Correction, Address Change, Apology...and another Blainletter

THE CORRECTION: As many of you know, my "day job" is putting together MapleBlues, the Toronto Blues Society magazine (among others). I don't know if being the (barely)managing editor helps or hinders my performing career, but sometimes it leaves me in an embarrassing predicament. Tonight my dear Listing Coordinator pointed out that mine was the only name listed performing at the big BluesLink Benefit concert at Healey's Roadhouse on Wednesday Night (Apr 11). How could that happen? Well, she didn't know the names of the participants but she knew I was doing it and she figured I would add the other names later (which I should have if I hadn’t been rushing to get the magazine out on time). So to make up for this glaring omission. Here's the complete schedule. I hope a few people from my mailing list will come out and support this good cause. Read about it at

Here’s the actual running order:

“Colorblind” Blain 8 pm
w/Lily Sazz & Michelle Josef
Lucian Thomas 8:45
Gary Kendall Band 9:30
with special guest: Jani Lauzon
Mr. Rick and the Biscuits 10:20
The Harmonica Knights 11:00
Paul Reddick, David Rotundo, Chuck Jackson,
Dr. Nick, and host Mark “Bird” Stafford


See you at one of these gigs I hope:

Wed. Apr 11 8pm Healey's Roadhouse (see sched above)
Sat. May 19 afternoon Twisted Pines Music Festival, Midland (solo)
Sun. May 20 evening concert Twisted Pines Music Festival (w/Blainettes)
Sat. June 30 2pm Toronto Jazz Festival Greektown stage Danforth & Logan (w/Blainettes)


THE ADDRESS CHANGE: Oh yeah, due to the ever increasing volume of spam I’m getting (and having my address hijacked by spammers) I am changing my email to brianblain@brianblain.ca. blain@tojazz is still fine Please update your Blackberrys or whatever device you use.

THE PITCH: There is no dignified way of saying this, but if you are a festival director, I am still looking for some dates in July and beyond. A couple of festivals have booked my blues band, "Colorblind Brian and the New Blainettes" but at this point I can be a solo, tweener, whatever gap you might need to fill. In French you could call me a "bouche-trou." I'm fun, I'm bluesy, I'm bilingual. Hire me. End of commercial.

THE APOLOGY: If you have received this Blainletter on a listserve like MaplePost or MapleBlue, I don't mean to spam you. It's only because a certain listmom/friend has accused me of being too "shy" so I am sending this one-time-only e-blast to the world. If you would like to continue receiving the Blainletter, then please replay to this with the word “subscribe” in the subject line… and Welcome to Blainville! Some find it to be entertaining commentary - I send out once a month or when I can manage.

My night in Toronto: As I was typing away this blog, I realized there was some music I wanted to see tonight so at 10pm I jump in the car and head straight over to Clinton’s to hear Montrealer Rob Lutes. Rob delivers a great show, some great originals and well-chosen covers. One tune I thought right away sounded like Chris Smithers and sure enough it was one of his tunes. Then he did a cover of “That’s How Strong My Love Is” and even a credible version of “Wichita Lineman” His long-time guitarist, Rob Macdonald was in fine form, getting applause at the end of every solo (and sometimes in the middle of a solo!). Rob had a great sound and I asked him after what kind of guitar/pickup he had. It was a wood-body resophonic. I think he called it a “Listell” I told Rob if was heading down to Healey’s to hear Garrett Mason, and he said he might try to get down but I realized as I was driving away that he probably thinks Healey’s is still at Bathurst & Queen. Well even if he headed straight down to the new place, he would have missed the show – as it was I only heard the encore (but it was rockin’). Then I stop at a 7/11 on the way home, I park next to a small car with a dark, mysterious woman at the wheel. When I come out, she has rolled down the passenger and call’s me over to get some directions. When I approach, I realize she’s pulled down her shirt to expose some pretty massive breasts. She says “Do you live alone?” I said something like “Lookin good but not tonite…” and got back in my car but I guess she took that as some kind of encouragement because she pulls out right behind me and start to follow me. At the red light, she pulls up alongside still flirting, I make a left, and she cuts across the lane to keep following me. Yikes, I’m being stalked. I speed up up and she speeds, finally I see my chance and I race towards a light that is about to change and make a quick left and finally I’ve lost her. That was pretty exciting. I think I owe her a few bucks just for that little thrill!

Dan Hill: I don’t know if this guy has a new record coming out, or a book or a movie but all of a sudden I’m hearing “Sometimes when we touch” all over the CBC. That song does not bring back great memories for me. A lot of people may have issues with that song, but for me it represents a career altering moment (and none of my career altering moments have furthered the career). It was about 1973, I was visiting Toronto after having released a single on the Montreal-based Good Noise label. I was feeling pretty confident, I had done some nice showcases in Montreal and opened some big shows for Lou reed and Seals & Crofts and now I came up to TO. to try to get a gig. It was bad enough the record company (Polydor) was completely focused on a new release by Jim (?) called “Spiders and Snakes” which they classified as a novelty record and since mine was also considered “novelty” it was second banana and never got the pus to radio that it would have received otherwise. Anyway, I was here in Toronto and I had my guitar and someone dragged me down to an “open stage” at a club called Eggertons. I was set to play when the newly-signed Dan Hill came in with a big entourage (I think their might have been a flamboyant publicist with log white hair in that party – I must ask Richard Flohil if it could have been him). Anyway, I was “bumped” and Dan got up and played his soon-to-be mega hit and my window to make a little splash in Toronto evaporated. I went back to Montreal and did not pursue the solo thing. I think I spent the next five years on the road playing bass for all kinds of groups, country rock to wearing a tux backing up a Streisand clone. And did I mention that now Hollywood has come out with a movie called “The Pick of Destiny” which cops that “novely tune” of mine. It was called “The Story of the Magic Pick.”

Other Music around Town: Since getting back from Memphis last month, it’s been non-stop music. I know, I know, I should be home working on my own music, but when you’re a part-time media mooch like myself (I mean, desktop publishing mogul) you get invited to so many CD launches and great concerts. In addition, my boss has opened a new club which is destined to be THE showcase room for jazz in this city, and the whole country for that matter. The opening was packed with high-rollers and beautiful people. Since then I’ve been a few times to hear some local jazos and the wonderful Roberta Gambarini.

Then I took Jacquie to the Johnny Winter show (yes, this is the same Jacquie that screwed up the Blueslink listing in the MapleBlues). Jacquie had always wanted to see Johnny Winter and even though I heard that Johnny was not in great shape, I was glad for the opportunity to see him again since the only other time I ever saw him was at a rock festival at Varsity Stadium in 1970 (??). It was the most dramatic entrance I’d ever seen anyone make. The announcer had already yelled out “Johnny Winter!” a name that meant nothing to me, but then I heard a searing slide guitar intro, but there was only a bass player and drummer on stage. Then after another minute or so, he appeared from the side of the stage, resplendent in satiny black outfit with flowing white hair, playing a burning slide lead on a 12 string electric guitar. I’d never seen slide played on a 12-string and still haven’t to this day. Now it’s 35 years later, I’m standing by the side of the stage as his drummer does the intro after they’ve played a couple of tunes with a guest guitarist. Then I see Johnny being led in through the back door, directly up to the stage where he is placed in a chair with a cushion taped to the seat with duct tape. He walked like a little old man and his arms were so thin. My comment to those who asked was “He can still play” but the fire was not there. He chose a lot of very predictable blues standards to start – it made you wonder if this was just a pick-up band. One friend who’s band had opened a bunch of shows for Johnny a few years back asked if he had occasionally shifted keys in the middle of a song, and I do believe that happened once or twice. It was hard to watch the senior version of someone who had been just about the most glamourous figure in Rock and Roll at a certain moment. But “he can still play” and he can still pack a club. Good for him.

Downchild had a big CD launch of their live album at the new Healey’s and they rocked the house. I was at the gig they recorded – it was at the Palais Royale, where I’m headed in a couple of days for the National Jazz Awards. I also saw two of the great blues touring acts from the west coast, Coco Montoya and Mark Hummel (with Rusty Zinn). Some great guitar playing, and I want a hat just like the one Mark Hummel was wearing. Canadian Music Week kicked off with some interesting speeches (from record pioneer Jac Holzman and rapper Chuck D) and was followed with three nights of music that is all just a blur. I remember young Liam Titcomb did a great showcase and played some tunes from his new album – I hope it gets out pretty soon, it’s been in the can for a while. I told Liam that I had reworked the song I was pitching him back when he was writing his first album and that I was now performing it myself. I still want to play it for him one of these days. It’s called “The End of September” and it’s a “first-day-of-school” scenario. I remember when I was describing the tune to one of Liam’s songwriting pals, she said she questioned whether Liam would be interested in that “schoolboy” thing. She’s probably right, but if I’d got it to him back when I thought of it (of course, it wasn’t finished at that time).

This reminds me of my song about New Orleans. When a promoter friend said he was involved in a benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, I told him I was writing a song for the occasion. Still, I didn’t make it onto the bill, and it’s just as well, cause I’ve only just finished the song. Then there were a couple of events that I attended just briefly; the Lula Lounge celebration for CBC’s Global Village program and The Indie Awards.

One lasting image of Music Week is a bare-chested guy with eye make-up jumping around the stage like a chimpanzee and making weird gutteral sounds into the mic. I didn’t stick around for the whole thing but I discovered after that they were a group from Montreal called Les Breastfeeders and that they are “the next big thing” (in Europe, at least).

