Canadian Country Music Awards - Sept. 4-9 2008

For the third year in a row my first week of September was occupied with rehearsals culminating in a the 2008 CCMAs on CBC, GAC and a bunch of other networks around the world. Our band (The Lyin' Bastards under the direction of Tom Mckillip) assembled in Winnipeg On Sept. 4. Incidentally , there's an explanation of the Lyin' Bastards:

More than a band, The "LB's" are more of an entity. Think back through history of famous session player groups - The Funk Brothers in Detroit, Muscle Shoals' Swampers, Booker T and the MG's with Stax, The Section and Wrecking Crew in LA, The Nashville Cats etc. - the "LB's" exist in the same way. We all have more or less been through Lisa Brokop's band and have spilled over into sessions and live gigs throughout many acts in Canada and beyond. Someday I'd love to do a record with the guys and document the discography of the selected players for posterity. As for the name "Lyin' Bastards"..... a bit of an inside story. Ask me in person.

This particular lineup of the Bastards was Jerry Adolphe, John Dymond, Steve O Connor, Robbie Steininger, Jay Buettner, Mike Sanyshyn, Jeff Bradshaw, Tom Mckillip and myself. In Tom's words, "If you're going in to battle, this is the band you wanna have.". I agree - with a band like this you do feel pretty bulletproof.

Sept. 4

We arrive in the 'Peg around 3:00PM. We check in to the hotel and arrive at the MTS Centre where the awards are being held. We get set up in a back room and begin the preliminary rehearsals. We had 11 musical performances on the show, 17 stingers (musical segments played during walk ons, walk offs etc.), 8 bumpers (music going and coming back from commercials) and other misc. pieces which would be dropped on us at the last minute). Our past experiences on the show helped us with this one. With some preparation ahead of time, we were able to blast through all of the acts, stingers and bumpers in four hours. We were able to get a nice dinner and good nights sleep.

Sept. 5

We came back to the MTS, ran everything again and then moved to the big stage. Everything ran quite smooth - the backline gear (Alien Backline - Ed Caron) was excellent and the individual monitor systems were an improvement over last year. Gerald Sawchuk, our monitor man, did an excellent job. For TV purposes, we recorded 18 20-second stingers (music played during people walking on and off the stage). As testament to the band's ability, we did it in 41 minutes which I think is pretty impressive. We rehearsed with Gord Bamford - the song, camera angles, etc..
After the rehearsal I played a showcase at McPhillips Street Station Casino with BC singer Amber Nicholson. She's a ball of energy and a good singer.

Sept. 6

The day started with rehearsals at the MTS Centre. Doc Walker (hometown boys - the big winners of the weekend) were first. Great band - really dig playing with these guys. Randy Bachman, Beverley Mahood and Deric Ruttan were next. It was fun for me - Randy and Deric were late getting to the rehearsal so I was elected to sing their parts. Randy was a complete gentleman and it's always cool to play with a legendary performer.
As Terri Clark had a prior commitment, I was elected to sing her song next for rehearsals as well. I peppered her melody with a few well placed Bruce Dickinson like screams to amuse the crew. All in good fun and with no disrespect intended to Ms. Clark's song. Paul Brandt was up next. After Paul, I slipped out of the MTS to go to a nightclub called Cowboy's where I played a 20 minute set with Aaron Pritchett for the Universal Music party. I arrived at 7:55PM, jumped onstage at 8:00PM and was back at the MTS Centre by 8:50PM to rehearse with Johnny Reid and his fine piano player Dave Cohen. I hit the Paquin Agency party after that for an hour - then went back to the hotel.

