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Issue 79 of BC Musician Magazine

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: BC Musician Magazine
Page 2: BC Musician Magazine
Page 3: BC Musician Magazine

Contributors …………………………………………………………………………………………… 2 & 3

commentary …………………………………………………………………………………………………………4

festivals & events ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5 this winding road ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 6by LINDA MCRAE know your neighbouring rights …………………………………………………………………… 7 by KATIE ORMISTON

FLYING TOUR 2009 ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7 by DINAH D

INDIE BLOOD, COUNTRY HEART: JON-RAE FLETCHER …………………………………………… 8 by bARbARA bRUEDERLIN

MOOOOOOOOOSE! ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 9 by MELISA DEVOST

7 DAYS: PHOTODIARY OF THE DREADNOUGHTS IN THE UK ……………………… 10 - 11 by ADAM PW SMITH

SUPERNATURAL ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 12 - 13 by RICHARD CHAPMAN

SOUNDMAN’S GUIDE, COURTESY OF campbell ouiniette ……………………………… 14 by gEOff bERNER

JACK OF ALL TRADES …………………………………………………………………………………………… 15 by MIKE SOUTHWORTH

HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION, PART 1 …………………………………………… 16 - 17 by jOANNy LAyH

PEER REVIEWS ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 18

INTERVIEW: KENT MCALISTER ……………………………………………………………………………… 19 by RC jOSEPH

ROAD TRIPPING WITH FACEBOOK ……………………………………………………………………… 20 by KEVIN KANE

STOMP & BELT ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 22 by jEff ANDREW

venues: Ymir schoolhouse and The hitching post, hedley ………………… 23

poetry ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 24 by RODNEy DECROO

september 2009 Issue 79 ISSN 1918–560x 79

Please send us your letters! You can also send us CDs and we’ll do our best to have them peer reviewed. Plus we’ll use them for our subscriber giveaways.

BC Musician Magazine is published by Jane Doe Ent.

PO Box 1150 Peachland, BC V0H 1X0

250-488-0850www.bcmusicianmag.com [email protected]

Publisher, EditorLeanne V. Nash

Contributing EditorJoshua Estabrooks

Associate Publisher, Advertising & Marketing RepresentativeChristina [email protected]

Advertising & Marketing Representative, Lower Mainland & Vancouver IslandNancy [email protected]

Editorial Board:Paul Crawford, Joshua Estabrooks, Julie Fowler, Leanne V. Nash, Christina Zaenker

No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent of the publisher.

Canada Post Agreement 41440066

CONTENTS

Page 4: BC Musician Magazine

2 | BC Musician | September 2009 2 | BC Musician | September 2009 BC Musician | September 2009 | 3

After numerous international tours, festival appearances, airplay on national radio in 7 countries, and slots on tour with artists such as Billy Bragg, Kaizers Orchestra, Balkan Beat Box and the Be Good Tanyas (who covered his song “Light Enough to Travel,” selling over 100,000 copies),

Geoff Berner has garnered critical acclaim and a cult follow-ing for his sharp songwriting and cabaret performance style. “I want to make original klezmer music that’s drunk, dirty, political and passionate.”

Barbara Bruederlin is a freelance writer in Calgary. She is trying to single-handedly save the arts community in Canada by promoting struggling musicians and theatre troupes. Her reviews are regu-larly linked on the press pages of the Calgary Folk Music Festival and Sage Theatre. Barbara

also maintains an insanely popular blog, Bad Tempered Zombie. Her writing has been published in Prairie Fire Magazine, Swerve Magazine, Kitschykoo! Subcultural Magazine, and Alberta Views Magazine.

shayne avec i grec can be seen in this photo finding some degree of relaxation

after finally settling back into Victoria following a longlast-ing mystery as to his whereabouts. He seems content in his new/old surroundings, and just may prove to be stationary for awhile...

c o n t r i b u t o r s

RC Joseph’s writing has appeared in The Georgia Straight, 24 Hours, and The Tyee. When he is not posing as a musical tastemaker, RC is the singer/songwriter of the Vancouver-based folk-rock collective Kingsway. Richard Chapman has worked with

a wide variety of great Canadian artists for nearly three decades - from the Rheostat-ics and Herald Nix to Moose Records and The Pointed Sticks. Currently he conducts the Northern Elec-tric collective www.northern-electric.ca.

Katie Ormiston is an island girl in the city. She is the singer/songwriter for Vancou-ver based Pawnshop Diamond. She loves music and is presently obsessed with reading books on productivity.

“Like a ghost. That’s how enigmatic singer-songwriter Jeff Andrew appears on

the Canadian musi-cal landscape. An incurable drifter with a pawnshop’s worth of instruments and a voice like rusted steel, he’s a mystery even to himself. In 2009, he released his first full-length album, Vagabonds & Wastrels, a mix of edgy, politi-cal folk, cabaret-style fantasy, experimental

spoken word and raucous juke-joint hollers. Last spring he hitchhiked across Canada as half of the folk/spoken word duo Ghosts of the Highway. He also plays fiddle with the Joey Only Outlaw Band and was once blessed by a hobo on the streets of Salem, Massachusetts. www.jeffandrew.ca” Kevin Kane is a

professional musician and has worn many hats over the years: songwriter, record-ing artist and touring musician (both solo and as vocalist/guitar-

ist with Capitol/EMI’s platinum-selling The Grapes Of Wrath), record producer, session musician, lecturer, educator and has even built guitars and amplifiers. His latest album, How To Build A Lighthouse, was recently short-listed for a Grammy award in the Best Pop Vocal Album category.

From her childhood on a dairy farm in Sicamous, Carolyn Mark has travelled thousands of miles entertaining crowds of 4 to 4000... touring Canada, the United States, the UK, Norway and Italy. She has shared the stage

with such talented musicians as Jenny Whitely, Hank & Lily, Luther Wright, Sarah Harmer, Kelly Hogan, Lederhosen Lucil, Geoff Berner, Joel Plaskett, The Handsome Family, Neil Hamburger, JT and The Clouds, The Shiftless Rounders, NQ Arbuckle, Wanda Jackson, The Waco Brothers, The Sadies and Blue Rodeo.

Adam P W Smith is a Vancouver-based photographer who specializes in shooting live events using available light. He’s been involved in the Canadian indepen-dent music scene for over thirty years. He can be found lurking the shadows of small ven-ues, waiting patiently for

the right moment. Some of his best work is exhibited on his photoblog: www.adampw-smith.com/photoblog. He likes gin.

Richard Chapman designed the cover of

this September issue #79.

The photograph, “Trailer in forest,

Salmon Arm, British Columbia 1995”

is by Lincoln Clarkes.www.lincolnclarkes.com

Seth MacDonald of Mamaguroove takes a time out during the Robson Valley Music Festival to read a bit of the July/August issue of BC Musician

Linda McRae spent 8 years touring the world with Plati-num recording artists Spirit of the West. She has since released 3 critically acclaimed solo recordings and in 2007 was awarded a Canada Council Study Grant to work with Grammy

winner Jon Vezner in Nashville, TN and clawhammer banjo aficionado Brad Leftwich in Bloomington, IN. Linda was married in a bail bonds office in Jackson, TN to James Whitmire, a retired donkey rancher-turned poet. They are working on a new CD of their own songs and a one-act play about how they met. lindamcrae.com

Dinah D is a musician, storyteller, artist and goofball. Other than working freelance as a touring upright bassist, she fronts her 6 piece swingband~ Dinah D’s Contraband Swingclub. She is also one of the 4 members

of the multi-award winning children’s enter-tainment band The Kerplunks.

Melisa Devost has toured ex-tensively throughout western and northern Canada, the UK and continental Europe, carving her niche as a compelling vocalist with the guitar chops and songwriting skills to match. She has shared the stage with many folk/roots veterans such as, Ruthie Foster, Colin Linden and David

Francey and has graced many festivals with her unique take on gospel singing, often teaching workshops on the subject Her lat-est record, A Sudden Shift of Existing Light, was released in May 2009.

Mike Southworth is a drummer, singer, videographer, designer, photographer, and he does all of that as a member of Scat-terheart.

Rodney DeCroo is a transplanted steel-town hoodlum turned poet-rocker who has released 4 acclaimed albums as well as pub-lished a book of poetry. He is constantly on the road — hitting the Wild west this month with surf’n’turf kings, The Modelos.

Page 5: BC Musician Magazine

4 | BC Musician | September 2009 4 | BC Musician | September 2009 BC Musician | September 2009 | 5

There ’s a cr i s i s com i ng for the arts i n bc f e st i va l s & e v e n tsThe arTs are a baromeTer of the health and wellbeing of a society and recent announce-ments regarding provincial cuts to funding of arts and culture groups illustrates a lack of awareness of this vital interconnection. We are all creative beings and the arts are an intrinsic part of our daily existence whether we consciously realize it or not. even the most casual study of history illustrates this point clearly. a world without art is unimaginable; every aspect of our daily existence is touched by and influenced by the work of an artist. Why is it that when times are tough, the arts are the first to be cut? more importantly, why do we as a society tend to accept this without much of a fight? I can only imagine it has something to do with the fact that artists need to create in order to survive and as such will continue to create regardless of whether they can make a living at it or not.

It amazes and saddens me to see how much we take this point for granted considering that cul-tural workers are statistically near to, if not at the bottom of all Canadian wage earners. Consider for a moment how often artists are tapped on the shoulder to donate their craft or services for any number of causes from sports, education and healthcare to political campaigns, environmen-tal concerns and pretty much any other group looking to raise money. The irony is astounding and we need to collectively stand up and fight for the incredibly small amount of funding the arts receive and value the enormous contributions artists and arts organizations make to our society as a whole.

I ask that you please take a moment to contact your local mLa and mP and let them know the importance of arts and culture to our community and to the province. as it currently stands there are a number of organizations across the province whose very existence is being threatened by these cuts and like a row of dominoes, once one goes others will follow in fast succession. We as a soci-ety will be far poorer as a result of their demise.

BC Musician Magazine hasn’t, to date, been known for editorializing. But as we go to press with this issue the BC Liberal Government has brought in a budget that is going to put many arts organizations, artists, and musicians in peril. Paul Crawford and Julie Fowler offer their views, from the perspective of the director of an art gallery (that’s Paul, on the right) and the perspective of the director of a mu-sic festival (that’s Julie, below).

