A year or so ago, my friend Manitoba Hal and I were chatting during the break when Hal was playing a gig in Lunenburg. I commented on a restaurant that I'd stopped in on a recent tour saying that they served breakfast all day so it was my favourite kind of place. Hal commented that it's a shame our music wasn't more compatible because we'd travel so well together. Turns out all day breakfast is one of Hal's favourite things too.
Hal went back on stage and finished his show and life moved on but the seed found a little corner of my mind in which to germinate. During a conversation with our mutual manager, Nicole Colbeck at Little Acorn Music Management, I asked her if she thought it was a silly idea because I thought it could work. Hal and I have travelled together for short periods and we do get along so maybe we could tour together. Nicole was encouraging and said we could call it The All Day Breakfast Tour so Hal and I started talking about the concept.
I can hear some of you thinking, but Bob is a mostly instrumental
finger-style guitar player and Hal is a ukelele bluesman. How would
that work? Well, when I met Hal, he was a fine finger-style guitar player in his own right and still is. He has a number of instrumental pieces that he originally wrote for guitar then transposed to ukelele and his fans have been asking for more.
Fundamentally, we are both finger-style musicians. Although we have differing styles we have worked out a format that will be appealing to both Hal's fans and mine. We tried it out at the Folk Music Ontario Conference in October. We played together at a Private Showcase and several people came up to us after and said we sounded good together. The structure of the tour show is that we each do a solo set and then have a grand finale set of duets.
The planning for the tour is now underway. Your humble correspondent is heading back into New England at the end of March and Hal is returning from a tour of Australia through Florida and we're planning to meet in Boston and play some dates together. Three weeks in April will see us in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine and we're looking to add more dates to the schedule.
There will be more to come on The All Day Breakfast Tour in later posts but for now, keep watching this space. As more details are confirmed, we'll let you know. Also visit us online at alldaybreakfasttour.com - the site is still under construction but please bookmark us.
In the meantime, best wishes for a happy and healthy 2014. It's been pretty chilly where we are so I hope it's warm where you are.
Cheers, Bob.
bobardern.ca
January 2, 2014
December 4, 2013
December and Home Again.
It's great to be back on the South Shore after 6 weeks on the road. It was a fabulous tour with a couple of conferences, many new friends, invitations to come back and play again. One of my favourite comments from a host after my performance, "That was absolutely great. This is why I host house concerts."
But that was then and this is now. The life of an independent musician comprises so much more than the time on stage. I had a conversation at the NERFA conference with someone who is not a musician and she asked if I did music full-time. I said, "The short answer is Yes. The long answer is that I'm a small-business entrepreneur whose product is music, so I do booking, rehearsals, recording, bookkeeping, sales, purchasing, etc, etc, etc."
The next project is the completion of Craftsman, the new album. The CD will comprise 11 instrumental pieces. Three of them are guitar solos and the other eight have other instrumentation on them to complement the guitar sound. There will also be a bonus track, which will be a guitar-only version of one of the eight. The album is being produced by David Findlay at Otitis Media in Lunenburg, NS. The recording is more or less complete and we still have final mixing and mastering to do which will take place over the next couple of weeks.
To help with the cost of production and marketing, we're going to be launching a crowd-funding campaign in January. Details are still being worked out but the campaign will allow you to pre-purchase CDs and downloads of the music - you'll get your copy in advance of the official release. You will also be able to arrange a house concert - I will come to where you are and play for you and your friends or you will be able to book a two-hour instructional workshop with your humble correspondent and learn some of the techniques and tips and tricks of finger-style guitar.
In addition to finalizing the CD, I'm booking some tour dates in the spring to coincide with the official release. The current target date is the beginning of April and I already have a couple of dates lined up. The spring tour may also tie in to a collaborative project with another South Shore musician. Watch this space for more details.
Finally, a huge Thank You to all the people who supported me along the Finger-Style and Fall Colours Tour. Meeting house concert hosts and becoming friends, sharing a stage with other musicians, just hanging out at conferences listening to others play and seeing places in the world I've never been before - these are some of the reasons I became a musician.
Best wishes for the holiday season - Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice - whatever your reason to celebrate, we wish you a happy time.