Sept. 7

9AM - dress rehearsal with Terri Clark. Bad news for us - Terri had elected to use taped music in lieu of the band. While it is understandable (using a band she's not familiar with, the stress of hosting a nationwide TV show, comfort level in general) I was disappointed as I quite liked her song and thought the band more than did it justice. However, this is sometimes the case. I remember seeing Paul Shaffer, Sid Mcginnis, Will Lee and Anton Fig (world class musicians in thier own right) lip syncing with Laura Branigan at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary performance. Hey, if they have to do it, I guess we do too sometimes. Her fiddle player Janae is a sweet and talented young lady.
Next up was Jessie Farrell with bassist Ryland Haggis and guitarist Jesse Tucker. She did a great job as usual. George Canyon with keyboardist Mike Little and bassist Joe Butcher came next. Also a lot of fun to play with these guys.
After the rehearsal - we went to a soundcheck for Carly and Britt Mckillip's (AKA One More Girl, formerly known as Saving Grace) showcase at the Pyramid Club. The girls recently were signed to EMI Canada and was (or IS) being looked at by Capitol Nashville. We assembled a great band (most of the awards show band minus John Dymond, Steve O Connor and Jeff Bradshaw and adding bassist Dennis Marcenko). After the soundcheck Jay and I headed over to the Gala dinner for a 7:00PM performance with Aaron (2 songs). A quick dinner there and we headed over to the Pyramid Club and did the showcase. The girls rocked - I'm so proud...... I've known them both since they were very young and it was thrilling to see them do so well in their official debut performance. BEDTIME!

Sept. 8

Show day! 9AM - MTS Centre. We arrive and rehearse with Crystal Shawanda and her husband/ guitarist Dewayne (I'm sorry - I didn't get your last name,Dewayne...). WOW. She can sing. What a delivery. We're all blown away by what was (in my mind) one of the highlights of the night. After that, Kellie Pickler took to the stage. She (like Terri Clark) sang to a track. Apparently she had a bad experience with another house band at a theatre I won't mention .... let's say it was a very popular one in Nashville. This left her feeling cold about house bands. Oh well - can't win 'em all.
Lunch break and then - the DRESS REHEARSAL. This particular dress rehearsal couldn't have gone worse. The old showbiz cliche would dictate this is a good thing - however by the end of it we were pretty distraught. Missed cues, feedback, too long between direction.... all added up. We put our game faces on and, after a quick production meeting and some ironing out of our notes it was showtime. If I may be so modest, I thought we NAILED it. 99.5% - as good as one could get. The band was magnificent and I couldn't have been more proud to be a part of a band.
I attended a wonderful party afterwards thrown by RGK Music and Ole Publishing Company.
Overall - another great CCMA week - looking forward to the next one!

More AP, Ghost Brothers and Fireworks

On Aug. 8 I returned (for one gig) to the Aaron Pritchett organization to sub in on the bass guitar chair. I love playing bass. It's in my opinion the instrument in any pop based band that holds the most responsibility, If you make a mistake on the guitar, keyboards etc. you'll generally get away with it however not so on bass. It was a fun gig - the ol' Penticton Peach Festival. Nice to play some of the new songs from the upcoming record (which BTW is going to be released in Sept. 2008).

I've been doing some gigs with Vesou and Govinda Clayton aka The Ghost Brothers. This is a fun gig - a funky jammy combination of reggae, funk, rock and other flavors.

Also, the fireworks display which I scored was performed in Vancouver on Aug. 2 2008. The narrator is named David Nichols and works for the BC150 team. Musicians on the soundtrack are Jerry Adolphe, Dennis Marcenko, Jay Buettner, Tom Mckillip, Mike Sanyshyn, Chris Aiken, Gord Maxwell, Carly Mckillip and myself. Here's a YouTube link to the performance - thank you to the person who filmed it as I didn't get to see it live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=manQ0VG--LI

July 2008 Part 2

July 22/ 23 - Sessions for producer/ engineer Soren Lonnqvist in Abbotsford.
July 24 - 31 - SEE last blog entry (July 13-17) except expand it over 8 days and make the touring party be: Carmen And Camille, Taylor James, Donna Huber, Shaun Verreault, comedian Kenny Shaw and musicians Lynae Dufresne, Allison Granger, Chris Meister and Tim Porter. Sound tech Dave Coe, lighting tech Eric Agur and escort officer Lisa Cameron.