The arTs are a CaTaLysT for economic growth, as well as make communities livable and vibrant. Island mountain arts, the arts orga-nization that I work for is a integral part of the economy of Wells and barkerville, bC where it has been operating a school of the arts since 1977, a Public Gallery since 1988 and the artsWells Festival of all Things art since 2004.

every dollar that the government invests in our or-ganization brings in double that in terms of money spent at hotels, motels, restaurants, galleries, gas stations and other attractions. We also employ and provide amazing training opportunities for our workers who get the chance to learn great business skills from administration and computer skills to public relations and marketing. more than once I have had past employees ask me to be a reference as they go on to other work in places like banks and other parts of the corporate sector, as they can inevitably make more money there. arts organiza-

tions invest lots of money and resources in training workers, who they can most often not hang on to owing to the generally lower wages. It’s frustrating to be subsidizing the corporate sector, by offering up trained workers for their use.

Investing in the arts is investing in our hUmaN resources — a renewable resource!

of course beyond the economic benefits of sup-porting arts and culture there is the social benefit. This is often intangible in terms of dollars and cents, but it would be a pretty poor world if we did not have song and dance and art. These pursuits build community, provide inspiration and connect humans to a side of themselves that is inexplicable and mysterious. It is important to have these expe-riences to understand what it is to be human.

Island mountain arts lost its gaming grant, which was roughly 10% of its overall budget. What makes this worse is that there was no warning or time to plan. In the arts we are used to surviving against all odds, having to volunteer our time, and fundrais-ing, fundraising, fundraising — but this kind of a cut, from a source that has been stable for twenty or more years, will send our organization into a tailspin.

I advocate for 1% for the arts! Give arts groups 1% of the PsT collected on arts and culture in british Columbia. Then only those that go to concerts, movies, museums, art galleries, art auctions, festi-vals and so on would be paying for the grants that go towards the arts. I would guess the amount of money the provincial government gives in the form of grants to the arts is only a drop in the bucket compared to what arts and culture brings into the government through taxes.

Rossland Old Fire Hall Jazz Fest

1 Heritage Fire Hall 5 Nights of Incredible Jazz 25 World-class Musicians 100 Lucky People

The quaint mountain town of rossland, bC is preparing for a barrage of world-class jazz musicians and fans for the inaugural rossland old Fire hall Jazz Fest to be held from Wednesday, september 23rd to and including sunday, september 27th, 2009.

Unlike most festivals, the unique aspect here is hosting the entire festival in a small and intimate venue without crowds. The old Fire hall with its warm acoustics, heritage ambience and 100 person limit will create an unforgettable setting to enjoy the incredible lineup for this year’s jazz fest.

on the bill this year are several heavyweight jazz musicians including the brad Turner Quartet, Cory Weeds Quintet featuring Jim rotondi from NyC on trumpet, mark DeJong and The outer bridge ensemble featuring NyC drummer Jerome Jennings, Gordon Grdina Trio, sinistrio and the Clinton administration.

There are only 100 spots available and 5-day passes are very reasonably priced at $100. more informa-tion including ticket purchase can be found online at www.rosslandJazzFest.com or by calling the old Fire hall at 1.250.362.5804.

For serious jazz fans, this is one event not to be missed!

Pack Ratt Louie’s GrillBattle of the Bands

The 1st annual, first time ever, sunshine Coast battle of the bands. The battle gets underway on september 23 at Pack ratt Louie’s in Gibsons, bC. band registration is ongoing until september 15th.

The coast has an amazing array of talent and we want them to be exposed, admired and noticed!

musicians will be battling it out for a prize package of money, recording time and gifts.

douglas college music industry education

This Fall, New Westminster’s Douglas College is offering an in-depth music industry educational program for musicians, singers, songwriters, managers, entrepreneurs and anyone considering pursuing a career in the industry. This program will provide individuals a practical, working knowledge base and a framework for self-assessment, self-preservation, knowing when and how to take what steps and with whom, and for developing time-effective/cost-saving career decisions and strategies--all of this so that they can greatly increase their opportunity for successfully making a living with their talent or business idea, whether part-time or full-time.

The main topics are: (1) important basics everyone needs to grasp; (2) what all the various types of industry players do and how to approach and deal with them; (3) the recording project and music video; (4) publishing, copyright, royalty collection organizations and licensing; (5) the Internet/digital scene; (6) gigging, touring, radio, promotion and publicity. The final class will be a dedicated critiquing session in which participants who wish to will be able to receive valuable feedback on their existing music and/or promotional material from the instructor and fellow class members.

The instructor is Graham Way, a 30 year industry veteran and former performing/recording artist. Classes are on saturday afternoons beginning september 26 for eight weeks. This is a 36 hour non-credit program open to anyone and costs $295 per person (special rates available for bands; parents of registrants under the age of 18 may attend free). more information is available from the college’s music school at 604-527-5469 or at www.douglascollege.ca or from the instructor at [email protected].

Battle of the Bands

pack ratt louie’s grill fine foods and wet goods

The 1st Annual, First Time Ever, Sunshine Coast

PRESENTS

The battle begins

Wednesday, September 23rd at 7pm

Bands can register up to September 15th

1 - 900 Gibsons Way, Gibsons BC(located in the Sunnycrest Mall)

604-885-3499

The Coast has an amazing array of talent... come and hear them battling for cash,

recording time & other prizes!

World of MusicRecording Hardware & Software, Studio

Microphones, Monitors, Headphones, Virtual Instruments & Effects

1776 Baron Road Kelowna, BC250.869.0819 1.800.663.5183

[email protected] www.worldofmusic.ca

Urban legends grow from simple, often misinterpreted or miscommunicated events.

On behalf of BC Musician Magazine, Paul Crawford attended the Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival and was on hand to snap this photo of Jay Malinowsky of Bedouin Soundclash tossing some much needed refreshment to the revelers in the mosh pit at his feet.

As Paul circulated the festival the next day (happily catching as many performances as possible) he overheard or was told no less than three times of Jay Malinowsky’s unruly behaviour — throwing beer bottles at the crowd. For posterity, and Jay’s reputation, we offer this photographic evidence of decidedly good behaviour.

Page 6: BC Musician Magazine

6 | BC Musician | September 2009 6 | BC Musician | September 2009 BC Musician | September 2009 | 7

gihneighbouring rights! t is simple! sign up once and have free money sent straight to your home several times a year. Pennies turn into pounds and multiple streams of income are a rich man’s gold mine.

I’m surprised at how few artists in british Colum-bia have heard of neighbouring rights. I find it amazing that those who have heard of them often don’t jump up to collect the money that is out there for them. I don’t understand why many art-ists, which included me, have a psychological block to making money that can limit our success.

That said, I don’t claim to know the answer. I’m just a dreamer who dreams of a day when cheques for music that I’m involved with start arriving regularly in the mail.

so, what are neighbouring rights? I’m sure you know soCaN- a songwriter’s true love. Well, neighbouring rights royalties are similar but the money collected is for the benefit of the musicians on a recording, not the songwriter.

In other words, neighbouring rights royalties are collected on behalf of musicians for commercial radio play and/or album sales as a means to acknowledge performers and makers of sound recordings.

how do I get me some? In order to receive the royalties, you need to assign your collecting rights to the aFm (american Federation of musicians) or other sub-collective of the NrCC. (aFm union membership is not required). all you have to do is sign the paper. It is quick and easy!

In the simplest of terms, go to www.mnrr.ca and download the appointment and authorization and repertoire forms.

Complete online or mail to: attn: mNrr 75 The Donway West, suite 1010 Toronto, oN m3C 2e9

Questions? Contact andrew Karis: [email protected]

may the postman deliver many a cheque to your door!

Tips:

The Maker is the owner of the sound record-ing, the person who owns the masters.

Featured Artists are the core members of the band whereas a ‘background artist’ is usually a session musician. (Featured art-ists get 80% and background artists 20%).

By Katie Ormiston abriola Island is an excellent home-base for a touring musician. Close to three major bC cities, an hour from several airports, and right smack dab in the centre of a marine smuggling highway. summer is paradise on Gabriola, hot, dry, surrounded by ocean. Now if I could only be here to enjoy it…….but I’m not complaining! my summer tours took me to the absolutely coolest places and I met the neatest people. This was the summer of flight touring….

The midsummer music Festival (June 26-28) was a huge highlight. This year the weather was a little cooler than normal- but the bands were hot, hot, hot! hanging out with the other bands was a big highlight. I’d have to say the epochal Crazy 8s Countdown session with The Kerplunks and steve from elliott brood was very fun. We played with tiny spongebob cards, around the tiniest picnic table in the north. I think steve was cheating, but it’s really hard to tell because the game was about 3 hrs long- started in the parking lot behind a greasy spoon and ended in a hotel room. I would safely say that the drink of choice that weekend was richards White with an orange squeezed in. brilliant!

The next fest was the Winnipeg Folk Fest (July 9-12). This is a legendary festival. 50,000 people seemed to be a lot of people for some-one coming from an island of a few thousand. We played many times to smallish audiences (where were they all?), got paid minimally, and paid our own $2500 flights (yikes). There was 1 shuttle bus for about 100 volunteers and a

few performers who were willing to attempt to entertain the volunteers by blowing their vocal chords for the 45 minute busride, and there was no soap or hot running water anywhere on site (?!). Perhaps before I expound much further I should sum it up with this sentence. standing in line to get a meal with 3,000 volunteers and no ‘musician line’ (woah…I know….). at least the beer garden was right there as the lineups were often 2 pints long before we got any grub. beer and fireball defi-nitely kept me sane throughout this fest. yet I would go back!

Tough competition for ‘best summer fest of 2009’ was The edge of the World music Fes-tival (august 7-9) in the haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands). This fest and location were just perfect. and the locals are incredible! a highlight of the fest was sitting in with the shuffle Demons to sing their hit Cheese on Bread. The other highlight was the food catered by the Trout house restaurant. The sheer amount of sea creatures we powered through over the course of the weekend was astound-ing! Crab, halibut, salmon, crab, halibut, salmon…random order was a crowd pleaser as was shane Philip. Coming from the Vancouver Island region, I wasn’t used to beaches with NoboDy on them! seriously, no one was around. Gorgeous! No stimulants were even required to thoroughly enjoy this fest!

so that about wraps up the tour portion of my summer. I have survived and so has my liver. Now back to the computer and telephone to book the winter....

S k i n n y ’ s G r i l l e

W here great food ’s the REAL skinny...

Live Music Saturdays at 7:00 pm

E x i t 1 6 8 ~ H o p e , B C 6 0 4 - 8 6 9 - 5 7 1 3

w w w. s k i n n y s g r i l l e . c o mCome for the food, Stay for the music... Enjoy the fun!

September 5The Lavalights

September 12 The Jazz Banditz September 19

Gerald Charlie with The Crew

September 25 Fundraiser auction for Juvenile Arthritis @ the Owl St. Cafe Celebrating our 3rd year of music in the community!

