Thursday, February 10, 2011
New CD In Store Now
Maybe it's in more than one store, but I know for sure it's in the blues section at HMV on Yonge Street, Toronto. I also found it at Amazon.ca. Not on iTunes yet but that's supposed to happen any day. I've been hearing it on the radio, CBC has it in their "system" now so it may make its way onto some CBC radio shows. Speaking of CBC, I found myself walking alongside Jian Gomeshi on Frnt Street as we left the JUNO Award Nominee announcement thang and handedr him a copy of the new CD. He graciously took it and asked the same thing everybody asks when I hand them a CD, "Is that you in the picture?" Yes, it's me forty years ago, sitting in the rocker at Fraser & DeBolt's farm aka Swallow Hollow. Then he said, "Brian Blain. That's a good name. I wish I had that name." Today I was on the phone trying to fill some dates for my Quebec tour in April. Left a couple of messages and I'm exhausted. I'm no good at this. I'd rather be playing guitar.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Quote of the Day
From Hubert Sumnlin (pushing 80 yrs young) playing San Diego tonight: "I'm enjoying it better than ever, man," Sumlin said. "I'm so glad that people recognize and believe in me. I'm doing God's work, man. I'm doing the peoples' work. I'm doing the world's work. I've got everything I need, and I ain't got a quarter. And I mean that." Source: Hubert Sumlin's Still Howlin' | NBC San Diego
Saturday, January 15, 2011
BLUESMAN BRIAN BLAIN RELEASES A WHALE OF A SINGLE TO LAUNCH NEW CD - THREE-MONTH CD CELEBRATION BEGINS @ GLADSTONE HOTEL JAN 18
TORONTO -– WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12TH, 2011 -– Singer, songwriter, storyteller and bluesman Brian Blain kicks of his three-month “CD Celebration and Tour” with the release of the free online single "THE OLD WHALER'S CONFESSION" on Tuesday, January 18th, 8 pm, at the Gladstone Hotel Melody Bar. Guitar-picker Blain and renowned jazz bassist George Koller will perform selections from the upcoming album NEW FOLK BLUES, followed by a campfire jam with many musical friends.
"The Old Whaler's Confession"”is inspired by a whale-watching expedition Blain took at the tip of Cape Cod. "There's a huge feeding ground, Stellwagen Bank, just off of Provincetown,"” he says. "The boat barely got out of the port and we were surrounded by whales."” Blain had once heard bassist George Koller making some amazing sound effects with the bow, that imitated whale calls, and so originally had him in mind for the whaling song (though he ended up playing on the complete album). Whale cries, as reproduced by Koller, introduce the song, which is about "how (in the 1600s) you could walk across their backs right to Boston" before the whaling trade took its toll on these magnificent creatures.
But the whaling song is only the beginning. Over the next three months Blain will issue three more free downloads (including one in French); put out a nine-song album, New Folk Blues, both in CD format and an extended live version streaming online at www.myspace.com/brianblain; tour throughout Ontario and Quebec and collaborate with his professional DJ son Joel on a mash-up” of one of the songs, complete with beats and loops.
New Folk Blues was recorded live at Reba’s Café in Toronto’s west-end Junction district, with only Blain and Koller performing. While the CD is slim and trim, sans long introductions, Blain decided to offer an online version that includes his intros plus the full length "seascape" by Koller, full of whale, seagull and surf sounds. Blain plans to add overdubs to some of the tunes as well, so what started out as a "live" CD has become, in a way, a "living" CD.
The album also features “"Another Song About Alice",” which references the 1960s cult folk music legend Alice Brock of “"Alice’s Restaurant"” (Brock, a great supporter of Blain’s work, lives in Provincetown, where Blain frequently visits); “"Ghost of Clinton's Tavern",” about the well- known Toronto “haunt”; a tribute to guitar hero Lenny Breau and “"The Day Coke Saved The Blues",” describing how a TV commercial song placement saved the Northern Blues record label that Blain had been affiliated with.
The Toronto-based Blain, originally a native son of Sherbrooke, QC, has been on the Canadian music scene for nearly 50 years. In 1963, he first recorded with a folk group whose payment for the session was "a trip to Montreal and a steak dinner." These days he’s best known as the host of the monthly campfire”jam sessions held at the Gladstone Hotel, where he encourages both novice and veteran musicians to join together in the joyful communion of music. For Blain, playing music is almost like breathing. "Some people study the masters and practice diligently," he says, "and some, like me, who never had a guitar lesson in their life, just have music rolling in their heads 24/7."
UPCOMING DATES:
Jan 18 @ 8pm – Toronto, ON (Gladstone Hotel w/ special guest George Koller)
Jan 22 @ 8pm – Toronto, ON (Highway 61 BBQ, Brian Blain & Friends)
Jan 28 @ 6-9pm – London, ON (Black Shire Pub)
April 9 @ 8pm – Knowlton, Quebec (Radio Village Hall,)
April 17 @10am – Prince Edward County, ON (Blues Breakfast Fund-Raiser and wrap-up of CD Celebration Tour)
****************************************************************************
For more information, photos, mp3s, interviews, please contact:
Beverly Kreller
SPEAK Music www.speak-music.com
bev@speak-music.com 416.922.3620
"The Old Whaler's Confession"”is inspired by a whale-watching expedition Blain took at the tip of Cape Cod. "There's a huge feeding ground, Stellwagen Bank, just off of Provincetown,"” he says. "The boat barely got out of the port and we were surrounded by whales."” Blain had once heard bassist George Koller making some amazing sound effects with the bow, that imitated whale calls, and so originally had him in mind for the whaling song (though he ended up playing on the complete album). Whale cries, as reproduced by Koller, introduce the song, which is about "how (in the 1600s) you could walk across their backs right to Boston" before the whaling trade took its toll on these magnificent creatures.
But the whaling song is only the beginning. Over the next three months Blain will issue three more free downloads (including one in French); put out a nine-song album, New Folk Blues, both in CD format and an extended live version streaming online at www.myspace.com/brianblain; tour throughout Ontario and Quebec and collaborate with his professional DJ son Joel on a mash-up” of one of the songs, complete with beats and loops.
New Folk Blues was recorded live at Reba’s Café in Toronto’s west-end Junction district, with only Blain and Koller performing. While the CD is slim and trim, sans long introductions, Blain decided to offer an online version that includes his intros plus the full length "seascape" by Koller, full of whale, seagull and surf sounds. Blain plans to add overdubs to some of the tunes as well, so what started out as a "live" CD has become, in a way, a "living" CD.
The album also features “"Another Song About Alice",” which references the 1960s cult folk music legend Alice Brock of “"Alice’s Restaurant"” (Brock, a great supporter of Blain’s work, lives in Provincetown, where Blain frequently visits); “"Ghost of Clinton's Tavern",” about the well- known Toronto “haunt”; a tribute to guitar hero Lenny Breau and “"The Day Coke Saved The Blues",” describing how a TV commercial song placement saved the Northern Blues record label that Blain had been affiliated with.
The Toronto-based Blain, originally a native son of Sherbrooke, QC, has been on the Canadian music scene for nearly 50 years. In 1963, he first recorded with a folk group whose payment for the session was "a trip to Montreal and a steak dinner." These days he’s best known as the host of the monthly campfire”jam sessions held at the Gladstone Hotel, where he encourages both novice and veteran musicians to join together in the joyful communion of music. For Blain, playing music is almost like breathing. "Some people study the masters and practice diligently," he says, "and some, like me, who never had a guitar lesson in their life, just have music rolling in their heads 24/7."
UPCOMING DATES:
Jan 18 @ 8pm – Toronto, ON (Gladstone Hotel w/ special guest George Koller)
Jan 22 @ 8pm – Toronto, ON (Highway 61 BBQ, Brian Blain & Friends)
Jan 28 @ 6-9pm – London, ON (Black Shire Pub)
April 9 @ 8pm – Knowlton, Quebec (Radio Village Hall,)
April 17 @10am – Prince Edward County, ON (Blues Breakfast Fund-Raiser and wrap-up of CD Celebration Tour)
****************************************************************************
For more information, photos, mp3s, interviews, please contact:
Beverly Kreller
SPEAK Music www.speak-music.com
bev@speak-music.com 416.922.3620
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
How True It Is
From Bob Lefsetz today: talking about LA venues when they had tables
"...before it was necessary to stand to hear rock and roll"
"...before it was necessary to stand to hear rock and roll"
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Robert Randolph at Mod Club
Robert Randolph always struck me as a guy they had things pretty well planned, coming from the church and all. But his show at Toronto’s Mod Club could not have been less planned. Word on the street was that some band members didn’t make it across the border, but all Randolph said from the stage was that they had a drummer who wasn’t really a drummer and that they had just called him at six o’clock to come help them out. After a couple more numbers, he was relieved by Robert’s long time bassist who signaled one of the guitar players to take over the bass while he played drums. It was a little shaky for the first tune but at least he knew the arrangements. When they started exchanging instruments I thought at first that they were playing musical chairs and everybody would swap instruments for a song. It was til the encore when the drummer took the stage to rip off a steel solo. It was Derrak Campbell. Then another Campbell brother took Robert’s steel for another great solo. This pushed Robert to greater heights and he soared – he could have used that push at the beginning of the show, it seemed a little ...lazy. And you can’t be lazy when you’re playing slide because the intonation becomes less than perfect and then you lose that “suspension of disbelief” when you’re hearing licks that sound like a guitar but could not possibly be played on a guitar. Now I realize he was quite distracted with all the stuff going on around him. I think there was an entourage from the all-star “Experience Hendrix show that Randolph is part of tomorrow night”. Living Color was there and bassist Doug Wimbish did a couple of amazing solo’s they did in the finale. I just realized it was a very transformed Hendrix song...maybe what they would be playing in the big extravaganza. I’ll find out from my spies tomorrow. And I saw on very familiar smiling black face just behind the curtains...kinda looked like Eddie Murphy...naw. Lest we forget, which we usually do, the pening band was doing some very interesting shit. They were playing in a different mode than we’re used to hearing, then they gave us something familiar, the Beatles’ She’s So Heavy, just show that they cam play more conventional tones and it mostly worked. They’re from New York and this was their first time in Canada. They’re called Tauk.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Blainletter #33 – September 28, 2010
In This Issue:
• Blues Campfire moves to Gladstone Hotel, Tues Oct 19
• Tuesday, October 5 7pm Brian Blain with George Koller, bass (Live Recording) at Rebas Café & Gallery 3289 Dundas St. W.
• December 11 – Oliver Klaus reunion concert, Waterloo, Quebec
• Out and About
• Last Night I had the Strangest Dream
What have we here, two Blainletters in the same month? Well I thought I should get the word out that the Tuesday Campfire at Highway 61 is over in case anyone was planning to head out tonight. It's been a great run, 62 Campfires over the last 15 months…and I only missed one!
Last Tuesday was the "finale" and maybe the timing was right because I don't think I can eat another rib for a long time…no matter how "melt-in-the-mouth they are. For my "last supper" on Tuesday I had the Macaroni & Cheese…and it was delicious (with crunchy caramelized onions on top).
I want to extend a sincere thank-you to Kerry, Ken and Matt who have a real musician-friendly attitude and have been a great addition to the live blues scene in Toronto. They're running a business and they were very patient at times when there were more musicians than audience…and towards the end half the restaurant was taken up by our Campfire circle with all these musicians enjoying their complimentary beers.
I also wanted to thank all my Campfire Buddies, though I can't remember you all. I was collecting names and email addresses at the beginning and had all these notes stashed in an envelope and now damned if I can find it.
Anyway many thanks to the "early adopters" Son Roberts & John, Joanne Crabtree and Jeff, Kevin Kenalty, Casey Van Gorkom, Jay the Mystery Man and Tony Burns. And to the "regulars" Malcolm Gould and Robert Davis, the new guys Bela Ray, Ed Roth, Stan Endersly, Ken Boynham (we were starting to sound like a band!)…and the youngsters Dean Arnold (& Dad Jon Arnold), River and Charlie "Sir Charles" and a few others whose names I forget.
I especially appreciate the folks who came in from out of town, Charlie A'Court from Nova Scotia, Russ Kelley from Ottawa, Douglas Watson and Jazz Williams from Kitchener, Lucia Jenkins from Florida, Rick Taylor from London, Sherman Lee Dillon from Mississippi, Max Cann from the UK, Garry Strand from Tennessee. And to the pros who took some time out to sit in: Gary Kendall, Drew Austin, Big Dave Maclean, Doc McLean, Dan Maclean, Michelle Josef, Mojo Willie, Jake Chisholm, Mark Sepik, Martin Aucoin, Scott Cushnie – The Prof…and all those lovely ladies who provided some much needed female energy in a BBQ joint, Roberta Hunt, Robin Banks, Julie Hill, Rita di Ghent, Ruth Jenkins, Paula Shear, Mary Simpson, Negrezia and Tree and everybody else who came out to join in our shenanigans Ric Levenston, Garth Dynes, Hurricane Mike Thompson, John Shortill, Johnny White Dog, Max Brand, Norm Robinson, Olav Svela, Steve Raiken, Anthony Martel, Brian Gladstone, Cole Slatt, Ed Pavey, Wyatt, Chris, Phil, Paul, Ken and Alice the banjo gal.
I'm sure I've left out many, but we all have some great memories. The best for me was seeing the face of some of those youngsters jamming with the "big boys". I remember leaning over to River and saying "you realize that bass player plays with Downchild." I should not forget all the wonderful, supportive audience members who came out. Thanks and we'll see you again down the old Blues highway.
I hope we can continue to build up our Campfire Community as we take it "downtown." The Gladstone is a very different scene and I'm prepared to let things develop and adapt to the new environment but I hope we can hold onto the Blues Campfire principles, where there's no such thing as too many guitar players and where it's fine to indulge in a long solo (as long as it's going somewhere).
Unfortunately, we can't resume a weekly jam so to start it will be the third Tuesday of the month. We'll see what happens in the new year It starts Tuesday, October 19th so come on down and help us get off to a great start.
Live Recording at Reba's Café Tues October 5
The great benefit for me from the regular gig was making sure I got my guitar out of the case at lleast once a week, even in the quiet spells, and more importantly, running over my new tunes with a different group of players every time. I think they've settled quite nicely and it's time to lay them down. After my gig at Reba's Café a couple of weeks ago, I came away thinking that was a great sounding little room – and it is little, maybe room for 25-30 folks in the performance space. But then they have a close circuit TV to the front room so people who want to chat can sit in front. My friend Steve wanted to capture some video and we had a try at Southside Shuffle but that didn't work so I thought this is where we can make a nice video. Then I thought, what the hell, let's try to record some tunes. I've been putting this off long enough. Haven't firmed up all the arrangements but it will be me and bass player George Koller, who I have been trying to corral into my musical universe for many years. After that, we may do some overdubs….or maybe not. Wish me luck, or better yet come to the session and be part of the recording. And if you can't come but would really like to support my recording, I remind you that we have a recording fund and I welcome any contributions (thanks to those who have kicked it off). If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can deposit directly into account 00646842698006400101 at Alterna Savings and Credit Union, Danforth Avenue, Toronto. Gold Sponsors ($250+) are entitled to a free house concert for you and your friends.
Out and About:
This year at the Polaris Prize soiree at least I knew a couple of the short-listed bands. Broken Social Scene, Tegan & Sara. And I had educated myself on a couple of artists who were there last year but whom I'd never heard of, Cariboo, Owen Pallett. But once again the winner was right out of left field. Karkwa, from Quebec. You could tell they were totally shocked…they acted like it was their first time out of Quebec…maybe it was their first time in Toronto. Last week. Jim Corcoran dedicated his whole radio show to their album and I could see why the judges went for it. In terms of the performances on stage, for most of those bands, I still don't get it. But it was the albums that were acknowledged by the Polaris jury, not live performances. All ten nominees performed – quite a feat to gather ten very busy bands in one place. I understood better when the fell;ow next to me explained that he was with the "Radio Starmaker" fund and that everybody was being paid very well to be there. In fact, most of the bands had augmented their lineup with extra musicians, a string quartet here, six female horn players there (shades of the Blainettes!). Anyway, it made a lot more musical sense to me this year than last – when the winner was that crazy Fucked Up group with the fat lead singer who took off most of his clothes . What does he do for an encore?