Cheers, Bob
Visit the website at bobardern.ca
But that was then and this is now. The life of an independent musician comprises so much more than the time on stage. I had a conversation at the NERFA conference with someone who is not a musician and she asked if I did music full-time. I said, "The short answer is Yes. The long answer is that I'm a small-business entrepreneur whose product is music, so I do booking, rehearsals, recording, bookkeeping, sales, purchasing, etc, etc, etc."
The next project is the completion of Craftsman, the new album. The CD will comprise 11 instrumental pieces. Three of them are guitar solos and the other eight have other instrumentation on them to complement the guitar sound. There will also be a bonus track, which will be a guitar-only version of one of the eight. The album is being produced by David Findlay at Otitis Media in Lunenburg, NS. The recording is more or less complete and we still have final mixing and mastering to do which will take place over the next couple of weeks.
To help with the cost of production and marketing, we're going to be launching a crowd-funding campaign in January. Details are still being worked out but the campaign will allow you to pre-purchase CDs and downloads of the music - you'll get your copy in advance of the official release. You will also be able to arrange a house concert - I will come to where you are and play for you and your friends or you will be able to book a two-hour instructional workshop with your humble correspondent and learn some of the techniques and tips and tricks of finger-style guitar.
In addition to finalizing the CD, I'm booking some tour dates in the spring to coincide with the official release. The current target date is the beginning of April and I already have a couple of dates lined up. The spring tour may also tie in to a collaborative project with another South Shore musician. Watch this space for more details.
Finally, a huge Thank You to all the people who supported me along the Finger-Style and Fall Colours Tour. Meeting house concert hosts and becoming friends, sharing a stage with other musicians, just hanging out at conferences listening to others play and seeing places in the world I've never been before - these are some of the reasons I became a musician.
Best wishes for the holiday season - Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice - whatever your reason to celebrate, we wish you a happy time.
Cheers, Bob
Visit the website at bobardern.ca
November 11, 2013
Musings from The Road
This will necessarily be a quick note. Your humble correspondent has been on the road for nearly 6 weeks and have been having great fun and adventures. I'm sitting in the foyer of the Outer Space in Hamden, CT doing a quick update while waiting for sound check for the gig.
Last weekend was my first attendance at the North East Regional Folk Alliance Conference (NERFA) in Kerhonkson, NY and it was a great experience. Thanks to the NERFA board for all the organization that goes into putting on a conference of that size. I met a number of people during the weekend and as soon as I get home next Sunday, I'll be updating my e-mail list and a putting in a much longer blog entry with some stories from the road. I've been pretty good about keeping a journal so I can remember all the details of the Finger-Style and Fall Colours Tour.
The tour so far has included Montreal and Missisauga, Williamsport and Lock Haven PA, Hopkinton and Westborough, MA, Tiverton, RI, Kerhonson and Hyde Park, NY, Montpelier, VT and soon-to-be the afore-mentioned Hamden, CT. Still to come are Morrisville, VT, Framingham, MA, Lubec, ME and Breadalbane, PEI. Details of the remaining dates are on my website Performance page and I'd be honoured if you get a chance to come out to one of them.
Many thanks are due to a load of people we've met along the way. Aside from new fans, I have a load of new friends. One of the benefits of playing in new places is meeting new people and when those people make me their friend it's a additional plus.
Keep watching this space for more details. One of my favourite places is coming up - Lunenburg, NS. I won't be playing out but it's my own home and my own bed and my sweetie, Julia. And we've just added a date in December at Fundy Folk at the Evergreen Theatre in Margaretsville.
Hope to see you on the road and wish you safe travelling wherever the music takes you.
Cheers, Bob
bobardern.ca
Last weekend was my first attendance at the North East Regional Folk Alliance Conference (NERFA) in Kerhonkson, NY and it was a great experience. Thanks to the NERFA board for all the organization that goes into putting on a conference of that size. I met a number of people during the weekend and as soon as I get home next Sunday, I'll be updating my e-mail list and a putting in a much longer blog entry with some stories from the road. I've been pretty good about keeping a journal so I can remember all the details of the Finger-Style and Fall Colours Tour.