September 26 Festival of Friends with The Madison Blues Band noon - 6:30, featuring: The Jazz Banditz, The Crew, IshNdaFish, The Hoodlums, Nusoul... and MBB. This day of fun also includes children’s games, a dunktank,

f ireman competition, and more... all to raise funds for Juvenile Arthritis 7 pm: The Hoodlums @ Skinny’s

flying tour 2009: are my arms ever tired!By Dinah D

An original apple packing house, now complete-ly restored, this historic landmark of Spences

Bridge is a favourite Coffee House for locals and travelers alike. The Packing House is a Friendly country establishment depicting the vast his-tory of the famous widow smith apples and

Spences Bridge, a small desert-like community.

The Packing House

Open Daily from 10am - 5 pm3705 Riverview Ave, Spences Bridge, BC

[email protected]

Secret Gardens Farm is in full swing: melons, squash, peppers, tomatoes... all things good and healthy... all served at the Packing House...from farm to your

table...the same day!

Appearing November 1st:Big Dave McLean & Doc McLean

Later in the month:Dustin Bentall

Call for details, and to book your show!

ey, it’s that time of year again, when the books are dusted off, the sneakers get thrown in the wash, when the new clothes that were ordered from the sears catalogue arrive and you just know that first day of school that someone is going to show up in the same outfit! yep, it’s that time of year when naked bologna sandwiches are sandwiched next to Josie & the Pussycats thermoses locked in the hands of scared spitless, pigtailed, horn rimmed bespectacled, freshly-permed gangly girls off to their first day of sUmmer sChooL!

I attended a 4-day acoustic blues, slide guitar work-shop put on by the Island mountain arts summer school of the arts. The course focused on the work of blues artists Leadbelly, bukka White, muddy Waters, robert Johnson, Jesse Fuller, and skip James as well as the work of our incredibly gifted instructor mr. Ken hamm.

Ken was raised in Thunder bay and began his musical pursuits as a teenager by listening to old country and blues recordings at the local folk record store. he has become one of Canada’s foremost interpreters of traditional roots and blues music and was awarded a Juno for best roots & Traditional CD. aside from the fact that at times I felt like my left hand was about to fall off and the white cloud of moisture that formed on the

front my J-45 as a result of the sweat running down my right arm (it was an unusually hot week up in Wells) the class was very enjoyable and I can’t wait to show off some of my new licks!

There were 9 students in all from all over bC and 3 of them were women, one of whom was the fabulous melisa Devost. Luckily, the students in the class were at the same level of skill making things somewhat easier to follow along. If anyone was having trouble figuring things out, Ken would go around to each person as we were playing our “licks” and help anyone who wasn’t getting it…something that happened to each of us at one time or other during the workshop. We were all given a book of tablature as well…a huge help in remembering things upon arriving back home over a week later!

During the week we were treated to Ken’s “history of the blues” concert in the Wells Community hall. he has an edge to his playing that is ex-tremely enthralling, it’s hard to sit still and not be drawn in by his energy and passion for the music. as great a performer as Ken is he is equally as great at teaching and I’d highly recommend taking one of his classes if you ever have the chance.

It’s interesting being a student as an adult. as I

mentioned in an earlier issue, in the past 5 years I have taken classes from time to time focusing on my craft and it has been extremely rewarding. I’ve learned a great deal and am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from such knowledgeable instructors. The rest is up to me.

sometimes it’s difficult finding the discipline to work at one’s craft. There are always plenty of excuses and things that need to be tended to. I end up doing everything else first and then hope there’s time left for my daily practice. Lately though, I’ve started making a point of doing my practice as soon as I get up. If I miss my morning practice I try and make it up later in the day and I usually sit around with a guitar in my hands if I’m watching TV, etc.

as for songwriting, I don’t usually sit down and force myself to write. I’ve tried that and it isn’t very productive for me. I always make sure I have my trusty little notebook at hand. you never know when you’re going to overhear some pearl of wis-dom while sitting at the bar or a friend’s house or be woken up in the middle of the night by a piece of brilliance that will be gone with the morning light if it’s not written down. a new exercise or scale, chord, tuning, etc. can also result in a great new melody.

Writing on a different instrument can also send creative sparks to flying. Learning the banjo has changed my life! really and truly! The banjo has changed my style, my performances and has helped me find new-added confidence in my playing. It’s a great instrument as a solo performer as it has a built-in rhythm and easier, I have found, to play leads on. hopefully having been a part of this guitar workshop will tip the scales on that end.

I remember Jenn Patches use to have stickers that read “Go home and Practice!”

Go out and buy an instructional book, a dvd or sign up for a course but don’t overdue it. In my humble opinion, too much knowledge of theory can be hazardous to your songwriting and can keep you from trying things because “What are you nuts? you can’t fit that note over that chord.” If you subscribed to that avenue of thought you’d never try to fit that square chord into that round hole! If it sounds right to your ear go for it! (Don’t you hate that expression?) It’s like “you go girl”, ugh!

Well, that’s my 2 cents worth for this month! hope you’re enjoying this magazine, I sure am! help keep the magazine in circulation by subscrib-ing and till next time take the road less traveled, This Winding road!

th is w i nd i ng road By Linda McRae

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8 | BC Musician | September 2009 8 | BC Musician | September 2009 BC Musician | September 2009 | 9

By shayne avec i greci n d i e b l o o d, c o u n t r y h e a rt By Barbara Bruederlin

jt h e m o o s e d a n c e By Melisa Devost

i on-rae Fletcher was embracing the country gentleman look. With an impressive quiff that channelled Johnny Cash, had Johnny retained the services of morrissey’s barber, Jon-rae took to the tiny area of the bar floor that they optimistic-ally call the stage, fittingly attired in suit and tie. In a seedy basement bar that is better known as a punk and metal venue, the concept of Gentle-man Jon-rae, complete with violin and saxo-phone-wielding band, may have seemed a trifle incongruous, but the crowd at Vern’s weren’t there for the headbanging. The cozy but intensely appreciative crowd were there to witness a little piece of history, Jon-rae Fletcher’s inaugural sled Island music Festival appearance.

It was a momentous event for many in the crowd. The lady working the merchandise tent at the olympic Plaza main stage event earlier that evening certainly thought so. When asked if there was sufficient time to hoof it over to Vern’s for an 11:30 show if I stayed for the entire breeders’ set, she was adamant. “Jon-rae Fletcher? I don’t care what I have to do, I will make sure that I get there on time,” she declared. “some of the songs on his new album

make me weep out loud.”

Jon-rae seemed a little taken aback when I related this story to him, when we sat down for a beer after his set. although he has never had that particular reaction to the songs on oh, maria before, he does concede that “those songs were written when I was going a bit crazy, so I guess that comes across to some people.”

That dark time, which provided such rich fod-der for those songs that explore the humanity within a serial killer, unfolded shortly after Jon-rae and the river made their celebrated ap-pearance at the Calgary Folk Festival two years ago. “We were irresponsible at the Calgary Folk Festival,” Jon-rae confesses, with a bit of a mis-chievous grin on his face. Not unexpectedly for the heady zenith of the river’s infamous party band days, there had been a wee bit of a bash in one of the hotel rooms which resulted in a band member being ejected from the hotel. “and the police came. It was bad,” Jon-rae reflects with a laugh. “but it sure was fun!”

Now settling into a new life in Kelowna,

Jon-rae is devoting his energies to penning a new album. “Country heart” will denote a marked turn in the songwriter’s approach, an unapologetic embrace of a true barebones country style. maintaining that the new album will more closely reflect the old-timey inclina-tions of Willie Nelson and George Jones than anything he has previously written, Jon-rae plans to record the album this winter. To tap into the vein of old school country authenticity even further, he is relying on family connec-tions for backing talent. his dad knows a quartet who will sing with him on the album, and if that’s not a move which harkens back to the heyday of the Carter-Cash dynasty, I don’t know what is.

It seems a fortuitous time to capitalize on the resurgence of interest in authentic country music that seems to be making a slow sweep of the nation. and with the new appetite for a true country sound being largely driven by the hip-ster segment of some of Canada’s largest cities this time, Jon-rae Fletcher seems to be tapping into the zeitgeist at precisely the right moment. The thing is, it’s who he was all along.

Bone Rattle

n late July of this year, I was driving along the stretch of road between Wells and New barker-ville with my friend and fellow musician yael Wand, when she warned me that there were moose in the area that are prone to jumping out at cars, and I should keep my eyes open, especially at dusk. I told her not to worry about it, not because I grew up on hornby Island and have “the deer eye” and am always scanning the shoulders, and not because it should be common sense for anyone who drives about our great land to watch for animals on the road, but because the moose and I have a long standing relationship. We have a thing, the moose and I. In all my years of driving around Canada, I have never really seen one.

at this point I should clarify the latter state-ment. I have seen a moose, just not the big dra-matic, full rack, ‘holy shit, that thing is bigger than a horse’ moose. I have seen a mini-moose, adolescent moose, possibly female (I wasn’t focused on the presence, or lack of dangly bits at the time). This little interaction happened just outside Dease Lake as I was heading back from the yukon a few years ago. This moose, who for now let’s name bertha, emerged from the woods on the passenger side of Doloris (my aerostar van). I’m not sure if it was Doloris’ striking me-tallic sky blue, streaked with rust colour, or the boxy shape of this strange animal, or the way she moved without a hop in her step on the road that confounded poor bertha, but whatever her reasons, she decided to trot just ahead of me, and just in case I thought of passing her, every now and then she would threaten to jump out in front of me. This went on for about half an hour before Doloris and I made a move and passed her.

at this point, that line from Kim barlow’s song “Get In The Car” comes to mind: “…they nearly hit a young moose who kept on running down the middle of the highway. They passed it in the passing lane, neither of them said a word, both of them were thinking of their mothers”. That line gets me every time.

one time I drove from bC out to Nova scotia. on that whole cross Canada drive, not one moose. We arrived on the island at the tail end of a hurricane and almost got blown off the side of a bluff, van (rosalee, GmC) and all, as we attempted to sleep that night. The next day, the wind had almost blown itself out, but it was still a dark day. We decided to drive the Cabot Trail. as we pulled up to the gate, the park warden warned us that the moose were rutting, so be extra careful, and don’t approach them.

“so we’ll see some moose then?”

“absolutely.”

Nope.

on a previous visit to Wells, I was driving with my friend, Pest, and we had just turned off the 97 and were on our final leg of the journey. I was stoked to just get there, and so was focused on the wheel and the road, when sleepy Pest beside me suddenly yelled “moooooooooose!”

I geared down (maurice, Toyota Tercel) and backed up, thinking, “oh my god, this could be it!” but alas. once again, the illusive moose escaped my viewing.