Speaking of Europe, I had bad news and good news from harp player who I played with last year in the Czech Republic and Germany. He said our Czech tour for this fall was not coming together and that he was not going to be available at that time because he would be on tour with Kathi Macdonald. She is a powerhouse (3 years as an Ikette with Ike & Tina Turner) – I sat in with her once at a tiny bar in Montreal called “G Sharp” and she raised the roof. Anyway, the good news was that Butch couldn’t track down the guitarist who was supposed top do the gig and he offered it to me. Here’s some of the dates…if you’re in the neighbourhood:

Oct. 18 Jubez - Karlsruhe
Oct. 19 Wodanhalle - Freiburg
Oct. 20 Albani - Winterthur, Switzerland
Oct. 21 Alte Post - Aeugstertal, Switzerland
Oct. 26 Maltzhaus - Plauen
Oct. 27 Kleinkunstbuhne - Pirna
Oct. 28 Schloss Goseck - Goseck
Nov. 1 Buchcafe - Bad Hersfeld
Nov. 3 Kulturverein - Kellinghusen
Nov. 4 Heimathaus – Twist

Folk Alliance in Memphis

I got to Memphis too late for the opening press conference so I missed hearing Buffy St-Marie who made a huge impression on everyone who heard her keynote address (I had a bit of a breakthrough when I opted to stay in, check out my gear and prepare for my showcase rather than go to the keynote). Maybe I should have just gone to hear Buffy because there were only five or six people at the showcase anyway, though it was an audience many of those showcasers would have killed for - Rounder founder Ken Irwin and wife Donna Wilson Irwin whom I've known for years and who were just there supporting a friend). Rather than play my prepared set, I pulled out some tunes I've never played in public including "Last Time I Saw Lenny" (Breau) and "Alice," a where-is-she-now ballad about Alice Brock, the subject of the now 40-year old "Alice's Restaurant." I've reworked the tune since Alice told me it wasn't her favourite Brian Blain song and that it wasn't exactly a "toe-tapper." I didn't feel so bad about having just a handful of people at my hotel room showcase when I walked by many "official" showcases in much larger spaces with even fewer listeners – in one case, I was the only person in the audience which was pretty awkward for both of us.

Then there was Rory Block's show on the Martin Stage. Rory is a blues headliner and probably got a nice fee from Martin Guitars (the better to pay the gas in her giant tour bus…I think it was hers, anyway). The Martin Stage was in a cavernous space in the convention centre outside the trade show area (double cavernous). There was hardly anybody seated up by the stage though there were lots of people wandering around in the distance. I gather from his recent post that the guy sitting a few seats from me was Steve Edge – hey Steve, if I'd known it was you I would have said hello! That was a thankless gig but Rory dug in and put on a show for anyone who cared to listen. She talked about her early days as a teenager touring the rural south with Stefan Grossman telling how he would stop in at every pawn shop and ask if they had any old Martin guitars. Many times the pawnbroker would pull out a banged up pre-war Martin and Stefan would get it for 40 or 50 bucks. When they returned to New York, he had accumulated ten or more of these priceless guitars. We can only imagine what they're worth today.

I slipped away from Rory's set to make my way to the Blues Workshop where I found Ann Rabson (playing guitar, which she pointed out was her main instrument long before piano). Also on stage was William Lee Ellis who I met earlier in our showcase room. I found out later that he is a prominent music writer in Memphis and he did the "celebrity interview" with Jesse Winchester. He's a great finger-picker too – I was watching carefully. There was a very small audience in the Blues workshop (I guess Steve Edge was there too) and the players opted to turn off the PA system, which was fine until the banjo workshop (amplified) got going in the adjacent room.

Following the Blues workshop, we had a blues jam and I joined in. Ken Whiteley and Alice Stuart were the hosts though Alice hardly played and split early. Apparently she is one of the first women on the blues circuit to play lead electric guitar and has been out of the scene for a while. Regrettably, I never got to see her doing a showcase. Ken was coaxing me to play Ben's electric string bass but I tried for a moment and realized it's been way too long (like 45 years). Maybe with a little tape to mark the positions I might have tried it, but it was just too strange.

At the same time as my showcase, the Quebec contingent were having a showcase with Penny Lang, Ray Bonneville, Jesse Winchester and others. I missed it, of course, but I had the privilege to tag along for a recording session with Penny and Ray and the legendary Sun Studios. Now there's a studio with some history. The front area had been converted into a souvenir shop and the upstairs was a veritable museum but the studio itself was pretty well the way it was when Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and Howlin' Wolf had recorded there. The equipment was not the same, though. There were a few old tape machines hanging around for décor, but the control room featured what many would consider "semi-pro" gear. Regardless, they laid down some great tracks and Penny loved that classic Memphis "slap-echo" on her vocal. I hope they get to use some of these tracks on her next album. Penny is a true national treasure and Ray Bonneville is a road warrior who lives to play.

At the Awards soiree, I got to see a phenomenal kora player, Mamadou Diabate – tall, elegant and an amazing player. I've had a kora in my living room for months but have not got to first base.

I had decided to bring my Johnson resophonic rather than my beloved Epiphone guitar but as I looked around I could see that everybody else brought there finest and most treasured instruments. I've seen a lot of old Gibsons, but I don't think there's ever been such a collection of "banner" Gibsons, the really old ones, under one roof. Interesting that everyone was so concerned about getting the best sound from their guitars with the state of the art pick-ups and pre-amps but I think the best sounding guitar I heard all week-end was Jesse Winchester's classical guitar with no pickup. He just pulled a mic in front of it and it sounded so full and beautiful. Maybe I was caught up in the emotion of the moment – Jesse had just been honoured by the greatest musicians in the country at a special ASCAP reception and he played a few songs for the large crowd. I spoke to him briefly but I'm not sure he remembered me. Thirty-five years ago we worked for a couple of weeks as co-producers of the second Fraser & DeBolt album but Jesse bailed on the project when things were getting too loose for his liking. I wanted to reminisce with him about when he first arrived in Montreal and I remember getting a call from Sue Lothrop telling me that she and Allan Fraser (then performing as a duo called "Breakfast") were going to pay the musicians' union initiation fee for this great guitarist who had just arrived in Montreal…that was Jesse, of course. I was their manager and forbade them putting out that money for Jesse when there were many other great guitarists who were already in the union, but we can all be glad they disregarded my fiscal concerns and went ahead and got Jesse in the union so he could play the gig with them (I think it was at the Venus de Milo Room).

I'm looking at the list I made of artists I wanted to see, but alas I hardly got to see half of them. I didn't get to hear Digging Roots with their new band lineup, but I heard lots of great comments. Raven was the first familiar face I saw at the hotel and then we ran into each other on Beale Street. The Canadian contingent fared very well. New Brunswick's Hot Toddy were rocking the "East Coast" room. I overheard one attendee talking about Andrew Collins of Creaking Tree String Quartet "After a week-end of listening to mediocre mandolin players it's a relief to hear someone who can really play". I went out for breakfast with Australian Jeff Lang and he was trying to remember the name of some high-energy duo from Canada that knocked him out. "The Undesirables?" I asked. "That's it," he said, and asked me to repeat the name again later. My faves were the Lovell Sisters, the Illuminatti Orchestrii from the Bronx and a crazy trio of gypsy-style performers from Australia called Vardoz. I heard a young Nova Scotian guitarist whose last name was Leblanc. I've got to hjear more of him.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops were the buzz of the weekend and they had a great shtick but I wondered how it would sustain for a whole evening. The best moment of the whole week-end for me was one of the groups that played right after me in the Rolling & Tumbling suite. They were an gospel quartet (actually five elderly black gentlemen wearing dark suits and matching ties) called the Spirit of Memphis. They performed a capella and stated proudly that the group has been in existence 77 years and it was a most uplifting performance. I sat mesmerized in a big armchair right in front. To the left of me was music industry pioneer Chris Strachwitz filming the performance on his camcorder and next to him the renown musicologist Dr. David Evans.

We saved the best for last and late Saturday Night the jamming began. First Michelle and I set up in the lobby mezzanine and attracted Eivor and Bill Bourne (man that guy really has something all his own, and Eivor is a vocalist nonpareil), then we made our way up to a room where I had a quickie jam with Ken Whiteley and played him my song-in-the-works about New Orleans. Finally (at about 3am) many of the Rolling & Tumbling participants gathered in our suite for an informal jam and we were all delighted when David showed up with legendary bass player Freebo who lays down a real solid groove. We had a room full of guitar players but it did not get out of hand at all and some great moments were had. I don't even know all their names, but the group included David, Michelle, myself, Freebo, Jonathan Byrd, David Glaser, Steve James, Greg Klyma, Andy Cohen and Spook Handy. What a pleasure jamming with these great musicians. That's what it's all about for me.

The Blues Summit

I know I've been spending too much time on the computer when I find myself thinking about three or four things at once and I'm seeing them all in different windows in my brain and I find myself selecting "hide others" or "bring to front" as I try to keep track of all the things I must remember to do. Anyway, it's mostly done. I got my WholeNote column in, Crescendo is at the printer, MapleBlues is printed and delivered and all that's left is Downtown Jazz.

Meanwhile I did get away to a gig last night. Played with the wonderful Lily Sazz and we put out a lot of energy, even if I do say so myself. Haven't done much in the way of following up on the Blues Summit. Met a lot of great folks and now that I think about it, I saw a lot of folks I know across the room and never got a chance to say hello. I hosted an opening song circle/guitar pull which I had hoped would give a lot of visiting musicians a chance to get acquainted with some of the locals and it worked out great. In fact, I'm here listening to young Layla Zoe talking with Danny Marks on his radio show. They were both part of the "Campfire" (in fact, Danny was the consummate "utility man" playing bass, drums or whatever was required).


Here's a pic of Mr. Rick, Rick Fines and Steve Marriner with Danny in the background. Wish I had taken more pics.


Ken Whiteley dropped in, Bill Johnson from out west, Bird Stafford, Zoe Chilco and some folks whose name escapes me now. I think a good time was had by all, and it's was great to start the summit on a musical note. A couple of folks even got some gigs out of it.

The summit and Maple Blues Awards soiree were jam packed and it was an exhausting week-end. There are great pictures posted at www. talkinblues.com and www.dougalco.com/cgi-bin/portfolioshow.cgi . I just posted a bunch of snaps at www.flickr.com (just search for "blues summit"). You may be in one of those pictures…

On the Tuesday after, I got struck down with a cold and the this whole week I've been under the weather. Right now, I'm making plans to head out to a much larger music conference in Memphis next month. That is the "mother" of them all, the Folk Alliance. There will be lots of jamming and I've got a couple of showcase slots, one just in thanks to the cancellation of Mamadou Diabate. ! I just need to find someone willing to help with the driving – I get tired just driving to Hamilton.

Listening to the radio

Just finished my desktop publishing duties and got the January MapleBlues FTPd to the printer. Still trying to remember if I changed all the 2006s to 2007s.
I turn on iTunes to hear my favourite blues radio show on CKLN.FM and it’s not connecting. After putzing around for a while, I get 88.1 on the radio (usually very bad, if any, reception where I live) As I listened a bit, I was hearing an unfamiliar voice and it took a while before I figured out it was Gary Kendall subbing for Dr Feelgood. I started searching on my newly merged database for the direct line to the studio. I can’t find the number under David Barnard or Julie Hill , the regular DJs, but I find it with a long-gone blues DJ, Steve Gash (long gone to Universal-land).

