It's the end of Mayan World but ours keeps going. . .

Well, the Mayan calendar is coming to an end soon but the South Shore continues to bask in the sunshine for today at least.  We made it past 12:12:12 on 12/12/12 without any earth-shattering events.   The only disaster I was involved in was picking my letters at lunch-time Scrabble with Julia.  Sheesh, I don't think I could have done worse if I was allowed to look in the bag as I chose.

All over Facebook today, there are "National Sound Check" photographs, 1-2 1-2 1-2.  That's great but what about the bass players? Their sound check usually goes 1-5 1-5 1-5.  And how many sound guys does it take to change a light bulb?  None, it's the lighting guy's problem.

Enough with the frivolity - on to the music.  I've been busy composing and have several new pieces on the go.  Four of them are recorded - at least the guitar parts.  At some point I'll no doubt be getting together with David Findlay to think about what other instrumentation we need to add but in the meantime, they exist as guitar solos and are available for listening and downloading on my website.  You need to know where to find them so here's where they are.

A little bit of information about each of the pieces:

Bell Ringers came into being after I started tinkering with an old piece (called Bellringers Practice) that I didn't play very much any more.  I added a few new bits and pieces to make it a bit more interesting, decided I had stopped practising and was ready to take it out on stage, so I dropped the Practice for the new(ish) piece.

Still Waiting is a follow-on piece for Waiting For McAfee which is on Wires Rosewood & Roots.  I compose Waiting For McAfee while I was watching McAfee's customer support trying to fix their broken software with a remote session.  After several attempts to get it right, it was still mis-firing and slowing my computer down so I ended up replacing it with a different security suite.  Still Waiting is in the same tuning as WFM (Open G minor) and it started during yet another remote session.

Keep It Simple was a piece that (like many others) needed a title after the song itself was finished.  At the OCFF Conference in Mississauga in October, I was playing the piece for Nicole (my manager) and she commented that it was a lovely simple piece and I thought, "Yes, we do need to keep things simple." and the title arrived.

Nova Scotia New Age Blues is a kinda-sorta blues-y folk-y new age piece.  Kirk Bullough, in his review of Wires,  described my music as Nova Scotian New Age Blues and I think this piece was the kind of thing he had in mind.  I sent him a copy of the song for his listening pleasure and he thought it fit the description to a "T", so thanks to Kirk for the idea.

There are a couple more pieces currently approaching completion.  One of them as yet untitled just needs an ending.  It starts off quietly and builds to a crescendo and I'm not quite sure how to end it.  It could ease down slowly to a quiet end or just keep building and end with a crashing full chord that continues to ring as it fades.

The other one (titled Tiddlywinks because it reminds me of the sound that tiddlywinks make on a hard surface) still needs a little bit more to flesh it out and then it's ready.  Once the new music is finished, I'll pop up to the studio and record them and add them to the new samples page.

So here's wishing you and yours the happiest of whatever holiday season you celebrate - Christmas, Hannukah, Winter Solstice, none of the above (check one).  As one photo I saw on Facebook said:   "Dear Santa, I don't want much for Christmas.  I only want the person reading this to be happy."

Hope you enjoy the new music and have a peaceful and Happy New Year.

November 2012 - Home From My Travels

Oh my, here it is November already.   This time of year a regular ear worm is Sandy Denny's song Who Knows Where The Time Goes.  October seemed to fly by but then it was a very busy month, what with trips to Ontario, fund raising for ArtsCan Circle, a couple of new projects and lots of music, of course.

 

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way,  a rhinovirus and several of its friends decided to call me home and I've had a nasty cold ever since the return to Lunenburg.  It really knocked me out so I have to apologize for being uncommunicative since my return.  I didn't even go out of the house for a week.  It feels like I'm finally on the mend and even managed to unload some of the stuff from the van after two weeks.

Under New Management

First of all, we are delighted to report that your humble correspondent is now being managed by Nicole Colbeck at Little AcornMusic Management.  Nicole has been a good friend for some time and she has also been a fan and head cheerleader for Wires Rosewood & Roots.  We've spent quite a bit of time chatting about music informally so it seemed appropriate to formalise the arrangement and I'm very excited that Nicole has taken me on as a client.

Travelogue

If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that I was off to Ontario to attend the OCFF Conference as well as playing a few dates on the way home.   The Conference was a whirlwind of a weekend.  It's always great to run into old friends and we had a grand time playing lots of music,  listening to music, talking music, learning about all kinds of aspects of music, catching the odd power nap then doing it all over again.  There are so many people that it was a joy to see and there isn't room to mention them all by name but you know who you are.

The musical events on the way home were a ton of fun.  The Hamilton Guitar Association is always a gas – mostly finger-style guitar players – my kind of people.  Then a couple of house concerts, one in Perth one in Ottawa,  along with a couple of All Day Breakfasts with fellow South Shore musician Manitoba Hal.  We planted a seed and we'll tell you about it if it germinates (with Nicole's careful watering).