Now I have been so fortunate in my driving career to see many other wonderful beasts of the wild kingdom, such as elk, badger, black bears, many birds of prey, grouse, feral llamas and mountain goats, to name a few. I was driving through superior National Park once, when some sort of large cat darted across the road. We discovered that it was a lynx when we stopped for breakfast and saw the same cat stuffed in the doorway of the restaurant (and not from breakfast). another time, I was driving with my friend Kent mcalister just outside houston, bC. he was at the wheel (The Chaos, Ford Windstar) and I was dozing in the front seat when I woke to him choking on his own excitement. I looked out my window, and there, running in the ditch be-side us, was a Grizzly bear. and he was no slouch, we were doing about 40-50 and he was running right along side. Kent claims to this day that him and the bear locked eyes. It was a heavy wildlife moment.

I have also been very fortunate to not have suffered any major wildlife casualties, save bugs, but-terflies, and small birds, but one can’t really avoid those. I once worked in the bush with a crazy lady who would swerve to avoid butterflies. Not a good

idea on a single lane gravel logging road. Gener-ally just not a good idea.

so why is it that the biggest, most conspicu-ous wild animal our great country boasts is as slippery as an eel? Why is it that after numerous vehicles and countless kilometres I haven’t seen so much as a glimmer of a great moose rack? I could draw parallels to Peter matthiessen’s great book “the snow Leopard” in which he goes to the himalayas in search of one of the planet’s most rare and illusive animals, except that my query is so totally common, conspicu-ous and lacking in a certain majesty that the snow leopard has. matthiessen’s story is one of metaphor; an attempt to catch a glimpse of the unknown, and ‘know thyself’ in the journey. my moose quest is a junior high slow dance; gangly, awkward, and with a bit of heartbreak for what didn’t happen at the end. but I suppose as long as I have some wheels and a reason for driving around this vast nation of ours, there will always be some hope.

mmmooooooooooose!

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7 days in July — Adam PW Smith — a photodiary of The Dreadnoughts in the UKOn July 2 I met up with Vancouver’s favourite folk/gypsy/celtic/cider punks, The Dreadnoughts, in Bristol. They were two months into a tour that started in Vancouver, crossed Canada, jumped over to mainland Europe, and eventually managed to stagger its way to the UK.

The plan was to travel with them for a week as they toured the UK, taking pictures and generally “living the dream” as they referred to it. The following are a few photographs from the week. I tried to talk the editors into including a scratch’n’sniff card, to complete the effect, but evidently there are laws to prevent that sort of thing.

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43

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1. In Bristol the boys were taken to a “cider barge” - a floating bar that sells nothing but various local ciders. This is not Strongbow we’re talking about here. Traditional West Country cider is dry, flat, and incredibly potent.2. The Dreadnoughts play Bristol with their heroes, the Surfin Turnips, who play what is described as “Cider Punk”. All the lyrics are about cider. And only about cider. The Dreadnoughts do a cover of their song called, immaginatively enough, “Cider.”3. Seamus goes through the standard morning ritual of trying to recover from a night spent sleeping in the van.4. Andrew’s version of laundry - hang the stage clothes on the back of the van to dry. There was never even the most remote danger of anyone stealing them. 5. The GPS unit went missing the previous day, so it was necessary to empty out the van and find it. I can’t remember if this picture was taken before or after the van was “cleaned.”

6. “Finest Pork Scratchings.” This is ba-sically the most unpleasant parts of the pig, deep fried. I swear to god, one of the thrills is when you bite into a piece and realise that it still has hairs on it.

7. Our Bristol hosts led us to the Wilkins Cider Farm. This is real West Country cider at it’s finest. When you arrive at the secluded farm they hand you one of these small glass mugs. You drink as much as you want for free as long as you’re there. You pay for whatever you take away. The Dreadnoughts left the place with eight gallons of Roger Wilkins’ finest. It was gone before the week was out.

8. Most of the band pass out back-stage after the Plymouth show. With no pre-arranged accommodations, it was unclear whether or not this would be the only sleep they got that night.

9. Seamus fires back at Marco in Chep-stow. The two of them frequently en-gaged in spitting contests, but Seamus decided to escalate by loading up with a full mouthful of cider. Marco later gets his revenge by playing at approximately 18 times the normal speed.

10. Breakfast in the pub at the Beau-fort Hotel. There are few things that deal so effectively with a hangover as a nice plate of greasy food. Drew takes a different approach to the problem of hangovers by drinking a pint with his fried eggs and toast.

11. At Chepstow castle, Drew pays the ultimate price for smoking in the van.

12. The band plays an inevitable empty house show in Stoke, after the promot-er finds new and clever ways to screw up the event, including giving the band the wrong name for the venue.

13. The “Two Drew Crew” wait for their Donairs in Newcastle. This photo speaks volumes about the glamour and excitement of touring.

14. Seamus and Andrew perform the “Tower of Power.” Seamus then intro-duced a new element to the act - forced wine guzzling by shoving the bottle into Andrew’s mouth.

15. Having finally arrived in London we wanted something to help us celebrate the ocassion. We settled on a shot each of “Old Krupnik,” a Polish liqueur that tasted a bit like a bee had taken a wizz in a bottle of cough syrup.

The Dreadnoughts survived their first European tour and are now preparing for a cross Canada tour with labelmates The Creepshow starting at the end of October. More to come of this photodiary.

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IThis is an excerpt from the recently discovered Memoirs of Campbell Ouiniette, former head of Bombsmuggler Incorporated Music Management, manager at one time or another of many illustrious folk, country, world music and other artists. Ouiniette died several years ago in a chip fire in Atlantic Canada.

The packets of copiously-stained, longhand-scrawled legal notepads were unearthed in a steamer trunk, found in the basement of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Convent and Residential Young Ladies’ Finishing School, in Bruno, Saskatchewan, when that worthy institution was closed and demolished last summer. Special thanks to accordionist and ar-chivist, Geoff Berner, who has managed to decipher Ouiniette’s idiosyncratic handwriting.

what the fuck do you want? a Soundman ’s gu ideBy Campbell Ouiniette

I always wondered why in God’s Name sound-men in Canada were always the way they were. Then one time, I snuck into the booth at a place called Call the office, in London (ontario, not england), and found this strange document, in the form of photocopied pages bound together with masking tape. by the looks of it, it was a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy, some-thing that had been passed down over many generations, like samizdat. I tell, you it explains a lot. here are some excerpts:

The job of sound technician is a storied one. There are many traditions. some young people—women, especially—who have recently entered the profes-sion, fail to uphold these longstanding practices, passed down from one generation of Canadian bar soundguys to another. but these rules are there for a reason. Let’s try to uphold them:

Don’t Hassle Me, I’ve Done This a Million Times! remember that you’ve heard everything, and you are too cool to care. your lack of interest in music and the world around you should confound even the most jaded hipster musician. For instance, when the period that you feel is appropriate for soundcheck is over, because you want to go have dinner, but the band is still not happy with the sound, the following phrase should be employed. “Don’t worry, the room’ll sound totally different when there’s people here.” always speak the phrase with the proper, provoking sense of nonchalance. If delivered properly, it should demoralize musicians by implying that a) the whole 45 minute process of soundcheck was a meaningless charade, and b) that this is just a preview of things to come!

Set It, Then Forget It! here’s a good plan to try the next time you’re asked to do sound for something weird you don’t like: Put the levels at a certain arbitrary setting, and then, you know—go for a smoke in the alley, or do some blow backstage, or call a friend on the payphone at the back, whatever. When you hear the faint echoes of screaming feedback emanating from the stage, don’t rush

back—finish your smoke, have a pee, and then maybe—maybe—have a poke round the board to see what you can see. or not!

Fake Adjustment This is a neat trick that provides endless amuse-ment, which you can brag about later to your buddies behind the bar after closing time: When the singer, or mandolin player, (whom-ever!) asks you to, say, turn him up in the moni-tor, or lower the reverb effect, what you do is, you pretend to adjust the knob, but actually do nothing to the sound. If the musician gives up in despair and thanks you for making the adjust-ment, laugh to yourself about how stupid they are for not noticing that it’s exactly the same!

Road Stories remember that time you went on the road as a roadie or monitor guy for a famous professional band, for about 2 weeks, 20 years ago? make sure that you drop that band’s name within the first 7 minutes of meeting anyone at all. Tell that funny story about the time you did the Fake adjustment (see above) to the asshole singer.

Apparel you got into this business to distinguish yourself from the “suits” and working stiffs who have to get up early in the morning and put on, um, suits, and other work uniforms. so don’t let the man tell you what to wear. always, always, always wear faded jeans, preferably acid-washed, and a ratty old rock t-shirt, preferably from that tour 20 years ago that you did with that famous band. If it gets really hot, you may strip down to a stained wife-beater undershirt. remember that these are your work clothes, so there is no need to wash them more than once a month, at the very most. Top it all off with a baseball cap. This baseball cap should be a promotional item from a huge mainstream beer company that makes beer that tastes like flavourless piss. you may be tempted to imitate the bravado of those youngsters who are wearing the ballcap backwards these days, but if you have a ratty pony tail, don’t waste it—make sure that it pops saucily out the back, between the strap and the

netting. In this manner you achieve the welcome eye-shading of the hat brim, but also demon-strate to the world that you are wild and cannot be tamed.

Fanny Packs Fanny packs are those little nylon bags that wrap around your waist, and hang on your bum. you can use them to hold useless cables that you tell yourself you’ll one day repair, or weed, or gum. Women find them overpoweringly sexy. be sure that when you wear the Fanny Pack hanging over your bum, it doesn’t obscure your ass crack, which should always be evident for all to see whenever you bend over or crouch, in the course of your duties. Never forget: you are a breathing, walking cliché.

Musicians The biggest drawback to doing sound for bands is that bands have musicians in them. Try to remember that musicians are mostly just a bunch of whiny little punks who aren’t even old enough to remember real music, especially the band you toured with 20 years ago, and they should be treated with as much condescension as possible. If a musician makes a request for help or information, try to feign deafness and walk away. another good tactic is to look them dead in the eye and say something like , “Well, where do you think it would be?” If you must directly answer a question from a musician, always remember that answers must be preceded by the Long, exasperated sigh and then the Incredulous eye-roll. (see diagrams)

Women Women. Where do they come from? What do they want? This is a difficult subject. but there are times when you may have to deal with Non-Waitress Women in your workplace. always remember that female musicians, in particular, don’t know nothing about nothing. and because women don’t even know what they want, make it a point of principle to ignore any request they make, especially if these requests involve technical elements of sound. These are questions about which Womens’ uteruses make them genetically incapable of understanding. If a Woman surprises you by playing her instru-ment well, don’t be caught off guard without the important phrase, “Not bad—for a girl. haw, haw.” (try rehearsing that phrase now). Wives, spouses, partners and girlfriends should exclu-sively be referred to as “old Ladies”, as in “one way or another, this soundcheck’s gonna be over in 15 minutes, cause I told the old Lady I’d be home in time fer supper.” rock on!

jack of all trades, master of noneBy Mike Southworth

hadn’t ever heard this phrase until my first year of college. my drum teacher, slightly annoyed that I was going to miss another drum lesson because I was singing in a jazz festival, used it as a warn-ing: “specialize now, or always be sub-par.” Until then I had prided myself in being a multi-instru-mentalist. I kept busy learning any instrument I could get my hands on as well as learning sound engineering and the basics of carpentry building makeshift recording studios. True I could do a lot of things, but I wasn’t ‘great’ at any of them. Was I ruining my chances of excelling at one instru-ment by spreading my time between many? This brought me to the big question: Is being a “Jack of all Trades” really such a bad thing?