My favourite show of the month was Terry Gillespie at Hugh's Room. His partner Kathy reminded me that it was one of my campfires that introduced Terry to the local blues scene, where he met many players and ended up collaborating with some of them. His show was riveting and he's got a sound and an approach like no-one you've ever heard. It's unfortunate that some of the music industry honchos left right after the first half of this double bill, a very talented young lady called Lynn Hanson with a crack band, missed out on a truly original artist. I guess a fresh young songstress will always get more buzz than a grizzled old blues guy.
Last night I had the strangest dream
Let's see if I can remember. The setting was an outdoor music festival. April Wine had not showed up and one of the organizers was asking me to go onstage and pretend to be April Wine. I was at some concession table saying to someone that I didn't think that was right. Then a group of giant musclemen made their way to the table and two of them were conjoined twins – joined at the neck with some pretzel-like muscles. Then I noticed the woman at the table was Maureen Brown and she was trying to give me some advice suggesting that my performance earlier was not really suited for a young audience. Something like that. Then I woke up. I'm amazed I remember this much, I never remember my dreams. I welcome any dream analysis.
Thanks for reading. If you've enjoyed this Blainletter and you're not a subscriber, go to
http://brianblain.fanbridge.com to sign up and get one every month or so.
If you’re on Facebook and you "like" what I'm doing, please click over to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Blain/70605028420 and make it official.
If you’re *really* interested in what I'm doing musically, visit www.reverbnation.com/brianblain where I post some works in process and demos
If you want to read a big long bio of Brian Blain go to http://www.northernblues.com/bio_blain.html
I've been keeping a blog (though it wasn't always called that) since I arrived in Toronto in 1990. That’s at http://www.brianblain.ca.
If you want to follow me on Twitter, go to http://www.twitter.com/brianblain
If you want to buy my music, got to www.itunes.com, www.amazon.com or just about any online music store
If you want to book me for a show, see my EPK which describes the different configurations available http://sites.google.com/site/brianblain/epk
If you're promoting your own band and mostly want me to hear your music, please become a MySpace pal at http://www.myspace.com/brianblain
If you want to connect with me in my other life as (desktop)publishing mogul and (barely)managing editor, join me on Linkedin: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/blainco
If you....hey, this is getting ridiculous, isn't it?
Thanks for your support,
BrianB, aka Colorblind Brian, the Stringbuster
• Blues Campfire moves to Gladstone Hotel, Tues Oct 19
• Tuesday, October 5 7pm Brian Blain with George Koller, bass (Live Recording) at Rebas Café & Gallery 3289 Dundas St. W.
• December 11 – Oliver Klaus reunion concert, Waterloo, Quebec
• Out and About
• Last Night I had the Strangest Dream
What have we here, two Blainletters in the same month? Well I thought I should get the word out that the Tuesday Campfire at Highway 61 is over in case anyone was planning to head out tonight. It's been a great run, 62 Campfires over the last 15 months…and I only missed one!
Last Tuesday was the "finale" and maybe the timing was right because I don't think I can eat another rib for a long time…no matter how "melt-in-the-mouth they are. For my "last supper" on Tuesday I had the Macaroni & Cheese…and it was delicious (with crunchy caramelized onions on top).
I want to extend a sincere thank-you to Kerry, Ken and Matt who have a real musician-friendly attitude and have been a great addition to the live blues scene in Toronto. They're running a business and they were very patient at times when there were more musicians than audience…and towards the end half the restaurant was taken up by our Campfire circle with all these musicians enjoying their complimentary beers.
I also wanted to thank all my Campfire Buddies, though I can't remember you all. I was collecting names and email addresses at the beginning and had all these notes stashed in an envelope and now damned if I can find it.
Anyway many thanks to the "early adopters" Son Roberts & John, Joanne Crabtree and Jeff, Kevin Kenalty, Casey Van Gorkom, Jay the Mystery Man and Tony Burns. And to the "regulars" Malcolm Gould and Robert Davis, the new guys Bela Ray, Ed Roth, Stan Endersly, Ken Boynham (we were starting to sound like a band!)…and the youngsters Dean Arnold (& Dad Jon Arnold), River and Charlie "Sir Charles" and a few others whose names I forget.
I especially appreciate the folks who came in from out of town, Charlie A'Court from Nova Scotia, Russ Kelley from Ottawa, Douglas Watson and Jazz Williams from Kitchener, Lucia Jenkins from Florida, Rick Taylor from London, Sherman Lee Dillon from Mississippi, Max Cann from the UK, Garry Strand from Tennessee. And to the pros who took some time out to sit in: Gary Kendall, Drew Austin, Big Dave Maclean, Doc McLean, Dan Maclean, Michelle Josef, Mojo Willie, Jake Chisholm, Mark Sepik, Martin Aucoin, Scott Cushnie – The Prof…and all those lovely ladies who provided some much needed female energy in a BBQ joint, Roberta Hunt, Robin Banks, Julie Hill, Rita di Ghent, Ruth Jenkins, Paula Shear, Mary Simpson, Negrezia and Tree and everybody else who came out to join in our shenanigans Ric Levenston, Garth Dynes, Hurricane Mike Thompson, John Shortill, Johnny White Dog, Max Brand, Norm Robinson, Olav Svela, Steve Raiken, Anthony Martel, Brian Gladstone, Cole Slatt, Ed Pavey, Wyatt, Chris, Phil, Paul, Ken and Alice the banjo gal.
I'm sure I've left out many, but we all have some great memories. The best for me was seeing the face of some of those youngsters jamming with the "big boys". I remember leaning over to River and saying "you realize that bass player plays with Downchild." I should not forget all the wonderful, supportive audience members who came out. Thanks and we'll see you again down the old Blues highway.
I hope we can continue to build up our Campfire Community as we take it "downtown." The Gladstone is a very different scene and I'm prepared to let things develop and adapt to the new environment but I hope we can hold onto the Blues Campfire principles, where there's no such thing as too many guitar players and where it's fine to indulge in a long solo (as long as it's going somewhere).
Unfortunately, we can't resume a weekly jam so to start it will be the third Tuesday of the month. We'll see what happens in the new year It starts Tuesday, October 19th so come on down and help us get off to a great start.
Live Recording at Reba's Café Tues October 5
The great benefit for me from the regular gig was making sure I got my guitar out of the case at lleast once a week, even in the quiet spells, and more importantly, running over my new tunes with a different group of players every time. I think they've settled quite nicely and it's time to lay them down. After my gig at Reba's Café a couple of weeks ago, I came away thinking that was a great sounding little room – and it is little, maybe room for 25-30 folks in the performance space. But then they have a close circuit TV to the front room so people who want to chat can sit in front. My friend Steve wanted to capture some video and we had a try at Southside Shuffle but that didn't work so I thought this is where we can make a nice video. Then I thought, what the hell, let's try to record some tunes. I've been putting this off long enough. Haven't firmed up all the arrangements but it will be me and bass player George Koller, who I have been trying to corral into my musical universe for many years. After that, we may do some overdubs….or maybe not. Wish me luck, or better yet come to the session and be part of the recording. And if you can't come but would really like to support my recording, I remind you that we have a recording fund and I welcome any contributions (thanks to those who have kicked it off). If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can deposit directly into account 00646842698006400101 at Alterna Savings and Credit Union, Danforth Avenue, Toronto. Gold Sponsors ($250+) are entitled to a free house concert for you and your friends.
Out and About:
This year at the Polaris Prize soiree at least I knew a couple of the short-listed bands. Broken Social Scene, Tegan & Sara. And I had educated myself on a couple of artists who were there last year but whom I'd never heard of, Cariboo, Owen Pallett. But once again the winner was right out of left field. Karkwa, from Quebec. You could tell they were totally shocked…they acted like it was their first time out of Quebec…maybe it was their first time in Toronto. Last week. Jim Corcoran dedicated his whole radio show to their album and I could see why the judges went for it. In terms of the performances on stage, for most of those bands, I still don't get it. But it was the albums that were acknowledged by the Polaris jury, not live performances. All ten nominees performed – quite a feat to gather ten very busy bands in one place. I understood better when the fell;ow next to me explained that he was with the "Radio Starmaker" fund and that everybody was being paid very well to be there. In fact, most of the bands had augmented their lineup with extra musicians, a string quartet here, six female horn players there (shades of the Blainettes!). Anyway, it made a lot more musical sense to me this year than last – when the winner was that crazy Fucked Up group with the fat lead singer who took off most of his clothes . What does he do for an encore?
My favourite show of the month was Terry Gillespie at Hugh's Room. His partner Kathy reminded me that it was one of my campfires that introduced Terry to the local blues scene, where he met many players and ended up collaborating with some of them. His show was riveting and he's got a sound and an approach like no-one you've ever heard. It's unfortunate that some of the music industry honchos left right after the first half of this double bill, a very talented young lady called Lynn Hanson with a crack band, missed out on a truly original artist. I guess a fresh young songstress will always get more buzz than a grizzled old blues guy.
Last night I had the strangest dream
Let's see if I can remember. The setting was an outdoor music festival. April Wine had not showed up and one of the organizers was asking me to go onstage and pretend to be April Wine. I was at some concession table saying to someone that I didn't think that was right. Then a group of giant musclemen made their way to the table and two of them were conjoined twins – joined at the neck with some pretzel-like muscles. Then I noticed the woman at the table was Maureen Brown and she was trying to give me some advice suggesting that my performance earlier was not really suited for a young audience. Something like that. Then I woke up. I'm amazed I remember this much, I never remember my dreams. I welcome any dream analysis.
Thanks for reading. If you've enjoyed this Blainletter and you're not a subscriber, go to
http://brianblain.fanbridge.com to sign up and get one every month or so.
If you’re on Facebook and you "like" what I'm doing, please click over to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Blain/70605028420 and make it official.
If you’re *really* interested in what I'm doing musically, visit www.reverbnation.com/brianblain where I post some works in process and demos
If you want to read a big long bio of Brian Blain go to http://www.northernblues.com/bio_blain.html
I've been keeping a blog (though it wasn't always called that) since I arrived in Toronto in 1990. That’s at http://www.brianblain.ca.
If you want to follow me on Twitter, go to http://www.twitter.com/brianblain
If you want to buy my music, got to www.itunes.com, www.amazon.com or just about any online music store
If you want to book me for a show, see my EPK which describes the different configurations available http://sites.google.com/site/brianblain/epk
If you're promoting your own band and mostly want me to hear your music, please become a MySpace pal at http://www.myspace.com/brianblain
If you want to connect with me in my other life as (desktop)publishing mogul and (barely)managing editor, join me on Linkedin: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/blainco
If you....hey, this is getting ridiculous, isn't it?
Thanks for your support,
BrianB, aka Colorblind Brian, the Stringbuster
Where's the Next Mayor of Toronto?
So I decide to check out the Mayoral Debate because the theme this time is the Arts (and who will support it) but they sure don’t make it easy. First they advance the time by one hour at the last minute and then they do it in a space way too small to accommodate the “stakeholders”, a room at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I get there in time, line up with everybody outside and make my way in. They won’t let me in with my bottle of premium juice - my first taste of Arthur’s juice, apparently the only one that has any fiber left in it. So I chug that down and follow the crowd right across to the back of the gallery only to be told that I need a ticket. I make my way back to the front of the building to the ticket distribution table only to be told there are no more tickets. Then a friend who’s working there says they’re running a live feed at the Ontario College of Art & Design right around the corner. Well, in for a dime, in for a dollar – four dollars, actually, because I’ve already paid for parking.
I make my way into the OCAD and there in the lobby is a whole group of (mostly) students sitting in front of a large flat-screen TV and the debate has apparently begun but it’s hard to tell because it’s stopping and starting like watching YouTube on a slow connection. People are starting to bale, but I hang in there and they finally get it stabilized. John Tory was supposed to be the moderator but I guess he couldn’t make it because he was replaced by an elderly gentleman with a great radio voice but quite laughable as a moderator. It was like listening to a radio DJ who keeps apologizing for their incompetence. I stay till the bitter end but I don’t feel any more enlightened about who would make the best mayor. The man most agree would make the worst mayor for the arts community, Rob Ford, is the most forthright of the bunch saying “No...if you want money for the arts get it from the private sector”. The only thing everybody agrees on is to re-institute the Mayor’s Arts Ball – a big-ticket event for wealthy patrons of the arts that was probably eliminated as part of the previous administration’s cutbacks.
I make my way out to the street to watch a mime who looked a bit like the statue of Liberty and some break dancers over to one side and then there was a ballet dancer doing her thang. A demented street person shouting at the top of of his lungs followed Rob Ford as he made his way to his car (to get to another debate in North York). Could we just ask Miller to hang in a little longer until a real leader surfaces?
Music on at the moment – The new Ronnie Earl album – dreamy.
Food on at the moment – Ontario strawberries and yogurt (even though I’ve got some fabulous Baskin & Robbins ice cream in the freezer – I’m a little congested and big recording session coming up so I don’t want to add any mucus to my lungs). Almost broke a nail opening the strawberry container. Nobody makes it easy.
I make my way into the OCAD and there in the lobby is a whole group of (mostly) students sitting in front of a large flat-screen TV and the debate has apparently begun but it’s hard to tell because it’s stopping and starting like watching YouTube on a slow connection. People are starting to bale, but I hang in there and they finally get it stabilized. John Tory was supposed to be the moderator but I guess he couldn’t make it because he was replaced by an elderly gentleman with a great radio voice but quite laughable as a moderator. It was like listening to a radio DJ who keeps apologizing for their incompetence. I stay till the bitter end but I don’t feel any more enlightened about who would make the best mayor. The man most agree would make the worst mayor for the arts community, Rob Ford, is the most forthright of the bunch saying “No...if you want money for the arts get it from the private sector”. The only thing everybody agrees on is to re-institute the Mayor’s Arts Ball – a big-ticket event for wealthy patrons of the arts that was probably eliminated as part of the previous administration’s cutbacks.
I make my way out to the street to watch a mime who looked a bit like the statue of Liberty and some break dancers over to one side and then there was a ballet dancer doing her thang. A demented street person shouting at the top of of his lungs followed Rob Ford as he made his way to his car (to get to another debate in North York). Could we just ask Miller to hang in a little longer until a real leader surfaces?
Music on at the moment – The new Ronnie Earl album – dreamy.
Food on at the moment – Ontario strawberries and yogurt (even though I’ve got some fabulous Baskin & Robbins ice cream in the freezer – I’m a little congested and big recording session coming up so I don’t want to add any mucus to my lungs). Almost broke a nail opening the strawberry container. Nobody makes it easy.
Friday, September 3, 2010
On Public Transit
Today I thought I’d take the streetcar downtown and I figured on a busy Friday afternoon I would not have to wait too long. It seems every time I decide to take public transit I end up spending an inordinate amount of time waiting. Maybe it’s just me. Am I too impatient? Maybe this is the flip side of what my friends jokingly call my “car-Karma”. I have never wanted for wheels even though I’m hardly in the income bracket to rationalize having a car in downtown Toronto. Most of my cars have been hand-me-downs or outright gifts. When I’ve had to shell out $$$, it’s never been more than a thousand bucks (except for my first car, an MGB which cost me $1800 in 1966). I believe in car-karma and that’s why I’m always happy to give someone a lift, even if it’s not on my way. What goes around comes around in this case.
Anyway, this time I decide not to take the car downtown because I’m going to a press screening of a new movie about folksinger Ron Hynes then I want to see my buddy Victor Bateman who will be playing just up the street at the Rex. So I walk down to the corner where I will have two options to head downtown, whichever comes first. But neither comes for about 20 minutes. Finally there’s a bus that gets me down to Queen Street where I wait another 20 minutes and now I look at the time and I’ve got ten minutes to get to the movie! Never mind. I’m still close enough to home that I can walk back, which I decide to do, but first I stop in to a coffee shop and have a nice latte. As I’m sitting there I watch 3 streetcars in a row go buy. Now I’m back home bloging.