Then I have to go to the other room because the battery on the cordless is dead…and I’m trying to hold that studio phone number in my head (I’m not good at that). I dial the number but when it doesn’t answer I’m thinking I got it wrong. I came back and listened on the radio for a bit then I heard Gary say on the air “Brian, call back” so we did get to chat and I made a call to the tech guy who checked and found that the server was down.

CKLN is back online and now I will sit back and enjoy Steve Pritchard’s Bluegrass show. Always a great selection of music. He says twin fiddles are all the rage in bluegrass these days. Or you could do what Drew Jurecka does and wrap the bow on both sides of the strings ..or whatever it is he does to get those “triple stops” (3 strings sounding at once - I heard him demonstrating the technique on Stuart McLean).

While listening to the bluegrass, I get an email from my friend Jacquie telling me to check out a link to iceberg.com where they have me listed (photo not available). It looks like they’re lnked to allmusic.com because it displays their review of my CD. It also say the release date was October 2005. Was it so long ago? Well my record company man just asked me if I had written any new songs so I think that’s the trigger for a long process that will culminate in another Brian Blain album. I think I heard a click. Is that the sound of a gun being held to my head? (sometimes I work best that way).

Blainletter #5

Jacquie Houston, Harry Manx, Roberta Hunt and Michelle Josef hanging out on the break.

Last night I did my first gig at Grossman’s. Grossman’s, a blues “shrine” on the Canadian blues landscape. I remember it’s one of the only blues bars I knew about when I arrived in Toronto. The place where Downchild were discovered by Dan Aykroyd and where Jeff Healey made a buzz. I have to say I was a little taken aback when I made my first pilgrimage…could this be the place I had been hearing about all these years??? I seem to remember the washroom more than the band that was playing. It wasn’t no Downchild, anyway.

I had previous been invited to sit in for a tune or two – I remember once with Gary Kendall and another time with Laura Hubert. But here I am – my first paying gig at Grossmans…and the pay wasn’t that bad. One CD sale topped it up to a reasonable wage. I guess I never asked for a gig at Grossman’s…but then they never asked me..not until Roberta Hunt sugeested we do something there (she plays there every Saturday with the Happy Pals). I got Michelle Josef to join us on drums and we had a ball.

I must say the evening got off to miserable start when my beloved Epiphone took a fall and the headstock popped off. It’s in the shop now – I’m sure it can be fixed. The end result was that I used my Strat all night – I hadn’t even planned to bring it. And I had a great time with the Strat…though I’m the kind of guitar player who will play whatever you put in his lap, as long as it stays in tune.

It wasn’t much of a turnout, I must say, though there was always at least 3 or 4 tables and more people hanging out on the periphery. I think one of them might have been a blues harp player I met in the summer. “Shrimp Daddy”, was that you? There was another illustrious visitor, Harry Manx dropped in on a (rare) day off on his tour with Michael Kaeshammer. I saw their show in Toronto a couple of weeks back - man, they are two phenomenal virtuosos.

One great benefit to playing Grossman’s was finding out where the best place to have late-night Chinese food was (it’s the place with the Green sign across Spadina). And it was good.

I have been putzing around with a new (improved?) system to send out e-blasts and it seems like it stalled on me. I'm now sending out the Blainletter 50 at a time.

I merged my old address book with my fanlist and took the liberty of adding a few names to the fanlist – if this is your first Blainletter and you want it to be your last, just let me know. I assure you they don’t come out that often.

On the Grossman’s poster I referred to myself as “The Real” Brian Blain, because following the theft of my wallet on a subway in Prague last month I’m starting to worry that there’s somebody out there who has more documentation to prove he’s Brian Blain than I do. (As if it wasn’t bad enough that there’s some pecan farmer in Oregon with my name). It’s time for me to be more assertive. For my remaining years, this Brian Blain is going to be IN YOUR FACE, lest anyone think they can steal THIS identity!

Back from a rehearsal with Roberta I tune in Dr Feelgood on CKLN and what do you know…he’s playing a track from my album! It’s always interesting to hear how your stuff sounds on the radio, or in this case, on the computer. It does get scrunched up a little bit, but still sounded fine.

Well, besides getting a spin on CKLN, what else has been happening in my music career, you ask (or not)... Last Saturday I was sitting with Shelagh Rogers backstage at Massey Hall and reminded her that I gave her a CD this time last year...I guess I was waiting for an engraved invitation to be on her show. Maybe this time I’ll do a little follow up. We were at the Toronto Blues Society’s Women’s Blues Revue where many of my musical colleagues were backing up a bevy of fine vocalists including the beloved Jackie Richardson and her powerhouse daughter Kim Richardson (who I had never seen perform, though I’m sure I’ve heard her backing vocals with many great artists). My long time collaborator Lily Sazz was the band leader and did a stellar job, as did Michelle, Suzie and Marg Stowe (who was in Prague at the same time as me and graciously invited me to open one of her shows).

Last night Michelle was playing at Shakura S’Aida’s CD launch and they were putting out some great sounds. Lance Anderson was amazing, as he always is when he gets on a real B3 Hammond organ. David Rotundo sat in on harp and we exchanged stories of my beloved Eastern Townships, where he was just playing. I’m still trying to get a gig in Sutton, the town where I was living before I moved to Toronto. I guess it will be Spring before we get a Quebec tour happening. After Shakura, I dropped by the Free Times to hear Mary Knickle, who was visiting from Nova Scotia. She has that crystal clear celtic vocal sound that transports you to a time and place far away. Mary and I swapped CD’s and agreed to become MySpace “friends.” If I have been less than pro-active in getting gigs, I’m even worse at gathering “friends” on MySpace, but they do trickle in. My SonicBids website has been shut down, an aftermath of the cancellation of my credit card after the pickpocket incident (they sure didn’t waste much time in shutting me down!) so I will have to make do with MySpace for now. I still have a bio and stuff at www.northernblues.com/bio_blain.html and I still have my blog at http://torontobluesdiary.blogspot.com. I’ve had the blog since before they were called blogs and it’s where I have been documenting my musical adventures and lessons learned since I arrived in Toronto. For example, here are some tips I’ve noted lately (let’s see how many I can apply to my own show):

- “Charisma comes when you take charge on stage”
- “capture and engage...make moments...change lives”
- The Audience wants spontaneity “Gee, this is probably the only time this ever happened” (this should come easy to me since I've never played a song the same way twice...many bandmates will vouch for that!)
- People want to “see” the music, too. Make it visual. “He was making love to his guitar”
- When you step up to the mike, make it a deliberate move (step in from the side rather than from the back)
- “What’s The hurry?” Nothing wrong with an extended vamp on that intro before coming in with the vocal. “If the audience is in the palm of your hand, then milk it” (That reminds me when I saw young Roxanne Potvin’s showcase: At one point she was getting some prolonged applause, but she cut it off. I felt the energy drop. She should have “milked it” a bit more.)

Here’s a “note to my self” before I go touring in the US: Get an “ITIN number” on the IRS website (for employer/presenter waiver) and get forms to pre-pay tax on CDs from carnetcanada@chambre.ca

Don’t know when I will be making my way back to the States but when I do, I hope to do another house concert at Alice Brock’s studio in Provincetown. Alice has been my biggest booster down there (she’s being celebrated these days because it’s the 40th Anniversary of “Alice’s Restaurant). Visit her brand new website, www.alicebrock.com to see what she’s up to these days.

Other shows I’ve seen since I got back from Europe: The Afro-Cuban All-Stars were at Massey Hall and though it started a little “sleepy” (for a Cuban band) it picked in the second half. The real highlight for me was looking across the aisle and seeing Billy Bryans, who has been going through some serious health challenges, looking fit as a fiddle and grooving to the music. A couple of nights later, it was the “Night To Remember,” Mory the Sockman’s big show at the Palais Royale with Downchild. I’ve never seen them playing better and Donny Walsh was really rockin’ on the guitar as were Michael Fonfara and a the rock solid rhythm section of Gary Kendall and Mike Fitzpatrick (who, regretfully, is leaving the band). Luckily, they recorded the night for a CD/DVD release so many more will share the excitement of that evening.

Downtown Jazz brought in Roy Ayers and the “Superstars of Jazz Fusion” and this was one show that both me and my son Joel could both get into, but I think Joel preferred Roy when he was playing in town last year with Nick “Brownman” Ali and some DJ/remixers who may not have been superstars but who certainly knew how to raise the roof. Then I saw Britain’s favourite R&B sensation, James Hunter, and even though James himself was in better shape than the last time I saw him - he was at the Supermaket last summer but apparently had a bad cold - so this time he was hitting a lot more of his trademark Jackie Wilson high notes, but there was something different about the band. Maybe the personnel had changed. Anyway, I love that tenor & baritone sax section. The Aboriginal Music Awards was, as always, a great uplifting evening. My friend Raven Kanatakta was doing a lot of the conducting and tore off a few blistering solos. We’ll be playing together in Barrie next month and I’m looking forward to it.

I had a visit from my old buddy Harry Manx and saw his show with Michael Kaeshammer at Harbourfront. They had been touring this show for a month when I saw them and had another 20 dates to go. Harry had just bought another guitar (he carries five or six already!) and we jammed a bit. It was a solid-body lap slide, beautifully made. Can’t remember the name of the luthier, but Harry tells me there’s quite a long waiting list for one of these instruments. Harry was happy to hang out in my neighborhood again (I live in “Little India”) and dropped a bundle on Indian CDs at my neighborhood music store.

Speaking of my neighbourhood, the other day someone sent an email with a link to a youtube video clip featuring a woman who recounted her escape from Lebanon to Israel with her injured mother and described the kindness and compassion she received from the caregivers in the Israeli hospital, even though she was an “enemy” and meanwhile, she couldn’t believe how another Lebanese woman, a patient in the next bed, was cursing her caregivers even though they had saved her life. You have to have a lot of hate in you to curse the people who just saved your life. Go figure. Then, that very night, I drive off down my street and promptly run out of gas on Gerrard Street (my gas gauge is a little screwed up). There’s a taxi-stand/gas station at the foot of my street that is run by some very surly, mean-looking Pakistanis (I’ve bought gas there many times and it is NOT “service_with-a-smile”). Even though it was closed, I saw some lights in the office and I walked in and told them I had run out of gas and asked if they could help me. Surly as ever, the older gent interrupted his card game long enough to say something to a younger man who then led me to the garage, got a can of gas and carried it acroos the street to my car. The car started up and when I went to pay him something, he would not take any payment and headed back to the garage and his card game with the boys. With the political climate these days, anyone would have looked at that mangy group and assumed they were planning a terrorist attack or something but they were just a bunch of guys playing cards, willing to help out somebody in trouble. I think I just had what my neighbour Bill calls an “attitude adjustment.”

