and he is pumped about this technology. I will wait and see.
Musically I didn't see anything till thurs and I was having a hard time getting out of the house. I really wanted to see King Khan - I remember lots of people raved about him and it was quite fabulous. Big band with lots of horns and guitars and lots of energy. The horseshoe was packed solid. If I had made my way to the front before they started I never would have got there.
On my way to king khan, I got a taste of a group that my friend Barbara always loved (and I don't think it's just because of the name - they're called "Run with the kittens." Also heard a bit of two solo elctro-crooners. Singing along with tracks they produced - lots loft elaborate hand gestures. No attempt to "electronify" the vocals - it's like they wanted to be Michael Bublé. Another hybrid - closer to karaoke than electronica.
Then, making my way back to the car I stop in at the Bovine and hear Sate (I think she pronounced it "saight") and was totally knocked out. I knew Saida Baba Talibah had a great voice but she is killin it with this new band. They started out with some sounds that were kinda "progressive" - chords I never heard - but then slipped into a hyper R 'n B groove that really raised the roof. I'll never forget driving here mama (the legendary Salome Bey) to a rehearsal for the Women's Blues Revue. Poor Salome, she was just starting to exhibit the symptoms of alzheimers and now according to her daughter is deep in dementia. So sad.
Now heading off to a Dan Mangan showcase at Sugar Beach. I always liked what he was doing.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
@holyholybowie wrapped up #cmw2016. @TonyVisconti interview inspired many
via Instagram @brianblain
Seen and (over)heard at Canadian Music Week: The last show I saw at CMW was Holy
Holy at the Phoenix. They played David Bowie's album ‘The Man Who Sold the
World’ live in it’s entirety but this was not just a tribute act. The band is led by Tony Visconti, Bowie's
long time producer and collaborator who also gave a keynote address at the
conference and by all accounts was the most inspirational speaker at CMW.
It was an intense week of walking, talking and listening to
great music. By "great
music," I mean it was all played
great, flawless, for the most part but usually quite "generic." But as I repeatedly encountered the mantra of
CMW that great music was being lost in the tsunami of not-so-great music, I now
find myself sifting through the tsunami of great (ie greatly-played) music
trying to find some artists who were doing something original and innovative.
There was one very charismatic singer who I would say was my "discovery of
the week." I just spent a couple of hours trying to backtrack when I saw
them and now I tracked them down It is Taylor Perkins and the band is called
Bleeker. Watch out for them.
Sam Cash is a real up-and-comer with 3 albums to his
credit. I still think of him as a little
kid running up and down the street when his dad Andrew was my neighbour on Woodfield
Road. Sam put on a great set and ties
with Bleeker as my "Discovery of the Week" at CMW. Great signage and excellent tunage – and he
was the only bandleader I saw who introduced his band.
Another highlight for me was meeting recording pioneer Eddie
Kramer (best known for his recordings of Hendrix and the Doors). He also gave a keynote address but I missed
that one also (why do they have to be so early in the morning?). We had a nice chat about the studio he's
building on the second floor of the legendary El Mocambo.
I also attended the presentations of several tech start-ups
and I think the fellow that won the 10k prize (notetracks.com) will be able to
help with my new electronica project, Stringbuster. Another new collaboration website for musicians
(musicmelter.com) was being launched and they had a booth. I took a minute to sign up on the spot except
when I entered my age the program said "you cannot enter a number over
60." I said to the developer,
"I think I found a bug"…and he was quite mortified to discover that
his programmer probably didn't expect any of their users to be over 60. Anyway, they fixed it right away.
Had some great seafood at the Music Nova Scotia showcase and
got the last sausage at the Aussie BBQ where I heard an Australian who had been
a rock star in the 60s but had now morphed into an old white bluesman (I can
relate). His name is Russell Morris – thanks for the tip, Kerry! Blues was hard to find at CMW even though
they had initially expressed some interest in doing a blues event. Still, a lot of bands put "blues"
as one of their genres on the website even though they are not remotely blues.
Speaking of the website, it left a lot to be desired and the mobile app was even
more lackluster (the app did not use the "genre" feature at all and
when you clicked on a venue name all you got was a map – when should display a
list of who's playing). Even the first
website I made for the jazz festival (way back when websites were nothing but
text and links) would do that!