and here's a taste of August:

Aug. 1 - Arrive back from undisclosed location. Drop off Tim, Will and Chris (4:00PM) Set up gear at Boulevard Casino (5:00PM) for 1st set sub Adam Rohrlick. Drive to Abbotsford for gig backing up 5 female singers and Kenny Hess at Abbotsford Agrifair (7:00PM). Drive back to Boulevard Casino for 2nd and 3rd sets with Dr. Strangelove band (11:00PM)
Aug. 2 - Sleep in! Casual in North Van. (7:00PM). Watch my fireworks display from afar (10:00PM!) Go to Boulevard Casino for 2nd and 3rd set again (11:00PM.)

I wouldn't have it any other way.

July 2008 Part 1

After my stint with Chilliwack I returned home to carry on work with the BC150 celebrations. The BC150 Spirit Train (which was produced by Randall and Tracey Prescott) was an event I was involved with which started June 10 and was to end July 6. It was an old steam engine which towed along a museum and a stage among other cars. It stopped in 33 communities across the province of BC. I rejoined the train on June 25 after finishing off the music and final touches for the Celebration Of Light fireworks finale (which is to be performed on Aug. 2nd in English Bay - Vancouver). As is always the case in my life... I get booked up work wise - and then something big comes down the pipe that I HAVE to fit in. See if you can figure out what those big events were:

July 1 - BC 150 train performance in Cloverdale BC
July 2/3 - Finish final historical tracks for BC 150 train including narrative for museum car, Steam Train song and demo for Olympic Spirit Train (more on that later) - gig both nights at Boulevard Casino
July 4 - BC 150 Train performance in New Westminster BC - sub gig at River Rock Casino
July 5 - BC 150 Train performance in North Vancouver BC - hop a BC ferry and do a "casual" in Port Alberni BC
July 6 - Ferry back and do a BC 150 Train performance (the final one) in Vancouver BC
July 7 - Catalogue all BC 150 materials and ship to Ottawa. Send off all invoices. Gig at the Yale hotel with Jerry Adolphe.
July 8 - Rehearse with Govinda and Vesou Clayton - The Ghost Brothers for Saturday gig. Gig in North Vancouver with Mick Dalla Vee.
July 9/ 10 - DAYS OFF!! Go to Vancouver Island to see my Nana who turns 97(!!!) today. She still lives in her house and is in exceptional health for a woman her age. We go for fish and chips with my Aunt Louise. What a wonderful couple of days.
July 11 - Back to the mainland. Session for producer Rick Welin (whom I've never met face to face - he sends me the tracks and I play on them - nice guy!). Gig with Angela Kelman that night. After the gig guitarist Tim Porter comes to my house to play on a session for me.
July 12 - Session for artist Jose Cardenas (whom I've also never met - he too sends me his tracks and I play on them - also a nice guy!). Gig at Thunderbird Stadium with the Ghost Brothers (5:00PM). Drive home - drop my gear off (7:00PM) - drive to GM Place to see one hour on Stevie Wonder (8:00PM). He is 20 minutes late (8:20PM). I only see 40 minutes:( but what a GREAT 40 minutes!! I am happy and sad at the same time. Drive to my gig with Angela Kelman (9:30PM).
July 13 - Finish the gig(1:00AM). Pack up and drive home. (2:00AM). Pack clothes and gear, consolidate session files, burn DVDs and stuff in mailers and address them. Jump in car (4:00AM). Arrive at airport and go to Air Canada counter to check in for 6:00AM flight. Flight is cancelled!! Rescheduled for 7:00AM flight. Arrive in Toronto (2:30PM). Shuttle to Trenton Ontario for rehearsal for show tour to an "undisclosed location" in the Persian Gulf where we will be entertaining military personal (as I have done three other times in the past. Arrive in Trenton (5:00PM). Do the show (7:30PM). Finish the show (10:00PM). Go to bed (1:00AM)
July 14 - Fly overseas. I can't say where as part of my contract... however it was a 14 hour flight.
July 15 - We arrive at our destination (6:30PM). Customs, drive to hotel, get rooms, briefing (10:00AM). Bed (12:30AM)
July 16 - Show day. Due to circumstances beyond anyone's control the equipment shows up very late. I pitch in as do others helping set up the PA with the sound crew and well meaning (but inexperienced) helpers. We barely get it up in time and the show goes off without a hitch. It was fun to work with Carmen And Camille, Patricia Conroy, David Gogo, Taylor James, comedian Pete Zedlacher and our house band (Rod Salloum, John Dymond, Brent Howard, Ian Cameron and Sean O Grady). Sound crew Dave Coe & Eric Agur and escort officer Mark Larose. Up at 7:30AM and in bed at 12:30AM)
July 17 - 7:30AM -up. 9:00AM - leave to go play an unplugged show for the personal who could not attend last night's show. Great gig - nice guys. Back to hotel at 2:30PM. CRASH! Out like a light. Up at 8:00PM. Go to airport.
July 18 - Undisclosed location to Frankfurt (1:30 AM). 7 hour layover. Frankfurt to Vancouver (1:00PM). Arrive home (4:30PM). Go to James Taylor concert!!! (8:00PM) Nod off only ONCE during "You've Got A Friend" (8:45- 8:48PM).
July 19 - BC Ferry to Victoria to ROCK with David Gogo. I feel surprisingly good!
July 20 - Back home - play the Blue Mountain Festival in Coquitlam with Kenny Hess(7:30PM). Back home to do sundry chores etc (laundry, email etc.)
July 21 - Finish Sundry Chores and prep for upcoming trips.... see Part 2.