Well, that’s probably enough for now. I was going to talk a bit about my European adventure but you can read more on my blog at http://torontobluesdiary.blogspot.com.
You can view some pics by going to http://www.flickr.com and searching for “Brian Blain in Prague” and there’s even a podcast of my Motherless Day concert with Harrison Kennedy – it’s at www.frankcasting.com. And don't forget www.myspace.com/brianblain (yes, I'll be your friend). I think that’s all for tonight. Now for the fun part – figuring out how to mail it to you all. If you got this far, then thanks for reading all this. Take Care, BrianB

Take me to the Bridge (Colorblind's Prague Diary)

As I look around for my little notepad where I wrote some points to remember for this blog, I can't seem to find it. If I was home or anywhere but Prague I would assume that I had misplaced it but now I'm thinking it was swiped out of my jacket pocket as I strolled down Wenceslasss Square for a sausage from a street vendor. Well, it's only fitting that my last day in Prague I got accosted by a hooker and had my pocket picked (probably at the same time - I thought she bid a very hasty retreat when I expressed disinterest). The notebook had a few addresses I wanted to keep as well as the set list I used for the last couple of gigs - nothing as disastrous as the loss of my wallet on the Prague subway (yes, I had it in my front pocket...these people are artists!).

Nevertheless, It's been a great time. The food was way better than 4 years ago. The people are beautiful (except for the pickpockets of course) and the audience last night in Pisek was the greatest - I don't know why I bothered with a lot of spoken introductions because I know very few of them understood anything I was saying but they sure got into it when the music started. I was back together with my old musical buddy Butch Coulter who lives in Dresden now (we played there too) and we were having a real good time, despite the fact that we had to travel by train, then bus to get there. Originally we thought we'd have a driver but he's a new daddy, and family comes first. His name was Hunsa (?) and he came to the gig - he was Long John Baldry's driver and did Rita Chiarelli's last European tour. Another old friend, Pavel Mil*** (I'd have these names right if I still had my notebook) got us a PA and we invited him to sit in at the end of the second set and boy can he play guitar. Hope I get to play with him again next - and we are already planning a next time...but I think I'll skip Prague.

I played here twice, both at the same club and I was supposed to go back again tonight and sit in with the house band but I decided to lay low on my last night and get ready for the flight tomorrow. I spent a few hours working on the MapleBlues newsletter - I was able to get a lot done using a new program called Google Docs & Spreadshheets. Those guys at Google are geniuses...generous geniuses because they don't even charge you to use it!


Day one in Prague I made my way to the foot of the square and into the "old town" where hundreds of people are gathered around the legendary "Astronomical Clock" waiting for something to happen on the hour, but I couldn't see anything happening - I could hear the bell tolling but that was it. The next biggest tourist attraction is the Charles Bridge and I didn't get to see that until a couple of days later. It is a marvel, with all these imposing statues built into it...sort of an "abandon all hope ye who enter" vibe. The Castle is quite phenomenal but I never made it inside. Last time I came back from the Czech Republic everybody was saying "Whadaya mean, you didn't see Prague?" Now everybody will say "Whadayamean you didn't go to the castle???" I was grateful to have a direct flight, but I hope Czech Air has more up-to-date electronics in their cockpit than they do for the movies. The audio was totally overloaded and only in one ear. I think I was the only person on the flight that bothered with it.

I stayed at a nice "penzion" at the top of the square - more of a boulevard, really. As I walked along, I was reminded a bit of Provincetown where they alway have "shills" out in the street trying to attract customers for the show. In P-Town they were mostly guys dressed as Marilyn Monroe or something like that but here it's mosty black guys dressed up in colourful "doorman" outfits. And the entertainment they are drawing you to is mostly strip bars - I gather Prague was rather sleazy in the early 90s but they've gotten a lot more civilized. One guy was trying to get me into his strip bar and I said I was looking for a blues band and he said "These girls play blues!"

Well I saw eight or ten blues and jazz bars in Prague and there were a couple of decent ones but the fact is, none of them pay anything comparable to Germany or even smaller Czech cities. It's the classic case of a big music centre full of scuffling musicians and even the top notch guys are happy to get the equivalent of $40 and would often work for less. Marg Stowe was playing in town and invited me to open for her show and also guided me around a bit for those first few days. She delivered some serious jazz fusion - I think she's been calling it "psychedelic jazz" and the people here ate it up. She had a great back-up group of locals. The keyboard guy was something else and she said the drummer was fabulous with the odd time signatures (I wouldn't really know if an odd time signature was being well played or not).

Lynn Macdonald is another Toronto musician who played the Akord (the club I was supposed to go jam at tonight) and she had some sweet players too. The musicianship is quite phenomenal. There was a concert of Mozart arias earlier this evening at the Museum down the street and I should have gone but....you can't do everything. I came here to play and write. Well I got to play plenty, but it's just as well that I didn't get around to writing any new tunes because the lyrics would have gone south with my notebook.

The Muldaur Martin

Geoff Muldaur played at Hugh's Room last night and I ran into some
like-minded guitar aficionados, Mr. Rick, Ken Whiteley, Eve Goldberg,
Tony Burns and a big fan, Jane Moore from Sam The Record Man, pictured here with Geoff.

It turns out that Geoff has a new "signature" model Martin
Guitar - the 00-18H. It sounded great, but I'm sure a lot of that had to do
with the pickup, which was a Highlander system. Just the sound I've been
looking for, I thought. Don't know how much was the guitar and how much was
the pickup. But the guitar is $4,000 and the pickup is $125. So you can
guess which I will try first.

Muldaur was still fuming that Canada Customs did not let him bring in CDs to
sell. He talked about playing at a Buddhist Temple in Japan (Yamaguchi) and
had a great story about an editorial cartoon he saw after the launch of
Voyageur (which contained digitized music from all cultures and all ages).
The cartoon showed a rocket ship crashed back to earth with a note that said
"Send More Chuck Berry". After Geoff Muldaur, I dropped in to the Orbit Room
to see LMT Connection for the first time - I even had $5 at hand to pay my
way in, because it's not one of those place I can just walk in. Anyway, it
was $8 so I listened to a little bit then moved on down the road to
Thymeless where my own flesh and blood was spinning...but alas he wasn't
there yet, so I made my way home. Still baskling in the beautiful space that
Muldaur created.

Monday night I went to meet Tannis and not only did she bring along a kora
for me to mess around with but she gave me a showcase slot at the OCFF
conference. I'll be hosting the Toronto Blues Society Showcase at 11:30 in
the Chaudiere Room on the Convention Level. I've got a feeling that's a very
big room for our purposes. I'll be the "tweener" and maybe for a change I
should give a little thought to what tunes I will play. Then, thanks to
Tannis, I will be doing a showcase on the Saturday Night from 1:00-1:25 in a
room to be determined. I think we're going to call it the "Milk & Cookies"
Suite at the The Crowne Plaza Hotel, 101 Lyon Street North in Ottawa. Here's the full schedule

>>>> Friday Night

Tannis Slimmon Midnight to 12:25
Dale Nikkel 12:30-12:55
Steve Schellenberg 1-1:25
Allister: 1:30-2:00am (Still tentative)

>>>> Saturday Night

Tannis Slimmon Midnight to 12:25
Dale Nikkel 12:30-12:55
Brian Blain 1-1:25

Small World Music, Blackie, the Jennys and one gig gone south

Just in from the Blackie and the Radio Kings show at the Horseshoe - first
of two nights. A full house but not overflowing. Strange not to see Richard
Bell at the keyboards. Colin said they had been to see Richard before the
show and that he promised he'd "be there for the next time". For a few
seconds there was a lot of good energy directed at Richard.
Producer/Engineer John Whynot (who has played keyboards on many Blackie
albums but had never played on stage with them) did a fine job, though he is
not the strong soloist that Richard is. And, did I mention, the band played
great. They have some hard-core fans - folks who put a Blackie CD into their
CD changer and never take it out. I call that the "Harry Manx Effect" and
that is what it takes if you want your career to really take off.

Last night was chock full of music. First a stop at the Black Swan to hear a
bit of the Long-McQuade harmonica workshop with Hendrik Meurkens. When I
walked in, he was giving lots of good advice to a roomful of harmonica
players including Carlos del Junco and Jerome Godboo. In response to one
questioner about whether such-and-such could be played on the harmonica, he
said that of course it could be played, but the question was rather *should*
it be played on a harmonica. He explained how it's more important to find
the right "fit" - some tunes are going to sound better on that instrument
than others and the secret to success is to find the tunes that will sound
really special, magic when played on whatever instrument. I've thought the
same thing about my singing...how I occasionally happen upon a phrase that's
in just the right key for my voice and the sound just pours out, strong and
pure.

After Hendrik had played a tune, I had to split because I wanted to hear
some of the Wailing Jennys at the Mod Club. These girls have that 3-part
super-sweet harmony thing happening and it's so perfect...it seems unreal.
Is it possible they're singing through "auto-tuners"? And every instrument
perfectly in tune, too. At the start of one tune, drummer Mark Mariash
started a little rhythm groove with his hands (on the kit) and I was hearing
a distinct melody from his drums. I wondered to myself if the guitar would
be in the same key when it kicked in and sure enough, it was. Mark did not
play a lot - sat out of many tunes and played simple shakers in others but
everything he did fit perfectly. An exquisite drummer for what must be a
very demanding musical group. Now I really want to hear what he did on the
record.

Stayed till the end at the Jennys because I figured I'd never make it in
time to hear the first act in the Small World Festival at the Lula Lounge -
Didgeridoo player Ash Dargan from Australia. Before I left the the Mod Club,
my buddy Dr. Ric (who reads this blog, I gather) pulled me aside and
introduced me to Canadian Music legend, John Brower. Brower hadn't been to
Toronto in 13 years. He spoke about his new project - a young band that had
just made their debut on Chinese television performing at the unveiling of
the "mascots" for the 2008 Olympics.

The next band at the Lula was Mr. Something Something, a group that has been
touring relentlessly and building up a huge fanbase. They've combined a
world and funk groove - the drummer working very hard, the guitarist doing
his "chinky-chink" and...a go-go dancer. Richard Underhill was sitting in on
baritone sax and played great. CBC was recording.