Another highlight was the party at the Google offices across
the street. They put out a great spread
and had some top bands playing (they cleared out an area as big as any club
with full sound & lights. The band playing when I was there was Alberta
Cross – I think it's the first time anybody tried combining trumpet and pedal
steel. Maybe the last.
And after hearing a lot of muddy bass everywhere I went, I
had to compliment the soundman at the Horseshoe for having a nice tight bass
sound. Next time I play the Shoe I will
ask for Adam
The conference had lots on streaming and social media – more
than I could absorb. But the big buzz
was about Facebook Live, which means we have finally arrived at that dream
world (some would say nightmare) where everyone can have their own TV
station. I'm in!
Nobody was handing out CDs like the old days – one band was
selling their album on a USB stick and DineAlone Records, one of the hot new
labels, was handing out their compilation on cassette. Go figure!
Other stuff overheard at CMW
"Festivals are coming to the end of their
"boon" cycle"
"If you can't bring festivals to gaming, bring gaming
to festivals"
"Artist fees for festivals have quadrupled in the last
5 years" (Eric Hoffman, Live Nation)
"Our label genre is anything around 173 BPM"
"The fire department wanted to evacuate the hotel but
those people at that conference were not budging" (security guard after the fire alarm went off
on Friday afternoon)
"When somebody follows you, you should do them the
courtesy of following back"
via Instagram @brianblain
Cécile Doo-Kingué @cdkmusik nod to #prince and #bowie @lulalounge@lulaworld festival launch @TObluessociety
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Friday, May 13, 2016
Seen and (over)heard at Canadian Music Week
 |
| Talking vintage studio gear with recording pioneer Eddie Kramer (Hendrix, Doors, etc) and El Mocambo archivist Greg Godovitz |
Working my way back, the last show I saw at CMW was Holy
Holy at the Phoenix. They played David Bowie's album ‘The Man Who Sold the
World’ live in it’s entirety but this was not just a tribute act. The band is led by Tony Visconti, Bowie's
long time producer and collaborator who also gave a keynote address at the
conference and by all accounts was the most inspirational speaker at CMW.
It was an intense week of walking, talking and listening to
great music. By "great
music," I mean it was all played
great, flawless, for the most part but usually quite "generic." But as I repeatedly encountered the mantra of
CMW that great music was being lost in the tsunami of not-so-great music, I now
find myself sifting through the tsunami of great (ie greatly-played) music
trying to find some artists who were doing something original and innovative.
There was one very charismatic singer who I would say was my "discovery of
the week." I just spent a couple of hours trying to backtrack when I saw
them and now I tracked them down It is Taylor Perkins and the band is called
Bleeker. Watch out for them.
Another highlight for me was meeting recording pioneer Eddie
Kramer (best known for his recordings of Hendrix and the Doors). He also gave a keynote address but I missed
that one also (why do they have to be so early in the morning?). We had a nice chat about the studio he's
building on the second floor of the legendary El Mocambo.
I also attended the presentations of several tech start-ups
and I think the fellow that won the 10k prize (notetracks.com) will be able to
help with my new electronica project, Stringbuster. Another new collaboration website for
musicians (musicmelter.com) was being launched and they had a booth. I took a minute to sign up on the spot except
when I entered my age the program said "you cannot enter a number over 60." I said to the developer, "I think I
found a bug"…and he was quite mortified to discover that his programmer
probably didn't expect any of their users to be over 60. Anyway, they fixed it right away.
Had some great seafood at the Music Nova Scotia showcase and
got the last sausage at the Aussie BBQ where I heard an Australian who had been
a rock star in the 60s but had now morphed into an old white bluesman (I can
relate). His name is Russell Morris – thanks for the tip, Kerry! Blues was hard to find at CMW even though
they had initially expressed some interest in doing a blues event. Still, a lot of bands put "blues"
as one of their genres on the website even though they are not remotely blues.
Speaking of the website, it left a lot to be desired and the mobile app was
even more lackluster (the app did not use the "genre" feature at all
and when you clicked on a venue name all you got was a map – when should
display a list of who's playing). Even
the first website I made for the jazz festival (way back when websites were
nothing but text and links) would do that!
Another highlight was the party at the Google offices across
the street. They put out a great spread
and had some top bands playing (they cleared out an area as big as any club
with full sound & lights. The band playing when I was there was Alberta
Cross – I think it's the first time anybody tried combining trumpet and pedal
steel. Maybe the last.