The Blues Campfires at Highway 61 BBQ have been providing some real musical highs lately. Considering we’re doing this on what is traditionally the quietest day of the week, during the quietest month of the year, it’s been gangbusters – I’m even getting complaints from some of my regulars that there’s no place to sit. And regretfully, there’s been a few times when some guys didn’t get to play, although anyone’s welcome to pull up a chair and join the circle. Last week as I ended the night with my ballad about Lenny Breau, one woman commented how she had been Lenny’s roommate many moons ago, and now she was here listening to her 13 year-old guitar-playing son playing along on the tune. Several other folks in the house had Lenny connections and stories were shared as we packed up. It’s been a bit of an old boys’ club lately and you’ll find a couple of guitar players reminiscing about playing with David Clayton Thomas back in the 60s. I don’t pay much attention to who’s in the house but I think I’ve been checked out by some players with serious credentials. They mostly sit at the bar and don’t join in – but probably wish they had. Some come back. The thing about this gig is that someone might be really knocked out by the quality of music that’s going down one night and next time I’m playing bass backing up an 11 year-old budding blues guitarist who’s just getting his feet wet. So it’s not a great showcase for Brian Blain, but I’m lovin’ it. Come on up and check it out. Every Tuesday, 7-10pm, 1620 Bayview (at Manor Rd)
Anyway, this time I decide not to take the car downtown because I’m going to a press screening of a new movie about folksinger Ron Hynes then I want to see my buddy Victor Bateman who will be playing just up the street at the Rex. So I walk down to the corner where I will have two options to head downtown, whichever comes first. But neither comes for about 20 minutes. Finally there’s a bus that gets me down to Queen Street where I wait another 20 minutes and now I look at the time and I’ve got ten minutes to get to the movie! Never mind. I’m still close enough to home that I can walk back, which I decide to do, but first I stop in to a coffee shop and have a nice latte. As I’m sitting there I watch 3 streetcars in a row go buy. Now I’m back home bloging.
The Blues Campfires at Highway 61 BBQ have been providing some real musical highs lately. Considering we’re doing this on what is traditionally the quietest day of the week, during the quietest month of the year, it’s been gangbusters – I’m even getting complaints from some of my regulars that there’s no place to sit. And regretfully, there’s been a few times when some guys didn’t get to play, although anyone’s welcome to pull up a chair and join the circle. Last week as I ended the night with my ballad about Lenny Breau, one woman commented how she had been Lenny’s roommate many moons ago, and now she was here listening to her 13 year-old guitar-playing son playing along on the tune. Several other folks in the house had Lenny connections and stories were shared as we packed up. It’s been a bit of an old boys’ club lately and you’ll find a couple of guitar players reminiscing about playing with David Clayton Thomas back in the 60s. I don’t pay much attention to who’s in the house but I think I’ve been checked out by some players with serious credentials. They mostly sit at the bar and don’t join in – but probably wish they had. Some come back. The thing about this gig is that someone might be really knocked out by the quality of music that’s going down one night and next time I’m playing bass backing up an 11 year-old budding blues guitarist who’s just getting his feet wet. So it’s not a great showcase for Brian Blain, but I’m lovin’ it. Come on up and check it out. Every Tuesday, 7-10pm, 1620 Bayview (at Manor Rd)
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Hello new facebook friends
Greetings. I've confirmed our facebook friendship but I’ve placed you on my "Friends to Meet" list. Please disregard if we've already met, but if we haven't, I look forward to meeting you in person, maybe at one of my gigs. Please come up and say hello.
If you're here because you like my music, then please go to my facebook band page <and click "like"
If you're here because you want me to hear your music, please become a MySpace pal at www.myspace.com/brianblain
If you would like to receive my (mostly)monthly Blainletter, go to http://brianblain.fanbridge.com and sign up.
I've been keeping a blog (though it wasn't always called that) since I arrived in Toronto in 1990. That’s at www.brianblain.ca.
If you want to read a big long bio of Brian Blain go to http://www.northernblues.com/bio_blain.html
If you want to follow me on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/brianblain
If you want to buy my music, got to www.itunes.com, www.amazon.com or just about any online music store
If you’re *really* interested in what I'm doing musically, visit www.reverbnation.com/brianblain where I post some works in process and demos
If you want to book me for a show, see my EPK which describes the different configurations available http://sites.google.com/site/brianblain/epk
If you....hey, this is getting ridiculous, isn't it, friend?
If you're here because you like my music, then please go to my facebook band page <and click "like"
If you're here because you want me to hear your music, please become a MySpace pal at www.myspace.com/brianblain
If you would like to receive my (mostly)monthly Blainletter, go to http://brianblain.fanbridge.com and sign up.
I've been keeping a blog (though it wasn't always called that) since I arrived in Toronto in 1990. That’s at www.brianblain.ca.
If you want to read a big long bio of Brian Blain go to http://www.northernblues.com/bio_blain.html
If you want to follow me on Twitter, go to www.twitter.com/brianblain
If you want to buy my music, got to www.itunes.com, www.amazon.com or just about any online music store
If you’re *really* interested in what I'm doing musically, visit www.reverbnation.com/brianblain where I post some works in process and demos
If you want to book me for a show, see my EPK which describes the different configurations available http://sites.google.com/site/brianblain/epk
If you....hey, this is getting ridiculous, isn't it, friend?
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Will you shudup about facebook
Regular readers of my blog have probably heard enough about my trepidation about confirming any new “friend” unless I’ve met them. Or is it “know” them? And whether I “like” them...but that’s whole other story. There have been a couple of occasions when I didn’t confirm a friend request even though I’ve met the person...but they had to be pretty crazy to have me avoiding them because I’m actually drawn to the eccentric types. Anyway, I just had a breakthough and confirmed a friendship with someone who I have admired and met once but who has ignored me every other time I’ve run into him. I was feeling a little dissed, but he’s probably forgotten me and that’s fine. He must know me because he requested to be my friend. I was curious to see how many friends he had and the only way was to “confirm” him. Oh boy! I know, I know, I should just friend anybody who asks – it’s all part of marketing my brand and getting “profile”...but I’m holding off as long as I can, and I may yet be proven right. Meanwhile, I’m going to give a little and confirm the requests if I know who they are...even if I haven’t met them. It all started with Daniela Nardi. She is a highly respected artist, I know her husband, but I never had the pleasure of meeting her so when I got a friend request I just put it on hold. Then I was really challenged when I got a request from Romi Mayes. I have been knocked out by her music on the radio, but I haven’t actually met her. So I’m a big fan. But am I a friend? Oh, to hell with it! From now on, if I know who you are, we can be friends...and I hope we meet sometime.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Festival over - almost
It’s the last day of the Toronto Jazz Festival and I am still left with making some a hard decisions. Guitar maniac Fred Frith is playing tonight at a non-festival event and a wild and crazy bunch of Yugoslavians called the "No Smoking Orchestra". Frith played a solo set in the festival a couple of nights ago but I opted for John Scofield’s Piety Street band and I’m glad I did. Scofield and vocalist/pianist Jon Cleary provided a blues/gospel show with all the soul you could ask for but at a level of musicianship and improvisation that is a few notches higher than most any blues band. When they tore into Ray Charles’ “Don’t Need No Doctor” (a tune I’ve been playing for years) it was fascinating to hear their take on it. Cleary even picked up a guitar for this one and went head to head with Sco in a burning guitar duel. Sco was playing a Fender Strat at the sound check but it was nowhere to be seen at the show – maybe it’s the same Strat that Cleary was playing but I don’t think it was the same colour. I came upon Sco chatting with Donna Grantis, guitarist for Shakura S’Aida who opened the show. I was flattered that he remembered me from previous years (I’ve lost count of how many appearances he’s made at the festival – in so many different incarnations). This time it was unapologetic blues and it would appear some of his fans have not exactly embraced the Piety Street project, live or on record. And meanwhile blues fans haven’t even heard it and would probably have the usual resistance to jazz guys playing blues. I only wish I could have rounded up a bunch of my blues musicians friends to hear that show. I even found myself walking around the site with an extra comp in my wallet looking for some deserving young blues player who would benefit from hearing Scofield close up but there was not one familiar blues face was on the square that night.
Anyway, Shakura and her band were pretty happy to be there. Guitarist Donna Grantis had dropped in to the after hours jam at the Hard Rock Café the previous evening and did a tune with the guest host, Montreal’s Vanessa Rodrigues on Hammond B3 and I noticed she brought only one effect pedal so I asked her what pedal she would bring if she could only have one and she said Ibanez Tube Screamer...hmm, maybe I’ll try one. I did get a chance to join the jam, though I avoid jazz jams like the plague but this time I had my guitar in the car and after much internal dialogue I convinced myself to take it into the club. Once in, I listened to the end of Tony Monaco’s set and he was on fire – he is a true B3 master, ending the set by having someone in the audience giving him a match book and he used the matches to jam between the keys and make a droning chord that was fatter than you could ever do with human hands, then he crawled down under the organ and began playing the pedals with his hands. Vanessa was not so theatric but she owns that instrument and she can groove. I was hoping to pull out one of my original tunes and see how she worked with it but that was not to be. They did, however, dumb things down for this old blues guy and called a couple of blues tunes...Chicken Shack and Georgia...tunes that most but not all blues players would be familiar with. I’m afraid I fit into the latter category, so I struggled a little bit trying to play the riff for Chicken Shack and trying to figure out the mystery chord in Georgia. It was not a stellar display but I got to play with Vanessa and I will again.
My only other “play” in the festival was with “my son the DJ” at a dance club on Queen Street. When we dropped off the gear in the afternoon the place looked like a construction site. They were actually pouring cement! Joel was promoting the night and spent more renting extra sub-woofers than he paid for talent. Then we set up our 3 laptops directly in front of the sub-woofers. It was brutal...and that’s just the way they like it in the dubstep world. I got some compliments on my guitar playing, but I was convinced once and for all that I am not cut out for playing guitar parts over a wall of sound. I think I need to establish the song first and then let it build up into a wall of mashed up sound.
Other highlights of the past ten days were hearing Allen Toussaint and meeting his guitarist Renard Poche. Toussaint played before Mavis Staples, but I wasn’t able to stay for the whole show because I had to head out to my BlainBLAIN gig. I hear Colin James made it down in time to sit it for the last tune (glad that worked out, albaby!) I did get a nice friendly greeting from Mavis as I stepped out of the Media trailer – I think maybe she thought I was the guy who signs the cheques... Boy she’s not very tall, but glowing with energy, and, contrary to some rumours I had heard, she was in great voice. As I sat with Raoul Bhaneja watching Toussaint Raoul spotted Mavis’ guitarist Rick Holmstrom, and invited him to join us. I had a nice chat with Rick, a very inventive blues guitarist who I have enjoyed for years.
Next day, Mike Stern was holding court in an intimate club setting, the Hard Rock Café. I told Mike about arriving at his gig at last year’s festival just as he was striking the last chord of his encore. I told him I had felt the energy he had infused into the room without hearing the music. This time I heard a whole set and fully intended to get back for the second set after catching a bit of Stanley Clarke on the main stage. Well, as it turned out, you can’t just “catch a bit” of Stanley Clarke. I was riveted by the intense chemistry between Clarke and Japanese piano star Hiromi. They traded riffs rising higher and higher in intensity with Hiromi standing at the piano slamming down huge chords as Clarke moved closer and closer ripping at his electric bass. Even though the show was delayed and was running late, the audience would absolutely not leave until they heard more. The bass had been removed, roadies were already dismantling the stage and the house lights were up, when this amazing quartet returned to the stage for a rousing encore. Nobody wanted it to end.
I also got to meet Maceo Parker’s guitarist, Bruno Geist, who gave me some tips for getting that funky, choppy guitar sound (“it’s all in the upstroke”). One of the tough calls I had to make midweek was between Angelique Kidjo and Coco Montoya. I opted for Coco, even though I’ve seen him many times, going back to when he was playing with John Mayall. He was in great form. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a packed Silver Dollar Room made quiet enough to hear the proverbial pin drop by Coco did it. Meanwhile I hear that Angelique gave an amazing show – it was the only festival show that mattered to some fans, including radio host Jian Ghomeshi who sent glowing tweets.
The Taj Mahal/James Hunter show went on without a hitch despite the second round of G-20 protesters. This time they marched across the Square but did not make any trouble. The worst thing that happened was that Taj’s guitars (and luggage) never made it to Toronto but I don’t think we can blame the G-20 for that. He played a pretty straightforward blues set on his rented Gibson ES-335 with a simple back-up of bass and drums, and they played very sparse. James Hunter is my man – I love what he’s doing and I think I have seen him pretty well every time he's played Toronto (3 plays for the Jazz Festival). Every show he delivers (even once when he was deathly ill) is impeccable. And a very sharp looking band, too. I complimented James on his suit and he opened the jacket to reveal the label "The Traveller" and I took that to mean it's one of those suits you can crumple up into a suitcase and it still looks good when you get on stage. When I had a chance to talk to Damien, his tenor guy, I couldn't resist asking who did the horn arrangements and he told me it was mostly James himself who designed the horn charts. I love that tenor/bari combo!
It felt a bit like a war zone just driving down to Nathan Phillips Square. I gassed up at at a gas station there were several nondescript Suburban SUVs and a large contingent of police donning their flak vests and riot gear. Driving downtown, it seemed like every second car on the road was police or mysterious looking SUV.
And now I’ve spent so much time writing this blog that It’s too late for Fred Frirth. I checked him out on You Tube and feel that I have experienced his “prepared” guitar thang sufficiently. Now I’ll head down to the Sound Academy to hear the No Smoking Orchestra...wait a minute let’s check them out on YouTube. Hmmm, what a wild and crazy bunch of Yugoslavians. Two guys hold up a 20-ft makeshift bow while the violinist slides his fiddle on it. Then the guitarist gets into the action. Maybe I don’t need to see this in person. Makes you wonder about the promotional benefits of YouTube. Please take a few minutes to watch the set I just loaded up...then you wan’t have to come see me live. Ah, but those tunes are all from previous albums...it’s my Eastern Townships medley!
Anyway, Shakura and her band were pretty happy to be there. Guitarist Donna Grantis had dropped in to the after hours jam at the Hard Rock Café the previous evening and did a tune with the guest host, Montreal’s Vanessa Rodrigues on Hammond B3 and I noticed she brought only one effect pedal so I asked her what pedal she would bring if she could only have one and she said Ibanez Tube Screamer...hmm, maybe I’ll try one. I did get a chance to join the jam, though I avoid jazz jams like the plague but this time I had my guitar in the car and after much internal dialogue I convinced myself to take it into the club. Once in, I listened to the end of Tony Monaco’s set and he was on fire – he is a true B3 master, ending the set by having someone in the audience giving him a match book and he used the matches to jam between the keys and make a droning chord that was fatter than you could ever do with human hands, then he crawled down under the organ and began playing the pedals with his hands. Vanessa was not so theatric but she owns that instrument and she can groove. I was hoping to pull out one of my original tunes and see how she worked with it but that was not to be. They did, however, dumb things down for this old blues guy and called a couple of blues tunes...Chicken Shack and Georgia...tunes that most but not all blues players would be familiar with. I’m afraid I fit into the latter category, so I struggled a little bit trying to play the riff for Chicken Shack and trying to figure out the mystery chord in Georgia. It was not a stellar display but I got to play with Vanessa and I will again.
My only other “play” in the festival was with “my son the DJ” at a dance club on Queen Street. When we dropped off the gear in the afternoon the place looked like a construction site. They were actually pouring cement! Joel was promoting the night and spent more renting extra sub-woofers than he paid for talent. Then we set up our 3 laptops directly in front of the sub-woofers. It was brutal...and that’s just the way they like it in the dubstep world. I got some compliments on my guitar playing, but I was convinced once and for all that I am not cut out for playing guitar parts over a wall of sound. I think I need to establish the song first and then let it build up into a wall of mashed up sound.
Other highlights of the past ten days were hearing Allen Toussaint and meeting his guitarist Renard Poche. Toussaint played before Mavis Staples, but I wasn’t able to stay for the whole show because I had to head out to my BlainBLAIN gig. I hear Colin James made it down in time to sit it for the last tune (glad that worked out, albaby!) I did get a nice friendly greeting from Mavis as I stepped out of the Media trailer – I think maybe she thought I was the guy who signs the cheques... Boy she’s not very tall, but glowing with energy, and, contrary to some rumours I had heard, she was in great voice. As I sat with Raoul Bhaneja watching Toussaint Raoul spotted Mavis’ guitarist Rick Holmstrom, and invited him to join us. I had a nice chat with Rick, a very inventive blues guitarist who I have enjoyed for years.
