It was a busy 3 days from Tuesday to Thursday this past week.

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Soul Shine Tuesday

I previously mentioned, I was the first official guest at the Soul Shine Tuesday show at the Amsterdam Bicycle Club. For those who are new to this blog or don’t follow regularly, this show takes over the slot I had at the AB for 9 months. Hosted by the amiable and super-talented Lawrie Ingles and Henry Lees (the Soul Maître Ds), the format is now single-artist focused, with Lawrie and Henry opening the show, the feature performer doing a short set solo, then the hosts sitting in for a few tunes, and rounding off the night back on their own as SMD.

Here’s a little sample of the show.

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Beach House Jammers

Each Wednesday, Tony Oldland hosts a very successful open mic at the Beach House Bar and Grill on Queen Street East. It’s a testament to Tony’s hard work and affable perseverance that he has been able to curate a high caliber of performers, bring about steady improvements to the facilities (new stage, better sound gear), and maintain interest through some inspiringly themed evenings.

Tony has been playing in a variety of bands over the last 40 years. Starting as a rookie rhythm player he developed into a versatile lead guitarist and vocalist with local groups, including the Toronto top 40 bands Careers Without College, Digits and CLOUD-9. For three years as the guitar-hero of R & B band DOMINO, rounded out his skills and took them to semi finalist status on Canada’s Got Talent. The indefatigable Tony brings a wide variety of authentic guitar and synthesizer tones to his 80’s band The Beach Town Brats (which not only features Tony, but also Félix and the Cats drummer Chris Bender and ABC songwriters’ Circle alumnus Chris Scian), plus maintains two Beatles tribute bands, The Beachles and DanceBeatles, and gets hired regularly as a substitute guitarist for orher bands.

The Cats got a nice extended set this past Wednesday, with a bonus of sitting in as backup band for another ABC SWC guest, Karen Wilde. Great fun for all!

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The Stuff of Legends

Wednesday had me back after a long break at Legends Thursday Night Jam for some loopy madness and a great singalong of Mister Juicy Fruit by Fraz Milne and Sal Indigo.

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Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Daytime activities continued unabated with two recording sessions: one for Leanna Yamada and the other for John Mahler, for vocal tracks and final mixing. Things went well although I wish ManCave Studio were air conditioned. I will let you know as soon as these are available online.

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Gig Alert!

This coming Saturday, August 11, the Cats are back for an acoustic inspired gig at the Dock on Queen. The show gets under way at 9, and it’s a pay what you can (and want to). We really look forward to playing this show as the club has a great vibe, and nice acoustics. Please join us!

See you there and be well!

Another cryptic title, yeah. Let me briefly explain. Lightpipe is the standard for optical digital transfer between devices, in this case my Saffire Pro 26 and a rented Saffire October MK II that expands the number of mics I can use from 4 to 12, handy when recording drums which need a lot of mics for modern recording.

Last Friday, I had finally managed to corral the Cats for a session, and although I had tested the system in a previous one-on-one with drummer Chris Bender, for some reason, the full-on session proved a bust recording-wise (although a good social and strategic meet with Chris and NeMo, but still…). After much recabling and head-scratching, I recalled that the test I had done used a different cable for the optical link (yup, I can see eyes glazing over from here). Long and boring story made short, swapping the cable sorted things out, but not after everyone had gone home.

On the positive side, we are all meeting again for the next Beach House Jammers show tomorrow, August 1, for a few songs and synchronizing calendars. The show is at the Beach House, which I spoke of in an earlier post, and now hosted by the talented, energetic and resourceful Tony Oldland, who will be the topic of next week’s blog, this time hopefully back to its regular scheduled Sunday release.

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Tonight at the ABC

I am chuffed to be the first guest of the official new Tuesday Amsterdam Bicycle Club songwriters’ night, now hosted by the Soul Maître Ds, and rechristened Soul Shine Tuesdays. The SMDs are Lawrie Ingles and Henry Lees, both former guests of my old ABC SWC, and highly respected and gifted songwriters, as well as the nicest folk who could ever hope to meet. I hope to see a bunch of ya there!

So it’s a date? Be well!

The last round at the ABC Songwriters’ Circle is in the bag. You can read more about it on its own page here, which will remain up for a a little while longer.