And after hearing a lot of muddy bass everywhere I went, I
had to compliment the soundman at the Horseshoe for having a nice tight bass
sound. Next time I play the Shoe I will
ask for Adam
The conference had lots on streaming and social media – more
than I could absorb. But the big buzz
was about Facebook Live, which means we have finally arrived at that dream
world (some would say nightmare) where everyone can have their own TV
station. I'm in!
Nobody was handing out CDs like the old days – one band was
selling their album on a USB stick and DineAlone Records, one of the hot new
labels, was handing out their compilation on cassette. Go figure!
Other stuff overheard at CMW
"Festivals are coming to the end of their 'boom' cycle"
""If you can't bring festivals to gaming, bring
gaming to festivals"
"Artist fees for festivals have quadrupled in the last
5 years" (Eric Hoffman, Live Nation)
"Labels don't sign artists, they sign fan bases"
"Our label genre is anything around 173 BPM"
"Our label genre is anything around 173 BPM"
"The fire department wanted to evacuate the hotel but
those people at that conference were not budging" (security guard after the fire alarm went off
on Friday afternoon)
"When somebody follows you, you should do them the
courtesy of following back"
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Friday, May 6, 2016
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Monday, May 2, 2016
Saturday, April 30, 2016
To Barrie with Larry (and other gigs & news)
I've been getting a little lazy with these Blainletters but I'm sure that some of you out there are fine with shorter and less frequent...
Of course there's some gigs to promote up front. Once I wrap this up I'll loading up for a gig in Barrie with Larry Kurtz. Details below along with info on other upcoming gigs.
Sat Apr 30
Bull and Barrel, 75 Cedar Pointe Drive
Barrie, ON, CA | 8:00pm
Sun May 8
The Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Avenue
Toronto, ON, CA | 5:00pm
Celebrating Mother's Day with Max Layton and Robert Priest
Fri Jun 3 12:00pm
TD Bank
Orangeville, ON, CA |
Busking in the Bank w/Larry Kurtz
Fri Jun 3 8:00pm
Orangeville Blues and J…
Orangeville, ON, CA |
guesting on main stage with Larry and the Lawbreakers
Sat Jun 4 2:00pm
Aardvark Boutique Audio
Orangeville, ON, CA |
part of Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival
Sat Jun 4 2016 6:00p
Steakhouse 63
Orangeville, ON, CA
I had some plans for another Motherless Day Blues Concert but Max invited me to sit in at his monthly residency at the Tranzac and that seemed a lot easier to manage for this semi-retired, part-time, barely-managing...But next Mother's Day I'm going to make a special event and invite a lot of my favourite musicians to play with. I've been doing something special on Mothers' Day week-end for the last 12 years and if there's anybody reading this who doesn't know why it's throwback to the song that provided my "fifteen minutes" way back in the 70's. There are lots of stories surrounding the recording of that song, record company horror stories, illicit bi-coastal love affairs, drugs, loss, betrayal and even murder. I'll save that for the gig but if you want to hear "Don't Forget Your Mother" click here.
The rest of the gigs are part of Orangeville Blues & Jazz, the perfect little blues festival which never fails to introduce me to some great artists (and maybe my music gets introduced to some new folks, too!)
On The Radio
People are always telling me I have a good radio voice so I got work it a bit this month guesting on Catwoman's funda-raising show on CIUT then an hour-long spot on Steve Fruitman's show with Allan Fraser previewing the just-released double LP of Fraser & DeBolt on Roaratorio Records in the US. You can hear the archived show here: http://www.backtothesugarcamp.com/campstreams.html#121
TheStringbuster.com
My electronica alter-ego now has a website. There's not much there except for a few tracks of me jamming in the basement (some with Joel) but it's an HTML5 template so it was quite straightforward to put together, a flashback to my days as an HTML code-warrior. I should have cleaned it up before announcing it like this but it was that or get this Blainletter out before I head to Barrie. Ignore the greek text. We're all friends here, eh?
Of course there's some gigs to promote up front. Once I wrap this up I'll loading up for a gig in Barrie with Larry Kurtz. Details below along with info on other upcoming gigs.
