First a brief weather update - the rain has stopped and the sun's supposed to shine all week. And now for the news. . .
The big news we are very pleased to announce is that your humble correspondent will be playing some dates accompanying Bonnie Ste-Croix. Bonnie is a great singer/songwriter originally from Gaspé and now living in Halifax after many years in Vancouver. To give you the short version, we were both booked to play a Songwriters Circle at Lunenburg Sessions in May. I offered to back up Bonnie with some guitar playing and a bit of harmony at the circle. The performance was well received and we decided to try it again.
Our first major event was on June 9 and we had a wonderful time at Fables in Tatamagouche. Chuck and Hanna Hunziker are the owners of Fables and they present a range of performance arts events every week. If I didn't love living in Lunenburg so much, I think I'd move to Tatamagouche and become a member.
A great deal of music is happening in Lunenburg as well. Traci and Rob at Scuttlebutt are presenting live music Thursdays through Sundays. I'll be back for another night of fun there on July 23rd. Also back for the summer is Anna Ludlow's Kitchen Ceilidh at the Fish Factoryon Wednesdays. As always, Lunenburg Sessions is presenting music in the Academy on the first Tuesday of every month.
Hope to see you out at a music event soon.
June 21, 2011
May 19, 2011
Spring on the South Shore
Oh my, what a rainy spring. The boatbuilders in town have turned their skills to making arks. I was by the Bluenose II restoration site a few days ago and saw an old guy with a beard who had a couple of saws and a chisel in his hand. He was muttering something about not enough animal accomodations. I couldn't quite make out the name embroidered on his overalls but it looked suspiciously like Noah.
Ah, but as I sit and muse this afternoon, the sun is shining, the leaves are starting to explode on the chestnut tree and it's looking beautiful in Lunenburg. The ice cream parlours are open again and people are walking about without jackets (and umbrellas).
I've just spent a couple of hours restructuring the website although you shouldn't notice any difference - it just makes maintaining the site a little easier. Thank goodness for my computer skills; I knew they'd come in handy someday. In truth, there are features of being a programmer that I miss even though I wouldn't want to go back to earning a living at it.
Along with the underlying structural changes the website has one new feature. Andy Flinn and Ariana Nasr from Wolfville, NS have been putting on both a concert series called Night Kitchen and an annual music festival called AMP Festival for several years. On Mother's Day, I was honoured to play (with Ariana) at the AMPFest Sunday Night Gala Performance. There's a video of our performance of Senses of You on Youtube and you can now link to the video from the Music/Lyrics menu on my website or by clicking here.
Coming up on June 11th, I have another return engagement at Scuttlebutt - a great little restaurant on Montague Street in Lunenburg. The owners, Rob and Traci, are lovely people who put on live music in the restaurant most weekend evenings and it's a pleasure to be playing there sorta regularly. Come on down and support live music while enjoying good food in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. More info on Scuttlebutt can be found on Facebook - click here for a link to the FB group.
The following weekend, June 18 sees me back at the Harbour Folk Kitchen Party at the Rose and Kettle Tea Room in Cole Harbour. For more information, click here to visit the Harbour Folk website.
And one last but very important thing - Get Well Soon thoughts to David Walsh who is in St Mikes's Hospital in Toronto recovering from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident. We're cheering for ya big guy.
Ah, but as I sit and muse this afternoon, the sun is shining, the leaves are starting to explode on the chestnut tree and it's looking beautiful in Lunenburg. The ice cream parlours are open again and people are walking about without jackets (and umbrellas).
I've just spent a couple of hours restructuring the website although you shouldn't notice any difference - it just makes maintaining the site a little easier. Thank goodness for my computer skills; I knew they'd come in handy someday. In truth, there are features of being a programmer that I miss even though I wouldn't want to go back to earning a living at it.
Along with the underlying structural changes the website has one new feature. Andy Flinn and Ariana Nasr from Wolfville, NS have been putting on both a concert series called Night Kitchen and an annual music festival called AMP Festival for several years. On Mother's Day, I was honoured to play (with Ariana) at the AMPFest Sunday Night Gala Performance. There's a video of our performance of Senses of You on Youtube and you can now link to the video from the Music/Lyrics menu on my website or by clicking here.