Next day, Mike Stern was holding court in an intimate club setting, the Hard Rock Café. I told Mike about arriving at his gig at last year’s festival just as he was striking the last chord of his encore. I told him I had felt the energy he had infused into the room without hearing the music. This time I heard a whole set and fully intended to get back for the second set after catching a bit of Stanley Clarke on the main stage. Well, as it turned out, you can’t just “catch a bit” of Stanley Clarke. I was riveted by the intense chemistry between Clarke and Japanese piano star Hiromi. They traded riffs rising higher and higher in intensity with Hiromi standing at the piano slamming down huge chords as Clarke moved closer and closer ripping at his electric bass. Even though the show was delayed and was running late, the audience would absolutely not leave until they heard more. The bass had been removed, roadies were already dismantling the stage and the house lights were up, when this amazing quartet returned to the stage for a rousing encore. Nobody wanted it to end.
I also got to meet Maceo Parker’s guitarist, Bruno Geist, who gave me some tips for getting that funky, choppy guitar sound (“it’s all in the upstroke”). One of the tough calls I had to make midweek was between Angelique Kidjo and Coco Montoya. I opted for Coco, even though I’ve seen him many times, going back to when he was playing with John Mayall. He was in great form. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a packed Silver Dollar Room made quiet enough to hear the proverbial pin drop by Coco did it. Meanwhile I hear that Angelique gave an amazing show – it was the only festival show that mattered to some fans, including radio host Jian Ghomeshi who sent glowing tweets.
The Taj Mahal/James Hunter show went on without a hitch despite the second round of G-20 protesters. This time they marched across the Square but did not make any trouble. The worst thing that happened was that Taj’s guitars (and luggage) never made it to Toronto but I don’t think we can blame the G-20 for that. He played a pretty straightforward blues set on his rented Gibson ES-335 with a simple back-up of bass and drums, and they played very sparse. James Hunter is my man – I love what he’s doing and I think I have seen him pretty well every time he's played Toronto (3 plays for the Jazz Festival). Every show he delivers (even once when he was deathly ill) is impeccable. And a very sharp looking band, too. I complimented James on his suit and he opened the jacket to reveal the label "The Traveller" and I took that to mean it's one of those suits you can crumple up into a suitcase and it still looks good when you get on stage. When I had a chance to talk to Damien, his tenor guy, I couldn't resist asking who did the horn arrangements and he told me it was mostly James himself who designed the horn charts. I love that tenor/bari combo!
It felt a bit like a war zone just driving down to Nathan Phillips Square. I gassed up at at a gas station there were several nondescript Suburban SUVs and a large contingent of police donning their flak vests and riot gear. Driving downtown, it seemed like every second car on the road was police or mysterious looking SUV.
And now I’ve spent so much time writing this blog that It’s too late for Fred Frirth. I checked him out on You Tube and feel that I have experienced his “prepared” guitar thang sufficiently. Now I’ll head down to the Sound Academy to hear the No Smoking Orchestra...wait a minute let’s check them out on YouTube. Hmmm, what a wild and crazy bunch of Yugoslavians. Two guys hold up a 20-ft makeshift bow while the violinist slides his fiddle on it. Then the guitarist gets into the action. Maybe I don’t need to see this in person. Makes you wonder about the promotional benefits of YouTube. Please take a few minutes to watch the set I just loaded up...then you wan’t have to come see me live. Ah, but those tunes are all from previous albums...it’s my Eastern Townships medley!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Jazz Festival - Day One
As I made my way to Nathan Phillips Square at 9 am, it was like driving into a ghost town (not that I ever find myself driving downtown at 9 am but I know that it’s usually much more congested than this). But thanks to the dire warnings of G20 protests (peaceful and otherwise) most people stayed home. The square was very quiet as I scrambled from one trailer to another installing phones, modems and wireless routers. Every year Bell sends two guys – one to lay the cables and another to configure the high speed modems. This year, however, they deemed to send only one guy and he had his hands full because the locations of the trailers were all changed because they’re remodeling Nathan Phillips Square, so new lines had to be laid down under the massive concrete tiles that can only be moved by a fork-lift. When I asked if one could be left open in case our guy needed to go back to the junction box, I was told that they were worried that some G20 terrorist would crawl under there with a bomb.
Anyway, that whole G20 kerfuffle made for a smaller crowd for Alex Pangman, who played a 5 o’clock show with some great players including a couple of friends, Terry Wilkins and Jesse Barksdale. I don’t think I ever saw Jesse playing a “flat-top” guitar (as opposed to the vintage style archtops he usually plays) and even the headliner, Maceo Parker, whose fans would have fought their way through a police barricade to hear him, had a smaller audience for sure. And what a demographic he has – his appeal stretches from the young funk fanatics, who probably listen to rap and reggae the rest of the time, and old folks like me who grew up with James Brown.
And I have to say this was just about as exciting as seeing a James Brown show in the 60s. I remember watching the James Brown Band (minus James and Maceo) rehearsing for a Blues Brothers movie shoot in Toronto a few years back. James wasn’t there but each song was performed, with all James’ signature moves, by a different member of the band, or roadie, or someone who was part of the entourage. They went through the entire show without James but it ran like a finely tuned machine. I never saw James when Maceo was in the band. Maceo has been well brought up. His show builds and builds then drops down with a whack on the snare drum (Michelle refers to this as an “Apollo”).
You got the feeling he would play all night if they let him. A couple of times he just started singing some silly Streisand song (unaccompanied) for a few bars then boom, then the whole band would kick into another funk number. Take me to the bridge! Maceo was so generous with his band members – everybody got a feature spot (or two) and they all shone spectacularly – I guess that’s why he gives them the air time. And he repeatledly acknowledged his band and all the sound crew and stage hands as well as his English-accent lady manager who was omnipresent off (and sometimes on) the stage.
I got to chat a bit with his long-time guitarist, Bruno Speight, who gave me some tips on playing that choppy funk guitar (it’s all in the upstroke). He also recommended I check out a gospel singer called Kim Burrell who he thought I would enjoy. He is based in Atlanta and I guess she is too.
Two other shows going on at the same time were young Nikki Yanovsky and still pretty young Martha Wainright. Both had sold out shows. Lori Nuic, who opened for Maceo is also a talented up and comer. She was playing some wicked slide guitar during the sound check but what I heard of her set was sans slide...in fact she never picked up the guitar for the part I heard. Several people commented what a strong show she had – I look forward to seeing her play a whole evening sometime. One of my Campfire regulars has been working with her and said he would bring her down to Highway 61 one of these Tuesdays.
Anyway, that whole G20 kerfuffle made for a smaller crowd for Alex Pangman, who played a 5 o’clock show with some great players including a couple of friends, Terry Wilkins and Jesse Barksdale. I don’t think I ever saw Jesse playing a “flat-top” guitar (as opposed to the vintage style archtops he usually plays) and even the headliner, Maceo Parker, whose fans would have fought their way through a police barricade to hear him, had a smaller audience for sure. And what a demographic he has – his appeal stretches from the young funk fanatics, who probably listen to rap and reggae the rest of the time, and old folks like me who grew up with James Brown.
And I have to say this was just about as exciting as seeing a James Brown show in the 60s. I remember watching the James Brown Band (minus James and Maceo) rehearsing for a Blues Brothers movie shoot in Toronto a few years back. James wasn’t there but each song was performed, with all James’ signature moves, by a different member of the band, or roadie, or someone who was part of the entourage. They went through the entire show without James but it ran like a finely tuned machine. I never saw James when Maceo was in the band. Maceo has been well brought up. His show builds and builds then drops down with a whack on the snare drum (Michelle refers to this as an “Apollo”).
You got the feeling he would play all night if they let him. A couple of times he just started singing some silly Streisand song (unaccompanied) for a few bars then boom, then the whole band would kick into another funk number. Take me to the bridge! Maceo was so generous with his band members – everybody got a feature spot (or two) and they all shone spectacularly – I guess that’s why he gives them the air time. And he repeatledly acknowledged his band and all the sound crew and stage hands as well as his English-accent lady manager who was omnipresent off (and sometimes on) the stage.
I got to chat a bit with his long-time guitarist, Bruno Speight, who gave me some tips on playing that choppy funk guitar (it’s all in the upstroke). He also recommended I check out a gospel singer called Kim Burrell who he thought I would enjoy. He is based in Atlanta and I guess she is too.
Two other shows going on at the same time were young Nikki Yanovsky and still pretty young Martha Wainright. Both had sold out shows. Lori Nuic, who opened for Maceo is also a talented up and comer. She was playing some wicked slide guitar during the sound check but what I heard of her set was sans slide...in fact she never picked up the guitar for the part I heard. Several people commented what a strong show she had – I look forward to seeing her play a whole evening sometime. One of my Campfire regulars has been working with her and said he would bring her down to Highway 61 one of these Tuesdays.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
What did I do to deserve all this
This week kicked off with the Summer solstice and me stepping out into a new room at the back of my house and stepping into a new Volvo (new to me, anyway). The car is a replacement for the Buick you saw trashed in my last Blainletter. Man, it's nice to be behind the wheel of a tight-handling european car. This all happened so fast that I never even bothered to look under the hood. I told my Volvo guy that it was not the car I was buying but rather a continued good relationship with him! For years he's been keeping this old blues musician on the road and yesterday I joked that he was doing his part spreading the music
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Blainletter # 29 June 6, 2010
In This Issue:
• Upcoming Gigs
• Accidents, Thefts, Allergies, what next
• Campfire adventures
• Recording update
• Festival fun
• BLAINBLAIN rides again
• Out and about
I am posting this dispatch from the wilds of Orangeville, looking out into a cedar forest and breathing that fine country air. I’m here for the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival, played last night in a fabulous Italian restaurant, and again…
TONIGHT (Sat) 6 to 9pm Il Corso - 20 Dawson Rd, Orangeville
Sunday at 2 pm I’m in Shelburne at the Grace Tipling Hall, 203 Main St. E. ( also part of Orangeville Blues & Jazz fest – more below)
Sat June 26 6pm (mainstage) – The City Roots Festival, Distillery District, Toronto
Wed June 30 10pm The Social – BLAINblain rides again! Blues infused beats and electronica. …yes, something completely different. (part of the Toronto Jazz Festival)
And still going strong…
EVERY TUESDAY 7-10pm Colorblind Blain’s Blues Campfire at Highway 61, 1620 Bayview (all musicians welcome and the best ribs in town)
The event in Shelburne is called One County, One Book where everyone in the county of Dufferin was invited to read the same book and now there will be a reading by the author. I’ve been invited to play a few songs about the Eastern Townships because the author is Louise Penny, who lives in Sutton, Quebec – my old stompin’ grounds. I just realized last night that I have a great song with a little bit of Eastern Townships lore, the Outlaw of Megantic. I haven’t performed it in years because I could never remember the words – there’s a lot of them. But I realized this is the perfect song for this event so I must remember it. I hoped I might have the lyrics on my laptop but no luck. Then I was starting to think who in Orangeville might have my first album. Not the folks I’m staying with. Anyway, the human brain, even a under-used one like mine, is a wonderful thing and most of the lyrics have come back to me over the last twenty-four hours. I was even dreaming about this song! I’ve been reading Louise Penny’s book though I doubt I’ll be done in time for the show. Hope no-one reveals the ending (it is a mystery- set in the Townships, of course) Call 519-925-2600 for reservations.
Accidents, Thefts, Allergies, what next?
Here’s a picture of the Buick “sandwich” on the Gardiner expressway on Monday afternoon. I was returning from a judging session at the Niagara Music Awards (man, there’s a lot of talent out that way) when I got rear ended by one of those trucks that picks up containers at construction sites. Sure am glad I didn’t have the guitar in the trunk. Then again, I’d rather be playing one of those award galas than being a damn judge.
As previously reported on my blog, my portrait at the Silver Dollar Room was stolen (right off the damn wall). Gary Kendall tells me I have now joined the select group including Donnie Walsh whose portraits were deemed worthy of being stolen. The bummer for me is that we were never able to find the negative for that shot – one of my favourites (and obviously someone else’s…) and I don’t even have a decent print that I can scan for a hi-res shot that can be used for print. It’s still fine for web, and you’ll see an interesting animated version on myspace/brianblain. But we all know the importance of having a hi-res! Keep an eye out for that picture – there will be a reward…how about a Brian Blain CD? How about two?
Campfire adventures
We’re still doing it every Tuesday at Highway 61 – it’ll be a year in July and I’ve only missed one Tuesday, though this Tuesday I was playing with a pretty sore neck. I love it when we can re-ignite the spark of music in someone and this time it was a fella that had not played in 37 years but some of the campfire buddies convinced him to get up and play the bass for a tune and he got through it OK. On his way out he said he was going to get his old guitar out of the case – I think he said it was a Larivee - and that he’d be back. I hope so. There was also another guitar prodigy, 11 years old, who ripped off some solid solos but was having trouble following along the chord changes. He told me afterwards he doesn’t play the “B” chord. I told him if he was going to be playing in “E”, he better learn “B”!
We had a campfire at the Gladstone Hotel last Friday as part of the Toronto Blues Society’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. There was lots going on and the campfire room was tucked away so we didn’t get a lot of traffic but had a great time with Bird Stafford, Robin Banks, Son Roberts, Norm Robinson and Mr. Rick. There was also a mystery female vocalist (best kept a mystery) who joined us at the end. At that point, she actually turned off all the lights in the room and we really had a campfire vibe going – playing in the glow of my ersatz campfire (note to self: get replacement lightbulb).
One of the highlights of the Gladstone was an Iranian (excuse me, Persian) guy who I engaged in conversation because he had a hat that said “Piedmont Blues.” We talked a bit but before I could tell him I played blues myself, he said “I know who you are and I’ve got your CD and I love that song “Blues is Hurting”… Well, make my day! Well speaking of anniversaries, it must be damn near 50 years since I got my first guitar. I think it was the summer of grade 8 – I worked as a soda jerk and saved up $35. To buy a guitar from a friend. Next day I was in a band but what they needed was a bass player, so I just took 2 strings off the guitar and played it like a bass – with Band-aids on my finger tips to keep them from bleeding. It occurs to me that over those fifty years I probably still haven’t accumulated 10,000 hours (as they say) because I’ve always done other stuff besides playing but there’s a certain “naturalness” that develops when you learn an instrument slowly and I’m thinking about what Terry was saying last night – how what he noticed playing with lots of the older blues artists (and he’s played with some greats) that the one thing they had in common was they never played anything more than what was necessary for the moment. Sometimes it might be flashy and sometimes very simple but it was always what the song needed.
Oh, about that recording…
I think I announced we were going into the studio in my last blast, but I pulled the plug at the last moment because I was not feeling ready. And I don’t think the songs were ready, since they’re still coming out different every time I play them. I won’t wait much longer. Missed the deadlines for the recording grants, but they usually go to folks whose career is mostly ahead of them, not old guys like me. Still, it's going to be 5 years and I've been feeling the pressure. A recording fund is in place, thanks to a couple of generous benefactors... you can deposit directly into account 00646842698006400101 at Alterna Savings and Credit Union, Danforth Avenue. (or talk to me).
I've got a new batch of songs - well not so new anymore - and the good news is that I've been out there playing them for different audiences and with different accompaniment. I had pretty well decided to make an acoustic album and I had talked about it with some of the top bluegrass players in town, but then I did an abrupt turn and decided to make it a band album and now I'm right back where I started, except in the process I've come out with new (bluesy) arrangements for some of the more folky tunes. I'm now back to recording alone at home and fine-tuning some of those songs. I guess it can't hurt. Stay tuned.
Festival Fun
As ever I will be putting on my “I.T.” hat to manage the on-site communications needs of the Toronto Jazz Festival and as if having the G20 and all its attendant security in our face, the west side of Nathan Phillips Square is going to be torn up and that is where we usually plug in all the phone & power…oh boy! Sorry to say I won’t be playing Toronto Jazz…not true actually, my son the DJ has asked me to do an opening set at his night at The Social on June 30th – guess I’m going to miss Mavis Staples. Damn! Once again I will strap on the MIDI gear to my Stratocaster and bring out the laptop, which will be synced with one or more other laptops and we will bring you a set of…whatever happens. BLAINblain rides AGAIN (indeed)
That first week-end of the festival (with all the G20 activity going on) I have to extricate myself on the 26th to do a set at the City Roots Festival at the Distillery District. It’s at 6 pm on the Mainstage.