The tour so far has included Montreal and Missisauga, Williamsport and Lock Haven PA, Hopkinton and Westborough, MA, Tiverton, RI, Kerhonson and Hyde Park, NY, Montpelier, VT and soon-to-be the afore-mentioned Hamden, CT. Still to come are Morrisville, VT, Framingham, MA, Lubec, ME and Breadalbane, PEI. Details of the remaining dates are on my website Performance page and I'd be honoured if you get a chance to come out to one of them.
Many thanks are due to a load of people we've met along the way. Aside from new fans, I have a load of new friends. One of the benefits of playing in new places is meeting new people and when those people make me their friend it's a additional plus.
Keep watching this space for more details. One of my favourite places is coming up - Lunenburg, NS. I won't be playing out but it's my own home and my own bed and my sweetie, Julia. And we've just added a date in December at Fundy Folk at the Evergreen Theatre in Margaretsville.
Hope to see you on the road and wish you safe travelling wherever the music takes you.
Cheers, Bob
bobardern.ca
October 6, 2013
Finger-style and Fall Colours
I'm excited. It's almost time to get out and play some music. Your humble correspondent is just about ready to load up the tour bus, plug in the tunes and let it roll down the highway. On October 10th, I'm starting out on a 6-week adventure to play 17 shows and a finger-style workshop and attend two conferences. All the details of dates, locations and time are on the Performance page of my website.
The Finger-Style and Fall Colours Tour first date is October 11 at the Side Door CoffeeHouse in Pierrefonds, QC (Montreal - the west island). From there it's a family Thanksgiving weekend, then off to Toronto on the 17th to play The PaintBox Bistro for Coast to Coast Folk - four fine musicians from BC, Ontario and Nova Scotia. As soon as we finish that show, I'm heading off to Mississauga for this year's Folk Music Ontario conference.
I'll be playing some private showcases at FMO followed by a feature set at the Hamilton Folk Club on October 22. Then I'm then off to the Northeastern US to play Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine. Nestled in there is my first attendance at the North East Regional Folk Alliance in upstate New York, where I'll be playing a few guerrilla showcases. After all the US dates, it's back across the border and over to PEI for a return to The Dunk to make up the date that was snowed out in March.
In between all the preparation for the tour, I've managed to get into the Otitis Media studios in Lunenburg and spend some time with producer David Findlay. We're working on my new CD, titled Craftsman, which is scheduled for release in early 2014. Aside from the acoustic guitar by yours truly, Craftsman also features musical contributions from Kev Corbett, Alyssa Wright and David Findlay. We've completed a preliminary mix of the tunes and I'll have a few pre-release copies with me on the road. It's going to be a good one. If you liked Wires Rosewood & Roots, we think you'll love Craftsman.
I hope to see you out at a show on the tour or just hanging out along the way. I have some off days in the schedule which I'm hoping to get some more writing done and start organizing some spring and summer shows. - Ah, the glamourous life of an independent musician. I'd give it all up but it's just too much fun.
See you on the road.
Cheers, Bob
bobardern.ca
The Finger-Style and Fall Colours Tour first date is October 11 at the Side Door CoffeeHouse in Pierrefonds, QC (Montreal - the west island). From there it's a family Thanksgiving weekend, then off to Toronto on the 17th to play The PaintBox Bistro for Coast to Coast Folk - four fine musicians from BC, Ontario and Nova Scotia. As soon as we finish that show, I'm heading off to Mississauga for this year's Folk Music Ontario conference.
I'll be playing some private showcases at FMO followed by a feature set at the Hamilton Folk Club on October 22. Then I'm then off to the Northeastern US to play Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine. Nestled in there is my first attendance at the North East Regional Folk Alliance in upstate New York, where I'll be playing a few guerrilla showcases. After all the US dates, it's back across the border and over to PEI for a return to The Dunk to make up the date that was snowed out in March.
In between all the preparation for the tour, I've managed to get into the Otitis Media studios in Lunenburg and spend some time with producer David Findlay. We're working on my new CD, titled Craftsman, which is scheduled for release in early 2014. Aside from the acoustic guitar by yours truly, Craftsman also features musical contributions from Kev Corbett, Alyssa Wright and David Findlay. We've completed a preliminary mix of the tunes and I'll have a few pre-release copies with me on the road. It's going to be a good one. If you liked Wires Rosewood & Roots, we think you'll love Craftsman.