Coming up on June 11th, I have another return engagement at Scuttlebutt - a great little restaurant on Montague Street in Lunenburg. The owners, Rob and Traci, are lovely people who put on live music in the restaurant most weekend evenings and it's a pleasure to be playing there sorta regularly. Come on down and support live music while enjoying good food in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. More info on Scuttlebutt can be found on Facebook - click here for a link to the FB group.
The following weekend, June 18 sees me back at the Harbour Folk Kitchen Party at the Rose and Kettle Tea Room in Cole Harbour. For more information, click here to visit the Harbour Folk website.
And one last but very important thing - Get Well Soon thoughts to David Walsh who is in St Mikes's Hospital in Toronto recovering from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident. We're cheering for ya big guy.
March 7, 2011
My goodness, it's been a long time since I posted. Music took a back seat for several months while we worked on the house and it took some time to get motivated again. Inevitably, all writers hit writer's block and my name came up in the rotation because I wasn't playing and wasn't writing anything. The good news is that I'm back in the saddle (not literally, you understand - I'm not going to become a singing cowboy) and enjoying playing and composing again.
I have two finished guitar instrumentals and a third that is almost complete. I also have a work in progress on getting lucky (in several senses) on the internet. There may be a verse in it about what a huge time-suck Facebook is. I'm not addicted to the internet. Really, I'm not. I can stop any time I want.
Sometimes it's the little things that kickstart you. For several months now, I've been playing in a jam organized by my friend Laurie every couple of weeks. I have to learn a new language living in Nova Scotia. I used to call it a song circle but down here it's a jam. If you're walking down Lincoln Street in Lunenburg every other Friday afternoon, you might see several musicians sitting in one of the storefronts, and if you stick your head in the door, you'll hear some interesting sounds. It's an eclectic mix of styles and we do have people dropping in just to listen, so if you're in the neighbourhood...
Here's some news on upcoming performances. On April 1st, 6:00 to 9:00pm, I'll be playing for the dinner and after crowd at the Scuttlebutt Restaurant on Montague Street in Lunenburg. The owners, Traci and Rob, are great people and are encouraging local artists by putting on music events and I'm pleased to be part of it. The food is good and won't break the bank. They have a liquid license so you can have a tasty beverage while dining and while listening after. One of my personal favourites: they serve breakfast all day so you can get bacon, scrambled eggs, and home fries whenever. Yum. Oh yeah, no cover charge. How good can it get? Click here to link to Scuttlebutt's Facebook page.
I'll also be part of a Songwriters Circle at Lunenburg Sessions on Tuesday May 3 at 7:30pm in the 3rd Floor Theatre of the Lunenburg Academy. I love doing songwriter's circle generally and I'm looking forward to this one in particular. Joining me will be Catahoula Brown, who was featured not long ago on CBC's Atlantic Airwaves, and Bonnie Ste. Croix who is a great singer/songwriter living in Halifax. Bonnie is one of the finalists at Folk Fiesta for the last spot at the 2011 Folk Harbour Festival. Click here to link to Lunenburg Sessions Facebook page.
Shortly after the Songwriter's Circle, it's off to Wolfville for the 3rd Annual AMP Festival, presented by Andy Flynn and Ariana Nasr. I'm on the bill for Mother's Day Sunday Night, May 8th. The format is a rapid-fire event with quick changeovers between acts so we get to see a lot of performers in a short period of time. The other good news on this gig is that Ariana will be joining me to play violin with me. Click here to link to the AMP Festival website.
So that's it for the moment. I will try to be a more regular correspondent now that music moves me again.
Cheers, Bob
I have two finished guitar instrumentals and a third that is almost complete. I also have a work in progress on getting lucky (in several senses) on the internet. There may be a verse in it about what a huge time-suck Facebook is. I'm not addicted to the internet. Really, I'm not. I can stop any time I want.