Out and About
We’re halfway through the Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival and saw a couple of bands on the street and got to hear Brenda Lewis and Margaret Stowe. I picked up their new CD – hot off the press, she wrote that I was the first purchaser. I’ll have to start a shelf of “first purchases” on my CD wall – this one will join the wonderful Brenna McCrimmon. Then I took a quick stroll to view a collection of almost 300 classic cars and hot-rods lined up along the street. Here’s one that caught my eye:
I couldn’t hang around very long because I had to go play at the Italian restaurant – it’s run by a colorful character who’s an ex boxer and a fabulous cook. Great food and hospitality at this gig, at the home where I’m billeted and throughout the whole town. One lady from a venue I played a few years back recognized me and said hello. A few other folks remembered me from gigs in this area.
After my gig I went downtown and I got to see Larry Kurtz playing with the great W.C. Clark on their outdoor stage. It had been raining earlier so they lost a lot of their crowd but it’s a great setting and I hope they will be able to have that second stage again next year. I also saw a bit of Sam Turton who has sat around the Campfire with me a couple of times and was really digging in with the slide then I saw Raoul and the Big Time and they were rocking the house. Raoul brings a little something extra to the table, maybe it’s because of his acting side but there’s no “shtick” – he just loves this music and you can tell. Terry Wilkins is one of those bass players that play so organically that they couldn’t hit a wrong note if they tried and watching Tom Bona close up in a more intimate setting really gave me a new appreciation of his special touch. Darren on guitar is as official as it gets. I was asking him if he was the guitarist I helped out many years ago backstage at a festival when he had slammed his hand with a car door just before he was to play. I did a little emergency Reiki on him and apparently it worked. Indeed it was Darren, and when Terry heard this, he wanted a little reiki on his plucking finger (which hardly gets a day off) and I gave him a little session. I’m just out there doing the good work – trying to help people feel better any way I can…
I thought I was finally going to get to sit back and hear the elusive Bharath and the Rhythm Four from Montreal but everything conspired against it. Costa, the bass player had a dislocated should, the venue was packed to capacity with young people who just came to party and showed very little appreciation for this first-class outfit. Bhrath gave his bass player a break, picked up the guitar and invited a couple of local harp players, Doctor Nick and Shrimpdaddy, to play out the set. I don’t blame him but I just wish I’d heard him play more – and what a great voice. I liked his guitar playing, too, And then I end up leaving behind the CD that Costa gave me. I saw him the next day but I didn’t have the nerve to ask for another one. I’m going to buy the damn thang. I want to hear it!
I also got to hesr Heather Katz for the first time – and that was totally not what I expected. She laid down some official blues, with the amazing Kevin Breit guesting and even playing a little guitar “a la Memphis Minnie”.
After three nights at the Italian Restaurant, it was a real change of pace to be playing the Grace Tiplig Hall in Shelburne - an old-world concert hall with great acoustics and a completely attentive and enthusiastic audience who were there to hear Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny whose novels are situated in the Eastern Townships and who lives in Sutton. It seemed like a good fit so I was booked to perform a warm-up set and I did an entire set of tunes about my life in the Townships. It went over great. I’m going to try to post a video but meanwhile, here’s me and Louise Penny. And I wish I could remember exactly what she said about me but she did use the word “brilliant.” I have to say she used it again several times in her speech but that did not diminish the compliment. She was pretty funny and natural, but I guess that’s what you get after 20 years on the CBC. She’s retired now and at work on her seventh novel. Here we are together:
Last week I went to a “Sistering”event at the Jane Mallett Theatre – mostly because I had a few band-mates playing. Regretfully, Colleen Allen couldn’t make the gig due to illness but it was still a phenomenal show. MC was the bubbly Elvira Curt who I listen to all the time on CBC Radio. She’s pretty funny and get get a little lewd, but nothing compared to the next female stand-up comic who was positively outrageous. But the audience of well(high)heeled overachiever women executives was loving it. Evelyn Datl asked me to shoot some video – some of it may end up on you tube. I really wanted to get a shot of Donna Grantis stiletto-heeled foot pumping a CryBaby wah-wah pedal…and her radical new haircut.
Thanks for reading. If you've enjoyed this Blainletter and you're not a subscriber, go to http://brianblain.fanbridge.com to sign up and get one every month or so.
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Thanks for your support, BrianB, aka Colorblind Brian, the Stringbuster
www.brianblain.ca
• Upcoming Gigs
• Accidents, Thefts, Allergies, what next
• Campfire adventures
• Recording update
• Festival fun
• BLAINBLAIN rides again
• Out and about
I am posting this dispatch from the wilds of Orangeville, looking out into a cedar forest and breathing that fine country air. I’m here for the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival, played last night in a fabulous Italian restaurant, and again…
TONIGHT (Sat) 6 to 9pm Il Corso - 20 Dawson Rd, Orangeville
Sunday at 2 pm I’m in Shelburne at the Grace Tipling Hall, 203 Main St. E. ( also part of Orangeville Blues & Jazz fest – more below)
Sat June 26 6pm (mainstage) – The City Roots Festival, Distillery District, Toronto
Wed June 30 10pm The Social – BLAINblain rides again! Blues infused beats and electronica. …yes, something completely different. (part of the Toronto Jazz Festival)
And still going strong…
EVERY TUESDAY 7-10pm Colorblind Blain’s Blues Campfire at Highway 61, 1620 Bayview (all musicians welcome and the best ribs in town)
The event in Shelburne is called One County, One Book where everyone in the county of Dufferin was invited to read the same book and now there will be a reading by the author. I’ve been invited to play a few songs about the Eastern Townships because the author is Louise Penny, who lives in Sutton, Quebec – my old stompin’ grounds. I just realized last night that I have a great song with a little bit of Eastern Townships lore, the Outlaw of Megantic. I haven’t performed it in years because I could never remember the words – there’s a lot of them. But I realized this is the perfect song for this event so I must remember it. I hoped I might have the lyrics on my laptop but no luck. Then I was starting to think who in Orangeville might have my first album. Not the folks I’m staying with. Anyway, the human brain, even a under-used one like mine, is a wonderful thing and most of the lyrics have come back to me over the last twenty-four hours. I was even dreaming about this song! I’ve been reading Louise Penny’s book though I doubt I’ll be done in time for the show. Hope no-one reveals the ending (it is a mystery- set in the Townships, of course) Call 519-925-2600 for reservations.
Accidents, Thefts, Allergies, what next?
Here’s a picture of the Buick “sandwich” on the Gardiner expressway on Monday afternoon. I was returning from a judging session at the Niagara Music Awards (man, there’s a lot of talent out that way) when I got rear ended by one of those trucks that picks up containers at construction sites. Sure am glad I didn’t have the guitar in the trunk. Then again, I’d rather be playing one of those award galas than being a damn judge.
As previously reported on my blog, my portrait at the Silver Dollar Room was stolen (right off the damn wall). Gary Kendall tells me I have now joined the select group including Donnie Walsh whose portraits were deemed worthy of being stolen. The bummer for me is that we were never able to find the negative for that shot – one of my favourites (and obviously someone else’s…) and I don’t even have a decent print that I can scan for a hi-res shot that can be used for print. It’s still fine for web, and you’ll see an interesting animated version on myspace/brianblain. But we all know the importance of having a hi-res! Keep an eye out for that picture – there will be a reward…how about a Brian Blain CD? How about two?
Campfire adventures
We’re still doing it every Tuesday at Highway 61 – it’ll be a year in July and I’ve only missed one Tuesday, though this Tuesday I was playing with a pretty sore neck. I love it when we can re-ignite the spark of music in someone and this time it was a fella that had not played in 37 years but some of the campfire buddies convinced him to get up and play the bass for a tune and he got through it OK. On his way out he said he was going to get his old guitar out of the case – I think he said it was a Larivee - and that he’d be back. I hope so. There was also another guitar prodigy, 11 years old, who ripped off some solid solos but was having trouble following along the chord changes. He told me afterwards he doesn’t play the “B” chord. I told him if he was going to be playing in “E”, he better learn “B”!
We had a campfire at the Gladstone Hotel last Friday as part of the Toronto Blues Society’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. There was lots going on and the campfire room was tucked away so we didn’t get a lot of traffic but had a great time with Bird Stafford, Robin Banks, Son Roberts, Norm Robinson and Mr. Rick. There was also a mystery female vocalist (best kept a mystery) who joined us at the end. At that point, she actually turned off all the lights in the room and we really had a campfire vibe going – playing in the glow of my ersatz campfire (note to self: get replacement lightbulb).
One of the highlights of the Gladstone was an Iranian (excuse me, Persian) guy who I engaged in conversation because he had a hat that said “Piedmont Blues.” We talked a bit but before I could tell him I played blues myself, he said “I know who you are and I’ve got your CD and I love that song “Blues is Hurting”… Well, make my day! Well speaking of anniversaries, it must be damn near 50 years since I got my first guitar. I think it was the summer of grade 8 – I worked as a soda jerk and saved up $35. To buy a guitar from a friend. Next day I was in a band but what they needed was a bass player, so I just took 2 strings off the guitar and played it like a bass – with Band-aids on my finger tips to keep them from bleeding. It occurs to me that over those fifty years I probably still haven’t accumulated 10,000 hours (as they say) because I’ve always done other stuff besides playing but there’s a certain “naturalness” that develops when you learn an instrument slowly and I’m thinking about what Terry was saying last night – how what he noticed playing with lots of the older blues artists (and he’s played with some greats) that the one thing they had in common was they never played anything more than what was necessary for the moment. Sometimes it might be flashy and sometimes very simple but it was always what the song needed.
Oh, about that recording…
I think I announced we were going into the studio in my last blast, but I pulled the plug at the last moment because I was not feeling ready. And I don’t think the songs were ready, since they’re still coming out different every time I play them. I won’t wait much longer. Missed the deadlines for the recording grants, but they usually go to folks whose career is mostly ahead of them, not old guys like me. Still, it's going to be 5 years and I've been feeling the pressure. A recording fund is in place, thanks to a couple of generous benefactors... you can deposit directly into account 00646842698006400101 at Alterna Savings and Credit Union, Danforth Avenue. (or talk to me).
I've got a new batch of songs - well not so new anymore - and the good news is that I've been out there playing them for different audiences and with different accompaniment. I had pretty well decided to make an acoustic album and I had talked about it with some of the top bluegrass players in town, but then I did an abrupt turn and decided to make it a band album and now I'm right back where I started, except in the process I've come out with new (bluesy) arrangements for some of the more folky tunes. I'm now back to recording alone at home and fine-tuning some of those songs. I guess it can't hurt. Stay tuned.
Festival Fun
As ever I will be putting on my “I.T.” hat to manage the on-site communications needs of the Toronto Jazz Festival and as if having the G20 and all its attendant security in our face, the west side of Nathan Phillips Square is going to be torn up and that is where we usually plug in all the phone & power…oh boy! Sorry to say I won’t be playing Toronto Jazz…not true actually, my son the DJ has asked me to do an opening set at his night at The Social on June 30th – guess I’m going to miss Mavis Staples. Damn! Once again I will strap on the MIDI gear to my Stratocaster and bring out the laptop, which will be synced with one or more other laptops and we will bring you a set of…whatever happens. BLAINblain rides AGAIN (indeed)
That first week-end of the festival (with all the G20 activity going on) I have to extricate myself on the 26th to do a set at the City Roots Festival at the Distillery District. It’s at 6 pm on the Mainstage.
Out and About
We’re halfway through the Orangeville Blues & Jazz Festival and saw a couple of bands on the street and got to hear Brenda Lewis and Margaret Stowe. I picked up their new CD – hot off the press, she wrote that I was the first purchaser. I’ll have to start a shelf of “first purchases” on my CD wall – this one will join the wonderful Brenna McCrimmon. Then I took a quick stroll to view a collection of almost 300 classic cars and hot-rods lined up along the street. Here’s one that caught my eye:
I couldn’t hang around very long because I had to go play at the Italian restaurant – it’s run by a colorful character who’s an ex boxer and a fabulous cook. Great food and hospitality at this gig, at the home where I’m billeted and throughout the whole town. One lady from a venue I played a few years back recognized me and said hello. A few other folks remembered me from gigs in this area.
After my gig I went downtown and I got to see Larry Kurtz playing with the great W.C. Clark on their outdoor stage. It had been raining earlier so they lost a lot of their crowd but it’s a great setting and I hope they will be able to have that second stage again next year. I also saw a bit of Sam Turton who has sat around the Campfire with me a couple of times and was really digging in with the slide then I saw Raoul and the Big Time and they were rocking the house. Raoul brings a little something extra to the table, maybe it’s because of his acting side but there’s no “shtick” – he just loves this music and you can tell. Terry Wilkins is one of those bass players that play so organically that they couldn’t hit a wrong note if they tried and watching Tom Bona close up in a more intimate setting really gave me a new appreciation of his special touch. Darren on guitar is as official as it gets. I was asking him if he was the guitarist I helped out many years ago backstage at a festival when he had slammed his hand with a car door just before he was to play. I did a little emergency Reiki on him and apparently it worked. Indeed it was Darren, and when Terry heard this, he wanted a little reiki on his plucking finger (which hardly gets a day off) and I gave him a little session. I’m just out there doing the good work – trying to help people feel better any way I can…
I thought I was finally going to get to sit back and hear the elusive Bharath and the Rhythm Four from Montreal but everything conspired against it. Costa, the bass player had a dislocated should, the venue was packed to capacity with young people who just came to party and showed very little appreciation for this first-class outfit. Bhrath gave his bass player a break, picked up the guitar and invited a couple of local harp players, Doctor Nick and Shrimpdaddy, to play out the set. I don’t blame him but I just wish I’d heard him play more – and what a great voice. I liked his guitar playing, too, And then I end up leaving behind the CD that Costa gave me. I saw him the next day but I didn’t have the nerve to ask for another one. I’m going to buy the damn thang. I want to hear it!
I also got to hesr Heather Katz for the first time – and that was totally not what I expected. She laid down some official blues, with the amazing Kevin Breit guesting and even playing a little guitar “a la Memphis Minnie”.
After three nights at the Italian Restaurant, it was a real change of pace to be playing the Grace Tiplig Hall in Shelburne - an old-world concert hall with great acoustics and a completely attentive and enthusiastic audience who were there to hear Canadian mystery writer Louise Penny whose novels are situated in the Eastern Townships and who lives in Sutton. It seemed like a good fit so I was booked to perform a warm-up set and I did an entire set of tunes about my life in the Townships. It went over great. I’m going to try to post a video but meanwhile, here’s me and Louise Penny. And I wish I could remember exactly what she said about me but she did use the word “brilliant.” I have to say she used it again several times in her speech but that did not diminish the compliment. She was pretty funny and natural, but I guess that’s what you get after 20 years on the CBC. She’s retired now and at work on her seventh novel. Here we are together:
Last week I went to a “Sistering”event at the Jane Mallett Theatre – mostly because I had a few band-mates playing. Regretfully, Colleen Allen couldn’t make the gig due to illness but it was still a phenomenal show. MC was the bubbly Elvira Curt who I listen to all the time on CBC Radio. She’s pretty funny and get get a little lewd, but nothing compared to the next female stand-up comic who was positively outrageous. But the audience of well(high)heeled overachiever women executives was loving it. Evelyn Datl asked me to shoot some video – some of it may end up on you tube. I really wanted to get a shot of Donna Grantis stiletto-heeled foot pumping a CryBaby wah-wah pedal…and her radical new haircut.
Thanks for reading. If you've enjoyed this Blainletter and you're not a subscriber, go to http://brianblain.fanbridge.com to sign up and get one every month or so.
And if you "like" what I'm doing and you’re on Facebook, please click over to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brian-Blain/70605028420 and make it official.
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Thanks for your support, BrianB, aka Colorblind Brian, the Stringbuster
www.brianblain.ca
Saturday, May 22, 2010
When's that guy gonna make another record?