I hope to see you out at a show on the tour or just hanging out along the way. I have some off days in the schedule which I'm hoping to get some more writing done and start organizing some spring and summer shows. - Ah, the glamourous life of an independent musician. I'd give it all up but it's just too much fun.
See you on the road.
Cheers, Bob
bobardern.ca
September 3, 2013
September in the rain
September has started with rain and more rain and we had to move the Lunenburg Heritage Bandstand Concert inside. The sun came out about 10 minutes after the show was over — good to see that Murphy's Law hasn't been repealed. It was a pleasure to play both Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival and the Bandstand Concert series and I want to say thank you to the good people at the FH Society for inviting me to participate in both events. I love living in a town which has its own folk festival.
Now that the summer is winding down (I refuse to believe it's over yet), it's time to start getting ready for October and November happenings. Given the whirlwind that was August, I'm happy that there is very little on my calendar for September. I will be playing and playing and playing to get ready for a fall tour and also to finalize the music for the new album (as mentioned in last month's post).
October sees me off on my travels to attend a couple of conferences (Folk Music Ontario and North East Regional Folk Alliance) and play some gigs over a 6-week spell. The tour will take me through Quebec, Ontario, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachussets, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and Prince Edward Island. More details on dates and locations will be coming out soon. My most recent purchase was a GPS to help me navigate.
The tour will be a big adventure. In order to play in the US, I acquired a P-3 visa which is good for a year and I'm planning on doing more in 2014 in support of the new CD. I have a few opportunities out west and in between the practice sessions, I'll be spending my time arranging dates. Ah, the glamourous life of an independent musician.
But before September is over, I have one more gig booked. I'll be down at The SeaDog Saloon in beautiful Shelburne, NS on Sept 27 to play the Friday Night Hootenany. Come on down to Dock Street for some good food and good tunes. There may be a couple of others that I'm working on as well. I'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, enjoy the musical journey, wherever it takes you and I hope to see you along the road.
Cheers, Bob
bobardern.ca
902-640-2892 (voice)
Skype: bobardern
Facebook: /BobArdernGuitar
Twitter: @BobArdernGuitar
In management partnership with littleacornmusicmanagement.com
Now that the summer is winding down (I refuse to believe it's over yet), it's time to start getting ready for October and November happenings. Given the whirlwind that was August, I'm happy that there is very little on my calendar for September. I will be playing and playing and playing to get ready for a fall tour and also to finalize the music for the new album (as mentioned in last month's post).
October sees me off on my travels to attend a couple of conferences (Folk Music Ontario and North East Regional Folk Alliance) and play some gigs over a 6-week spell. The tour will take me through Quebec, Ontario, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachussets, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and Prince Edward Island. More details on dates and locations will be coming out soon. My most recent purchase was a GPS to help me navigate.
The tour will be a big adventure. In order to play in the US, I acquired a P-3 visa which is good for a year and I'm planning on doing more in 2014 in support of the new CD. I have a few opportunities out west and in between the practice sessions, I'll be spending my time arranging dates. Ah, the glamourous life of an independent musician.
But before September is over, I have one more gig booked. I'll be down at The SeaDog Saloon in beautiful Shelburne, NS on Sept 27 to play the Friday Night Hootenany. Come on down to Dock Street for some good food and good tunes. There may be a couple of others that I'm working on as well. I'll keep you posted.
In the meantime, enjoy the musical journey, wherever it takes you and I hope to see you along the road.
Cheers, Bob
bobardern.ca
902-640-2892 (voice)
Skype: bobardern
Facebook: /BobArdernGuitar
Twitter: @BobArdernGuitar
In management partnership with littleacornmusicmanagement.com
July 29, 2013
Almost August and it's getting busy
July has flown by. I'm reminded of a line from Al Stewart's song Time Passages, "The years run too short and the days too fast." I have a line in my song The King's Shilling, "Time seems to move slower the older I become" but I think I'm wrong and Al has it right.