Sat Apr 30
Bull and Barrel, 75 Cedar Pointe Drive
Barrie, ON, CA | 8:00pm
Sun May 8
The Tranzac Club, 292 Brunswick Avenue
Toronto, ON, CA | 5:00pm
Celebrating Mother's Day with Max Layton and Robert Priest
Fri Jun 3 12:00pm
TD Bank
Orangeville, ON, CA |
Busking in the Bank w/Larry Kurtz
Fri Jun 3 8:00pm
Orangeville Blues and J…
Orangeville, ON, CA |
guesting on main stage with Larry and the Lawbreakers
Sat Jun 4 2:00pm
Aardvark Boutique Audio
Orangeville, ON, CA |
part of Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival
Sat Jun 4 2016 6:00p
Steakhouse 63
Orangeville, ON, CA
I had some plans for another Motherless Day Blues Concert but Max invited me to sit in at his monthly residency at the Tranzac and that seemed a lot easier to manage for this semi-retired, part-time, barely-managing...But next Mother's Day I'm going to make a special event and invite a lot of my favourite musicians to play with. I've been doing something special on Mothers' Day week-end for the last 12 years and if there's anybody reading this who doesn't know why it's throwback to the song that provided my "fifteen minutes" way back in the 70's. There are lots of stories surrounding the recording of that song, record company horror stories, illicit bi-coastal love affairs, drugs, loss, betrayal and even murder. I'll save that for the gig but if you want to hear "Don't Forget Your Mother" click here.
The rest of the gigs are part of Orangeville Blues & Jazz, the perfect little blues festival which never fails to introduce me to some great artists (and maybe my music gets introduced to some new folks, too!)
On The Radio
People are always telling me I have a good radio voice so I got work it a bit this month guesting on Catwoman's funda-raising show on CIUT then an hour-long spot on Steve Fruitman's show with Allan Fraser previewing the just-released double LP of Fraser & DeBolt on Roaratorio Records in the US. You can hear the archived show here: http://www.backtothesugarcamp.com/campstreams.html#121
TheStringbuster.com
My electronica alter-ego now has a website. There's not much there except for a few tracks of me jamming in the basement (some with Joel) but it's an HTML5 template so it was quite straightforward to put together, a flashback to my days as an HTML code-warrior. I should have cleaned it up before announcing it like this but it was that or get this Blainletter out before I head to Barrie. Ignore the greek text. We're all friends here, eh?
Friday, April 29, 2016
Friday, April 22, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Streaming comes of age
Just watching the East Coast Music Awards - on my computer. They don't have enough of an audience to rationalize prime time on TV but streaming to the internet they can have as much time as they want - even streaming different events simultaneously on different channels. The production values are top notch with 3 or 4 cameras and some fancy switching (a little too much switching at times). The local production company has done a great job and the stream on YouTube is rock solid. There was one time when it choked up and the sound was not perfectly in sync with the video on the live feed but it looked fine when you looked at the video after (yes, it;s instatntly archived on YouTube) Amazing. I also watched a lot of SXSW from Texas and also the JUNOs, who used YouTube for some stuff and Livestream for others. Everything worked out pretty good.
Back to ECMAs, I was introduced to some great Atlantic electronica artists like Pineo & Loeb and The Scientists of Sound. But I have to say on the roots side I was mostly underwhelmed with the succession of earnest young singer songwriters - even the local heroes like Jenn Grant and Amelia Curran. Maybe we have great expectations from East Coast musicians - there's been so many that broke through in recent years. But when I did hear something that perked up my ears, I quickly realized he was an Australian (?) And when I dug up his name, I thought it was familiar then remembered I last saw it on a USB stick - he had been handing out his EPK on a USB stick at some event I attended last year. I'm still using it, though I erased the EPK right after I looked at it...but at least I looked at it!
ECMA Late Night Electronic Showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UlVrqqmErE
Back to ECMAs, I was introduced to some great Atlantic electronica artists like Pineo & Loeb and The Scientists of Sound. But I have to say on the roots side I was mostly underwhelmed with the succession of earnest young singer songwriters - even the local heroes like Jenn Grant and Amelia Curran. Maybe we have great expectations from East Coast musicians - there's been so many that broke through in recent years. But when I did hear something that perked up my ears, I quickly realized he was an Australian (?) And when I dug up his name, I thought it was familiar then remembered I last saw it on a USB stick - he had been handing out his EPK on a USB stick at some event I attended last year. I'm still using it, though I erased the EPK right after I looked at it...but at least I looked at it!
ECMA Late Night Electronic Showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UlVrqqmErE