I get asked that once in a while - less often than "we still play your album" (or some variation thereof) but it's going to be 5 years and I've been feeling the pressure. A recording fund is in place, thanks to a couple of generous benefactors, and I've downloaded some grant applications...we'll see what happens with that! I've got a new batch of songs - well not that new anymore - and the good news is that I've been out there playing them for different audiences and with different accompaniment. I had pretty well decided to make an acoustic album and I had talked about it with some of the top bluegrass players in town, but then I did an abrupt turn and decided to make it a band album with Michelle on drums and feature the wonderful horn players Carrie Chesnutt and Colleen Allen. I had a vision of going in and recording live with the horns but then there were a lot of practical considerations, mostly that we haven't been practicing the songs with horns, there's no arrangements or charts. So then we were going to overdub the horns, and then we even talked about doing the bass after and that's when I realized that this is no way to make a blues record so I pulled the plug (at some great inconvenience to myself and others). So now I'm right back where I started, except in the process I've come out with new (bluesy) arrangements for some of the more folky tunes. I'm now back to recording alone at home and fine-tuning some of those songs. I guess it can't hurt. Stay tuned.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Brian Blain Missing
Everytime I walk into the Silver Dollar Room, the first thing I see is this picture of myself hanging in its long-standing place of honour at the end of the bar. Until last night, that is. I dropped by the Silver Dollar to hear the bluegrass guys and noticed that my portrait was missing from its spot. It wasn't replaced with anything else - there's just a big blank space where it used to be...Wot happened? They're looking into it at the Silver Dollar. Gary Kendall thinks it might have been stolen right off the wall, as were portraits of him and Donnie Walsh a while back. This feels a bit like the time I discovered a web site that was "sharing" my music for free. Part of me was kinda happy that someone out there thought it was worth stealing. Nowadays there's a lot of music you can't GIVE away...
Monday, May 10, 2010
Blainletter #28 May 10, 2010
Tomorrow’s Campfire at Highway 61 (maybe today’s by the time you read this) is my “Motherless Day” Special with the inimitable Carrie Chesnut as special guest and who knows who else will show up. That 7-10 pm at 1620 Bayview. Every year on Mother’s Day week-end, or close to it, I like to have a special show for folks who no longer have their mother, like myself or orphans who never knew their biological mother (also like myself). Some of you may be acquainted with my tune “Enfant Choisi” which is about my adoption by the dear lady you see pictured with me in a 70s promo shot.
It’s also the only show of the year where you’ll hear me sing my “cult classic,” “Don’t Forget Your Mother”. You can hear it here: mother.mp3. We recorded three sides at those sessions in 1973 and the two othere were released on Good Noise Records, but “Don’t Forget Your Mother” was never released (for a variety of reasons). But it was a bit of an underground favourite in Montreal in the early 70s. Everybody remembered that tune and just a few years back I ran into one of the guys who played on the session, Tom “Bones” Malone, who was in Toronto filming a Blues Brothers. I was just starting to ask him if he remembered that session and he began singing the chorus. Wow! After all those years. The drummer for the session was Jim Gordon, a first-call studio drummer in Los Angeles who had just finished touring and recording with Derek and The Dominoes. He wrote (and played) the piano part in “Layla”. He was later institutionalized for killing his mother in a schitzophrenic episode but that’s another (hopefully unrelated) story.
The Campfire was amazing last week. I love it when I get people to perform who have hardly ever (or never) done it. I remember when Tony Burns got up and did a couple of Delta Blues and when I commented later that I bet he didn’t do that too often he said he’s never done it (and probably never would again, but we’re working on that). This night, Willy “A”, long standing Blues radio host on CKWR in Kitchener was in the house and when I asked innocently if he or his buddy played they had a good laugh but after the night was underway Willy said maybe he would get up and sing “Stormy Monday”. Well he nailed it, putting on a real show for the folks – at one point he was even down on one knee – and later when he was leaving the club one rowdy table would not let him leave until he performed another tune – which he did!
There will also be a special Campfire at the Toronto Blues Society’s 25th Anniversary bash at the Gladstone Hotel on Friday, May 28. I’ll be lighting up the campfire in the Art Bar starting around 7pm. Harrison Kennedy is performing in the front Room and Shakura S’Aida and Fathead are featured in the Ballroom. It will be a grand celebration. There’s also an art display, blues poetry and blues Karaoke – I’m anxious to see that! Look out if Willy “A” is in the house.
For the benefit of some folks who may not have made it out to Highway 61, I put together a few guidelines…Colorblind Blain's Campfire Credo
- Welcome to the Blues Campfire where long, self-indulgent solos are not only tolerated but welcome.
- We stick to straightforward blues so everybody can play along (unless told otherwise).
- We're not big on introductions, just pull up a chair and plug in.
- We go round-robin, taking turns playing a song or two.
- If you're playing the house guitar, please wash the BBQ sauce off your fingers first.
- Please leave us your email/website and have a drink on the house.
- We’re a very generous and accepting group, but if you play slide you better be good!
don't forget...
EVERY TUESDAY
Colorblind Brian's Blues Campfire
7-10 PM
Highway 61 Southern BBQ
1620 Bayview
416-489-7427
(all musicians welcome)
MORE UPCOMING SHOWS
As part of the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival I will be performing at the Grace Tipling Hall, 203 Main St. E. Shelburne on Sunday June 6th at 2:00 PM I will be sharing the afternoon with another Townshipper, nternationally renowned mystery writer Louise Penny who will be reading from her latest best-seller, The Brutal Telling, and I will be playing some of my Townships blues (in both official languages) Call 519-925-2600 for reservations
OUT AND ABOUT
Had a great time playing with Jerome Godboo and Burke Carroll at the Kentucky Derby. Naaaa, we weren't in Louisville - we were playing at the Woodbine Racetrack out by Toronto airport. They take their Kentucky Derby quite seriously at Woodbine, even though people have to watch it on the big screen, but they can place their bet and feel like they're at "the track." I got a nice lapel pin with "136th Kentucky Derby." I placed my first bet ever, even though I've played numerous times at racetracks. Anyway, Linda, there was no horse with a flower in his name so I bet on the horse that had "music" in his name and he came fourth - even though he was a real long shot. We started at 11am (even though the actual Kentucky Derby main race was much later) and this was the first of 3 gigs for Burke on that day – he raced off to play at the Cameron House (this may have been some kind of "farewell concert" for the Cameron House. And later that night he had a show for Riverdale Share, a community event in my community. I played it once - I hope I get another chance! What a treat playing again with Jerome! He is an amazing harp player and a very respect-worthy person. He is also a new daddy! The next day I was playing a gig in at the “Old Home Show” in Oakville with Larry Kurtz and boy, Larry was wailing! He can hold his own with any of them.
After the gig in Oakville, I tried to drop by the Sky Lounge to give Jerome back his tuner and thought I was taking the back way but I couldn't find it and even when I tried to backtrack to the route I used to take, I still couldn't find the damn place. And the whole time I was talking to my self and planning what to say to that club owner, who OWES ME A GIG! He was kind enough to call me personally to apologize for a double booking and that George Oliver would be doing the date...but I was supposed to get another date. Note to self: get that gig.
After resting up from the “Kentucky Derby gig” I dropped in to the Silver Dollar for Raoul Bhaneja’s Tribute to Little Walter. I was kinda late but I liked what I heard and what a crowd they got out for that. The front and back rooms were packed. Apparently, if you didn’t have a reservation you had to sit in the back room – that’s a first! When I mentioned to one of the participants that it was a big crowd his response was that everyone had really worked this show, ie, called all their friends. That’s the secret to filling a blues club, I guess. Have five special guests and get them all to bring their crowd. I hope it works for the Sockman on May 31 – he’s got all of Downchild (except for Donnie Walsh), David Rotundo and two very sexy, talented singers, Cheryl Lescom and his new protégée, Viviana, and oh yes, yours truly has been invited to do a number with the band. That’s at the Dollar.
At one point in the evening I heard a crash behind me and turned around to see that someone had passed out. A minute later he was back on his feet and saying he was OK and just as he was saying that, he went down again, this time knocking his head on the giant fan they have at the back of the room. Everybody, including me, was telling the staff to call 911 (even though most everybody had a cel phone in their pocket). Curious. But Canadianblues.ca’s Andie Maranda did not hesitate a moment and sprung to his aid like a trained EMS person and watched over him for the next little while. Now I know the Canadian blues scene will survive with a formidable woman like that looking out for us.
THE EVER-ELUSIVE NEXT CD
Yesterday we had the first meeting of the Colorblind Blain Support Committee and we are looking at the song selection for the new CD. I have arranged a studio and engaged some of my favourite musicians so we’re committed and not looking back. I remember 5 years ago when a similar group gathered in my kitchen and as I recall were not exactly blown away with the material but it’s reassuring to see a song like “Saab Story” achieve a lot airplay and comments when it got nothing but quizzical looks as a brand new tune. And speaking of “Saab Story,” I’m still miffed at myself for cutting out a verse because some producer thought it was too long – I always sing all the verses and if I could I would re-record it. Note to self: follow your heart.
I mentioned last time that we had a “recording fund” , and I’ll mention it again because some of you didn’t get the last Blainletter - you can deposit directly into account 00646842698006400101 at Alterna Savings and Credit Union, Danforth Avenue. (or talk to me). And thank you for your support, even if it’s only reading these ramblings of mine.
FRASER & DEBOLT CBC DOCUMENTARY
The much anticipated Fraser and DeBolt radio documentary has a broadcast It's going to be on the program Inside The Music on CBC Radio 2 at 3 pm on Sunday May 23rd (and I think it airs again that night on Radio One at 9 pm.) Some information about the episode should appear on their blog at http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/insidethemusic/ at some point earlier that week. And episodes of the show are posted online at http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/insidethemusic/audio.html once they've aired, so people will be able to hear it even if they miss the radio broadcast. I had a rather lengthy interview with the young lady who undertook this and I’ll be anxious to see how much she used. Not too much, I hope. Hopefully this will help bring some attention to a 60s folk music phenomenon that was born in Canada – and partially took shape in my living room in Hamilton - and, after 40 years, still has fans searching for replacement albums for their worn-out vinyl (none of it was ever reissued on CD). If Fraser & DeBolt had been as popular in Canada as they were in the states, they would be regarded as Canadian folk pioneers. Instead, they are mostly ignored or forgotten in Canada, even though I remember well that they fought tough and nail to stay on their farm in the Eastern Townships when their US manager and record label were pressuring them to move to a little town none of us had ever heard of…called Woodstock.
MOATM (Music on at the Moment): Allison Krauss and Robert Plant. When I made the last album, I asked everyone to listen to the John Hammond album “Wicked Grin” and this time I’ll be asking them to listen to “Raising Sand.” Now last time, the only person who listened to Wicked Grin was drummer Michelle Josef, and that was probably enough to capture a bit of the vibe I was looking for.
It’s also the only show of the year where you’ll hear me sing my “cult classic,” “Don’t Forget Your Mother”. You can hear it here: mother.mp3. We recorded three sides at those sessions in 1973 and the two othere were released on Good Noise Records, but “Don’t Forget Your Mother” was never released (for a variety of reasons). But it was a bit of an underground favourite in Montreal in the early 70s. Everybody remembered that tune and just a few years back I ran into one of the guys who played on the session, Tom “Bones” Malone, who was in Toronto filming a Blues Brothers. I was just starting to ask him if he remembered that session and he began singing the chorus. Wow! After all those years. The drummer for the session was Jim Gordon, a first-call studio drummer in Los Angeles who had just finished touring and recording with Derek and The Dominoes. He wrote (and played) the piano part in “Layla”. He was later institutionalized for killing his mother in a schitzophrenic episode but that’s another (hopefully unrelated) story.
The Campfire was amazing last week. I love it when I get people to perform who have hardly ever (or never) done it. I remember when Tony Burns got up and did a couple of Delta Blues and when I commented later that I bet he didn’t do that too often he said he’s never done it (and probably never would again, but we’re working on that). This night, Willy “A”, long standing Blues radio host on CKWR in Kitchener was in the house and when I asked innocently if he or his buddy played they had a good laugh but after the night was underway Willy said maybe he would get up and sing “Stormy Monday”. Well he nailed it, putting on a real show for the folks – at one point he was even down on one knee – and later when he was leaving the club one rowdy table would not let him leave until he performed another tune – which he did!
There will also be a special Campfire at the Toronto Blues Society’s 25th Anniversary bash at the Gladstone Hotel on Friday, May 28. I’ll be lighting up the campfire in the Art Bar starting around 7pm. Harrison Kennedy is performing in the front Room and Shakura S’Aida and Fathead are featured in the Ballroom. It will be a grand celebration. There’s also an art display, blues poetry and blues Karaoke – I’m anxious to see that! Look out if Willy “A” is in the house.
For the benefit of some folks who may not have made it out to Highway 61, I put together a few guidelines…Colorblind Blain's Campfire Credo
- Welcome to the Blues Campfire where long, self-indulgent solos are not only tolerated but welcome.
- We stick to straightforward blues so everybody can play along (unless told otherwise).
- We're not big on introductions, just pull up a chair and plug in.
- We go round-robin, taking turns playing a song or two.
- If you're playing the house guitar, please wash the BBQ sauce off your fingers first.
- Please leave us your email/website and have a drink on the house.
- We’re a very generous and accepting group, but if you play slide you better be good!
don't forget...
EVERY TUESDAY
Colorblind Brian's Blues Campfire
7-10 PM
Highway 61 Southern BBQ
1620 Bayview
416-489-7427
(all musicians welcome)
MORE UPCOMING SHOWS
As part of the Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival I will be performing at the Grace Tipling Hall, 203 Main St. E. Shelburne on Sunday June 6th at 2:00 PM I will be sharing the afternoon with another Townshipper, nternationally renowned mystery writer Louise Penny who will be reading from her latest best-seller, The Brutal Telling, and I will be playing some of my Townships blues (in both official languages) Call 519-925-2600 for reservations
OUT AND ABOUT
Had a great time playing with Jerome Godboo and Burke Carroll at the Kentucky Derby. Naaaa, we weren't in Louisville - we were playing at the Woodbine Racetrack out by Toronto airport. They take their Kentucky Derby quite seriously at Woodbine, even though people have to watch it on the big screen, but they can place their bet and feel like they're at "the track." I got a nice lapel pin with "136th Kentucky Derby." I placed my first bet ever, even though I've played numerous times at racetracks. Anyway, Linda, there was no horse with a flower in his name so I bet on the horse that had "music" in his name and he came fourth - even though he was a real long shot. We started at 11am (even though the actual Kentucky Derby main race was much later) and this was the first of 3 gigs for Burke on that day – he raced off to play at the Cameron House (this may have been some kind of "farewell concert" for the Cameron House. And later that night he had a show for Riverdale Share, a community event in my community. I played it once - I hope I get another chance! What a treat playing again with Jerome! He is an amazing harp player and a very respect-worthy person. He is also a new daddy! The next day I was playing a gig in at the “Old Home Show” in Oakville with Larry Kurtz and boy, Larry was wailing! He can hold his own with any of them.
After the gig in Oakville, I tried to drop by the Sky Lounge to give Jerome back his tuner and thought I was taking the back way but I couldn't find it and even when I tried to backtrack to the route I used to take, I still couldn't find the damn place. And the whole time I was talking to my self and planning what to say to that club owner, who OWES ME A GIG! He was kind enough to call me personally to apologize for a double booking and that George Oliver would be doing the date...but I was supposed to get another date. Note to self: get that gig.
After resting up from the “Kentucky Derby gig” I dropped in to the Silver Dollar for Raoul Bhaneja’s Tribute to Little Walter. I was kinda late but I liked what I heard and what a crowd they got out for that. The front and back rooms were packed. Apparently, if you didn’t have a reservation you had to sit in the back room – that’s a first! When I mentioned to one of the participants that it was a big crowd his response was that everyone had really worked this show, ie, called all their friends. That’s the secret to filling a blues club, I guess. Have five special guests and get them all to bring their crowd. I hope it works for the Sockman on May 31 – he’s got all of Downchild (except for Donnie Walsh), David Rotundo and two very sexy, talented singers, Cheryl Lescom and his new protégée, Viviana, and oh yes, yours truly has been invited to do a number with the band. That’s at the Dollar.
At one point in the evening I heard a crash behind me and turned around to see that someone had passed out. A minute later he was back on his feet and saying he was OK and just as he was saying that, he went down again, this time knocking his head on the giant fan they have at the back of the room. Everybody, including me, was telling the staff to call 911 (even though most everybody had a cel phone in their pocket). Curious. But Canadianblues.ca’s Andie Maranda did not hesitate a moment and sprung to his aid like a trained EMS person and watched over him for the next little while. Now I know the Canadian blues scene will survive with a formidable woman like that looking out for us.