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Recording Update

It’s proving a challenge to get the entire band together frequently for recording purposes. Fortunately, modern recording equipment and techniques allow for each musician to come in and lay down tracks on his own, which seems to be the process that will have to be taken to get the job done. A few rentals have beefed up the capabilities so that the drums can be recorded the “modern” way for more control, as much as I’m a fan of retro approaches. A quick test last week proved very encouraging, and everything bodes well for a possible fall release. It looks like “When (Is It Time To Go)” may be the first song to be done. To find out what that one sounds like, you could join us at the Dock On Queen on August 11 at 9 for a special unplugged-ish performance.

We hope you will put that on your calendar.

Be well!

This Tuesday will mark my last week hosting the ABC Songwriters’ Circle. It has been a great ride, and I want to thank first of all Sal Indigo for planting the idea and greasing the wheels. Also a massive thanks to the staff at the Amsterdam Bicycle Club, Tim and Chris particularly, for their kindness and support. I hope I did well by them. My gratitude to the friends, fans and family who came to the shows to support me and the 108 guest artists (listed below), without whose generous gift of time and talent this show could not have thrived. Thank you and merci! It’s now time for me to refocus on Félix & the Cats, and our work on an upcoming EP. I happily pass on the torch to Lawrie Ingles and Henry Lees who will be taking the show in a new and exciting direction, and I have the great privilege of being a guest at their first show on July 31.

ABC Songwriters’ Circle Alumnae

Todd Aalgaard, Darrin Baldwin, Julian Battersby Morris, Bryn Besse (The Marwills), Douglas Bichan, Dan Boggs, Brett Bonvie (The Marwills), Fred Boutin, Sandra Bouza,
Boris Buhot, Mike Butcher, James Clark, Daniel Clarke, Finbar Conlon (the Pretty),
Michael Cuddy, Andre Dantas, Lucy Dee, Amber Durette, Gary Edward Allen,
Tyler Ellis, Jody Ferrer, Tim Cameron (T.C. Folkpunk), Kevin Foster, Ash Gallia,
Justine Giles, Rob Greenway. (Brilliant Fish), Elana Harte, Neil Hendry,
Claire Hunter, Robert Hyde, Sal Indigo, Lawrie Ingles, David Israelson, Just Jillian,
Paula Keast, Scott Kv, Kyris, Linda Lavender, m.e. law, James Law (The Marwills),
George Lazarus, K Lee Wilde, Henry Lees, Julie Long, Kayt Lucas, Brent Lunney,
David Macmichael, Neil MacNaughton, Kevan Maddison, David Madras,
John Mahler, Mark Martyre, Lilly Mason, Alex Matthews, Andrew Mazzolin,
Graeme McGillivray (The Marwills), Dean McKinnon, David McLachlan,
Michael Menegon, Fraz Milne, Fraz Milne, Mahta Moattari, Neil Morris,
Jesse Morrissey (The Marwills), John Muirhead, Mimi O’Bonsawin, Jeff Orson,
Blair Packham, Frank Patrick, Jordan Paul, Timothy Prueter, Augusta Ray,
Chelsea Reed, Arch Rockefeller, Shannon Roszell, Matthew Runaway, Jordan Safer,
Soozi Schlanger, Ryan Schmidt, Sarah Siddiqui, Bill Simms, Tara Smylie,
Sabrina Soares, Franck Solo, Eric Sorenson (G3neric), Don Stevenson,
Mary Stewart, David Storey, Jessica Stuart, Steve Taunton,
Daniel Taylor (Cedarstrip Rocketship), Sam Taylor, Hurricane Mike Thompson,
Greg Todd, Chris Topher, Carmen Toth, Jace Traz, Sahel Usin Rojas,
Phillip Vonesh, Veronica Sabah (Vroni), Chloé Watkinson,
Frank Wilks, Chris Willson, Hugh Wilson, Leanna Yamada

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Quaptych?

Another week, another record launch, this time it was the Marwills‘ turn at the Rivoli for the release of their latest album A Mother’s Worry, along with Emilie Mover, and Lenny Bull & The Main Offenders. It was a fun night and a good opportunity to hear full-on the songs from the album (played in its entirety) that the guys previewed when they guested at the songcircle a few weeks ago. The Marwills are now on the first leg of their release tour and I know they will tear it up!

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That’s it for this week. Be well!

It was a great week for music.