Retail Distribution

Following up from the success of  Wires Rosewood & Roots on radio stations throughout the world, we now have retail distribution for the CD.   Of course, you can still buy CDs on my website and in addition,  you can now find it in over 200 music shops in the the United States, including Barnes and Noble, FYE and numerous independent record retailers.   If you're not sure where to find it in your area, send me an e-mail letting me know what city you're in and I'll e-mail you back with a store location.  Come From Away and Returning Home are also available through our distributor.

Guitar Transcriptions

Finally, I am very excited to be working in conjunction with my friend Greg Stone on guitar transcriptions for Wires Rosewood & Roots.  To date, Waiting For McAfee and Irish Mood  are complete and available to order.  You can buy them from my website and we will send you a printed copy of tablature, music notation, or both (your choice) and a PDF version of the transcription as well.   Payment is through PayPal (who will securely process your credit card if you don't have a PayPal account).

That's all the news for now.  Feel free to like my Facebook page or add me as a friend.

 
Cheers, Bob.

A busy couple of weeks in October

First of all a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored your humble correspondent for the Artists For ArtsCan Circle Showcases at the OCFF Conference.  Through your generosity, we raised over $7,000 for the cause.  Of that total, I am honoured to have raised $1,400 which is the most of all the artists participating.  (Cue the Cheering Section - "We're Number 1!")  Many people have been involved in the fund-raising and I salute all my fellow musicians who have raised their own amounts and all the sponsors who have donated to this incredibly worthwhile project.

I'll be heading down the road to Ontario tomorrow, with a stop or two along the way to visit family and I'll be arriving in Mississauga on Thursday just in time for the start of the Conference.  I'm looking forward to catching up with some old friends and to meeting some new ones.  The Conference is always a bit of a whirlwind but it's educational as well as being fun and entertaining.

I had a great start to the Thanksgiving weekend by taking off to The Dunk in Prince Edward Island to perform an opening set for my friend Ian Foster.  It was a small crowd but very appreciative and I'm pleased to say that the host of The Dunk, Hal Mills, has invited me back to perform my own feature show in March. (Sheesh, are we that close to 2013 already?)

While I'm in Ontario, aside from the Conference, I'll be playing three dates.  On Monday October 15, I'll be the Feature Performer at the Hamilton Guitar Association.

Then I'm off to be the dutiful son and going to visit my Mom, followed by a rare visit with Jives - the newly appointed Artistic Director of the Live From The Rock Folk Festival held in Red Rock, Ontario every August.  There will also be a couple of days downtime which I'm planning to spend at my Mom's cottage doing some writing.  It's an internet-free zone so I won't be distracted.

On October 19th, I'll be appearing live on Window of Opportunity on CKCU-FM - Ottawa's Community Radio Station.  Laurie-Ann Copple is your gracious host for the show, which runs from 3:00 to 4:00 pm on Friday afternoons.  You can listen live on-line at the CKCU website. 

On the evening of the 19th, I'll be performing at a house concert in Perth, Ontario. Please e-mail me for Mark and Alexis's contact information  if you'd like to attend.

On the 20th, I'll be at Westboro House Concerts in Ottawa, hosted by the gracious Nicole and Roger Colbeck.  Again, e-mail me for directions if you're in our nation's capital area and want to come out to the show.

After the Westboro House Concert, I'll be heading back to the South Shore where there's no rest for the weary.   I have several instrumental pieces in various states of completion and several household tasks are also waiting which I've been putting off while I get ready for the road trip.  Once I'm back, I'll have no excuses.

I hope to see some of you at OCFF.  In the meantime, be well and keep playing.

Bringing Music to First Nations Communities

Hi – I'd like to ask for your help in bringing music and the arts to First Nations communities.   As a musician, I want to make a difference to the lives of young people in isolated areas and give them some of the same opportunities I had growing up in the "civilised" south.

For several years now, my family have not been giving each other gifts at Christmas.  Instead of buying needless "stuff" for each other, we've been donating the money to organizations that help those less fortunate than we are.   With all the recent news about conditions in indigenous communities, it makes sense to do something for other Canadians.

I'm working in conjunction with ArtsCan Circle to raise money to send musical instruments and teams of musicians and artists to remote communities in northern Canada. ArtsCan Circle is dedicated to encouraging self-esteem and engaging the youth in hands-on workshops in music, drama and visual arts.  You can learn more about the organization at www.artscancircle.ca

As a means of raising funds, I'm going to the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals conference in Mississauga, ON on October 12 & 13  and will be performing at the "Artists for ArtsCan Circle Showcase."  The showcase gives me an opportunity to bring my music to the conference attendees and at the same time, helps make it possible for ArtsCan Circle to continue bringing music and the arts to the north.  I am asking for your donation to sponsor my performance.

It's easy to get involved.  You can donate on-line or by cheque/snail mail.  To donate on-line go to www.artscancircle.ca and click on Donate Now.  On the donation page:

• enter the amount of your donation – please be generous;
• choose ArtsCan Circle Showcase (OCFF) as the Fund/Designation;
• enter Bob Ardern in the Message/Instructions box to let them know that you're sponsoring me.