Sometimes it's the little things that kickstart you. For several months now, I've been playing in a jam organized by my friend Laurie every couple of weeks. I have to learn a new language living in Nova Scotia. I used to call it a song circle but down here it's a jam. If you're walking down Lincoln Street in Lunenburg every other Friday afternoon, you might see several musicians sitting in one of the storefronts, and if you stick your head in the door, you'll hear some interesting sounds. It's an eclectic mix of styles and we do have people dropping in just to listen, so if you're in the neighbourhood...
Here's some news on upcoming performances. On April 1st, 6:00 to 9:00pm, I'll be playing for the dinner and after crowd at the Scuttlebutt Restaurant on Montague Street in Lunenburg. The owners, Traci and Rob, are great people and are encouraging local artists by putting on music events and I'm pleased to be part of it. The food is good and won't break the bank. They have a liquid license so you can have a tasty beverage while dining and while listening after. One of my personal favourites: they serve breakfast all day so you can get bacon, scrambled eggs, and home fries whenever. Yum. Oh yeah, no cover charge. How good can it get? Click here to link to Scuttlebutt's Facebook page.
I'll also be part of a Songwriters Circle at Lunenburg Sessions on Tuesday May 3 at 7:30pm in the 3rd Floor Theatre of the Lunenburg Academy. I love doing songwriter's circle generally and I'm looking forward to this one in particular. Joining me will be Catahoula Brown, who was featured not long ago on CBC's Atlantic Airwaves, and Bonnie Ste. Croix who is a great singer/songwriter living in Halifax. Bonnie is one of the finalists at Folk Fiesta for the last spot at the 2011 Folk Harbour Festival. Click here to link to Lunenburg Sessions Facebook page.
Shortly after the Songwriter's Circle, it's off to Wolfville for the 3rd Annual AMP Festival, presented by Andy Flynn and Ariana Nasr. I'm on the bill for Mother's Day Sunday Night, May 8th. The format is a rapid-fire event with quick changeovers between acts so we get to see a lot of performers in a short period of time. The other good news on this gig is that Ariana will be joining me to play violin with me. Click here to link to the AMP Festival website.
So that's it for the moment. I will try to be a more regular correspondent now that music moves me again.
Cheers, Bob
July 23, 2010
Life continues in Lunenburg
Hi again. It's been a while. I've been MIA for the last couple of months and I'm finally resurfacing.
As soon as I arrived home safe and sound from the Ontario tour, we started doing some renovations around the house. Among other things, we pulled down a chimney that ran right up the middle of the house in order to make some badly needed room in a closet and the basement. Let me tell you how long fingernails last when you're chiselling bricks out and tossing them into the dumpster. Not long - think nanoseconds. The whole project lastedmany weeks and in that time, the guitars stayed mostly in their cases and I hadn't been playing much at all. At the end of a hard day, I had virtually no energy left to play.
The good news is that the reno is complete and the only outstanding task is painting. The previous owners painted every room white so we're adding colour to the place. My nails are almost back to their pre-reno length and playing is a pleasure.
For the last few weeks, I've been playing in a song circle at my friend Art's. It's a fun group - some guitars, some fiddles, some flute, some keyboards all making for an eclectic mix on a Wednesday evening.
Coming up in the near future, I have a fun evening ahead tonight. One of the local inns, The Rum Runner, has a kitchen party on Friday nights. It's run by one of Lunenburg's many amateur musicians (who is also a town councillor and a local business owner) and he invites three or four others to play with him in a workshop/song circle type of environment.
It's probably not held in the kitchen but I'm finding out that East Coast kitchen parties are a big thing. Parties start in the kitchen (probably cause that's where the fridge is) and music usually breaks out and a good time is had by all.
Another event coming up that should be fun is the Bridgewater Growing Green Festival on August 21st. There will be a farmer's market, music, local book readings, art displays, food & drink, kid & family activities, community group booths, skills demonstrations and workshops. I'm not sure of the schedule yet but I'll be busking for part of the time and playing a set on the farmer's market stage.
In between, I'll be joining my erstwhile partner in rhyme, Jives, to head back up to Northwestern Ontario for the 8th Annual Live From The Rock festival. If you're up in that part of the world August 6/7/8, don't miss it. Red Rock is a great little town and LFTR is one of my favourite festivals. I'll be part of the sound crew again this year, running the Fish and Game Stage, hosting the Open Mic, and hosting Thursday night's campfire.