As you would expect, music is what makes the days go by so quickly. I'm working on the follow-up to Wires Rosewood & Roots and have most of the guitar parts done. David Findlay, my producer, has done some initial mixing on the guitars and in a moment of inspiration, started tinkling on his piano and we ended up with a couple of piano parts for one of the new pieces.
I've been releasing some of the guitar parts as we get them finished and you can find them all on my website here.
We're aiming to have the CD (as yet with no title) released in early 2014. We still have a lot to do but the timing should work. I'm part way into composing the 11th of 12 tracks and the musical gods have been whispering melody fragments in my ear for the 12th so the composition phase is well on the way to completion. Then it will be time to sit down in the Otitis Media studio with David in his producer's hat and add the other instrumentation to complement the guitar.
In the meantime, Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival is coming up for the weekend of August 8-11 and your humble correspondent is honoured to be in the line-up. On Saturday afternoon from 3:30 to 5, as part of the Festival's School of Folk, Scott and Ryan Huppman, Christine Campbell and I will be hosting a guitar workshop in the Central United Church Hall. There will be three different playing styles so bring your guitar and pick up some tips and tricks.
On Sunday afternoon at 3:00 I'll be playing on the Bandstand Stage in the park next to the Town Hall. This stage is open to the public and you don't need a festival pass - just bring a chair or a blanket and enjoy the music.
There's lots more news to come, including an upcoming tour in the fall and some plans for 2014 already. Thanks for listening.
Cheers, Bob
bobardern.ca
As you would expect, music is what makes the days go by so quickly. I'm working on the follow-up to Wires Rosewood & Roots and have most of the guitar parts done. David Findlay, my producer, has done some initial mixing on the guitars and in a moment of inspiration, started tinkling on his piano and we ended up with a couple of piano parts for one of the new pieces.
I've been releasing some of the guitar parts as we get them finished and you can find them all on my website here.
We're aiming to have the CD (as yet with no title) released in early 2014. We still have a lot to do but the timing should work. I'm part way into composing the 11th of 12 tracks and the musical gods have been whispering melody fragments in my ear for the 12th so the composition phase is well on the way to completion. Then it will be time to sit down in the Otitis Media studio with David in his producer's hat and add the other instrumentation to complement the guitar.
In the meantime, Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival is coming up for the weekend of August 8-11 and your humble correspondent is honoured to be in the line-up. On Saturday afternoon from 3:30 to 5, as part of the Festival's School of Folk, Scott and Ryan Huppman, Christine Campbell and I will be hosting a guitar workshop in the Central United Church Hall. There will be three different playing styles so bring your guitar and pick up some tips and tricks.
On Sunday afternoon at 3:00 I'll be playing on the Bandstand Stage in the park next to the Town Hall. This stage is open to the public and you don't need a festival pass - just bring a chair or a blanket and enjoy the music.
There's lots more news to come, including an upcoming tour in the fall and some plans for 2014 already. Thanks for listening.
Cheers, Bob
bobardern.ca
June 3, 2013
June - and we finally turn off the furnace
Yay! The long-awaited summer appears to have started. It's been a long spring but at last we've had a couple of days sitting on the deck after work with a G&T. Life is good!
A Weekend in New Orleans
We have become complacent about travel. Your humble correspondent was in N'awlins for a weekend in May to attend the 9th Annual Zone Music Reporter Awards as a Nominee. Sadly, Wires Rosewood & Roots did not win the Best Album Instrumental Acoustic award but it was still a great honour to have been nominated. Thanks to everyone who voted for me and to all the radio stations who play the CD.
The weekend was a blast (aside from the travel there which was a fog-delayed pain in the butt.) The Friday night Meet & Greet was a great time and I met a bunch of people in real life who were hitherto just e-mail and Facebook contacts. The Awards Show itself was obviously the reason for the weekend - think of the Grammys with the focus on instrumental music - and it was also a blast to head off to the French Quarter after it and have a burger and a beer at the Hard Rock Cafe. About 15 of us outlasted the rock 'n rollers and closed the place! New Age Rules, OK!