THE EVER-ELUSIVE NEXT CD
Yesterday we had the first meeting of the Colorblind Blain Support Committee and we are looking at the song selection for the new CD. I have arranged a studio and engaged some of my favourite musicians so we’re committed and not looking back. I remember 5 years ago when a similar group gathered in my kitchen and as I recall were not exactly blown away with the material but it’s reassuring to see a song like “Saab Story” achieve a lot airplay and comments when it got nothing but quizzical looks as a brand new tune. And speaking of “Saab Story,” I’m still miffed at myself for cutting out a verse because some producer thought it was too long – I always sing all the verses and if I could I would re-record it. Note to self: follow your heart.
I mentioned last time that we had a “recording fund” , and I’ll mention it again because some of you didn’t get the last Blainletter - you can deposit directly into account 00646842698006400101 at Alterna Savings and Credit Union, Danforth Avenue. (or talk to me). And thank you for your support, even if it’s only reading these ramblings of mine.
FRASER & DEBOLT CBC DOCUMENTARY
The much anticipated Fraser and DeBolt radio documentary has a broadcast It's going to be on the program Inside The Music on CBC Radio 2 at 3 pm on Sunday May 23rd (and I think it airs again that night on Radio One at 9 pm.) Some information about the episode should appear on their blog at http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/insidethemusic/ at some point earlier that week. And episodes of the show are posted online at http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/programs/insidethemusic/audio.html once they've aired, so people will be able to hear it even if they miss the radio broadcast. I had a rather lengthy interview with the young lady who undertook this and I’ll be anxious to see how much she used. Not too much, I hope. Hopefully this will help bring some attention to a 60s folk music phenomenon that was born in Canada – and partially took shape in my living room in Hamilton - and, after 40 years, still has fans searching for replacement albums for their worn-out vinyl (none of it was ever reissued on CD). If Fraser & DeBolt had been as popular in Canada as they were in the states, they would be regarded as Canadian folk pioneers. Instead, they are mostly ignored or forgotten in Canada, even though I remember well that they fought tough and nail to stay on their farm in the Eastern Townships when their US manager and record label were pressuring them to move to a little town none of us had ever heard of…called Woodstock.
MOATM (Music on at the Moment): Allison Krauss and Robert Plant. When I made the last album, I asked everyone to listen to the John Hammond album “Wicked Grin” and this time I’ll be asking them to listen to “Raising Sand.” Now last time, the only person who listened to Wicked Grin was drummer Michelle Josef, and that was probably enough to capture a bit of the vibe I was looking for.
Friday, April 30, 2010
What are the odds?
I used to alternate years that I would apply to play the summer festivals and it seemed like even when I did a big blitz of submissions I would get a handful of gigs and then when I did absolutely nothing I would still get a handful of gigs. I think somewhere along the line I just gave up entirely (well, at least until I have a new CD to flog) but wouldn’t you know that I get two offers a day apart and they are for the same date – June 26th. Oh well...maybe that will save me having to decide between Herbie Hancock and Robben Ford, both playing the jazzfest that night. Oh yeah, the downtown core will be locked up tight as a drum for Obama and the other G-20 Leaders.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Quote of the Day
"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love."
(Lao Tzu)
(Lao Tzu)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Upcoming Gigs
The Mighty Duck Blues Band w/Brian Blain
Saturday Mar 27 2:30 PM
The Duck (Golden Pheasant) 244 Ontario St.
St. Catharines 905-687-9505
For all my fans and Blainletter subscribers in the St. Catharines area (you know who you are)
Mose Scarlett & Brian Blain
Saturday, April 24 8PM
Glass Onion House Concerts
Wallaceburg, ON
After getting musically re-acquainted at Winterfolk, I get to play again with the inimitable Mose Scarlett in an intimate house concert setting (call John Gardiner at 519-627-5978 if you're in that area and would like some details)
Brian Blain and the Bluesgrass Boys
Saturday May 1 11AM-2PM
Woodbine Racetrack
celebrating the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby
and don't forget...
EVERY TUESDAY
Colorblind Brian's Blues Campfire
7-10 PM
Highway 61 Southern BBQ
1620 Bayview
416-489-7427
(all musicians welcome)
Saturday Mar 27 2:30 PM
The Duck (Golden Pheasant) 244 Ontario St.
St. Catharines 905-687-9505
For all my fans and Blainletter subscribers in the St. Catharines area (you know who you are)
Mose Scarlett & Brian Blain
Saturday, April 24 8PM
Glass Onion House Concerts
Wallaceburg, ON
After getting musically re-acquainted at Winterfolk, I get to play again with the inimitable Mose Scarlett in an intimate house concert setting (call John Gardiner at 519-627-5978 if you're in that area and would like some details)
Brian Blain and the Bluesgrass Boys
Saturday May 1 11AM-2PM
Woodbine Racetrack
celebrating the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby
and don't forget...
EVERY TUESDAY
Colorblind Brian's Blues Campfire
7-10 PM
Highway 61 Southern BBQ
1620 Bayview
416-489-7427
(all musicians welcome)
The campfire is in the shop. Hopefully just a power-cord issue. Our regular Tuesdays at Highway 61 BBQ have been great – full of surprises. Last Tuesday it was the “two Charlies” (pictured). Nova Scotia Music’s Entertainer of the Year Charlie A’Court and an 11-year old wunderkind whose blues moniker is "Sir Charles". The kid sat in on a couple of blues tunes then asked if he and his teacher Ted could do something by themselves and he proceeded to rip it up on Eric Clapton’s “Layla”. Andy Frank of Roots Music Canada came by with his camera on the Anniversary week-end and you can see his reportage at http://www.rootsmusic.ca. You’ll get the skinny on Highway 61 BBQ (but not the recipe to their secret sauce).
Out and about: Thursday was a big night out. First I checked in to the elegant Old Mill where Karrin Allyson was performing the first of a new jazz series produced by Downtown Jazz. Then off to find Charlie A’Court’s gig in Cabbagetown but I didn’t have the address or my cel phone and after driving up and down Parliament street I just gave up and headed over to the Caddillac Lounge where the Toronto Blues Society was having a showcase of up-and-comers. Missed Jesse Whiteley, who did a solo piano set and I would have loved to hear it because everytime I hear him play (with JW Jones or otherwise) I like what I hear. Proud dad Chris Whiteley was in the house along with his fiancee, Diana Braithwaite and we had a chance to catch up. Then a new band called Chloe Watkinson and the Crossroads, young but a bit of an old (r ‘n b) soul, and the glitzy Ginger St. James. Ginger had a way of singing behind the groove, but nowhere near as much as Karrin, who made you wonder sometimes how she was going to recover the phrase. I guess Karrin is quite the singer’s singer because the room was peppered with local jazz vocalists who all seemed to be in awe. I’m in awe of Sheila Jordan but it’s about more than just the way she phrases, but I didn’t get that connection from Karrin though she’s obviously an impeccable vocalist and a damn fine piano player. I cut out after a couple of Ginger tunes to hear Paul Reddick and his new band (?) in a new venue at 777 Queen St. Flohil told me about the gig and it was organized by his former assistant, Samantha, who I reminded was the entire audience for most of my showcase in the Sweet Beaver Suite at the Folk Alliance a few years back. Actually a couple of other people drifted in, including Donna Wilson who is married to Rounder founder Ken Irwin and whom any other folkie would have died for except Donna’s heard me play many times and has been a great supporter seeing as I was a bit of a matchmaker in her romance with Ken. Anyway, the venue is apparently a Persian restaurant but tonight it was a rockin’ blues bar with Paul. Teddy Leonard, John Dymond and Gary Craig. Not the same Gary Craig I met in an elevator at Canadian Music Week who told me he had been Long John Baldry’s manager back in Vancouver. Well, I couldn’t resist looking him up in the Baldry biography that Inever quite finished and sure enough there he is...probably not as flattering as he would have liked. I told him about touring Baldry’s circuit in Germany with Kathi MacDonald and when I told him we were doing some gigs without a rhythm section his comment was “you must be good!” All right, that’s enough patting myself on the back till I put my shoulder out of joint
Blues in Montreal
Wish I had been there for a gig, but it was for a funeral, regrettably. The night before I headed back to T.O. I decided to drop in to Bourbon Street, one of the clubs that presents blues on a regular basis thanks to promoter Brian Slack and the Montreal Blues Society. I was finding it hard to gather the energy, but when I saw legendary Quebec guitarist Jimmy James on the bill I decided if I want to hear JJ, I had better seize the moment because he rarely plays in Toronto. Arriving at the club I encounter the Montreal Blues Society table with a couple a familiar faces from the MBS “hospitality suite” at the Blues Summit a couple of years back. It turns out that Brian S. had to spin a little magic when the bass player was in a car accident and he had to rustle up a rhythm section – apparently the new bass player arrived halfway through the first set. The front man was a barrelhouse boogie piano player. The cynical Toronto blues person would say we’ve got a hundred guys in our town who can do that...but then, can you really have too many barrelhouse boogie piano players??
While we’re talking about Quebec, I got a news flash that there was a feature film being shot on the life of Gerry Boulet, lead singer of Offenbach. How often does a Canadian blues guy get immortalized in a feature film? I actually sent a “tweet” on that (you can follow me on Twitter by going to www.BrianBlain.ca. The one story I remember about Offenbach will not be unfamiliar to a lot of blues bands around the world. Offenbach was seconded to back up Chuck Berry at the Montreal Forum. Chuck usually traveled alone and picked up a local band in whatever town and just assumed they would know all his songs (which they mostly did). Of course in Quebec, Offenbach were as big as Chuck Berry so it was more of a double bill, but the guys were thrilled to back up the living legend. Then when it was showtime, Chuck said that he didn’t want the guitar player, just the rhythm section. Offenbach’s guitarist was Jean Millaire, who was a bit of a guitar god in Quebec. I guess a lot of people were disappointed, but that’s how Chuck rolled.
While in Montreal, I got together with Allan Fraser and heard some of his recent solo recording as well as a live recording of Fraser & DeBolt in 1969. I just heard the first three or four tracks and it was jaw-dropping. Allan was a bit dismissive...”oh we’ve got much better live recordings than that” but the fact is nobody’s doing anything with them. I’ve got a couple of tapes from the sessions I produced in 1971 and who would have thought I’d have to be looking up restoration experts to “bake” some tapes I produced. Wait till this younger generation of folkies hear what F & DeB were doing in the 60s...the original acid folk. Lots going on on the Fraser & DeBolt dossier. Watch for a big CBC Radio doc on “Inside the Music” and maybe even a CD of unreleased material. After all these years there are still thousands of rabid Fraser & DeBolt fans who would kill to hear some new material. I just put up a video on YouTube and Daisy has been loading up some great old pictures. Check it out at fraserdebolt.com
While we’re talking about Quebec, I got a news flash that there was a feature film being shot on the life of Gerry Boulet, lead singer of Offenbach. How often does a Canadian blues guy get immortalized in a feature film? I actually sent a “tweet” on that (you can follow me on Twitter by going to www.BrianBlain.ca. The one story I remember about Offenbach will not be unfamiliar to a lot of blues bands around the world. Offenbach was seconded to back up Chuck Berry at the Montreal Forum. Chuck usually traveled alone and picked up a local band in whatever town and just assumed they would know all his songs (which they mostly did). Of course in Quebec, Offenbach were as big as Chuck Berry so it was more of a double bill, but the guys were thrilled to back up the living legend. Then when it was showtime, Chuck said that he didn’t want the guitar player, just the rhythm section. Offenbach’s guitarist was Jean Millaire, who was a bit of a guitar god in Quebec. I guess a lot of people were disappointed, but that’s how Chuck rolled.
While in Montreal, I got together with Allan Fraser and heard some of his recent solo recording as well as a live recording of Fraser & DeBolt in 1969. I just heard the first three or four tracks and it was jaw-dropping. Allan was a bit dismissive...”oh we’ve got much better live recordings than that” but the fact is nobody’s doing anything with them. I’ve got a couple of tapes from the sessions I produced in 1971 and who would have thought I’d have to be looking up restoration experts to “bake” some tapes I produced. Wait till this younger generation of folkies hear what F & DeB were doing in the 60s...the original acid folk. Lots going on on the Fraser & DeBolt dossier. Watch for a big CBC Radio doc on “Inside the Music” and maybe even a CD of unreleased material. After all these years there are still thousands of rabid Fraser & DeBolt fans who would kill to hear some new material. I just put up a video on YouTube and Daisy has been loading up some great old pictures. Check it out at fraserdebolt.com
Sunday, March 21, 2010
I've written more songs than...
...more songs than even I remember. My oldest musical friend, Sue Lothrop, called the other day and said she was working on an old tune we had worked up together a long time ago (that would be the early 70s). She said it was called “Blown Away Again” and recited a few lines on the phone but I drew a total blank. In fact I denied writing it and when she told me she had me on cassette singing it I still thought it must be somebody who sounded like me. Well last week I was in Montreal (sadly, for the funeral of a cousin who had been a big supporter of my music) and she sat me down and played me the tape and there’s no denying it – it’s me, singing and playing chords I never played before or since. She filled in the blanks and cleaned it up (literally, as she replaced the line “so I had a drink and a toke” - and I guess that line might even explain my memory lapse. So is it still intellectual property if you can’t remember you wrote it?
Speaking of old songs, I had a great Blues in the Schools session with the youngest class I’ve ever had to deal with (grade 2 or 3) and when I opened it up for questions, one of the little ones asked me to sing the first song I ever wrote. Well I happen to remember the first song I wrote, though I couldn’t quite get through the whole thing. It’s called “The Family That Cared”...”You went off to war in 1939, came back a hero after serving your time, thought you fought as well as you could, you were very sure that you understood, some of the quys who came back said ‘nobody cares’, but thank heaven you’ve got a family that cares”. It was a song for my dad, but he never heard it. The kids were loving my version of blues history but I restrained myself from launching into the legend of Robert Johnson. The last time I was with a group this age and had them all wide-eyed telling them Robert Johnson had made a “deal with the devil” at the crossroads and how Robert was chasing women until the husband of one of them gave him some poison whiskey...at which point the teacher stood up at the back of the class and gave me a bit of a dirty look. We wrote a song called the “Room 5 Blues” and their teacher recorded it and put it up on YouTube <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClmpaG6OCe4> . You won’t see the kids on the video (privacy issues) but you’ll hear them singing.
Speaking of old songs, I had a great Blues in the Schools session with the youngest class I’ve ever had to deal with (grade 2 or 3) and when I opened it up for questions, one of the little ones asked me to sing the first song I ever wrote. Well I happen to remember the first song I wrote, though I couldn’t quite get through the whole thing. It’s called “The Family That Cared”...”You went off to war in 1939, came back a hero after serving your time, thought you fought as well as you could, you were very sure that you understood, some of the quys who came back said ‘nobody cares’, but thank heaven you’ve got a family that cares”. It was a song for my dad, but he never heard it. The kids were loving my version of blues history but I restrained myself from launching into the legend of Robert Johnson. The last time I was with a group this age and had them all wide-eyed telling them Robert Johnson had made a “deal with the devil” at the crossroads and how Robert was chasing women until the husband of one of them gave him some poison whiskey...at which point the teacher stood up at the back of the class and gave me a bit of a dirty look. We wrote a song called the “Room 5 Blues” and their teacher recorded it and put it up on YouTube <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClmpaG6OCe4> . You won’t see the kids on the video (privacy issues) but you’ll hear them singing.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Notes from Music Week
Music Week was really only a couple of days for me and maybe that was one day too many but I always get somethin out of it - even obvious stuff bears repeating:
“Better to have no website than a dormant website” was a good tip. “Be the kind of person that others want to see succeed” - Now there’s a good one. I think that came from networking guru Dan Kimpel. He was hilarious and knew all about networking and he practiced his craft in Hollywood. He went to events with a co-conspirator and they each took part of the room and whoever they met, they said “Have you met my friend Dan? Well, I’ll introduce you later...” His partner knew that if he didn’t introduce her within the first 15 seconds that it was because he didn’t know the person’s name. So she would introduce herself and the name would be revealed. He though that admitting you had forgotten someone’s name was a horrible faux-pas and should be avoided at all costs. Here’s another rule of his: Never poke in on a conversation between two people. However, if there’s 3 or more, jump right in.
CMW got it right when they had a website that was able to display a last-minute late-night set by one of the “buzz bands”, Woodhands. Anyway I made a point of catching them and they were quite phenomenal. On the down side, CMW burried what to a large community would have been one of the most popular shows, turntablists Rob Swift and Mistah Sinista). According to my son the DJ, these guys are considered the top players in the land and have been for ten years. Not only were they under-promoted b ut their listing in the official printed programme guide was wrong. Seeing them close up doing their turntablist tricks was jaw-dropping.
