Oct. 22-25 - The Warehouse - Aaron Pritchett record

Aaron Pritchett and his manager/ guitarist Mitch Merrett asked that I be involved in the production of Aaron's new CD which I of course accepted. My history with Aaron is a long one. I met him in the early 90's when he was a finalist in a Canada wide talent contest (Paul Brandt was also a finalist - neither him nor Aaron won - and look at them both now!). Over the years - Aaron has been working on his career as a singer and I've been a part of it. His first CD was produced by Tony Rudner - it was a four song EP and I played on two cuts. Next - we did a review show together at Vancouver's Pacific National Exhibition. I produced five songs off his next CD - "Consider This". I played on his next two CD's and have written several songs with him - three of which have been on two of his CD's including one pretty big hit - "Lucky For Me". For almost two years I've played in his live band. To come back to the producer's chair is a great opportunity.
We chose 16 songs to record - tunes Aaron had co written with outside writers as well as songs sent to him by publishers. As it turns out - 13 of the strongest songs came from Aaron and his co writers. The studio was set up on Sunday the 21st and we were off.
The roll call: drummer Jerry Adolphe, bassist John Dymond, guitarist Jay Buettner, guitarist/ steel player Russ Pahl, engineer/ producer Dean Maher, assistant engineer Scott Ternan and yours truly on keyboards. THIS is the team you want on a record. A great band - musically very mature. They're all great guys and a great hang as well.
We cut four tracks a day for four days. This included overdubs and as a result - the "bed tracks" are damn near complete musically - it already sounds like a complete record. We had fun arranging the tunes (most of which were demoed using just an acoustic guitar and vocal). All the performances came off very progressive sounding for Aaron which is a good thing - growth from album to album is important.
It was great to spend time with Russ. He's a top Nashville musician - playing on many major records and demos. Currently he tours with Vince Gill. I first met him when he came to play on Aaron's "Big Wheel" album. I took him to Stanley Park one morning and had a great time. He had a lot to offer and I took home a lot of lessons for my own personal musical "library".
On the final day we cut a duet with Carolyn Dawn Johnson which may or may not appear on the CD - there is only going to be room for about 11 songs. Aaron and her will debut it at the BBCMA show which happens in two days from the time I post this.
Next up we're going to get busy at my home studio recording a few overdubs and the vocals. Hopefully by January we'll be mixing! Stay tuned....

More Pix from Greece

Greece - One for the Navy - Oct. 3-12

Okay - I'm a little tired - it's been a long haul but here we go:

After the APB Ontario tour I remained as I had been asked to participate in a show put together for the crew of the HMCS Toronto - a Canadian Forces ship from Halifax that was coming into a port in Souda Bay which is near Crete. Of course I said yes. I was part of the backup band with Tom Mckillip and drummer Jayson Brinkworth. This was a treat - I love working in a trio setting on big shows. The challenge of making a small combo sound really big is always fun for me.
The headliners on the trip were Wide Mouth Mason singer/ guitarist Shaun Verreault (heartland rocker), Taylor James (chanteuse), Jenny Galt (we'll call her "female rock diva") Patricia Conroy ("the wonderful and classy...") and Mike Macdonald ("funnyman"). Our host was Will Davis - Vancouver ComedyFest head and a great comedian in his own right.... he was the guy who put the show together.
These "variety" shows are always cool - a buffet of entertainment. The crowd -about 250 sailors who'd been putting in some pretty long hours including a rescue mission in Somalia after a volcano took out a base where a bunch of Yemen soldiers were stationed - were primed for the gig.
We rehearsed in Borden Ontario at a military base for three days and did a dress rehearsal show. While at the base I was lucky enough to take in a couple of cool gigs - Kim Mitchell on the base as well as Saga (on their farewell tour) in nearby Barrie.
We travelled almost 28 hours to get to Crete - three flights and lots of layover hours. Crete is a beautiful place - perfect weather and of course there is nothing like a real Greek Salad. The bad thing was our time there was all too brief - three days does not make for much time to sight see.
We made our way to the ship. We got a tour of the whole boat which was quite a privilege. The ship's commander Stephen Virgin was a gracious host and his crew were first class gentlemen in their own right. The show went off well - the Canadians actually invited the crews from other boats that were docked their as well - Germans, Dutch and the American crew of the Bainbridge. The Admiral of the entire NATO fleet (who was the Captain of USS Bainbridge - please excuse me if I'm not getting the ranks exactly right) attended as well.
The Canadian Navy regulations regarding alcohol and partying are a little more lax than that of their counterparts in the other military branches. The rumour was there is more beer than bullets on the boat - apparently the 130 dozen beer they had on hand dwindled away in mere hours and reinforcement measures had to be put into place.
The show opened with the Toronto's house band - four sailors (Chilli, Matt, Dwight and another fellow who's name escapes me) - calling themselves "Halfway To Hell". The name came as the Toronto's boat number is "333". Tough act to follow....but we persevered. Taylor opened - her version of Led Zeppelin's "Ramble On" was a favorite of mine. Shaun was up next - hitting them hard with a mix of Wide Mouth hits, his solo stuff and some fierce singing and guitar playing. Mike Macdonald was next. As a big comedy fan - it was great to meet and hang with Mike. He is iconic a Canadian comedian as it gets - beloved and very funny (he's also a big music fan - I sat next to him a lot on the plane. He'd plug me into his IPOD and lay tunes on me that I'd never heard before. He told me about attending Richard Jeni's wake - which blew me away - really enjoyed my time with him). The troops ate him up.
Jenny Galt was next - soldiers can't seem to resist pretty girls singing rock tunes and naturally she rocked 'em. Patricia of course weaved her usual musical spell. Our road manager Lisa Cameron was up next. Patricia tipped us to the fact that Lisa was once a full time musician who played some pretty mean guitar. Once we called her on it, she admitted that at one time she was a player so it was a no brainer to include her on the gig. She wailed through Ricky Scaggs' "Hummingbird" and killed it. The finale was Neil Young's "Helpless" and Ashford and Simpson's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
I write this flying home from Toronto to Vancouver. I'm about 30 hours into the commute home - another 6 and I should be in a bed. We all agreed we're gonna find another gig for this ensemble.... don't know where or when but it's gonna happen - too good a group to disassemble after only one show. Stay tuned - until next time.... good night Mr. and Mrs. Canada and all the ships at sea wherever you are...