Gigs in Toronto
So now it's on to planning for the fall but before that, we have a quick trip to Ontario coming up. I am excited to have been invited by Alan and Joanna Mills to play an O'Hara House Concert. Joanna and I have been working on the date since last year's OCFF conference and it's now set for June 22. If you're in the city, it would be great to see you at the show. Contact and ticketing information can be found here. There's a backyard barbecue planned and the concert will be al fresco (weather permitting).
If you can't make that date, you'll have another opportunity on June 27th. My friend Shawna Caspi and I are doing a double bill at the renowned Free Times Cafe (College St just west of Spadina). No cover, pay what you can to the donation jar. Kick-off is 9:30pm. Shawna is a great musician, insightful lyrics, wonderful voice and fine finger-style guitar playing. I'll be doing my best to keep up.
And on the Friday night before all this (June 21st), I'm very pleased to be appearing live in the studio on Acoustic Planet, hosted by Steve Clarke, on Mix 88.1FM, Erin's Community Radio station. You can listen on-line or over the air the old-fashioned way if you're within range. I'll be playing live on-air showcasing some of the my new tunes and spinning some favourites from the musical world.
Nova Scotia New Age Blues
As I mentioned in the May blog,we've been shooting more videos in conjunction with Analog Songs. We shot two videos one day in April both of new pieces of music. The first of these videos was filmed in the Old Blacksmith's Shop in Lunenburg (which is now the headquarters of the Ironworks Distillery). The song is called Nova Scotia New Age Blues and is scheduled for release on June 10th. Watch this space for the official announcement and details on where you can watch it.
In the next issue...
More about the upcoming fall tour. Several dates are confirmed in New York, Pennsylvania and New England with negotiations underway to add more.
A Weekend in New Orleans
We have become complacent about travel. Your humble correspondent was in N'awlins for a weekend in May to attend the 9th Annual Zone Music Reporter Awards as a Nominee. Sadly, Wires Rosewood & Roots did not win the Best Album Instrumental Acoustic award but it was still a great honour to have been nominated. Thanks to everyone who voted for me and to all the radio stations who play the CD.
The weekend was a blast (aside from the travel there which was a fog-delayed pain in the butt.) The Friday night Meet & Greet was a great time and I met a bunch of people in real life who were hitherto just e-mail and Facebook contacts. The Awards Show itself was obviously the reason for the weekend - think of the Grammys with the focus on instrumental music - and it was also a blast to head off to the French Quarter after it and have a burger and a beer at the Hard Rock Cafe. About 15 of us outlasted the rock 'n rollers and closed the place! New Age Rules, OK!
Gigs in Toronto
So now it's on to planning for the fall but before that, we have a quick trip to Ontario coming up. I am excited to have been invited by Alan and Joanna Mills to play an O'Hara House Concert. Joanna and I have been working on the date since last year's OCFF conference and it's now set for June 22. If you're in the city, it would be great to see you at the show. Contact and ticketing information can be found here. There's a backyard barbecue planned and the concert will be al fresco (weather permitting).
If you can't make that date, you'll have another opportunity on June 27th. My friend Shawna Caspi and I are doing a double bill at the renowned Free Times Cafe (College St just west of Spadina). No cover, pay what you can to the donation jar. Kick-off is 9:30pm. Shawna is a great musician, insightful lyrics, wonderful voice and fine finger-style guitar playing. I'll be doing my best to keep up.
And on the Friday night before all this (June 21st), I'm very pleased to be appearing live in the studio on Acoustic Planet, hosted by Steve Clarke, on Mix 88.1FM, Erin's Community Radio station. You can listen on-line or over the air the old-fashioned way if you're within range. I'll be playing live on-air showcasing some of the my new tunes and spinning some favourites from the musical world.
Nova Scotia New Age Blues
As I mentioned in the May blog,we've been shooting more videos in conjunction with Analog Songs. We shot two videos one day in April both of new pieces of music. The first of these videos was filmed in the Old Blacksmith's Shop in Lunenburg (which is now the headquarters of the Ironworks Distillery). The song is called Nova Scotia New Age Blues and is scheduled for release on June 10th. Watch this space for the official announcement and details on where you can watch it.
In the next issue...
More about the upcoming fall tour. Several dates are confirmed in New York, Pennsylvania and New England with negotiations underway to add more.
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