Well, according to Wikipedia, the term “Jack of all Trades” used to be a compliment until the early 1700s when someone added “master of None” to the end and it ceased to be flattering. It was probably a jealous blacksmith who only knew one skill and had an axe to grind, pun intended! This was the end of the renaissance man. Cul-tures all around the world jumped on board the specialization train with their own versions of the

saying. In mandarin they say, “all trades known, all trades dull”. The more poetic Cantonese ver-sion sounds like lyrics out of a radiohead song, “surrounded by knives, none are sharp.” estonia takes the most stern approach with their saying, “nine trades, the tenth one - starvation.” Pretty intense, but is it true?

In my current band, scatterheart, I find myself adding new partially learned skills every week. editing video, taking photos, designing graphics, publicizing, promoting, booking - all things I didn’t know much about a year ago but had to learn because of monetary necessity. What the estonians didn’t mention in their saying was, “if you don’t do it yourself, you have to pay someone else” - and in this world of specialization, you have to pay them a lot! by doing as much as we can ourselves, scatterheart has been able to build presence and a fanbase without a big budget. maybe we haven’t done it as professionally, but I think it’s close. and in my mind, close is better than nothing!

as a modern musician, there really isn’t much way to get around it. you have to diversify to

make a go of it. Knowing the business side of music gives you a much better chance at making a living, and having a few instruments under your belt will keep you in demand - as long as you can play them reasonably well. Local multi-instrumen-talist/composers/producers/business people like brad Turner and steve Dawson are constantly working and do a great job of everything they do. so it is possible - and more fun! Who wants to do the same thing everyday for the rest of their life? Plus, I find that when I learn something new it also improves my other skills. every instrument I learn makes me think differently about the ones I already know.

Well, that wraps it up right? Not really. I think the debate of specialization vs. diversification is like the debate of bass players vs. drummers. It’s unwinnable. and in the end, both are important but really everyone’s looking at the lead singer and the guitarist, right? so, do whatever makes you happy. If you’re happy, chance are you’ll be successful. Which is why as of today I’m hanging up my drumsticks and going back to being a lead singer... just joking!

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tBy Carolyn Markh ow i s p ent m y s umm e r va cati o n

o review:

Got dumped, had a tour fall through like a forgot-ten souffle and my house- The Last resort- was lousy with light-treading young vampires and insomniac sound men so I caught a ride with Kris Demeanor and Dave Lang out to southern alberta to lick my wounds, maybe even LIKe my wounds.

I was becoming dreary at parties.

and there was always a party.

my friend Lance, who lives in Nanton, had accidentally bought an old tour bus called The County express at the farm auction. he went to buy a combine and returned home with both. I had written him a letter asking if I could live on the bus for a while. he said yes and so I spent the month of June doing chores under the big sky in the restless wind, riding my bike past the buffalo family and playing accordion to the pigs. (They hated it! my friend J. said it’s probably like yelling at them in French.)

oh don’t worry. my month aboard The Country express wasn’t the monkish retreat I had planned for myself. For starters I have a poet friend (miss ali riley) who lives there so you know what that means and well, Lance makes the best home made chokecherry-crab apple wine in the world.

and farmers drink whiskey when it rains.

but somehow the chores made it all seem noble.

I do my hoe-ing at home now.

Then, when the month was over, the band came to rehearse. We practised at the bar in the afternoon (Thank you, barb) and had a second rehearsal out at the farm in an empty grain bin, which was like playing in a huge reverb chamber.

so cool.

Then we played an outdoor Canada Day concert in Calgary. We called ourselves Carolyn mark and The National Treasures- rodney brent on guitar, Pat Phillips on drums, Dianne Kooch on bass and sara hart on fiddle. Fabulous band.

Without letting modesty get in the way of the truth, we ruled. It felt so good to have a band again. Like I can take my hand off my guitar for a second and The soUND KeePs GoING!!! magic.

I was planning to live in fiddler sara hart’s Toyota for July but her grandmother took sick and she had to leave the tour.

“are you mad at me?”, she asked, backing out of the driveway, leaving me standing by a pile of my stuff.

“No. It’s not like you’re running off to go join The Wailin’ Jennys or something. It’s your family,” I

said, trying to look easy going and cool so she’d maybe come back one day.

actually, I missed her badly. she is such a force of nature and always up for adventure and sings such pretty harmonies but I know what fiddlers do:

They show you how good it can be and then they leave.

so it goes.

This ain’t my first rodeo.

so I moved into rodney’s buick Wagon and we had a great old time.

he drove and I played the mandolin and sang songs in the car. he writes great songs and is always up for playing. We went to Twin butte, alberta (my favourite place) for a little festival and went a night early and played around the picnic table for anyone who would listen. Wheeled the piano out on the deck and everything and stayed at the ranch house, weeded the garden, lay down with the pup-pies, slept with a dog, petted the horses and mules, played all the instruments twice and danced in the spirit of ms. hart. she would have loved it here.

Dianne, the bass player, met us there. she had just got a job with the post office in Calgary and they were running her ragged but she made it in time for our set and played fantastically. she’s the smoothest bass player. you don’t even see her hands move.

We bagged a local drummer, Joe, who also caught and smoked the fish for the night’s dinner. Told him it was the best salmon I’d ever had. he told me it was trout. In any event, his drumming ruled and people danced.

Then it was back to Calgary to share the bill with matt masters at a new club called Local 510 located in the heart of stampede madness. Great place. awesome food and did my heart melt when they said, “Would you just like a bottle instead?”

yes it did.

The bar manager, Dan, is an idea man: he called and asked me if I’d mind if after our set we all got on a magical party bus, the whole audience and the whole band and went to see Joel Plaskett play in a tent on the stampede Grounds.

mIND? I freakin’ LoVe Joel Plaskett and had just been thinking “o man if I didn’t have to play, I’d ToTaLLy go to that show!”

after our set, we all boarded The Party machine, which is a tiger striped bus driven by a lovely woman named Candace (It was funny I was think-ing that if I saw The Party machine go by I’d think “Look at those idiots. I hope they all get raped for being so stupid” but being on the inside made it feel different. almost cool even.

oh yeah. I’d noticed Joel was on the cover of the socan magazine so I brought a copy and we pho-tocopied it and made 50 masks and all walked in holding them to our faces in hopes of freaking him out. he was awesome. such a charming showboat. I grabbed Dianne’s hand and squeezed my way to the front, jumping up and down, fist in the air and ‘wooing’. I could sense some female under-the-breath resistance amongst my surrounding sisters. They had formed a human wall and blocked off Dianne. “she’s trying to get her friend up too but no way” I heard one of them say.

I returned my gaze to the stage, hoping to catch Joel’s eye when I felt the unmistakable sensation of an elbow coming down with full force between my shoulder blades. I turned around to meet eyes with a tall brunette who had a face made of hate.

“really?” I asked.

she nodded slowly with her bitchy face without, for a second, averting her gaze.

It kind of put me in a mood. I think I was behav-ing in the normal way for a rock concert. I lost heart trying to jockey for position so I went to the bar and did a bunch of tequila shots, thinking we were done playing for the night.

I think I figured out The stampede: It’s like hallowe’en but with only one costume and only one beverage (bud Light Lime is the new Crocs!) and Calgarians, on the whole, seem to like it that way.

The next day, fearing I was flattening the cushion of hospitality at Dianne’s house, I got a ride to edmonton with Kris Demeanor and stayed with my friend Luann Kowalek for a few days, restring-ing her guitars and generally trying to persuade her to get back into music and rejoin the circus. I eventually succeeded in kidnapping her to The Pembina river Nights Festival. I lured her there with the promise of river swimming and a buffet of future ex-husbands.

Well the river had swollen to three times its usual size with a ripping current so swimming was out and on the romance front, suffice it to say that we all returned with our virtue distressingly intact.

had some fun though, the show was great. The Treasures kicked ass. sara hart arrived just in the nick of time to play with us. romi mayes was there with The Webber brothers and I noticed her band all had cool names like “Cookie” and “Corn-bread”. I was jealous and made my band pick names for themselves- Dianne picked “Flatbread” and Luanne was “honey bee”. Camped in the rain, hula-hooped, hung out with Fred eaglesmith and mime-danced every word of his songs with my friend Jenn b., surprised an exhausted beaver down by the raging river with my friend Fish, went for a couple of nature walks, stayed for the jam

and the next night and got adopted by a nice r.V. family who’s hospitality was boundless.

before the show, Dianne reached into her bag in search of her tuner and found a stack of mail wrapped in a rubber band instead. Looking vaguely distressed, she announced, “Well looks like someone’s not getting divorced until Tuesday!”

Then back to edmonton for a show at The em-press, which is my friend Irish sue’s bar. We were all so fresh and relaxed from camping for three days and packing up and the edmonton traffic that we decided to have a ‘team-building’ cider after we unloaded the gear.

oh yeah, on the way back from the festival, near evansburg, we spotted a guy hitchhiking wearing a black t-shirt that read “IT’s aLL yoUr FaULT” in white block letters.

The show was amazing. Packed to the rafters with friends and freaks and mike mcDonald, my musical mentor, played the middle set and a lot of our new festival folkie friends from the weekend turned up aND I got my first pair of panties thrown at the stage- a pair of giant tighty-whities- with “I heart Carolyn” written across the bum in black sharpie. o edmonton you’ll always have a piece of my heart. actually, that night, due to a hilarious misreading of the chalkboard behind the bar, we became Carolyn mark and The high Four Dollar balls.

Tuesday morning, waking up back at Luann’s, rodney asked where we were going today. I told him “we”, as in me and Juli were going back to Nanton to kidnap the farmer’s wife — Toby — (she needed a holiday and I needed a back-up singer with a background in mental health for the next leg — Family Psychology — perfect for touring!)

I told rodney there was no show and therefore no money and that the other guitar player (Tolan mcNeil) was arriving but that he was, of course, welcome to come if he felt he could handle these things.

rodney said he’d had a blast and that he’d see me down the road. he is a fabulous man and band mate so I thought it only fair to be honest. Plus he is one of the founding fathers of NoWIsm. The birth of NoWIsm came somewhere on this tour. I can’t remember precisely on account of the fact that it’s not happening NoW, but all I can say is that it seems to really help to practise NoWIsm on tour.

observe:

What time is it? Now. Where are we? here. Now here.