Chilliwack - Halifax, NS and Triton, NF - June 20 and 21

'Four men in a rock and roll band, fly at night and in the morning we land...
This is exactly what we did. For two gigs I was lucky enough to join the legendary Canadian rock band Chilliwack. We left Vancouver for Halifax at 7:30PM and arrived at 6:30AM. I lived the song with the band that wrote it. It was surreal
I don't think it's an overstatement to say Chilliwack is like Canada's Beatles. They produced an enormous amount of eclectic music - all with tremendous heart and soul. They had many hits and some success in the US although there popularity predominated in Canada. One significant difference is the constant lineup changes. 27 different members (28 if you include yours truly) have been through the band. The one constant was Bill Henderson. Bill is the singer/ songwriter/ guitarist and leader of the band. He's tremendous... an awesome musical force. I write this sitting on a plane and seated next to him. It's an incredible feeling for me.
I first saw Chilliwack on the Merv Griffin show. Kal Rudman (a major music industry insider) was doing his monthly appearance on Merv bringing forward new acts which he felt were the next big thing. Rick Springfield and William Katt (from the Greatest American Hero) were on the show. The last act up was Chilliwack performing 'My Girl' and 'I Believe'. Merv loved them. So did I. My wondeful Nana bought me Opus X - there second to last studio record - for Christmas. What an impression it left. Rich vocals, great rock guitar, thick chord, soaring melody. In my mind it is perfect pop.
Fast forward twenty years or so. I stand on stage with Bill, drummer Jerry Adolphe and bassist Doug Edwards. The band gets introduced and Bill launches into a two minute guitar intro... then Jerry counts in 'Lonesome Mary' , a hit around 1970. The crowd goes nuts. Lucky for me it's a simple song with no background vocals. I get my bearings and breathe. 'Whatcha Gonna Do' from 1983 is next. Another big hit.
A procession of hits with some cool album cuts follows - Getting Better, California Girl, Arms Of Mary, Patent On The Wind, Communication Breakdown, Trial By Fire, 17th Summer, Crazy Talk, Something I Like About That, Groundhog, I Believe, Baby Blue, My Girl, Rain O and Fly At Night. I jumped around on four instruments (sax, keys, acoustic and electric guitars) and sang a whole lot. It's actually a pretty challenging gig and Bill is demanding in a very good way. It was incredibly satisfying. The next night we did it again in Newfoundland opening for Dr. Hook.
Truly a dream come true. I'm sad that it's over and hope it can happen again.