And finally, news on what's been going on with the website. I discovered an error in the pull-down menus that omitted a link to the Live at The Rose and Kettle page. The menus have been fixed so you can now get to the page from the Music/Lyrics menu. Also, I've added a new video page. While I was in Ontario, I had the good fortune to be asked to record a segment for the Hamilton Community program Hamilton Life on Shaw Cable 14. They sent me a DVD of the segment and I've put it up on the website for those of outside of Shaw's Hamilton feed. It's under the Music/Lyrics menu on the website.
Cheers, Bob
As soon as I arrived home safe and sound from the Ontario tour, we started doing some renovations around the house. Among other things, we pulled down a chimney that ran right up the middle of the house in order to make some badly needed room in a closet and the basement. Let me tell you how long fingernails last when you're chiselling bricks out and tossing them into the dumpster. Not long - think nanoseconds. The whole project lastedmany weeks and in that time, the guitars stayed mostly in their cases and I hadn't been playing much at all. At the end of a hard day, I had virtually no energy left to play.
The good news is that the reno is complete and the only outstanding task is painting. The previous owners painted every room white so we're adding colour to the place. My nails are almost back to their pre-reno length and playing is a pleasure.
For the last few weeks, I've been playing in a song circle at my friend Art's. It's a fun group - some guitars, some fiddles, some flute, some keyboards all making for an eclectic mix on a Wednesday evening.
Coming up in the near future, I have a fun evening ahead tonight. One of the local inns, The Rum Runner, has a kitchen party on Friday nights. It's run by one of Lunenburg's many amateur musicians (who is also a town councillor and a local business owner) and he invites three or four others to play with him in a workshop/song circle type of environment.
It's probably not held in the kitchen but I'm finding out that East Coast kitchen parties are a big thing. Parties start in the kitchen (probably cause that's where the fridge is) and music usually breaks out and a good time is had by all.
Another event coming up that should be fun is the Bridgewater Growing Green Festival on August 21st. There will be a farmer's market, music, local book readings, art displays, food & drink, kid & family activities, community group booths, skills demonstrations and workshops. I'm not sure of the schedule yet but I'll be busking for part of the time and playing a set on the farmer's market stage.
In between, I'll be joining my erstwhile partner in rhyme, Jives, to head back up to Northwestern Ontario for the 8th Annual Live From The Rock festival. If you're up in that part of the world August 6/7/8, don't miss it. Red Rock is a great little town and LFTR is one of my favourite festivals. I'll be part of the sound crew again this year, running the Fish and Game Stage, hosting the Open Mic, and hosting Thursday night's campfire.
And finally, news on what's been going on with the website. I discovered an error in the pull-down menus that omitted a link to the Live at The Rose and Kettle page. The menus have been fixed so you can now get to the page from the Music/Lyrics menu. Also, I've added a new video page. While I was in Ontario, I had the good fortune to be asked to record a segment for the Hamilton Community program Hamilton Life on Shaw Cable 14. They sent me a DVD of the segment and I've put it up on the website for those of outside of Shaw's Hamilton feed. It's under the Music/Lyrics menu on the website.
Cheers, Bob
April 8, 2010
On the road
Hi from the road, everyone. I've been having fun catching up with old friends, playing for new ones, generally having fun while Julia is at home having work done around the house and rediscovering that the life of a travelling musician isn't all the glamour of the show itself.
I'm through the GTA portion of the tour, looking forward to the show on Saturday on the shores of beautiful Georgian Bay at the Zen Waffle Inn in Waubaushene. Then on Monday, I'm off to Northern Ontario. It will be an interesting change to get up there in April instead of August when the long-suffering Jives and I head off to Red Rock for the Live From The Rock Festival. The CBC weather report is calling for freezing rain and snow up there in the next couple of days so I'm hoping it's all blown itself away by the weekend so I don't get snowbound. Sure makes a change from last weekend when I was in Toronto and it was 25 degrees.