And what about my musical activities, you ask? (or not)

Well the only gig I had scheduled after I get back from Europe at the end of
October were three night at the new jazz club in town, Sopra. Except, it
will now be known as the jazz club that didn't happen. They have "taken a
new direction" (meaning a DJ instead of jazz bands) and I got a perfunctory
telephone message saying it had nothing to do with my music but they were
canceling my gig in November. THREE nights with a full band - I was even
thinking of going into the studio to cut a new album right after because how
often do you get a chance to play three nights in a row? We would have been
really warmed up after that! I presume a lot of the leading jazz players in
town got the same message as me. I think Mr Massimo is going to have to
rehire the publicist that did such a great job putting his place on the map
to do same damage control because he's going to have a big black eye for not
honouring his commitments. Musicians do not take such treatment lightly, and
of course they all have a lot of people/fans interested in what they have to
say and eager to rush to their defense.

Anyway, it's almost 4am - time to turn off Reiner Schwarz (who is once again
playing a phenomenal selection of music on Jazz-FM, not to mention his
precious commentary). Friday nights will never be the same.

A Birthday to Remember

On stage I had Juno and Maple Blues Award winners, Canadian jazz greats, Canada's pre-eminent music attorney, the head of music at the Canada Council, and a historic reunion of two Canadian folk icons who hadn't performed together in 30 years, Fraser & deBolt (pictured above with me in the middle)

As someone remarked, it's pretty nice to have an event like this while you're still alive - not at some memorial service when you can't be around to enjoy it.

The Silver Dollar never looked so good - Elaine Cooledge transformed it with so many little touches - some things I didn't even notice until I was looking at a picture then I would see a little shiny "60" in the background. If anybody's having a 60th birthday party, contact ecooledge@hotmail.com because she's got the fixins - lots of shiny 60's and much more. Come to think of it, maybe it could also work for a 90th:)

My heartfelt thanks to those who came out and played: Julian Fauth, David Rotundo, Dan Dufour, Paul Sanderson, Mr. Rick, Tony Quarington, Marg Stowe, Suzie Vinnick, Lily Sazz, Ed Vokurka, Allan Fraser, Daisy DeBolt, Donna Louthood, Mark Sepic, Gary Kendall, Michelle Josef, Zoe Chilco and Tony Springer. There were many more great musicians who never quite made it to the stage - Mike Fitzpatrick and Ric Levenston come to mind but I know there were lots of players who wanted to come (thanks for your good wishes) and lots more that I meant to contact myself but never quite did (and I've heard from a couple of you, too). The Colorblind Coordinating Committee consisted of Alyson MacGregor, Lily Sazz, Mary Jane (MJ) Russell and Barbara Isherwood but there were lots more folks working behind the scene to make a smooth party and to help with my general career development (as much as you can develop a career at this stage in the game).

Thank you to Rob Boyd, the Dollar's sound guy extraordinaire and Jon Long for putting together the back-line. Hey musicians, Long & McQuade is having their "Attic Sale" September 22nd and 23rd at the Bloor Street store only.

Sorry that I got so smashed at the end that once I crawled onto that stage I never made my way off to say goodbye to anybody. Thanks to everyone who came out to "make my day."

You can view party pics by visiting www.flickr.com and searching for "Brian Blain". If you took any pics yourself, please feel free to add them to the gallery.

Brian Blain at Hallmark Studios, Toronto

Brian Blain at Hallmark Studios, Toronto, originally uploaded by Brian Blain.

That little mixer in the background had the first slider pots in that studio. Before that, everything was big rotary pots. As the junior copywriter, I got got to come along with the ad agency crew for a few jingle sessions in the afternoon (usually linked to a roast beef dinner at Ed's Warehouse) but the fun was late at night when I got to mess around with some musician friends. Doug Elphic who worked there as an assistant had some friends, Peter & Sunny and he would record them. My pet project was "Breakfast", Allan Fraser and Sue-Ellen Lothrop.

A Portnoy Complaint

Tonight I was supposed to be plugging away at the September issue of MapleBlues (available next week at your favourite blues club in TO), but I had to attend Mark Hummel’s Harmonica Blow-Out with Magic Dick, Lee Oskar, and the one I most looked forward to seeing, Jerry Portnoy.

One thing I couldn’t put off any longer was my Wholenote Column so I put that together and sent it off before heading out to the Silver Dollar. I didn’t expect an 8 o’clock show was going to start at precisely 8 o’clock so I didn’t think I would be too late, but as it turned out, I missed the first half which included Portnoy’s set. Argh!. It probably wasn’t as mind-blowing as Lee Oskar (absolutely phenomenal) but it wouyld have been “the real deal” the guy that played with Muddy on mamy of my favourite performances. Still I can see how his style might be more understated than the others. Maybe that’s why he was shying away when it came to the finale where many local harpmen got up a played a chorus with the big boys. Pickett, Rotudo, Carlos and Raoul all delivered the goods but what most impressed Hummell was Carlos playing his solo on a “A” harp while everyone else was playing in the key of “G”. Portnoy was lurk,ing in the back as these guys outdid each other and when called he stepped up a bit and blew a chorus. I only caught a peek of him and that chorus was all I heard of Jerry. That’s my Portnoy Complaint. When the band was called back for an encore and kicked into an impromptu jam, Jerry was visibly not into it. He was off the stage when Hummell called him back. He came back, blew into the harp but there might have been a problem with the gear, because this time he walked away and meant it. There would be no big group bow off the stage.

NOTE TO SELF: Find out who Hummel’s guitarist was.

As I was driving to the club I was beating myself up about not being enough of a full-time musician. I’m 60 years old and every day I can get an audience in front of me enriches my life and probably keeps me young. Not to mention what it would do for my guitar playing if I played every day. I don’t know what it’ll take to make music the top priority in my life, instead of the duties of my desktop publishing “empire”. I remember the first band I played with in Toronto fired me because I was missing rehearsals and could hardly make it on time for gigs. I could never be a “jobbing” musician because I don’t know the 3000 songs you have to know. (I know maybe 300 songs and most I wrote). The occasional times when I am invited up to the stage to sit in, I’m never prepared. At the House Full of Blues Festival in North Bay last week-end, organizer Sab Sabourin did make a point of including me in the big jam finale and even passed me his beloved white Les Paul. I believe that’s the first time I’ve played a Les Paul…and through a Marshall amp at that. I can check that one off my “To Do This Lifetime” list.

NOTE TO SELF: Get a blues standard (up tempo) to pull out on occasions like this.

I’m starting to think I have to stop expecting an audience to come to me and I need to go to them. If my music isn’t attracting ny audience, how do I get to them? If I wasn’t entirely confident that the music is good, I might get a little discouraged when I do a big email-blast to the blues lists (albeit at the last minute) get a spin on one blues radio show and a mention on the other and still not draw a single person. There was an audience, but I could account for every one of them and none came because they heard about it on the radio or saw it on the web. I was playing with Terry Wilkins the other day and he pointed out that my song “Blues Is Hurting” is not in a blues style. Nor are many other tunes I call blues, come to think of it. I think I use too many minor chords. That must be it. If I was going to be self-depracating (which I don’t do in public anymore – at the Sockman’s behest) I would say that I’ve been writing the same song for 30 or 40 years. It starts in E minor and changes to C at some point. It’s the same song…and I’m writing it on the same guitar. Right now I working on a New Orleans theme – maybe even try to incorporate a “second line” rhythm.

NOTE TO SELF: Send a copy of the a capella “Peacekeeper” tune to JSP.

Well last night I dropped in to see one of my favourite singers Dawn Tyler Watson (with an amazing guitarist, Paul Deslauriers) and then slipped up to Grossman’s where the Gary Kendall Band was playing. Gary invited me up to do a tune and (as usual) I was not prepared. Gary suggested Hi-Tech Blues because he plays on that track on my CD, but maybe that wasn’t the best tune to pull out in a jam situation like that, especially considering it modulates to a new key and changes tempo in the middle. Yikes. I thought it was a little rough but the audience seemed to enjoy it. The proverbial small but appreciative audience. Nobody had much of a crowd last night but what else is new…at the rate we’re going, pretty soon most clubs will have more people on stage that in the audience! We’ll see how I do on Thursday night at the Free Times. Last time I worked like hell to get some people out and this time I’ve done nothing… until this note to you, dear friend. So let me remind you now:

9PM THURSDAY AUG 10 Free Times Café, 320 College (I’ll have Terry Wilkins on bass) We have a little warm-up gig tomorrow at the Woodbine Racetrack, a good-paying nondescript kind of gig.

Home County Folk Festival: Even though I did play my share of festivals this summer, I hardly ever got to stay in a hotel room because they were all around town. I was cutting it close on arrival in London because my first duties were hosting the Open Stage at noon. I got there a little before noon and several people had signed up to perform (at specific time slots) and the stage was already filled with musicians from two London bluegrass societies. They had booked two fifteen-minute slots back to back. I played a tune to kick things off – “No More Meetings” (I’d like to play that one for the tireless festival organizers who I’m sure have too many meetings in their schedule). Both workshops I played got hit by rain but the audience was undeterred. My last tune on Sunday was “The Big Fire” which Bill & Sue had played at Home County the previous year and one couple had come up to me at another festival saying they came to see me play especially to hear that song. Well this time, a nice lady came up to me on the last night of the festival and had to share with me how much that song touched her. Well, that was the highlight of the whole week-end for me.

I haven’t been on the road long enough to hate hotels. In fact, I love the TV. I didn’t get much of a chance to get into it this time, but Roxanne Potvin told me she also has no TV at home so tends to take in a lot in hotel rooms. Roxanne did a workshop with me and Chris Whiteley and I was talking to Chris about his connection with Lonnie Johnson, and Roxy was amazed that the Whiteleys used to hang out with Lonnie (I found out about it when I complained to Chris about the high action on his guitar and he replied that it was Lonnie Johnson who told him to raise it up). On the subject of Lonnie Johnson, Jim Galloway was playing me an old blues record by Nellie Letcher (sp?) and casually mentioned that the song “My Mother’s Eyes” was probably the last tune that Lonnie played in public before he died – he had come by to sit in with Jim’s group, The Metro Stompers, and was back in the hospital a few days after that…

Beaches Jazz Festival: No, I wasn’t playing it but it’s so close to my house I can practically walk over. I wanted to see my label-mate Janiva Magness and she gave a great show. She looks smashing. You wouldn’t believe she’s a grandmother…and she flaunts it, shouting “give some love to the old lady!” and “I’ll sign CDs and anything else within reason.” Her keyboard player was Benny Yee who I saw playing with Coco Montoya and he is a monster player, though Coco seemed to let him cut loose a bit longer. In fact, Coco would often leave the stage while Benny took an extended solo. Anyway, I put my foot in my mouth when I asked Benny about Coco and he told me he’d been summarily fired after 15 years with Coco. He did not have happy thoughts about Coco. Meanwhile Janiva and Fred Litwin took off right after the show to visit Richard Bell in the Sunnybrook Hospital. Richard plays on both of Janiva’s NorthernBlues CDs (and mine too) and he is not in very good shape. Also my long standing organist Rod Phillips is also out of commission (with throat cancer). There was a huge benefit for him last Sunday and it was an amazing turnout – They raised lots of money for Rod’s treatment and expenses.
Also at the Beaches fest, I was knocked out by Jake Langley’s quartet with Robi Botos on organ. He kicked ass and when I complemented him afterwards he told me it was only the second time he played organ. Amazing.