Now here. Nowhere!

Dig?

It’s the only way.

Later we would invent the hundred mile an hour diet but that comes later.

Not now.

so I moved into Juli’s Civic and we booted it to Nanton.

The Poet, my friend, miss ali riley, was having a dinner party and we were going to join up with our hometown pals hank and Lily. and Tolan, that last minute maniac, was allegedly en route from Powell river.

he arrived the next day in the afternoon. hit the road at around 4pm, which I’m sure disgusted The Farmer, but love isn’t always on time, good food takes time to prepare, and all that. moved into Tolan’s van — The Duch-ess — left the Civic in Nanton, and took all back roads to medicine hat in the beautiful sunset.

True love travels down a gravel road.

Well Listen, kittens, I’m in ontario still on tour and I gotta get to Waterloo and the deadline for this issue is right now and I haven’t even GoT-TeN to the artswells Festival with my friend Paul from London england and a whole other saucy posse but next time for sure and so, to bring us up to NoW, to juxtapose, to close, if you will, here’s an email I got from my mother last night:

Hi Caro,

I hear you had stitches in your head. What happened?!! How do I know this? Because I just

got a call from the Kingston Hospital, saying you were discharged before getting a

tetanus shot. They said it is important that you get one within the next few days. Any emerg dept or walk-in clinic will do it. So please get one!! Let me know how you are and what happened!!! Luv, “ma”

P.S. You have to get a cell phone!

Jumped off the dock in Picton, thinking I was still in Wakefield where the river runs deep and hit rock bottom flying on mushrooms.

The doctors kept telling me how lucky I was.

how you livin’?

Thanks for listening.

Drive fast. Take Chances.

xo miss Carolyn august ‘09

p a rt 1 . . . “I think I figured out The Stampede: It’s like Hallowe’en but with only one costume and only one beverage (Bud Light Lime is the new Crocs!)”

Miss Carolyn did eventually make it to ArtsWells, hula hooping all the way...

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18 | BC Musician | September 2009 18 | BC Musician | September 2009 BC Musician | September 2009 | 19

m

“Nice, Nice, Very Nice” Dan Mangan

By shayne avec i grecIt seems everyone you talk to these days is in love with Dan Mangan. And it’s getting harder and harder to blame them for it. In dialogue with other folks, be they poets, musicians or just an everyday regular normal folk, it seems as though he’s East Vancou-ver’s present prodigal son.With the release of “Nice, Nice, Very Nice” Mangan has made it even harder not to be absolutely in love with him, or, at least, this album – a collection of stories from the realms of love, the road, and East Vancou-ver. It is a series of smartly written songs, laden with familiar feelings, images and more than the occasional pun. Three of the songs will feel particularly recognizable to anybody that picked up Dan’s “Roboteer-ing EP” while they were awaiting the release of “Nice, Nice, Very Nice.” The rest feel instantly familiar in a most comfortable way – like the cool cousin who becomes a fast friend when you meet them at an obscure family reunion. It’s this familiarity that allows Mangan’s newest songs to become instantly timeless – digging into your memory recep-tors and making themselves at home.Far from reinventing the wheel, Dan gives us a beautiful simplicity with the help of a hand-ful of friends, and leaves the ball in our court for us to decide which game we’re even playing. If delicate songwriting were a game, Dan Mangan would clearly be winning – it’s not a game, however, though he’s clearly winning nonetheless!

“The Perilous Beauty of Madness” Darkblueworld

By RC JosephI have an awful confession to make: I hate Leonard Cohen. I am fully aware that such a statement will shred any credibility I ever had with the vast majority of this magazine’s read-ership, but I don’t care. Yeah, he is an icon, and is very witty, and (at one time) prolific, and is in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, and still has great hair, but I really just don’t care. He is not a singer. He is (at best) a spoken word artist with a smoky drawl and a deep vocabulary. The fact that he is honoured in the same hall as Sam Cooke and Bruce Springsteen keeps me up at night. Give him some space in the Poetry Hall of Fame, sure, but the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame? No. Not a chance.

Now if I was a member of Vancouver quintet Darkblueworld and I just read the previous statement, I would be thinking, “Shit, this is going to be a bad review.” This is under-standable as there is definitely something Co-hen-esque in the works with Darkblueworld’s latest release, The Perilous Beauty of Mad-ness. Though the outstanding musicianship of guitarists Gord Grdina and Chad Mac-Quarrie, bassist Tommy Babin and drummer Bernie Arai quickly reminds me of soulful and bombastic indie greats such as Giant Sand or even Geraldine Fibbers, vocalist Elizabeth Fischer’s approach is a little more challeng-ing. Fischer can, at times, sound not unlike a less polished Shirley Bassey, a grittier Kate Bush, or even a Velvet Underground era Nico, and it is these stronger moments, along with her consistently brilliant writing through-out, that help get me through those afore-mentioned Cohen-esque times. But to be fair to Darkblueworld, the fact that The Perilous Beauty of Madness as a whole can even grab someone like me, a listener so clearly not in tune with that which they are deliver-ing, speaks volumes as to how appreciated this album will be by fans of the genre. I just don’t happen to be one.

p e e r r e v i e w s I n t e r v i e w : K e n t M c a l i s t e r ost musicians are full of shit. metalheads cut their hair and go indie; indie kids buy a moped and go ska; and everyone, at some point, sports that straw cowboy hat they got free with their purchase of a 24-pack of budweiser and goes country.

but the genuine musician – a rare breed these days - stays true to the craft. They don’t follow the trends, get caught up in aesthetics, or hit the stage wearing cheap-ass promotional gear picked up from the liquor store. Kent mcalister is one such honest artist. (regardless of having been rumoured to enjoy the odd trip to the liquor store himself.)

arguably one of Canada’s leading independent country artists, the hard working, harder touring mcalister has been wowing audiences with his smooth voice, witty stage presence and brilliant songwriting since the release of his acclaimed 2005 debut, memory replacer. his latest release, the Jesse Gander produced how I’ll remain, finds mcalister and his band, The Iron Choir, honouring his rootsy roots like never before while still managing to seamlessly weave in some distinct rock and jazz influences.

having recently relocated back to Vancouver after a short stint in his hometown of Calgary, mcalister sat down with bC musician to shed a little more light on the life of everyone’s favou-rite troubadour of twang:

What makes this new album so important? I think it contains a broad musical diversity to it that I’ve been aspiring to achieve all along on the other records - and feel I have to some capac-ity - but it still fits into a cohesive musical theme and style. I also think it’s our best sounding record, production-wise. We have a very strong songwriting debut by our drummer, brendan Krieg, who joined the band about three years ago. This makes it feel more like a musical unit to me - The Iron Choir - rather than my name in the spotlight, which I never intended despite being the principal songwriter and arranger since the start.

What other music projects have you been working on recently? I’m challenging myself to do something a little different musically these days - a series of instru-mental compositions on the nylon-string guitar that are arranged with a trumpet, violin, and some percussion in mind. so far it’s got that spanish-esque dusty showdown moodiness to it. From time to time I also get the privilege of

being asked to sing and/or play guitar or bass with local groups like The Great outdoors or Kingsway. I actually just finished some singing on the newest Kingsway recording. I also spent the fall/winter in Calgary and played a number of shows on tour as the guitar player in matt master & The Gentlemen of the rodeo. In essence, I guess I’ve been working on being a gentleman of the rodeo.

How has moving back to Vancouver affected you as an artist? I suppose it affirms that I am still a bit of a restless spirit, like most musicians I know. I planned to move back to Calgary for a few years at least, to not only slow down a bit, but to further establish a musical presence there. I lasted about seven months. I enjoy the energy of Vancouver and the inspiration of some of the great musi-cians here that are my friends, but I am already planning on moving to the island for a bit of a quieter lifestyle. That’s where I started writing and completing songs, and that’s where I’d like to get back to for that peace of mind, anonym-ity, and inspiration. I’d like to ultimately raise a family there as well.

What are your next moves with regards to conquering the Canadian country scene? We’re going to keep at it on the road, but a little less. We’ve been relentless when it comes to touring, which is a work ethic I’ve modelled after bands I grew up watching and hanging out with as a teenager, like (edmonton punk legends) the smalls. I spent a year straight on the road after the release of our last record to the point of physical and financial exhaustion, but it paid off in that we gained what we wanted - a solid fanbase nation-wide and more than a few sold out shows in the major centres. We’ve also had good success on the roots/Country charts on independent stations and satellite radio so we’re going to keep pushing that just as strongly. Chalk that up to great work by our publicist/radio trackers at Killbeat music as well. and not that I see music as a competition, but it’s awful nice to see yourself consistently on these charts for several months ranking higher than bands that have labels and management behind them. When I feel jaded with this whole music business - as most musicians I’ve talked

to do - it’s nice to see signs of progress like that for all that’s been put into this from the creative process through to the endless hours of self-promotion and management. Ultimately, I would work with the right manager and/or label, so I’m keeping an eye towards that. so to answer your question, I’m going to keep putting my shoulder into this, and hopefully find a team who is willing to push with me.

What country artists have a career you aspire to? merle haggard. I’ve seen merle haggard twice now - once in Vancouver where I had the good fortune to meet him briefly after the show, and once in Portland when I took Dustin bentall on a road trip with me to see him on my birthday. The guy has a killer band, plays soft-seaters, and doesn’t follow a suicidal touring schedule. That’d be pretty ideal of course, but I don’t foresee it for us within the next year anyway.

What is in the near future for Kent McAlister? I am gearing up (and still filling in some dates at the time of answering this) for another cross-Canada CD release tour for all of october. There has been a growing interest from various locations in The states to go and play so I’m looking into setting that up, as well as poten-tially heading overseas. This means more time on the phone and in front of my laptop, or “nerdbox” as I like to call it.

There you have it. If you needed any more proof of country/western mcalister’s legitimacy, look no further than that last line: only a true cow-boy would refer to a computer as a nerdbox.

“Hometown Riot” Devilsplender

By RC JosephThanks to the evolution of affordable digital recording gear, these days it’s easier than ever to make a great sounding album. Every-one is doing it. Everyone. Trust me. I know. The results get stacked up on my overbur-dened desk by the dozen.

The problem, however, is that all these wan-nabes turning their diary entries into lyrics to be shakily sung over smoothly crafted acoustic loops, synth effects and click tracks have one glaring problem in common: they don’t know the first thing about writing a good song.

