Barbados and The Leafs

Feb. 17 came and the first extended trip away from home began. From Feb, 18-24 I was to meet producer Randall Prescott and his wife / tremendous singer Tracey Brown for a business / vacation / gig type excursion to their vacation home in Barbados. My business can get pretty rough sometimes. In a stunning case of 'right place at the right time', Vancouver Comedy Fest president Will Davis was flying to Toronto on Feb. 17 .... the day of the first segment of my flight. I had nothing to do that evening. Will was meeting with some members of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization to discuss some business matters. This resulted in an unexpected invite for me to attend the Leaf's game against Buffalo. While the outcome was not as positive one for the Leafs, I did enjoy the game. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. B. for your generosity.
I flew to Barbados the next day and my mind was blown. The sun, the crystal clear water, the friendly locals, the food..... I met some great people from all over the world. I was especially excited to meet Inchiz and Bashment (The rasta man wit da rasta plan) .... two exciting hip hop artists.
The gig at Smoky's Soup Bowl Bar was rustic and a lot of fun.....thanks to everyone .... Randall, Tracey, Kaylen, Sophie, Breanne, Phil, Terry, Stevie, Lawrence and Jeanette, Michael Bolton, Orlando, Inch and Bash ..... until next time.... off to Toronto now to begin the 'JR' experience.....

David and Sidney and Sierra and Johnny

The start of each year as a musician is traditionally a fallow period. Work is scarce - and generally musicians stow the bounty they made on their Dec. 31 gig in the back of their bank account to live off for the first two months of the new year. I am one of the lucky ones. My January and February have been busy - exceedingly busy and filled with the intensely joyful creation of new music. Fellow Vancouver Islander and gentleman guitarist David Gogo have been hanging out, laughing and writing new songs which will hopefully end up on his new recording which he plans on starting this year.
The tremendously talented Sierra Noble graced my house for the better part of two weeks, We wrote songs and recorded two of them as well - just Sierra and I. She is a young lady who I am more than convinced is destined for super stardom and I hope that on her meteoric rise I can grab a hold of one of her legs and have me sponge off her celebrity. All indications point to her becoming a star - whether or not she brings me along remains to be seen (ppllleeeeeeaaasseee Sierra pleeeeaaasssee!)
And then, from out of nowhere, comes the wonderful Sidney York. How do we peg Ms. York? Hmm. She's a booking agent's dream. Folk, jazz, rock, a tiny dash of country, comedy, drama, tragedy, joy - all wrapped up in an alluring, charming, kind, gentle and complex package. She is a wonderful artist - a true renaissance woman and my newest friend. I love her to pieces. I have had the distinct pleasure to produce her new album which is, as I write this about 3/4's done. Gracing the album have been the talents of drummers Pat Steward and Jerry Adolphe, guitarists Tom Mckillip and Jay Buettner, bassists Rene Worst and Doug Elliott, trumpeter Derry Byrne and the aforementioned Sierra Noble on vocals and violin. More on that as it develops.
I've also been working on three new recordings for Aaron Pritchett. I won't get into that now but it's been a whole lot of fun. As a player - recording sessions have been surprisingly plentiful as well - stuff for producers Tom Mckillip, Bill Buckingham, Ray Roper and Jose Cardenas - as well as some soundtrack work for Tony Rudner for a mini series called 'Revolutions'.
I must also recognize our recoding engineers - Mr. Dean Maher, Soren Lonnqvist at Studio Downe Under in Abbotsford, BC, Chris Vaughan Jones and Mikey the dog (see above) and my good friend Chris Aiken .... all of which are contributing to the above projects and doing a great job.
I'm looking forward to March and April when I'm joining Johnny Reid's band for his 'Dance With Me' tour across Canada. There's about 40 dates in theaters and casinos. I'm filling the utilities' player chair on sax, guitar and keys. It's going to be a lot of fun and interesting as I only know two people on the sixteen person entourage. I guess that'll be the subject of my next entry. Until then ..... all the best!