If you'd rather donate the old-fashioned way, please send a cheque made out to ArtsCan Circle to the address below. A charitable tax receipt will be sent to you automatically for online donations. For cheque donations charitable tax receipts will be mailed for pledges of $20 or more so please include your return address.

The deadline to sponsor me at the OCFF conference is October 5.  Your donation will bring young people in Northern Canada the gift of self-expression through music and art and self-esteem through their artistic achievements.  Thank you for your support. 

Bob Ardern

P. O. Box 174

Lunenburg, NS

B0J 2C0

Oh my, how the time has flown by.  I wrote a line in The King's Shilling, "Time seems to move slower the older I become" but I fear it's a vain hope - time seems to just run faster.    The computer is certainly an invaluable tool but the virtual paperwork seems endless.  Answering e-mails, phone calls, packaging CDs to send out, the list goes on.  Sometimes I wonder how I ever find time to play.  Nevertheless, we have been making progress in this glamourous life of an independent musician.

Wires Rosewood & Roots has been doing extremely well.  It has been receiving high praise from reviewers (which you can read on the Reviews page of my website) and getting radio play in such far flung places as Barcelona, Bucharest, Reinwoude, Holland, and on numerous stations in the US and Canada.

Wires has been on the Zone Music Reporter Top 20 chart for four months now.   ZMR is like Billboard for New Age and Instrumental music.  We debuted at Number 3 in March, moved up to Number 2 in April and hit Number 1 in May.  When you're Number 1, the only place you can go is down and we lost the top spot in June but just getting there is quite an achievement.

Of course, a project of this nature is not a solo effort and many thanks are due to the musicians who played on the CD - Kev Corbett, David Findlay and Alyssa Wright.  David Findlay also produced the album, engineered, mixed and mastered it.  Paul Mills did the album cover graphic design, using fabulous photographs by Christian Stalley.   Radio and Media Promotion is by Ed and Stacey Bonk at Lazz Promotions.

The next step in the process is retail distribution and we've just started the campaign to put Wires into record shops.  We've been contacting retailers in the US and have established a distributor for the CDs.  The records should start appearing in stores in the next couple of weeks, so if you've been listening on the radio and want a copy of the CD, you should be able to find it.  In the tradition of independent business supporting each other, many of the record shops are independents and we encourage you to support your local retailer.  As always you can still buy all my music on-line at bobardern.ca

Another project I'm working on is producing print versions of the instrumentals on Wires.  It's easy to spot the guitar players in the audience when I'm out playing live.  They don't make eye contact because they're studiously watching my hands.  We're still in the exploratory phase but I've connected with a guitar transcription guru and we're going to work on a couple of pieces to see how it goes.  Part of the plan is to be able to give workshops and teach other guitarists how the music is put together and how I play it so that you can learn to play it yourself.  You'll be able to take the transcriptions home after the workshop and have the music laid out in print form along with the recorded version on the CD.

The good news is that despite all the calls on my time, I am finding space in the day for new compositions.  There are four new pieces in various stages of completion.  One is pretty much in the can although I want to explore some options for looping it.  One is almost ready to record the basic guitar part and then think about other instrumentation.  One is structurally sound but still needs a little more meat on the bones.  The last one has a working title and a general sense of where it's going but is still some way from completion.

So that's the thumbnail sketch of what's been happening in the Lunenburg headquarters.  Now I'd better get back to the grind, shooting test videos for the guitar transcription project.

Cheers, Bob.

Shameless Self-Promotion

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed - very gratified but overwhelmed.

With the assistance of Ed Bonk of LAZZ Promotions in Unionville, Ontario, Wires Rosewood & Roots has gone winging its way around the world to radio stations, reviewers and music databases.   As an album of guitar instrumentals, Wires will probably not appear on RockXX (insert your local rock station's frequency here) but it has gone out to campus and community stations, CBC, Galaxie, NPR, and internet radio - all the places who play instrumental, new age and ambient music. All told a couple of hundred copies went out.

I've always felt that Wires is a good recording but it's my baby and I suppose all artists think their CD is fabulous.  I am therefore extremely gratified to hear that others think it's a good CD as well.  Michael Diamond's review is now available on line.

The next major event for Wires Rosewood & Roots is the CD Release Concert which will take place at The Rum Runner Restaurant, 66 Montague Street, Lunenburg, NS on April 7, 2012 at 8:00pm.  More information is available on-line here including ticket information and directions to the venue.  

During the concert I will be playing some solo guitar pieces from Wires and I will also be joined on stage by David Findlay for some accompaniment to the guitar pieces and a few selections from my earlier releases.  David is a keyboard wizard as well as being the producer of Wires.   Much of the great sound on the album is a result both of David's playing and of his production skills.

We can't confirm it yet but I've also asked an excellent musician friend of mine to join us as well.  He's "60% certain" he'll be available and as soon as it's definite, I'll let you know more.  In the meantime, he's being billed as "a surprise mystery guest."

Please mark April 7 in your calendar and come out to the official launch of Wires Rosewood & Roots.  The Rum Runner will be open for dinner (doors open at 7:00) as well as the concert, so we invite you to make a night of it and help us celebrate what is sure to be a fabulous night of entertainment.