APB in Ontario AGAIN! - Sept. 26-Oct. 2

Another sojourn into Ontario for the APB! It's a good thing - the people out there love Aaron and it's always well worthwhile to get back there.

Sept. 26 - We meet up with the bus (owned by singer Johnny Reid) and hit the road for Kingston Ontario to a place we've never played before - The Ale House. Rustic old building - a lot of fun. Our opening act for tonight (and the next two nights as well) was Jessie Farrell and her band. It's always cool to have an opening act of people you like - especially considering I've just got to know Jessie having produced a track for her the week before.

Sept. 27 - Cowboys, London - The triumphant return to a club we played earlier this year. Once again - the crowd did not disappoint. Loud and proud - they made us and Jessie's band feel at home.

Sept. 28 - Jackhammers, Brantford - Friday night in Brantford!! A HUGE crowd... Jessie's final night with us. We dragged them up on stage for 'Hold My Beer'. Kylie and Jessie sang and danced. Ryland the bass player played my piano. Jesse Tucker (guitar) grabbed Mitch's other guitar. Jesse Godin (drummer) played tambourine. Cool.

Sept. 29 - Metcalfe - I think this was the last of the fairs this year. Our last chance for mini donuts.... I actually opted for a Pickerel burger - which was interesting but in a good way.

Sept. 30 - The Old Roxy Theatre, Mount Forest - We have played here before ... well ... actually outside in the parking lot behind the theatre but close enough. Our opening act was a fellow named Brian Burn. He sang for a rock band named I Mother Earth and is now showing another side to his musical arsenal - alt country. He and his band were fun to hang out with.

Oct. 1 - No gig - but our pal Mike Denny from Fusion 3 (Aaron's distributor) was good enough to treat myself, Mike Sanyshyn, Darren Parris and Scooter Findlay to dinner and a show at the CN Tower. It was a cooperative promotion between Churchill Wineries and Fusion 3 promoting an artist named Emilie Claire Barlow. She is a wonderful singer who's main focus is the "Great American Songbook".... so think Diana Krall or Ella Fitzgerald. She was great.... excellent band featuring Keiran Overs and Nancy Walker. I sat with Jaymz Bee and his friend Donna... he's a performer/ singer/ TV and radio host as well as man about town. Aftewards - a visit to The Orbit Room to see Kevin Breit and the Sisters Euclid.... a great band - the best thing happening in Toronto on a Monday night - they've been there 12 years - check 'em out!

Oct. 2 - Guelph University ..... Sorry - it was cancelled at the last minute..... I won't get into the reasons - I think an official explanation will be released on Aaron's website. Anyhow - it was a good excuse to get prepped for my next trip. More on that later.