Rob Malowany, aka Devilspender, is here to change the way we look at these bed-room troubadours (i.e. down our noses). The Edmonton-born singer/songwriter has been quietly building a catalogue of quality craftsmanship since his debut solo release, Snakes and Apples, back in 2002. Home-town Riot, his fifth and latest effort under the Devilspender moniker, finds Malowany graduating from his four walls to the studio halls in grand fashion. Featuring contributions from close to a dozen of Malowany’s musical peers, Hometown Riot is a fine collection of songs with that most desirable of qualities music reviewers love: it reminds you of a lot of artists, but not any one artist in particular.

Well crafted and thoughtfully arranged, Hometown Riot churns Malowany’s reflec-tive lyrics out with through every musical medium from Badly Drawn Boy-esque quite introspection to harder-hitting, twangified, urban folk rock reminiscent of The Killers, The Weakerthans, or even The Bodeans. But all the while Devilsplendor manages to remain distinctly Devilspendor. And therein lies the key to the album’s success. All you other bedroom studio stars please take note.

By RC Joseph

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20 | BC Musician | September 2009 20 | BC Musician | September 2009 BC Musician | September 2009 | 21

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w h at ’s o n y o u r m i n d ? Road tr i p w ith fac e bookBy Kevin Kane

When I was touring a lot with the Grapes of Wrath, it was a pre-internet age - we had our mail sent to us once a week by Fed Ex, which was a step up from the pony express - a time when cel phones were first hitting the market and were still spelled with one “L”. I haven’t done any extensive road work since those days, but that changed this year when I joined up with Leeroy Stagger And The Wildflowers as lead guitarist and recently we spent 5 weeks on a cross-Canadian tour in support of his new album, “Everything Is Real”. This fall will see us head out again on an 8+ week run, split between Canada and Europe.

At the risk of sounding like Rip Van Winkle: what the hell happened?! It’s like we’re living in the future now or something! I’m still the odd man out in the band by not owning an iPhone (watch-ing youtube while rolling across the prairies - they didn’t even have anything that cool in Blade Run-ner!). But I did have a web capable phone (that is until it broke in Sault Ste Marie) and would amuse myself by texting my ever-so-clever Facebook status updates a couple of times a day so that my “friends” might feel like they were on the road with me. Lucky them!

One such friend who received my dispatches was BC Musician Magazine editor Leanne Nash, who asked if I might compile some of them to turn into an article for those readers who aren’t among my Facebook friends (that is, the vast majority of you). She assures me that you, the reader, will want to read this. So join me now, if you will, as my band mates (Leeroy Stagger: vocals/guitar, Tyson Maiko: bass, Ian Browne: drums/backing vocals) and I relive the first leg of the “Everything Is Real Tour 2009”…

Kevin Kane is feeling a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. Actually, I think that whole expression is just us projecting our own awareness of the situ-ation onto the deer. I doubt the deer has any idea that it’s going to be mowed down by a vehicle. It’s probably just thinking “Shit! I can’t see! What the hell?!?” May 19 at 8:52am

The day before leaving and feeling a little anxious. Can you tell?

Kevin Kane just did one of the more bizarre TV shows he’s ever done: playing in a stone masonry warehouse surrounded by ornamental waterfalls & barbeques while standing on astro-turf. Show business is my life! May 21 at 10:46am

Seriously – like something off of SCTV. This was in Lethbridge and the show’s host dressed in a tornado of polyester plaid. If more TV were like this I might watch it.

Kevin Kane just saw actual prairie dogs...ON THE

ACTUAL PRAIRIES! It was like whack-a-mole but with real fur! May 23 at 6:40pm

What days spent driving the prairies will do to a man’s mind...

Kevin Kane has never heard so much feedback at a soundcheck, but then I guess this is why we do soundchecks... May 30 at 8:28pm

I won’t say where this was because they had some copies of BC Musician at the club and we’re likely going to be playing there again. It was bizarre – the feedback was so relentless and the soundman so unbothered by it that it was almost like an Andy Kaufman routine. Ah well – bugs got worked out and the show went great.

Kevin Kane spent the afternoon strumming and singing with Tom and it sounded so good at points that we couldn’t keep from laughing. Tonight: PING PONG!!! May 31 at 5:49pm

Kevin Kane and Tom didn’t end up playing ping pong after all because we’re both too secretly competi-tive and wouldn’t be able to handle losing to the other. May 31 at 10:22pm

There were a few days open in the Leeroy tour, so I hopped a ferry to Saltspring Island and spent a couple days strumming out some oldies with my old Grapes cohort, Tom Hooper, in preparation for doing a few acoustic duo gigs in September.

Kevin Kane woke up in a van parked on a strange street...so hot in here...running out of air...can’t find the strength to escape...dizzyness...using the last little bit of oxygen to update Facebook status...please have tombstone say: ‘’Show Business Was His Life & Vaudeville Will Never Be The Same’’ June

3 at 9:01am

We were staying with relatives of Leeroy’s in Qualicum Beach and found ourselves a bed and/or couch short, so I volunteered to sleep the van. The next morning I woke to the hottest day ever in history. How hot was it? When I shook my head I could hear a sloshing sound, like a half full jug of water.

Kevin Kane looks forward to one day being rich & living in a mansion on a hill, just like Leeroy prom-ised. Thanks buddy - I can’t wait till I have my own waterfall! June 5 at 2:04am

We stayed with a friend’s parents’ in the proverbial “mansion on a hill”. And yes – they had built a waterfall up on their hill top. To think just 3 days before I could well have been found asphyxiated in the back of a van.

Kevin Kane woke up to the smell of frying onions and

the sound of a chainsaw: gimme an F!!! gimme a U!!! gimme C!!! gimme a K!!! June 5 at 8:47am

Do all wealthy people have a similarly perverse sense of humor? I suppose they can afford to, so power to them.

Kevin Kane is in Tofino & awed by the beauty of the scenery: the majestic trees, the beaches, the rock formations, the sky....OH MY GOD!!! A RECORD STORE?!?!?! Gotta go... June 6 at 6:05pm

Yes – there was a record store in the back of the surf shop next to our hotel. Finding places like this is one of the best parts about touring (best store ever: the combination used musical equipment / used vacuum / animal feed store in North Bay, Ontario. The first and only time I ever saw bags of Purina Monkey Chow).

Kevin Kane is watching Ian & Leeroy try to remove the van stereo - the hilight of my day so far! No wonder people charge money to do this... June 11 at

2:20pm

Kevin Kane would like to add ‘’installing a new car stereo whilst the van hurtles down the Saskatch-ewan highway at 110 km/h’’ to Ian’s list of hidden talents (joining his surprising talents at ukelele, ping pong, McGiver-ing percussion instruments, and singing like a choir boy). June 12 at 4:02pm

Not just a drummer, apparently.

Kevin Kane is somewhere in northern Saskatchewan and can’t think of a thing to say about it that isn’t going to make me sound like a total asshole. I’m sorry, Saskatchewan: it’s not you - it’s me. I’ll be out of you real soon & we can both pretend like it never happened... June 13 at 9:48am

After our show in Saskatoon the night before, I went to the 7/11 and this guy comes up to me and says “So what the fuck are you dressed like that for?” I began to explain that I was an “entertainer” and that I was dressed as I was because I had just given a “performance” when the guy behind me says to him “Because he fucking wants to! What business is it of yours?” The 2 guys then start tes-tosteroning out on each other while I’m thinking I’m going to get to witness 2 guys get into a fight over me (I do declare!). Then, within seconds and for reasons beyond my comprehension, they started hugging each other. Wow.

Kevin Kane went and saw Neil Young’s boyhood home before our gig in Winnipeg. Then we sang a couple of Neil Young songs but changed the lyrics to be about gross things that I won’t even recount because we are totally immature. June 13 at 9:30pm

Kevin Kane ‘’Fart Of Gold’’ obviously.... June 13 at

9:43pm

Yes – we are basically 8 year olds.

Kevin Kane thinks it’s good that weed is decriminal-ized in the Netherlands because the singer for Labasheeda needs to smoke about 10 kilos when she gets home and fall off her high hinny. June 23 at

9:24pm

We were part of a 4 band bill in London, Ontario, and the promoter, having promised each band that they wouldn’t be opening the show, conveniently never came to the show. The lead singer of this Dutch band on the bill threw an absolute hissy fit on me (why pick on me?!) about how they can’t be the first on “because we have come all the way from the Netherlands!” So we went on, completely tore it up, and left them to wallow in their shitti-ness.

Kevin Kane partied like and 8 year old! WOOT! June 27 at 7:04am

After our last gig in Kingston we loaded up on junk food from the convenience store, went back to the hotel, and listened to Led Zeppelin till 4:30 in the morning. If we’d had a PS3 we would have gone past dawn easy.

Kevin Kane likes his own bed. June 28 at 10:22am

Littlefest, located at Little Slocan Lodge in the Little Slocan Valley, is a small festival, limited to just 500, that lasts for one full day in a unique setting. The budget is small, and the organizers, Alan Keane and Ron LeBlanc, have to work hard and creatively to make it happen with the help of 70 volunteers. The lineup this year included United Steelworkers of Montreal, Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir, The Tuques, The Cave Singers, The Pasties, Moving Mosaic Samba Band, and Fish & Bird. Johan Castell attended Littlefest and took some stunning photos.

This year the weather was a challenge, but rain did give way to clearer skies, and a clear evening.

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22 | BC Musician | September 2009 22 | BC Musician | September 2009 BC Musician | September 2009 | 23

sto m p a n d b e lt

iby Jeff Andrew V i ew f r o m th e V e n u e

The Ymir Schoolhouse 3rd Avenue, Ymir, BC

The Hitching Post 916 Scott Avenue, Hedley, BC

CITY BREWS - COUNTRY VIEWSw e B a k e o u r o w n

M u f f i n s , C o o k i e s , S q u a r e s F r e s h l y M a d e H e a lt h y S a n dw i c h e s

SATURDAY NIGHT OPEN MIC S u n n y D e c k O r g a n i c , F a i r - T r a d e C o f f e e

Driving highway 3? take a break in princeton

Is it after 4pm? Looking for a satisfying meal? Come around the corner to LINGUINI’S - 255 Vermi l ion for pasta and steaks!

wanted! musicians: call us if you are passing

through town during the week and want a place to play!

#9 - 136 Tapton Rd Princeton, BC 250 295 3431

n the beginning, there were flutes and drums. Then came the strings, attached to gourds or wooden boxes to amplify the sound. Later, the magic of the Industrial revolution brought advances in metallurgy, which allowed the devel-opment of the brass family.

In recent years, electric instruments have become popular. This is a great and wonderful thing. The only tragedy is the steamroller effect of Top 40 culture, which has erased most of our history from the collective mind. The result is that your average citizen’s sole concept of live music is either a DJ with a computer or a rock band powered by a wall of amps.