Update - no pix though...

What have I been up to since the last entry? The answer would be same gig... Different people. As a freelance musician the routine is no routine. You wake up at different times, eat at different times, play different styles of music on different instruments (at least for me)....it's never boring and keeps you sharp and vibrant.
In general, I've kept busy with various sessions and live gigs. Lots of great gigs recently at Vancouver's Yale Hotel thanks to my good friend Jerry Adolphe. I had the pleasure of playing with many cool people like Tony Robertson, Brian Scott, Matt Frenette, Paul Kaip, Ric Andre, Mike Wedge, Brian Newcombe, Doug Edwards and Jack Lavin among many others. I played a fun gig for the Merritt Walk Of Stars as part of the house band. We backed up Jason Blaine, Johnny Reid and Jessie Farrell among others. Aaron Pritchett's record is finished (I was a co producer) and will be released in September. I completed sessions for other cool acts like Saving Grace, Sheila Deck and a fellow named Jose Cardenas. I worked with a great guitarist named Steve Ouimette from Scottsdale, Arizona who is known for, among other things, his work on the phenom known as Guitar Hero.
In June a tidal wave of work came in, all of it celebrating my home province of British Columbia. BC turns 150 this year and to celebrate - they hired me!! I was hired to help put together music for the BC150 Spirit Train ... An interactive multimedia spectacle that travels throughout communities in BC. From that, I was commissioned (more or less) to write a piece of music used as the theme song for the festivities. If you live in BC you may hear it.
From that, I was again commissioned to write the music for the finale of Vancouver's Celebration Of Light, a yearly fireworks display that runs over the course of several nights in the summer in Vancouver's English Bay. I'm gonna try and bring my Nana to that one!
This month I also get to live a dream of mine... subbing in with the legendary Canadian band Chilliwack. Lead singer Bill Henderson has long been a big influence on me musically. I am excited and scared terribly at the same time. I can't wait. I'll write abou that the next time....

Kwalikum Jazz Extravaganza - Feb. 22 2008

Growing up my major influence in my life was my Dad, my Mom, my family and friends. Musically, my first profound influence was a musician named Phil Dwyer. Phil is a few years older than me and is an renowned saxophonist/ pianist of the highest order. He has won Junos (Canadian Grammies), recorded many albums, performed as a sideman for the likes of Red Rodney, Aretha Franklin, Gino Vanelli and many others. He is easily a world class player and I am proud to know him. We graduated from the same high school - Kwalikum Secondary School in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island.

Dave Stewart - who is, along with Dan Kramer, one of Kwalikum's award winning music instructors - asked me to participate in a fund raiser for the school's music program. It was to be billed as an 'alumni concert' in which students currently in the program would perform and then the alumni 'all star' band would perform to close out the night. Considering the talent that I was to play with I have a hard time feeling that I fit in to the 'all star' tag - however I was proud to be included.

It was a daunting task - while I am comfortable playing jazz - it is not something I get to do everyday as it is, shall we say, an acquired taste for the general public - therefore most of my living comes from playing and recording rock, R&B, country etc.. The musicians on the stand that night - Johannes Wallman, Pat Collins, Phil Dwyer, Johnathan Lindsay and Pat Steward - all play at an astonishingly high level and (with the exception of Pat Steward and Johnathan) play jazz on a daily basis. It was highly satisfying and inspiring to get the opportunity to play with these people - especially Phil who I consider the main motivation for me to kick start my career as a musician.