Six String Nation: Yes, that’s the guitar the Jowi Taylor had constructed from different woods from across the country. I got to play it when he dropped by the Bob Snider CD launch and I must say it plays beautifully for a guitar that was made of an odd assortment of woods, regardless of their historical significance (an oar from Pierre Trudeau’s canoe, etc…). Even master luthier Grit Laskin, who was there, tried it and was suitably impressed. As the guitar was passed from one guitarist to another, Jowi whispered to me “notice how everybody starts with an E chord?” All until Shelley Coopersmith strummed a big C chord. Snider played a great set for the folks and the audience (mostly young women) was totally into it. I always thought I had something like Bob Snider’s approach and appeal, in fact it was upon hearing Bob’s album that I asked David Baxter to produce my record.

Birthdays: I’ve got a big one coming up on September 11th at the Silver Dollar. It’s the big 6-0. (Mark your calendars). But before I could start feeling old, I was celebrating Jim Galloway’s 70th – and what a party that was. Even a bagpiper to announce the birthday boy!

Weddings: Well, today I actually took a wedding gig. Never did that in my musical life, but I guess it’s never too late to try something different. Especially when weddings are traditionally the best paying gigs.

Keyboardists ailing

Just heard that two of my favourite musicians (both organist/pianist) are in bad medical shake. Rod Phillips and Richard Bell both appear on my current album and I looked forward to many more opportunities to play with them in the years to come. Now I pray for their recovery

Gotta Get Out More

After an endless procession of world class bands over the last few weeks, I finally took a break the other night...only to discover I missd an outstanding Bulgarian group that were part of the Small World Festival. Tonight I ended up at Harbourfront through a succession of changed week-end plans. Boy, am I glad I did. I got there in time to hear a wonderful kora player called Seckou Keita. Just last Sunday I heard the world-renowned kora player Mamadou Diabate but somehow I was not as mesmerized by him. Maybe it's because I was standing off to the side having conversations or eating exotic food. This Seckou Keita was a virtuoso but more importantly, he had the groove. He was really holding it together with his quartet, fiddle, string bass and his brother playing some strange drum set-up where the round top of a drum was hit with the hand to make a "kick" sound and played with a light stick to get a "clicking" sound. There was a cymball, though I only recall seeing it used one time. The main feature was the Jamaica-Toronto Connection with a lot of old-timers. When they first came on, one of the vocal mics was not turned on when he started singing into it, se he ran one way and and the money went the other way.

TIPS TO TAKE HOME: Throughout his set, he would launch into a solo "duel" with one of his sidemen. This would be built up to a fever pitch (and although he didn't do it, I love it when one of those solos gets so loud and intense that you don't know who's playing what! I strive to get it up to that point and achieved it with Roberta (in a rhuthmical way) but also got it happening with Carlos' harp a few days before. I just found exactly the same note as Carlos was wailing then try to get the guitar sounding as much like the harp as possible - so sometiems you could play the note together and it would crteate some wild flaging effects and perk up the audience. ANOTHER IDEA: Try doing "Ghost of Clinton's Tavern" at a much slower (more African) rhythm

Another week in my musical life

Two weeks since the jazz festival ended and I guess I'm recovered. It was a lot of music to take in at once. Then again, this week wasn't much different.

Tonight I read that mandolin player Matt Smith was in town doing an opening set with Doc Mclean at the Silver Dollar. The headliner was a young blues phenom called "Slick" Ballinger. I had also received a last-minute email invite to a video taping of the Kevin Breit and Sisters Euclid. Turns out they were taping a new music series for a High-Definition TV Channel in the US. The series is called "Beautiful Noise". It was obviously big-budget: six cameras and it seemed like three people to operate each camera. A big crane and a steadicam, too. Very professional, except for one thing: After four or five songs Kevin finished up a number with a scorching solo and I watched as he broke one string, then a second and at that point he just decided to go all out and before he signaled an end to the song, he had only two strings left on the guitar. It was a spectacular ending. Then the director steps up onto the stage to say they'll have to re-do the ending because the tape ran out. I don't think so... there's no strings left on the guitar!

I slipped out and raced up to the Silver Dollar hoping to catch a few tunes of Matt and Doc but when I walked in Slick Ballinger and his band had already taken the stage. Slick, like me, played a flat top guitar but got a very edgy electric sound. The rhythm section had that Mississippi hill country rough edge tome - made me think I should put together a power trio with bass and drums. You sure have to crash people over the head to made any kind of impact in this town. After the Dollar, I slipped down to Healeys to hear Jerome Godboo playing with Jeff Healey. To hear both Jeff Healey and Kevin Breit in full flight in one evening is an amazing gift - something one shouldn't take for granted. Oh yeah, Pat Rush was playing second guitar. It was guitar-heaven. The club, meanwhile has a broken air-conditioner amd floods every time it rains. I think those guys are ready to get out of the basement.

Last night I made my way to the Lula Lounge to hear a 15-piece Afrobeat band led by Femi Abosede (6 horns - it rocked!). (Note to self: If you're going to have fifteen musicians on stage you'll have to rehearse five times as much as you would for a trio.)

The night before that, I had a gig of my own but that didn't stop me from getting out to hear some more great blues. Kelley Hunt was in town at Hugh's Room. My set at the Red Guitar was 7-9 (I played with Roberta Hunt, and I think we made a few new fans) and promptly dragged Roberta to hear Kelley who I knew she'd enjoy (even though I'd never heard her live, I knew that Kelley was one barrelhouse piano mama). Seeing her, there was a lot more variety than I expected (that's a good thing). Kelley was a knock-out. The band was soooo tight. Roberta was an instant fan, bought two CDs and booked a trip to Ottawa to see Kelley play at the Ottawa Bluesfest.

On Monday I guess I didn't go out, but Sunday, I drove directly from my gig in Haliburton to Queen's Park to take in Afrofest. As I walked towards the park I ran into Donne Robert who was part of the African Guitar Summit, along with Mighty Popo, Adam Solomon and Alpha Yaya Diallo from BC. Alpha got a lot of sound out of his acoustic guitar and was mostly driving the set. Muna Mungole played - she's a Cameroonian singer living in Montreal, though I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up in Toronto. The gig I played on the Saturday night was in a "sugar shack" in Haliburton - kinda reminiscent of the Townships. It was a big barn of a building with the maple syrup production facility on the main floor and a small concert room upstairs. A great listening audience and it was packed - in fact this may be another milestone in my music career: "First sold out show" (with a waiting list, to boot).

Also overheard this week: A renowned scientist claims that the global warming effect is irreversible and within 30 to 100 years, all hell will break loose. It will start by raising sea-level and countries like Bangladesh will be completely submerged. The mass exodus will create other problems and it could conceivably be the end of a civilization (for about the 300th time on this planet). He was saying we should make sure that all the knowledge we've accumulated should be gathered in a "time capsule" or something. "So that the next civilization will know things like disease is caused by bacteria, not witches"

Brian's festival blog

Did I say I'd be sending daily reports during the jazz festival? Ooops, I blinked and it's over.

Phone just rang. It was Bell Canada calling about repair ticket number such-and-such at 100 Queen Sttreet West... I had to laugh. The whole site is torn down and now they call to respond to my frantic call on day 2 of the festival when the internet went down (at the most inconvenient time, of course). Thank goodness they (mistakenly) sent us more than one modem and a quck swap had resolved the problem.

Last night was the last of the tent series and traditionally, everyone would go hang out at the after hours till 4am. Unfortunately the after-hours is happening at the Rex and the Rex has a bit of a bee in their bonnet about people with festival passes expecting free admission. I walked in with Harry Manx, who dropped in while he's touring Ontario with Michael Kaeshammer, and he had to pay. Open Letter to the Rex: "Hey guys, you should buy the bar across the street because they were doing very good business just with the folks that were turned away (or ejected) from the Rex." I stood helpless as I watched John the doorman turn away a couple of the Diva Big Band members - I would have tried to say something if I hadn't already been through a big discussion with the doorman who reminded me that as a musician, I should understand that they need to collect the money to pay the musicians. Well other headliners graciouly paid the admission fee, Geoff Keezer and McCoy Tyner's extraordinary bassist Charnett Moffet. I'm going to be watching what he does next...he really was able to make the bass do stuff I've never heard. Anyway, I think he just paid whatever the get in because he was starving! The Divas, on the other had, just stomped away furiously...they are, after all, divas. They had some amazing charts - great arrangements and fine playing from all 15 of them. Ann Hampton Calloway was a phenomenal front-person. Kidding around with the audience...singing up a storm...making up a song about Toronto with lyrical ideas from the audience...it was like May West revisted. The Divas (let's get the name straight at least one time: Sherrie Maricle and the Diva Jazz Orchestra) will surely make an impression as they continue on the jazz festival circuit, undoubtedbly relating how they were expected to "pay to play" at the after-hours jam in Toronto.

I had two gigs on the first week-end of the festival (I won't do that again!) but somehow everything got done. I played the newly constructed Greektown stage in the Alexander the Great Parkette with two phenomenal musicians - Carlos del Junco and Henry Heilig. They billed me as Colorblind Blain Blues to remind everybody (especially me) that I was going to be playing Blues this time. Last time I was invited to play up there it was the 04 Jazzfest and I thought (since it's a jazz festival) that I would do something completely different. I went in with a DJ/remixer called Caspar Project along with a tabla player who doubled on digiridoo. I played a MIDI duitar and sent a feed to the Caspar who also grabbed clips from the tabla and digiridoo and looped them. It was a lot of fun...but not (as the club owner pointed out) the jazz trio they expected. We were fired after the first night. I was fired from my own festival - that was the running gag at HQ for a while. Anyway, this time they loved it. And I loved it because I had a quiet, attentive audience - who could ask for more?

