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Happy Mother's Day. Yes, it's a tradition over here in Blainville to do something special on Mother's Day. One of the first songs I ever wrote was called "Don't Forget Your Mother" and it got my foot into the Big Door of big-time show business - Big recording sessions with world-renown musicians, a nice place to live, a road manager who drove me around in a white Mercedes, opening big concerts for Lou Reed, Joni Mitchell, touring with April Wine....an allowance from the record company! Anyway, it all disappeared as fast as it happened and I've always believed that was for the best and that I was protected by the Buddhist Gods on that one.
But the Mother thing stuck, as a bit of a "brand". And when I got to Toronto in 1990, I always did a big show on Mother's Day, with guests and a little promotion.
Six months ago, we were sure we'd be back to live music in Toronto and I had hoped for a big show, especially considering I was celebrating not one, but TWO mothers!
That's right, last year I sent in a DNA test and after a lot of detective work (thank you, Marg Stowe) I discovered my birth mom. and now I have a bunch of new relatives. I'll be jamming with one of them later tonight!
Speaking of jamming, regular Blainreaders will know already that I'm the guy who is always looking to jam and I have had my eye out for a way to do it in real-time over the internet. They said it couldn't be done, but one fellow in Ottawa is doing it and I had a dry run and it's pretty amazing - but it does require a fast internet connection, you have to be within a couple of hundred miles of each other and there are lots of other factors, including a fast computer - and I'm going to be upgrading real soon. It's called syncspace.live and with the next Blaincast I might just surprise you with some real-time jamming.
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Watch my Mother's Day Blaincast on YouTube at 2PM Sunday (ET). Click here to get a reminder. It will also be live on my Facebook page
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I did an interview (en Francais!) and despite the fact that I haven't spoken much French in the last 30 years I bumbled my way through it. You can hear for yourself right here
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I found an old VHS tape in the basement and it was labeled "Jodie Drake Tribute" . The Toronto Blues Society has been honouring the pioneers of blues in this town and I thought this would be a good one. And it was! a great performance from the 1995 Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, with jazz legends Norm Amadio and Frank Wright and a very young Reg Schwager on guitar.
But there was a moment after the concert when a fan asked her what advice she might have for someone wanting to play the blues and she had a down-to-earth answer for that young man, and it had nothing to do with race.
You can hear her take on who should be singing the blues right here and check out the full performance on the Toronto Blues Society YouTube channel here |
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No, I have not become a real-estate agent (though a few musician friends have headed down that career path). But if you're shopping for a new home in Virginia, there's a real estate agent called Gordon Laroussini in Richmond Virginia who was asking for permission to use my video of "I'm Not Fifty Anymore" on his ReMax website. Most of his customers are 55+ and downsizing from their big mansions and he thought they might get a kick out of my tune.
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There's a nice article about the CD and some of the stories that inspired the songs on rootsmusic.ca. Check it out, and if you'd like to hear from some of the musicians who participated, check out the replay of my zoom launch.
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Thanks for reading this far and let's just try to get through this. Music will help.. Feel free to forward this to any friend you think might enjoy my occasional ramblings (and maybe my music, too). These bits and more are always available on my blog, www.torontobluesdiary.com.
See you out there, eventually...
BrianB, aka Butch, Nappy, Shaker, Two-Lane Blain, Colorblind Brian, Stringbuster, Buddha of the Blues
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