Fortunately, the old world of un-electrified, purely acoustic music still exists. It runs a separate race away from the dogs of corporate media, through the alleys and across the rooftops, rising from the streets at night to fill the spaces where the big machines can’t go. one day, when the crash comes and the electricity vanishes like a ghost in the storm, it will be the only music.

so with that in mind, here are some performance tips and ideas to help you prepare.

We’ll start with playing solo. No matter what style, in the end it comes down to the right pair of boots. rubber-soled sneakers and “skate shoes” are no good. To get a proper stomp going you need something with a hard, flat bottom. Jazzy wingtips work well; so do steel-tipped cowboy boots (popularly known as “shitkickers”). For sheer volume and percussive snap, you can’t beat an old pair of steel-toed Canadian army parade boots. Uncomfortable as hell, but on the right stage they can raise a racket like a stick orchestra from bedlam.

From there you can add chains, bells and trinkets to your boots, or build your own mobile drum

kit. my friend scott Dunbar uses a metal sheet with chains attached for a snare sound and hooks a kick drum pedal to a suitcase for the bass. Conveniently, the suitcase doubles as a container for his personal effects when traveling.

The other trick is to get high. Literally. In the bizarre, sordid world of the old Parisian red-light district, stages were built on stilts ten feet above the dance floor to help the musicians be heard over the drunken crowd. This was before the big-band era, when the most popular performers were bagpipers and accordionists. These stars of the “bal-musette” would drape themselves in an assortment of bells, cymbals and shakers, then stomp and twitch like possessed virgins while playing popular melodies on their instruments. The problem, for string players, is that they’re just not as loud as the brass. Pre-electric attempts at amplifying strings led to some fascinating inven-tions. The most famous of these is the resonator guitar, or “Dobro,” an acoustic guitar with one or more metal speaker cones stuck in the top to project the sound. It was invented in exile by a slovakian entrepreneur named John Dopyera, who fled to america to avoid the first World War. In 1928 he started the “Do-bro” company with his brothers rudy and emil and eventually registered over 40 patents for string intruments, including the first electric violin. The resonator guitar was meant for players in jazz bands or in Vaudeville theatres and silent movie houses (which often had small, in-house orchestras to provide a soundtrack for the films), but it eventu-ally found its home in blues and bluegrass.

of course, there have been others. at some point it became clear that the best way to make a string instrument as loud as a horn section was to attach a horn. my personal favourite is the stroh violin, developed in the closing days of the 19th century by a half-mad German luthier named au-gustus stroh. Instead of a wooden body, it has a large phonograph horn attached near the bridge.

In my day, I’ve used all these tricks and more to play un-amplified in bars and cafes, on streetcorners and moving vehicles and even in churches. Playing in churches is fun, but it always brings back hard memories of my years in the seminary (which ended abruptly when I was kicked out for my views on transubstantiation). Despite this, the church has long been the venue for the greatest acoustic instrument the world has ever known: the pipe organ. The largest of these, the boardwalk hall organ in atlantic City, NJ, is recognized by the Guinness book of records as the loudest instrument in the world, offering “a pure trumpet note of ear-splitting volume, more than six times the volume of the loudest locomo-tive whistle”.

Indeed. I’ve played it, and I can tell you straight-up: there’s nothing more satisfying for a former altar boy than using God’s instrument to sing train songs about riding with the Devil.

Nestled deep in the village of ymir, a small historic mining town outside of Nelson, sits the ymir schoolhouse which has proven to be one of the most acoustically beautiful venues in bC. This is a jewel in rough road of touring, and is a refreshing change from the cacophony of pub playing and bar bawling. The ymir schoolhouse was rebuilt after a fire in 1936, but still stands in its original location. over the last few years a group of very dedicated community volunteers have restored the main room to its former glory. old Douglas Fir floors and high ceilings make this room crisp and warm for any acoustic oriented musician or small ensemble. shawn stephenson, a fellow bC musician with big ears, runs the board and his dedication to beautiful sound shines through. musicians love playing this room, just ask sara Ciantar who claims ymir as one of her top three places to play in Canada.

This year this 50-60 seat venue has hosted, Coco Love alcorn, Wax mannequin, bob egan, Corwin Fox, yael Wand, raghu Lokananthan, Jeff andrew, miss emily brown, James Lamb, Christa Couture, The Joey only outlaw band and so many more.... The schoolhouse makes an awesome gig when touring the Kootenays, and is a great stop between Nelson and Winlaw.

There is one thing we should warn you about though, at exactly 9 pm every night, a siren that is located across from the school goes off simulating an air raid, shift change or curfew (depending on who you’re talking to). It usually happens halfway through the first set and no matter how many times we warn musicians they are still surprised by it. If you’re prepared it could be incorporated into your show... a la sabbath’s War Pigs.

If you are looking for a gig this winter, email me: [email protected]

remember…support your local venue and the musicians who play there.

hedley, located about 20 minutes north-west of Keremeos on highway 3, is a town that needs to be visited by anyone driving highway #3 between Princeton and Keremeos. Nestled between glowing orange cliffs in a canyon that might remind you of the american southwest, the town was a prosper-ous and important early mining “city” of bC that still boasts a good number of picturesque historical buildings from its glory days.

one of the best preserved and restored of these buildings is home to The hitching Post, a restau-rant run by the husband and wife team of brenda and Wilson. brenda, who is also a busy archae-ologist (!), can often be found in the restaurant taking care of business and serving customers with her down-to-earth charm and amazing energy. husband Wilson is in command back in the kitchen, where he crafts meals (including some truly delightful borscht) from whole foods. The menu ranges from veggie burgers to prime rib and is worth a long perusal. ask servers what they or chef Wilson suggest.

The hitching Post hosts dinner concerts at least

once, and occasionally twice, a month. The musi-cal fare tends to be in the folk/roots/blues vein, and brenda tells me the nights (which include an option for a full 3 course dinner) are often sold out. she says that recent performers have included the legendary Gary Fjellgaard and Ken hamm, who were delighted to play this warm, intimate, and colourful venue.

It would be a real treat to play here. The restaurant is spacious, has an organic, warm feel, wood floors and walls, and very high ceilings. The acoustics are superb, and one corner boasts a stage. Wilson and brenda are appreciative and supportive of the talent they host and make their shows memorable for performer and audience alike.

There are some good shows coming up over the Fall and Winter, including performances by sarah macDougall on the 12th of september, the Kettle Valley brakemen on october 24th, Kate reid and Pascale Goodrich-black on November 7th, and Danyluk and Card on the 27th.

For more information about the hitching Post, including menus, coming events, and a history of the building, and to get in touch with brenda and Wilson, visit: hitchingpostrestaurant.ca.

682 Gibsons Way, Gibsons bC

604.886.1917eat@wi ldb i s t ro . com

We love live music! Come and hear fabulous performers in our friendly, fully-licensed bistro.

We are proud to provide a welcoming venue for local and touring musicians.

Dinner gets under way at 6, shows start at 8. All door proceeds go to the musicians.

Looking to perform? Contact Bonar Harris: [email protected]

Join us for lunch, dinner, or just drinks & desserts.

Coming up:Sept. 11th: Ron Johnston & Blaine DunawaySept. 26th: Jeremy ThomNov. 14th: Evan SymonsNov. 28th: Dave Lang & Rodney DeCrooKeep an eye on www.wildbistro.com for details

qWe also do catering!

Come for Thursday “Salon Nights” with Bonar Harris & guests

Page 15: BC Musician Magazine

24 | BC Musician | September 2009

By Rodney DeCroo

Days Like This

We stand inside a doorway to sharea cigarette. The rain comes straightdown: long strands of blown glassshattering against the concrete.

I tell you this, how the rain appearsto me, and you say no, the street is a faceand the drops are not shards of shatteringglass but tears from a blind god’s eyes.

In this darkness I can almost not seethe sores on your face, how your handshakes as you lift the cigarette to your lips,how your eyes shatter with each glance.

You tell me about the landlord who stoleyour cheque and threw you out of your room,how I must believe you, as I watchyou looking for someone to silence

the rat tearing at your stomach, to calmyour fingers picking at the scabs on your skin,the blood crusted under your eaten nails.You will die on this street in the rain,

or in a doorway, or half naked in an alley.You hand the cigarette back to me and ourfingers touch. You smile and for a momentwe are walking through the rain-mist

and pink petals of cherry blossoms.You take my arm and pull me to you.You tell me that days like this are proofwe live forever. I smell the spring rain

damp in your hair. Your breath leaves youas easily as the rain falls to the streetto shatter like broken glass. Days like thisare proof of what we will have to lose.

The Song That Says

Junkies scatter like frightened crabsas I walk down Union street past the parksmeared with goose-shit. Seagulls flashwhite crosses above the Chinatown rooftops,screaming as they dive to fight for food.

Merchants in white aprons delicately placefish on ice-graves like rows of toy soldiersoverturned in battle, as delivery boys shoutover the rattle-clank of cars and trucks.In the midst of this a young man stands,

his stiff clothes stinking of urine and shit.A woman makes an involuntary retchingsound as she drops a coin into his bloated,trembling hand. He rocks on feet wrappedin canvas and moans a long, worthless howl

like that of a dog I found once in Oaxaca,it’s hindquarters crushed, tossed into a ditchto die. The same howl that broke from mein a Montreal tenement, the empty socketsof a child’s face staring through the frozen

window mirroring my own blackness. The youngman’s howl and my own the same as that of a drunk,or a broken animal, or a child who has been raped.It is the song we will not hear. The songthat says our pain is too ugly to look on.

Page 16: BC Musician Magazine

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Flora Ware’s liveshowsrevealtheoutstandingversatilityandtalentsofthis risingyoungjazzandsoulsinger.Withheremotivesilkysmoothvoice,Floraexudesboththepassionofjazzandthejoyofherownupbeattunes.HerrecentCD,Insight,hascaughttheearofjazzaficionadosandmusicreviewers:

“Insight is an album that has the versatili ty to mix jazz with R&B & pop with progressive, modern touches. This treasure…will have listeners wanting more of this gifted artist…”Radioindy.com“Flora Ware is one of the rising jazz talents out on the west coast”-RogerLevesque,Edmonton Journal

“Already in full flight”-PaulGrant,HotAir,CBC Radio

www.floramusic.comwww.cdbaby.com/floraware

ON TOUR FALL 2009:September 18th: Pynelogs Cultural Centre Invermere, BC. Dinner 6:30, Concert at 8pm.

September 19th: The Green Phoenix Kimberley, BC. 7pm

September 22nd:Library Lounge, Hume Hotel Nelson, BC. 7pm

October 9th: Okanagan College, Kalamalka Campus Vernon, BC 7pm

October 10th: Armstrong Community Theatre, Armstrong, BC 7pm

October 11th: SAGA Public Art Gallery Salmon Arm BC 7 pm

For additional concerts please check the website

Page 17: BC Musician Magazine