So, what else did I see, you ask? Well, I didn't make it to Mike Stern which was right after my gig but I just didn't have any steam left. Heard it was a phenomenal show. Saw Molly Johnson on opening night and she spun her magic spell like she always does. Colleen Allen played beautifully - she is at the top of my list of people I want to play with before I die. The following afternoon I slipped off to the Distillery to play a solo set at the City Roots Festival. They were very appreciative and I stuck around for the "grand finale/group hug" with a bunch of folkies gathered on the stage singing Goodnight Irene. How quaint. Then it was back into the jazz zone where I heard such phenomenal artists as John Pizzarelli, Paquito D'Rivera, Pharoah Sanders and Charlie Hunter and his unique 8-string guitar - even if Charlie wasn't playing the bass part on those two extra strings he would still be a phenomenal, soulful guitarist. His keyboard player was a monster - I think his name was Deutch (??). I told Charlie about a young woman I met who played a similar guitar (Kate Shutt?) and he remembered her. He must have a network of 8-string devotees all over the planet.

On Sunday night I made my way down to Harbourfront to hear the Maple Blues Revue - The singers, Dawn Tyler Watson, John Mays and Chuck Jackson were topnotch and the whole show ran like a well-oiled machine - which it is under the leadership of Gary Kendall. Not a big crowd but a phenomenal show. Blues is hurtin'.

Tuesday I watched the opening acts for Preservation Hall but then skipped over to the Hummingbird to hear Etta James. The voice is still there, but it was pretty low0-key compared to other performances I've seen years back. Boy has she lost weight...she looked like a sweet old grandma, except for when she was humping the stool and shaking her booty.

Also at Harbourfront I saw the Neville Brothers with Roxanne Potvin opening. Roxanne may have been a little nervous about that show but she was all confidence on that stage. I saw one thing that I noted as a GOOD TIP: When she wanted to acknowledge a solo from one of the sidemen, she just pointed rather than trying to say his name. Many a time I've fumbled a lyric entrance just because I'm saying somebody's name. Next time. I'll just point - everybody knows his mane anyway. It also made me realize that I often stifle a spontaneous burst of applause after a solo or whatever. If the audience wants to applaud, we should encourage them, no? Then I made it back to the main stage to catch the encore of Maceo Parker (which lasted as long as some folks' entire show - he played almost 3 hours straight - old school...)

Other stuff...more than I can relate here. Everyone playing at a very high level. Buck 65 struck me as the next Tom Waits. Seu Jorge had a huge following (mostly Brazillians, I guess) and he gave a beautiful show - holding it all together with his beat-up nylon string guitar, probably the same one he had when he was busking on the streets of Rio. Dave Brubeck showed that even as you are well into your eighties, you can still play with the vigour of a twenty year old.

My "discovery of the year" was bass player Charnett Moffet, who was here with McCoy Tyner but who sat in with anybody who would have him (and everybody wanted him). He was doing some things with the sting bass that I've never heard. It was quite something to see Neil Swainson relinquish his bass to Charnett mid-song at the Montreal Bistro in what turns out to be the last jazz jam ever to take place at the Bistro as it closed for good after the festival. That's right, there's no more Montreal Bistro. And now I have to find a new venue for my 60th Birthday bash. Argh!

Here come de Festivals

Here come de Festivals

I told my son today that I felt like some kind of thoroughbred dog in the
gate waiting for the race to begin. Not because I've got so many gigs (2
this week-end, mind you) but because I know what a marathon it is keeping up
with all the action at the Downtown jazzfest - now called the Toronto Jazz
Festival...OK, the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival. All year long, I'm
the (barely)managing editor of the newsletter and website and this is the
payoff - ten or more days of exquisite music. And yes, I even got a gig for
myself and what a privilege to have Carlos del Junco on board playing harp.

********************
HERE'S THE GIG INFO:

Saturday June 24 - 6PM at the Greektown Stage (Danforth and Logan) Brian
Blain with Carlos del Junco and Henry Heilig. This is part of the Toronto
Jazz Festival. It's going to rock.

Sunday June 25th, 4PM I'm doing a solo set on the Trinity Square Stage at
the City Roots Festival in the Distillery District

**********************

After that I'll be running around Nathan Phillips Square for ten days
listening to as much music as I can and fixing any computer or internet
problems that arise. Right now, the challenge of the day is getting the
e-commerce going...argh! I won't whine any further, I'm pretty lucky to be
around all this phenomenal music. I wish I could say some of it rubs off on
my playing, but I've come to accept that for the last 40 years I've been
writing a succession of variations on the same couple of songs, with mostly
the same chords and riffs...played on the same guitar, too.

If you ever wondered what a "blog" is, well, it's something like this except
it doesn't arrive in your mailbox - you have to go to a website. I have a
blog at http://torontobluesdiary.blogspot.com and now I post it at
www.myspace.com/brianblain.

What else is going on? Well, I've read with great interest when publicist
and friend Richard Flohil has sent a report on his club hopping over the
last few weeks. I'm sure he'll be reporting a hot steamy session with Paul
Reddick and the Sidemen in a smoky, crowded after-hours hang in the Liberty
Village. He might have missed some stuff when he fell asleep on the couch
but he was in good hands with Samantha and Roxanne. It was quite a crush of
people and we were pushed right up inches from the band - and they were on
fire. Teddy Leonard's guitar playing never ceases to amaze and Paul Reddick
was in his element. Having Vince and Greg, original Sidemen since 91 playing
behind them was rock solid.

I'm sure this is the closest I've ever been to a crowded Juke joint/ Rent
party in the southern US. Cigarette smokers were in heaven, and although I'm
sometimes bugged by smoke, here it was helping fuel the overall experience
which I dare say would not be reproducible. Maybe more of these joints will
surface, if only to accommodate the smokers (all kinds).

Before that I swung by the Silver Dollar and heard Suzie Vinnick playing
with Ottawa guitarist, and probably one of Suzie's mentors. He plays so
effortlessly and pushes the intrument to the edge (literally - I noticed he
had no whammy bar on his strat but he would pull and push the neck to get
some dramitic sounds). Suzie has been doing more laid back gigs - this was a
rockin power trio and he bass playing was at a very high level. At one
point, Tony stopped playing the riff for a couple of bars as he made some
adjustment and she just jumped in with some riffs that held the whole thing
together.

I'll try to post regular blogs during the festival...though finding a free
moment is going to be a challenge. The jazz festival is always a great ride
for this old country blues picker from the hill country of Quebec who
happens to know a bit about computers. I'll try to keep track of my
"discoveries" and relate them back here.

--

QUOTE OF THE DAY: ³Brian's music is not only delicious, but it's
nourishing.² - Alice Brock, Alice's Restaurant

OVERQUALIFIED FOR THE BLUES available at iTunes.com, music.yahoo.com,
allmusic.com, amazon.com and northernblues.com EPK at www.brianblain.ca

PART-TIME (BARELY)MANAGING EDITOR
Downtown Jazz www.torontojazz.com
Crescendo www.torontomusicians.org
MapleBlues www.torontobluessociety.com

One Night at NXNE

I have mixed feelings about these music conferences but this year I decided to get my media accreditation and take in some music. I didn’t realize till after I got the pass that I was only going to be able to use it on Thursday because I was in Hamilton on Friday and Young’s Point on Saturday. The latter is a gig at an outdoor concert, a one-day festival, as it were. So for those of you that are following my blog (and I want to thank Russ K and Barry and Rosie for mentioning that they look me up once in a while). I’m sure there are two or three others. I think I’m going to broadcast this Blainletter because I have a little something to promote:

This Monday at 1PM, on CIUT-FM 89.5 and ciut.fm, they will rebroadcast the Motherless Day Concert I did with Harrison Kennedy at Free Times (highlights).

It was a special evening, I hope this show can give you a bit of the vibe. I want to thank all the “friends of Brian” who came out to that and other gigs. Here’s a couple coming up:

June 24 – 6-9pm GreekTown Stage, Danforth & Logan, Toronto Jazz Festival
June 25 4pm Distillery District, City Roots Festival
July 8 Wintergreen House of Pancackes, Haliburton
July 11 9pm– The Red Guitar Art Bar
July 22-23 Home County Folk Festival, London
August 10 Free Times Café

And since I’m sitting here typing I’ll trell you quickly the rest of my NXNE crawl. It got off to a slow start, my body didn’t want to go anywhere and I was curled up on the couch so I missed the first couple of acts but I got downtown by 11 and made directly for the Rivoli, even though my ultimate destination was the Fox & Fiddle where I wanted to hear Yukon singer-songwriter Kim Beggs. She had a nice soft touch (a contrast, I thought, to her day-job as a carpenter.

I get out of my car on Queen street and the first music I hear is a busker on electric guitar across the street. As I get closer I realize he’s got a lot of pedals going – I threw in a buck to help cover the cost of the batteries. He was playing “Let the Good Times Roll” a la Stevie Ray.

At the Rivoli there’s a huge lineup. I’ve got my badge in my pocket but I’m not sure what to do so I take my place in the line. The I see a fellow badge-wearer – he’s taling on his cell phone – sounds like he’s talking to someone who’s just outside. He tells me they’ll call for badges first when they start to let people in (ie when some people come out). I
Saw somebody with a badge breaking through the crowd so I jumped in his wake and followed him to the front. Anyplace but Canada, somebody would have made some comment – or worse. Interesting though, there was obviously a badge greater than ours, because a woman came in waving it and the le her right through into the back room.

There I saw a band from Winnipeg called Waking Eyes and then a little later another Winnipeg band called Floor Thirteen. They seemed to have a lot in common, though an aficionado would probably tell me how intrinsically different they are. They both had a loud punk quality but I felt after seeing that little flurry of new, young bands that they were paying attention to vocals. They seemed to have some real good snging (and they would both push it to a shriek now and then. A little taste of Winnipeg. Refreshing. Some cynics would say “we’ve got a hundred bands in Toronto that can do that” but I don’t think a Toronto band would have it so worked out.

I swung into the Horseshoe where I hear a bit of a very heavy band called Priestess while I made my way to the Fox and Fiddle to see one of the few roots shows I could find. – No lineups for the roots, I’m afraid. I left after hearing a couple of songs from Michelle Rasky – the young woman who bieat me out for ther OCFF Songs From The Heart competition. Though after hearing her song, I did tell her (and mean it) that she deserved the win.