Last Tuesday’s ABC SWC was loads of fun (more below), then Wednesday, Mrs. Félix and the Cats and I met with friends to catch a live performance by The Pursuit of Happiness at East Lynn Park, graciously sponsored by the Danny BIA. Opening for them was Jerry Leger, whom I mentioned just recently as part of my triptych series. Moe Berg and band were in great form, and I was pleasantly reminded of how many hit songs they put out, and what an iconic sound they have, with second guitarist Kris Abbott and vocalist Renee Suchy providing uniquely original female backing vocals that are instantly recognizable as TPOH.

This past Thursday Leanna Yamada was back at ManCave Studio with violinist Daniela Gassi to add strings to one of her tracks. Despite the hot studio conditions, we managed to put in a solid 5 hour session and the results were impressive. I hope to share the mix with you soon. Daniela added inspired violin and viola tracks to take the song to a whole new level. There were a lot of smiles, some tears of joy, a highly enjoyed gin rickey.

Daniela plays viola regularly in the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, as well as in semi-professional orchestras in and around Toronto.  She also performs with Brampton Music Theatre, playing violin in the pit orchestra for their musical productions. Outside of the classical realm, Daniela also performs as part of pop rock ensemble Three Seasons and the Move, and plays violin in many other indie bands (whoever needs violin). If you want to hear her live, she will be performing later this month with Ryan Bonner (Tides On Earth) and Leanna at the upcoming Music in the Park festival in Brooklin, Ontario on July 26th.

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This Week at the ABC Songwriters’ Circle

Where does this talent keep coming from? Well, yeah, Australia in one case but also plenty of homegrown too! Thanks to TC Folkpunk, Sabrina Soares and Ash Gallia for thoughtful and heartfelt songs and beautiful harmonies too this past Tuesday.

This coming week, we will explore more degrees of separation with my guests Cedarstrip Rocketship (aka Daniel Taylor), Phillip Vonesh with Annie Faiella, and late replacement and returning guest Fraz Milne. Songs and stories and so much more, as the Polka Door theme would say.

We’d love to say you there! Be well!

As mentioned last week, I have been making changes to the layout at the olde ManCave Studio. Here is the update.

The main change was relocating the control desk symmetrically in the centre of the space. That and the application of the ARC (advanced Room Correction) system made a significant improvement to the imaging and clarity of the mixes, so things are looking and sounding good! The drums were tucked into the corner, still having enough space to be played but not consuming the whole back end as before. Gear that had been hidden on the right of the drums behind the blanket is now piled up to the left of the desk (just off camera above) and across from the vocal “nook”. The listening couch is now squarely entered in front of the monitors for guests’ improved listening. I have a session scheduled later in the week so should be able to report back on how it is working out.

A special big thank you goes out to Ian Brown who donated some great gear this weekend: an Audio Technica ATM87R boundary microphone (commonly called a PZM) which has some interesting characteristics and may end up adding to drum recording, an Alesis NanoVerb and an Alesis NanoCompressor. These latter two may end up in the live setup. Some research is required.

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Canada Day

It would be considered distinctly un-Canadian to boast I live in the best (or nearly so according to the U.S. News annual Best Countries Report) country the world. Still, to politely celebrate our fabulous Canuckness, and torrid temperatures, good friend and performer has invited a bunch of musicos and relations to his place for pool dips, BBQ, plus a 6:30 performance at Stan Wadlow Park as The Johnny Blue Trio, with special guests Loudon Sharpe the Fifth and vocalist extraordinaire Donna Flynn. Sal will debut the brand new “East York Song”, so join us on the lawn this evening.

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This Week at the ABC Songwriters’ Circle

This past Tuesday was a great show, great audience, including a lovely Scouse couple on holidays here, and a few dancers too! The perfect night at the Amsterdam Bicycle Club. Thanks to fans and friends who came to catch the show and to the band who let me be a wannabee Marwill for a bit! Just wished I’d remembered to have the “Move Like Brett” competition.

This coming Tuesday, we will explore more degrees of separation with my guests, Bella Larsen, Cedarstrip Rocketship (aka Daniel Taylor), and Phillip Vonesh plus one. Songs and stories and so much more, as the Polka Door them would say.

Do join us and be well!

Today’s blog will be brief as there is lots to do in other areas of my life.

ManCave Studio is in the midst of a rearrangement to make it better for mixing. I hope to be done for next week and post a few pictures. I’ve also added a ribbon mic (an ART AR5) and acoustic room correction hardware/software (the IK Multimedia ARC 2.5 system) to the toolbox so I hope to hear improved results.