Discovered a great new venue, The Wrongbar on Queen W near the Caddilac Lounge. Great production, nice layout. Mostly DJ’s but a nice big stage to accommodate a band. They’ve got everyhthing! I think I’ve heard “more monitor” a million times but this was the first time I heard a musician saying “more smoke”...and then there was some! I’m sure it was organic smoke,
“Better to have no website than a dormant website” was a good tip. “Be the kind of person that others want to see succeed” - Now there’s a good one. I think that came from networking guru Dan Kimpel. He was hilarious and knew all about networking and he practiced his craft in Hollywood. He went to events with a co-conspirator and they each took part of the room and whoever they met, they said “Have you met my friend Dan? Well, I’ll introduce you later...” His partner knew that if he didn’t introduce her within the first 15 seconds that it was because he didn’t know the person’s name. So she would introduce herself and the name would be revealed. He though that admitting you had forgotten someone’s name was a horrible faux-pas and should be avoided at all costs. Here’s another rule of his: Never poke in on a conversation between two people. However, if there’s 3 or more, jump right in.
CMW got it right when they had a website that was able to display a last-minute late-night set by one of the “buzz bands”, Woodhands. Anyway I made a point of catching them and they were quite phenomenal. On the down side, CMW burried what to a large community would have been one of the most popular shows, turntablists Rob Swift and Mistah Sinista). According to my son the DJ, these guys are considered the top players in the land and have been for ten years. Not only were they under-promoted b ut their listing in the official printed programme guide was wrong. Seeing them close up doing their turntablist tricks was jaw-dropping.
Discovered a great new venue, The Wrongbar on Queen W near the Caddilac Lounge. Great production, nice layout. Mostly DJ’s but a nice big stage to accommodate a band. They’ve got everyhthing! I think I’ve heard “more monitor” a million times but this was the first time I heard a musician saying “more smoke”...and then there was some! I’m sure it was organic smoke,
Dear Bob Lefsetz
In the elevator at the Royal York Hotel I find out I’m riding with the “merch lady” who you beat up in the Q & A after your rant at Canadian Music Week. I thought she would be bummed but she had a great day and was now a celebrity of sorts at her merch booth. You made her day, maybe her year! What the Buddhists call “turning poison into medicine”
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A Day in the Life of The Stringbuster
Tonight I was supposed to Open for Alfie Smith at the Free Times but the way I heard it, Alfie ended up opening for a big show in Hamilton (turns out it was April Wine). Who’s to say which would be a better payday. There was not a big crowd at Free Times. Alfie’s last minute sub was a wonderful singer called Laura Aidanblaise. We swapped CD’s (always a delicate bit of backstage etiquette – when you ask someone to swap you put them on the spot...) We were done at ten so I headed over to Jerome Godboo’s regular Thursday at the Delta Chelsea. Jerome had invited me to come and sit in. I should know these things – being the (barely)managing editor of MapleBlues – but Fathead was filling in for Jerome that night and I figured I’d just brought my guitar for nothing. But then, talking to the boys on the break, Al said he had called me up to the stage but I guess I was in the washroom. Anyway I did make it up in the next set and did a couple of tunes. Wow, sitting in with Fathead...we’re in the big time now! It’s great that the Delta (the biggest hotel in the city) has supported the blues with this regular Thursday night of blues for a year now (they call it the “Delta Blues” of course). I would hope that blues lovers from out of town would make the Delta their hotel of choice in Toronto. Hey, I think I just wrote a commercial...haven’t done that since my ad-agency days in the late 60s.
Winterfolk moments
Day One: I take the stage in the back room of the Willow and after the first song I realize my shoes are stuck to the floor. Then I'm stepping up and down and the audience is breaking up with laughter because I'm making these crazy sticky sounds. I couldn't continue with that and I didn't want to inflict it on the next group so I got the waitress to take a moment to pass the mop. Mose Scarlett says I really "mopped up" at Winterfolk.
Day Two: This was a breakthrough. I got up at Marg's set and sang "What A Wonderful World" I don't think I've ever got on stage and sung without a guitar in my hands!
Day Three: The Campfire was a blast and now I just played a set with Mose Scarlett. I was playing bass and I believe I experienced sheer bliss (interspersed with moments of sheer terror - like when the key changed!). And even though there were a few boo-boos, I love playing bass with him. I'll be joining him again at The Black Swan tomorrow at 5pm. I'm doing a solo set at 3pm.
Day Four: Lots more music and camaraderie, backed up Mose again and did a good solo set with a great audience - including some friends who had never heard me play. I love it when I can provide a pleasant surprise.
Day Two: This was a breakthrough. I got up at Marg's set and sang "What A Wonderful World" I don't think I've ever got on stage and sung without a guitar in my hands!
Day Three: The Campfire was a blast and now I just played a set with Mose Scarlett. I was playing bass and I believe I experienced sheer bliss (interspersed with moments of sheer terror - like when the key changed!). And even though there were a few boo-boos, I love playing bass with him. I'll be joining him again at The Black Swan tomorrow at 5pm. I'm doing a solo set at 3pm.
Day Four: Lots more music and camaraderie, backed up Mose again and did a good solo set with a great audience - including some friends who had never heard me play. I love it when I can provide a pleasant surprise.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Blainettin #1
For those who are not familiar with the (mostly)monthly Blainletter, it’s a long rambling chronicle of my attempts to develop a music career in the Toronto music scene. This is an abbreviated version with less stories and gets right down to the blatant self-promotion:
Tuesday Night (tonight!) it’s the First Anniversary Campfire at Highway 61 Southern BBQ. Actually, the Campfire has only been going for 7 months, but the club has been open a year. My special guests this night will be Robin Banks, Son Roberts and barrelhouse piano player Roberta “Bertie” Hunt. I’m sure they’ll be a few surprises, too. Apparently Roots & Music Canada folks will be by to do their “reportage”. The address is 1620 Bayview, a couple of blocks south of Eglinton. We play from 7-10.
Thursday Night (Feb 25) I’ll be doing an opening set (8:30) for the Alfie Smith concert at Free Times Café, 320 College St.
“Blain Mops Up at Winterfolk” - Mose Scarlett
When I hit the stage for my first set at Winterfolk, the stage floor was so sticky that my feet were practically glued to the ground. Whe I lifted them up, the made weird squishy sounds and everybody laughed. After a couple of songs I asked the waitress to bring out a mop and I was thus able to spare all the performers that followed me at the Willow. I was subbing for Howard Gladstone, and also subbed for Mr. Rick and ended up playing bass with Mose Scarlett twice. Well, it will take more than a couple of passes to learn all those changes but Mose had good advice: “Don’t play what I’m playing, just be sure you’re following the melody.”
NEWS FLASH! “Two hardened Winterfolk soundmen reduced to goose bumps by Brian Blain song.”
It’s true, after my first set at Winterfolk, the sound man at the Willow said “I got goose-bumps when you sang that song about Lenny Breau” Then a couple of days later, I did the same song and told the story of how I gave the soundman at the Willow goose bumps and a burly guy with beard shouted from the other side of the room “Well I’m a soundman and I just got goose bumps.” That’s two, count ‘em, TWO, soundmen won over in one week-end.
My “discovery of the week” at Winterfolk was a great blues guy from the London area called Rick Taylor. Some may remember him from a long time ago, before my time in TO. He was away on the west coast but he’s back now and playing wih a vengeance! Honorable mention to the soft-spoken Rich Burnett from Guelph who shared the City Roots stage with me and played exquisitely on a beautiful hand-made guitar.
Out and About
Just in from hearing the “new” Sisters Euclid at the Orbit Room. The new guy is organist Mark Malana, a phenomenal player – this was the first time he played some of those tunes but you never would have known it. Kevin Breit would be hard to follow at the best of times but tonight he was giving the new kid a taste of how it’s going to be. Wild, unabashed improvisation – with Kevin taking solos by flipping his guitar backwards and rubbing the strings against his shirt opr by unplugging the guitar and making a rhythmic pattern by tapping the live plug with his thumb. They’re only playing the Orbit on the last Monday of the month, but I plan on catching them again. Yesterday, I heard bluegrass at it’s best – James King from Virginia, with a new tenor singer/mandolinist Ron Spears who knocked me out.
If you’re my age, you might remember a folk-phenomenon called Fraser & DeBolt. They were the original “acid folk” and they came by that label honestly. I worked with them in those days and we’re still great friends and they’ve asked me to help with the Fraser & DeBolt website – I put in a Flickr slideshow and a video of Allan and Daisy performing at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in 1971. That reminds me, if you go to brianblain.ca, you will see another Flickr slideshow, this one with lots of cool old posters and promo shots. Some pretty funny (check out the Alligators, Butch Coulter, Allan Fraser and me, circa 1974) www.fraserdebolt.com
If you’re reading this at 9am or before, tune in CIUT.FM and you’ll hear hear Harry Manx playing some new tunes live in the studio (how often does that happen??) Hey, that sounds like my guitar!
If you’d like to receive the Blainletter (and these occasional Blainblasts) go to http://brianblain.fanbridge.com and sign up! Thanks for your support, BrianB
Out and About
Tuesday Night (tonight!) it’s the First Anniversary Campfire at Highway 61 Southern BBQ. Actually, the Campfire has only been going for 7 months, but the club has been open a year. My special guests this night will be Robin Banks, Son Roberts and barrelhouse piano player Roberta “Bertie” Hunt. I’m sure they’ll be a few surprises, too. Apparently Roots & Music Canada folks will be by to do their “reportage”. The address is 1620 Bayview, a couple of blocks south of Eglinton. We play from 7-10.
Thursday Night (Feb 25) I’ll be doing an opening set (8:30) for the Alfie Smith concert at Free Times Café, 320 College St.
“Blain Mops Up at Winterfolk” - Mose Scarlett
When I hit the stage for my first set at Winterfolk, the stage floor was so sticky that my feet were practically glued to the ground. Whe I lifted them up, the made weird squishy sounds and everybody laughed. After a couple of songs I asked the waitress to bring out a mop and I was thus able to spare all the performers that followed me at the Willow. I was subbing for Howard Gladstone, and also subbed for Mr. Rick and ended up playing bass with Mose Scarlett twice. Well, it will take more than a couple of passes to learn all those changes but Mose had good advice: “Don’t play what I’m playing, just be sure you’re following the melody.”
NEWS FLASH! “Two hardened Winterfolk soundmen reduced to goose bumps by Brian Blain song.”
It’s true, after my first set at Winterfolk, the sound man at the Willow said “I got goose-bumps when you sang that song about Lenny Breau” Then a couple of days later, I did the same song and told the story of how I gave the soundman at the Willow goose bumps and a burly guy with beard shouted from the other side of the room “Well I’m a soundman and I just got goose bumps.” That’s two, count ‘em, TWO, soundmen won over in one week-end.
My “discovery of the week” at Winterfolk was a great blues guy from the London area called Rick Taylor. Some may remember him from a long time ago, before my time in TO. He was away on the west coast but he’s back now and playing wih a vengeance! Honorable mention to the soft-spoken Rich Burnett from Guelph who shared the City Roots stage with me and played exquisitely on a beautiful hand-made guitar.
Out and About
Just in from hearing the “new” Sisters Euclid at the Orbit Room. The new guy is organist Mark Malana, a phenomenal player – this was the first time he played some of those tunes but you never would have known it. Kevin Breit would be hard to follow at the best of times but tonight he was giving the new kid a taste of how it’s going to be. Wild, unabashed improvisation – with Kevin taking solos by flipping his guitar backwards and rubbing the strings against his shirt opr by unplugging the guitar and making a rhythmic pattern by tapping the live plug with his thumb. They’re only playing the Orbit on the last Monday of the month, but I plan on catching them again. Yesterday, I heard bluegrass at it’s best – James King from Virginia, with a new tenor singer/mandolinist Ron Spears who knocked me out.
If you’re my age, you might remember a folk-phenomenon called Fraser & DeBolt. They were the original “acid folk” and they came by that label honestly. I worked with them in those days and we’re still great friends and they’ve asked me to help with the Fraser & DeBolt website – I put in a Flickr slideshow and a video of Allan and Daisy performing at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in 1971. That reminds me, if you go to brianblain.ca, you will see another Flickr slideshow, this one with lots of cool old posters and promo shots. Some pretty funny (check out the Alligators, Butch Coulter, Allan Fraser and me, circa 1974) www.fraserdebolt.com
If you’re reading this at 9am or before, tune in CIUT.FM and you’ll hear hear Harry Manx playing some new tunes live in the studio (how often does that happen??) Hey, that sounds like my guitar!
If you’d like to receive the Blainletter (and these occasional Blainblasts) go to http://brianblain.fanbridge.com and sign up! Thanks for your support, BrianB
Out and About
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Winterfolkin'
It’s Winterfolk week-end (a long week-end this year) and for those not glued in front of their TV watching the Olympics, the Danforth/Broadview area will be brimming with folk music lovers...and there’s quite a bit of great blues too, including moi on the following occasions...
11pm Friday at The Willow I’ll be subbing for host Howard Gladstone at the late-night Toronto City Roots Presents in the back room. Howard Gladstone will kick it off then race off to the airport or something. The guests are Rich Burnett, Crabtree & Mills and Jessica Stewart Few.
3pm at the Dora Keogh on Sunday, Valentine’s Day, I’ll be doing a set. I just started writing a Valentine’s Day song but don’t think it’ll be finished in time. It’s called “The Woman Done Left Me Come Back Baby Blues” - maybe not so appropriate for Valentine’s...
8pm Sunday evening I’ll be downstairs hosting Colorblind Brian’s Blues Campfire with Alfie Smith, Rick Hodgson, and Rick Taylor. Gary Kendall will be sitting in on bass and maybe a few surprise guests. They also have me down at a “Meet the Artist” thang which is the same time as the Campfire so I hope you slip in to the back room if you’d like a CD signed...
3pm Monday the 15th (Family Day!) I’ll be doing a solo set downstairs at the Black Swan.
As I look over the Winterfolk Schedule, there’s so many artists I want to see...lots of them playing at the same time as me. Oh Well. Kudos to Brian Gladstone and his team of volunteers. They do a lot with few resources
And later in the month....
Thursday, February 25th I’m back at the venerable Free Times Café at 320 College. I’m on at 8:30pm followed by Hamilton slide-meister Alfie Smith
[MOATM (Music On At The Moment) Chris Rawlings classic album “Pearl River Turnaround” with lots of familiar voices (the McGarrigles) and the sweet pedal steel sounds of the dearly departed Ron Dann] They should get Chris up to Winterfolk...he lives just down the street.
11pm Friday at The Willow I’ll be subbing for host Howard Gladstone at the late-night Toronto City Roots Presents in the back room. Howard Gladstone will kick it off then race off to the airport or something. The guests are Rich Burnett, Crabtree & Mills and Jessica Stewart Few.
3pm at the Dora Keogh on Sunday, Valentine’s Day, I’ll be doing a set. I just started writing a Valentine’s Day song but don’t think it’ll be finished in time. It’s called “The Woman Done Left Me Come Back Baby Blues” - maybe not so appropriate for Valentine’s...
8pm Sunday evening I’ll be downstairs hosting Colorblind Brian’s Blues Campfire with Alfie Smith, Rick Hodgson, and Rick Taylor. Gary Kendall will be sitting in on bass and maybe a few surprise guests. They also have me down at a “Meet the Artist” thang which is the same time as the Campfire so I hope you slip in to the back room if you’d like a CD signed...
3pm Monday the 15th (Family Day!) I’ll be doing a solo set downstairs at the Black Swan.
As I look over the Winterfolk Schedule, there’s so many artists I want to see...lots of them playing at the same time as me. Oh Well. Kudos to Brian Gladstone and his team of volunteers. They do a lot with few resources
And later in the month....
Thursday, February 25th I’m back at the venerable Free Times Café at 320 College. I’m on at 8:30pm followed by Hamilton slide-meister Alfie Smith
[MOATM (Music On At The Moment) Chris Rawlings classic album “Pearl River Turnaround” with lots of familiar voices (the McGarrigles) and the sweet pedal steel sounds of the dearly departed Ron Dann] They should get Chris up to Winterfolk...he lives just down the street.