The last stop was going to be the Silver Dollar where I just hear it was an “R&B Horn Band”. Well, it was an amazing set – certainly a festival highlight. They’re based in Berlin…called King Khan. Just like being at a James Brown show. Definitely a festival highlight.

Tip of the Day; Go to youtube.com and find the Spade Cooley footage

Apology of the Day: Two this time, it must have been that 666 thing because this all happened on June 6. First to Bonnie Raitt for getting the venue wrong in MapleBlues (the cover, no less). The next apology is re: The Downtown Jazz newsletter and it might not have to happen because I’ve corrected the mistake and tracked down most of the bad copies. I had written up a little blurb about how a certain local jazz pianist had “saved the day” at last year’s jazz festival, except I attributed to the wrong piano player. It reminded me of the time I wrote up a little blurb about the “late” Tracy Nelson - I had her confused with Sandy Denny. The (barely)managing editor strikes again!

Anyway there’s a few gigs, as you see above, and more great reviews on “Overqualified For The Blues”. Just got an envelope full of them from the lovely Betsie Brown, my publicist in Memphis…if I ever get Stateside. Apparently Senator John Kerry is proposing an amendment to go easy on musicians entering the US. But that’s a story for another time.

Driving home from the gig

I’m sitting here thinking about the etiquette of “sitting in”. It’s not something I do very often but I’m starting to think I should be a little more pro-active about making guest appearances here and there. Get out there and show my face, you know. It’s not something I’ve pursued because, truth be told, I don’t usually have much fun in those situations. I remember my first experience, as a naive new arrival on the Toronto blues scene, going up to the Black Swan for the Saturday matinee. Actually I went to several of those matinees before I was allowed to step onto the stage, in fact the first time I went my leather jacket was stolen (welcome to Toronto). Perhaps because they felt bad about the stolen jacket the previous week, I was invited to take the stage, not to sing but to play guitar along with a bunch of other newbies. I plugged into the Fender amp, but there was no sound. The rest of them just started playing and I was still looking for the “on” switch. I had never used a Fender amp and didn’t know about the standby switch tucked in the back. After struggling for a while, I just plugged my guitar into the PA mixer and played through that. I’m sure the general thinking was “if you don’t know how to turn on a Fender amp, you shouldn’t be on this stage”. That was my introduction to “sitting in” in Toronto.

Over the years I’ve observed how some people have gotten very good at that, mostly by playing the same song every time (one that everybody knows) – and, of course, playing it as close to the original as possible. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of blues standards in my repertoire, and the ones I do are quite different from the original – a combination curse/blessing.

I sat in once in a while at more of these jams & matinees but like I said, I was not having fun. I got the feeling these folks who just wanted to play songs they knew with musicians they knew. Over the years I got to know most of the musicians, even played with many of them on regular gigs, but still didn’t get invited to sit in very often, and hardly ever got invited to be a “featured guest” which usually included a little remuneration.

I should start asking and just arriving with my guitar on my shoulder. It’s not a great career move to sit around waiting to be invited – at least not in a town where every second person you meet is a musician. But maybe things are turning around, because last night I had three “invitations”. Mory the Sockman asked me if I would do a tune at his birthday celebration at Healey’s (I don’t know what the band would have to say about that, but in any case I had a festival gig, so I couldn’t be there – Hope you had a great party, Mory!) Then after my gig I dropped in at the club where my buddy Larry was playing and he insisted that I come up and and do a couple of tunes with the band, even though I was a little reluctant. Well we’ve done a few duo things together and he happens to be the director of the festival, so how could I say no…yet when I got back, I think they were playing their last tune but I jumped in there anyway, and then Larry says the drummer has to leave and the rest of the band leaves the stage so I do a tune with Larry while the musicians are tearing down their equipment. I guess it was overtime and they just wanted to get home, but it just reinforces my resistance about “sitting in” even when one of the band members wants you to. Next time I’ll let them take a vote. I don’t want to inflict myself on anybody. I don’t play that often, so I insist on having fun when I do. I had a a third invitation for last night – not to play but to attend the big gala for the Walk of Fame with Paul Schaeffer and many big stars. That would have been fun.

Here’s a tip for any musicians driving home late on a Friday night – tune in Reiner Schwarz on JAZZ-FM 91.1 He is the original underground FM pioneer and he does an overnight show that harkens right back to the seventies when he was on CHUM-FM. He was talking directly to “the musicians who are driving home from the gig” How many other people are listening to the radio at 3am?

Motherless Thursday

The picture above was taken in 1972 with my wonderful adopted mom, Jill Blain, who many of my early musician buddies remember well because she used to feed them and give them cigarettes. This photo shoot was part of an elaborate media blitz to promote the release of a song I wrote called "Don't Forget Your Mother". It was all a bit premature and I found myself in Andre Perry's studio recording this tune with some musical heavies before I had ever performed it in public and in fact, before I had ever done a gig as anything but a quiet sideman. The song was never released, mostly due to my intractability and embarassment about my singing, but after all these years, I'm willing to share it with you all. You can hear it at www.myspace/brianblain. I don't sound anything like that anymore.

Here's the press release, if you wanted to know more:

Harrison Kennedy joins Brian Blain for his Annual Motherless Day Blues Concert Thursday, May 18 at the Free Times Café


In 1970, Brian returned to Quebec after doing time in an Ontario ad agency. That summer I began writing songs. One of them was called “Don’t Forget Your Mother” and I would perform it as a “novelty feature” with the groups I was playing with. Montreal producer Andre Perry heard the song and signed me to his fledgling label. Perry, famous for recording John & Yoko’s “Give Peace a Chance” was not known for doing things in half measures and he brought in Los Angeles producer Frazier Mohawk and arranged to record the song with Frank Zappa’s Mothers when they came through Montreal on the “Petit Wazou” tour.

Zappa declined to participate but most of the band played including Tom “Bones” Malone, known for his later work with the Blues Brothers and The Band and drummer Jim Gordon, member of Derek and the Dominoes and co-writer (with Eric Clapton) of “Layla” (Gordon later killed his mother in a schizophrenic episode, but that’s another story). The recording was a massive undertaking with an orchestra conducted by Otto Armin, a boys choir and back-up vocals by members of the Manhattan Transfer but due to some legal entanglements and my own tendency to shoot myself in the foot, it was never released. You can hear an mp3 of “Don’t Forget Your Mother” at www.myspace.com/brianblain.

Since then, I always try to find an occasion to perform the song on or near Mothers’ Day. Last year, I christened the Thursday after Mothers' Day as Motherless Thursday, a day of remembrance for those who have lost their mother or never knew her.

This will be a great opportunity to hear the phenomenal harrison Kennedy in a small, intimate setting. Harrison, based in Hamilton, does not make a lot of appearances in Toronto, but he’s been touring heavily in Europe and making a solid reputation as a “deep blues” real-deal bluesman. I first met in an after-hours jam session at a music conference and I've been looking forward to sharing the bill with him ever since. I Hope you can come out for this one

The details:

Colorblind Blain's Motherless Day Blues Concert
With Special Guest Harrison Kennedy
Thursday, May 18 9PM
Free Times café
320 College St. Toronto

Chicago's

Had a bit of a setback this week-end. The gig I was to play next week-end at Chicago's in Oshawa has been cancelled because the owner didn't think we were enough of a dance band. I guess I'm going to have to work on getting a "club show" together where I can play for a dance crowd. It's true that the cuurent set is more for a listening crowd...but I prefer a listening crowd (or at least a listening table or two).

But that doesn't mean I'm not willing to get out the old Strat and rock 'da house! With Michelle on drums and Roberta on piano we put out quite a bit of energy, I thought - even without the Strat. But we're not your regular blues band.

I think we made a few new fans this week-end, but not very many old ones showed up. It was pretty light crowd but I can't feel too bad when I look around me at what is happeming to musicians with a far higher profile than mine. Just the day before my gig, I dropped by the Montreal Bistro to hear an impeccable performance by some of the pre-eminent players on the Canadian jazz scene, and still the attenance was pretty sparse for the last show.

Over at the Dollar the night after my gig I saw Watermelon Slim and he had a full house, but this was after some big bumpf - the front page of the Star entertainment section, I'm told. Down the road at Healey's, we heard the last hour of the Sonny Landreth show...and they were packed. But when you consider Sonny was a mainstage act at the Toronto Bluesfest, and headlines many other festivals, but in Toronto, he's playing a club. Lucky Peterson was just in town - playing the Dollar. And a few short years ago he was headlining the Downtown Jazz Festval and selling 1100 tickets.

Slim has been packing them in across the East Coast, according to Maureen Brown, who was subbing for their drummer. Mo hooked up with them at the Blues, Brews & BBQ's in Kitchener and really deliverd for the boys even though she's played with two other bands that day. Now she got the call for a tour. Slim was something to behold and I counted at least three times that he jumped off the stage to play harp in the audience but then it became a bigger and bigger struggle to do that leap back onto the stage.

Well now here he was at the Dollar, climbing on top of the speakers. At another point, he was leaning precariously over his makeshift guitar holder and it started to wobble. That guy's gonna hurt himself one of these days. But what a showman! In addition to standing on the speakers and jumping off the stage, he did a walkabout throughout the club shaking a tambourine. People love it.

Tip of the Day: Slim had noted the names of all the staff and soundman and took a moment to thank them all indiidually. (I couldn't even remember the name of the bartender at Chicago's...I called her Sarah...but that's not her name). Slim was dressed all in white, which I wouldn't try, but it's become a bit of a signature with him and that's a good thing - big dry cleaning bills, I suppose.

Sonny Landreth, meanwhile, was not into any grandstanding but played the most impeccable slide - if only we could graft his steel guitar vituopsity onto Slim's larger-than-life personna.

Record Labels have Birthdays too

Just played the CD/DVD compilation celebrating the 30 year anniversary of Edmonton-based Stony Plain Records. Got to meet Alvin, the man behind the scenes at Stony Plain. Lots of other artists and music industry types in attendance.

My own label, NorthernBlues Music, will be celebrating 5 years next month. Man did that go by fast. I was there right at the beginning, and even though my CD didn't come out till last fall, we had signed the deal in 2001. It just took me a little while - too many distractions in my life (like making a living)

Happy Birthday Holger, Happy Birthday Fred. Two great guys supporting the blues in Canada.