As mentioned in previous posts, I have begun recording demos for other artists in the Cave. I also hope to start the long-deferred re-recording of FatCats songs for an eventual album release. I am open to advice and suggestions for any aspect of tracking. mixing and overall production. More on that as things develop.

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A Family That Plays Together Stays Together

The missus and I had the pleasure of attending a birthday celebration for a friend of ours last night at U of T’s Hart House. It’s a gorgeous building and was a great setting for the bash, which included a live performance by ABC Songcircle alumnus, former The Nerve bandmate and journalist David Israelson, along with all three talented kids and wife Susan, whose birthday it was, on the drums. I think David has been reading up on my uncle George.

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This Week at the ABC Songwriters’ Circle

This past Tuesday was such a good show for such a small attentive audience. The occasional low turnout for the songcircle fortunately does not seem to faze those on stage having lots of fun. If you have seen the show, we’d appreciate you helping us get the word out. Thanks to m.e. law, Don Stevenson and Sarah Siddiqui for gracing the stage, and to friends who made it down.

This week, #34 is a VERY SPECIAL ALL-BAND edition, where we will have the entire Marwills on stage performing songs from their latest album and their solid hits, maybe some more obscure material, and talking about the special synergy that comes from composing in a band context. It will be a remarkable show! For bios, just click here.

If you happen to be on the Esplanade on Tuesday evening, you should hear us, so come on in to the Amsterdam Bicycle Club! If not, it will be worth the trip down.

I hope to see you there. Be well!

 

A triptych (/ˈtrɪptɪk/ TRIP-tik; from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχον “triptukhon” (“three-fold”), from tri, i.e., “three” and ptysso, i.e., “to fold” or ptyx, i.e., “fold”)^[1][2] is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections…

Thanks for sticking with this little journey through album release land. I hope everyone is either enjoying a fabulous Father’s Day and/or being nice to your dad, which reminds me I need to call mine right after this is posted…

This final instalment is about mon ami Kyris, who was a guest at a recent and très spécial ABC Songcircle all en français. Kyris has just released Nous (meaning Us, or We, depending of context). The single and show finale, Le coeur du monde has just been released The setting was the Burdock, a lovely club in the west end with an excellent sound system and attentive technician. An enthusiastic crowd of francophones and francophiles showed up for a very strong and tight performance.

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This Week at the ABC Songwriters’ Circle

There were a lot of laughs and great stories last night at the #31 Songwriters’ Circle last Tuesday. Super thanks to Dean McKinnon , Salabama (aka Sal Indigo, aka Sal de Bain) and Robert Hyde for great songs, playing along and company!

This week, #32 has an awesome and eclectic lineup with songwriter and multi-instrumentalist m.e. law, singer, poet and raconteur Scar-Bro Pete, and legendary Moby Grape alumnus Don Stevenson. For bios, just click here!

I’m looking forward to this show and hope you can be there too! Be well!

A triptych (/ˈtrɪptɪk/ TRIP-tik; from the Greek adjective τρίπτυχον “triptukhon” (“three-fold”), from tri, i.e., “three” and ptysso, i.e., “to fold” or ptyx, i.e., “fold”)^[1][2] is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections…

This week, in the second phase of a three-week album launch run, I got two for one as two past ABC Songwriters’ Circle guests were on stage at the same time.

Lead singer and octave mandolinist Kayt Lucas (show #24) was supported by a first rate band which includes another more recent ABC SWC alumnus, Michael Menegon (show #29) as well as featured guests guests. Kayt and the boys performed songs from their new album The Company of Kings for an appreciative audience. Kayt was ready and focused for the show, in excellent voice and fashionably attired.

 

This  coming Friday, June 15 for my third and final album release attendance, it’s Kyris‘ turn (show #28) for a Francovaganza at the Burdock, for his release of Nous. J’y suis!

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This Week at the ABC Songwriters’ Circle

This past Tuesday was a hoot with Matthew Runaway, Soozi Schlanger and Hurricane Mike Thompson. This week promises just a much fun with Toronto based musician and songwriter Lefty (aka Rob Hyde) will answer the question as to his nickname as he plays right-handed. Golden-voiced Dean McKinnon will reveal why David Macmichael wrote a song about him. Salabama aka Sal Indigo will regale us with tales of his southern sojourn this winter. For bios, just click here!

That’s it for this week. Be well!