Archive for the ‘Misc’ Category

Post Show w/Rae Spoon

Sunday, December 5th, 2010

For a Sunday night and with the Grey Cup to compete with, we had a surprisingly good show. The place was packed and with no seating room left to spare, people made full use of whatever standing room could be found.

The crowd was very receptive and oddly quiet and attentive but not that I’m complaining! Rae Spoon’s charming and quirky candor was a pleasure to watch on stage and had the audience cheering for two encores by the end of the night.

Being that it was my last show in a while, I decided it was high time to just finally let go and be myself. I know it sounds ridiculously cliché but it’s an issue that I’ve been struggling with for as long as I have been a performer. I always thought that it would be safer to censor myself rather than just say and do what came naturally for fear of offending or being perceived the wrong way.

I have to admit it felt really good. People are free to think what they please but at least this way I have first say on what that definition is going to be by staying true to myself.

Just the other day I heard a great quote recited by Nigella Lawson while in an interview on CBC’s Q with Jihan Gomeshi that speaks volumes on the subject of self perception and how we sometimes allow others to define us:

“What other people think of you is really none of your business”

I suddenly feel the weight start to lift off my shoulders.

Crunch Time!

Monday, October 11th, 2010

Last week I met with the band for our usual practice. We had a very constructive session dedicating most of our time to working on musical arrangements for a couple of my new songs. We want to have all our material down solid so that we can have all the instrumental tracks recorded for our debut album by the end of this year. The goal is to have the album completed and ready to launch by early 2011. Exciting!

However, before all of that gets done we still have to work on preparing for our upcoming show with Rae Spoon on Sun, Nov 28 at Casa del Popolo. And from the looks of it we don’t have many rehearsal days left with the entire band. Seems like this month is the month of scheduling conflicts! Oh well, we’ll just have to make the most out of the time we do have together.

Game Plan

Friday, October 8th, 2010

I’ve been at this music thing for a while now and have tried everything from playing the chameleon to fit into what other bands were looking for to being the singer/songwriter half of a trip hop duo. Then at the age of 30 right when I was about ready to call it quits I got my dream band of musicians together. It happened almost effortlessly. I guess it wasn’t all that much of an accident since all the time I put in wasn’t in vain, it was my time to discover my voice and grow into a much more confident musician than I was ten years ago. Hell, a little while back I was still struggling with the idea of referring to myself as a musician!

A lot of the time I feel like I’m in a race with myself. I want everything to have been done yesterday. Then I remember that I need to step back and look at the progress that I’ve made – which is a worthwhile thing to do especially when you’re wrapped up in all the plans for the future.

Muscle Memory

Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

So you’ve heard me whining about not being able to play with the band for the last little while but last Saturday finally marked the end of that!

Chris, Andy and I went over our set and worked on a new song. It’s amazing how much the songs stick in your muscle memory. We were surprised by how smooth everything went despite our lapse in practice.

We’re excited to be back in rehearsal mode and look forward to returning to the stage soon. Our next show will be at Casa del Popolo on Sunday, Nov. 28 with the incredible Rae Spoon. Be sure to save the date!

Tworefic!

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

I’ve been rehearsing solo for the past two month since Christina and Andy had to attend to some work of their own. I’m feeling great and pretty much fully recovered from my jaw expansion surgery. The gap is gone and my face is back to normal.

Today I was excited to finally say goodbye to practicing alone. Steve and I went through our set and we got back into the groove of things as if we had been practicing all along. I had a new song too that we worked on a bit and I’m looking forward to presenting it to the rest of the band at next week’s practice.

One is the Loneliest Number

Friday, August 20th, 2010

It’s been over two months since I’ve played with my band and I’m in serious withdrawal. I’ve been making sure to practice on my own but I don’t get the same sense of fulfillment that I do when I’m sharing the experience with my band mates. I’m definitely not a solo player. I thrive on the social element of fleshing out my songs with other talented musicians.

Two of my band mates are still busy with some work that they have to wrap up this month. My drummer and I are going to get together to practice this Saturday. Hey two is better than one… well it’s always felt that way to me anyway.

Throw Away the Key!

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

It’s official. Last Wednesday the orthodontist delivered the long awaited news – I’m done widening my jaw. Although it seemed like forever the orthodontist did keep to his initial estimate which was that it would take approximately 30 days for the process to be complete.

The gap between my two front teeth is quickly closing in, should be another week to two weeks before it’s back to normal. Hopefully the teeth will drift back together in somewhat of a straight fashion otherwise I’ll have to deal with that anomaly until the braces go on which will only be in 6 months time once the bone has fully healed from my jaw expansion surgery.

My face is still puffy and my surgeon informed me last week that the puffiness will last a month to two months.

As for the music, I’ve been trying my best to practice on my own even though my singing sounds a little funny with my gap. I have to learn how to exhale without loosing all of my breath through the space between my front teeth! Okay I exaggerate slightly :)

I’m pretty anxious to get back into regular practice mode with the band but I’ll have to wait until a couple of my band mates are through with some work that they have to get finished. Until then I’ll try to keep motivated to practice on my own. Boo :(