Unfortunately, we had a scheduling conflict and we've had to cancel the house concert in Marathon on April 17. We've moved the Wawa performance to the 17th and moved it to the Legion. There are compensations though. I've added a show in Sackville, NB on the 24th which should be fun. Some friends have played there and the two brothers who run the Hamilton Guitar Association are originally from there and they've told me all about Sackville so I'm looking forward to that one.
One of the unfortunate side effects of being on the road is that I've missed Lunenburg Sessions. Last Tuesday we had Dusty Keleher in and I was sorry to miss that one. If you haven't heard of him and you like traditional Irish music, you should check him out. He's on Facebook and Myspace and worth a look.
Coming up on May's Sessions, for which I will be home, we're having my friend (and recently-arrived CFA) Manitoba Hal Brolund who is now Nova Scotia Hal having moved to Shelburne, just along the South Shore from Lunenburg.
Today it's time to help my mother buy a new computer. Her old one is as slow as a snail and I'm going to look for something new and fast for her. The only concern I have is that she's used to Windows XP and we're most likely to end up with a system that has Windows 7. I'm not convinced I like it. I have it on my netbook (that came with me on the road) and it wouldn't have been my choice if I could have found one with XP. There's probably a song somewhere in my brain about Microsoft and it wouldn't be very complementary.
So that's it for now. Stay well and I hope to see you at a show sometime soon.
Cheers, Bob
I'm through the GTA portion of the tour, looking forward to the show on Saturday on the shores of beautiful Georgian Bay at the Zen Waffle Inn in Waubaushene. Then on Monday, I'm off to Northern Ontario. It will be an interesting change to get up there in April instead of August when the long-suffering Jives and I head off to Red Rock for the Live From The Rock Festival. The CBC weather report is calling for freezing rain and snow up there in the next couple of days so I'm hoping it's all blown itself away by the weekend so I don't get snowbound. Sure makes a change from last weekend when I was in Toronto and it was 25 degrees.
Unfortunately, we had a scheduling conflict and we've had to cancel the house concert in Marathon on April 17. We've moved the Wawa performance to the 17th and moved it to the Legion. There are compensations though. I've added a show in Sackville, NB on the 24th which should be fun. Some friends have played there and the two brothers who run the Hamilton Guitar Association are originally from there and they've told me all about Sackville so I'm looking forward to that one.
One of the unfortunate side effects of being on the road is that I've missed Lunenburg Sessions. Last Tuesday we had Dusty Keleher in and I was sorry to miss that one. If you haven't heard of him and you like traditional Irish music, you should check him out. He's on Facebook and Myspace and worth a look.
Coming up on May's Sessions, for which I will be home, we're having my friend (and recently-arrived CFA) Manitoba Hal Brolund who is now Nova Scotia Hal having moved to Shelburne, just along the South Shore from Lunenburg.
Today it's time to help my mother buy a new computer. Her old one is as slow as a snail and I'm going to look for something new and fast for her. The only concern I have is that she's used to Windows XP and we're most likely to end up with a system that has Windows 7. I'm not convinced I like it. I have it on my netbook (that came with me on the road) and it wouldn't have been my choice if I could have found one with XP. There's probably a song somewhere in my brain about Microsoft and it wouldn't be very complementary.
So that's it for now. Stay well and I hope to see you at a show sometime soon.
Cheers, Bob
March 18, 2010
Feeling ill in beautiful weather
DRAT! This wasn't supposed to happen. I came back from vacation with a cold - I think I picked it up in Toronto either in the hotel or on the plane back to Halifax. Either way, it's taken hold and isn't letting go. I am feeling better than at the beginning of the week but it still means I had to postpone the CD Release concert and the House Concert at Frank's Place.
Thanks to everyone who sent me get well wishes. At least it's sunny and warm on the South Shore and the feeling of spring is in the air.
Big news - after years of resisting, I finally signed up to Facebook. It's insidious the amount of time you can spend (dare I say "waste"? he he he) watching what the rest of the world is doing. I sorta rationalize it at the moment cause I'm feeling unwell and don't have the energy to do much of anything other than sit at my computer but I will have to change my habits once I'm back to full strength. Can you get Facebook Addiction and is there a 12-step program for it?
That's all for now. Cheers, Bob
Thanks to everyone who sent me get well wishes. At least it's sunny and warm on the South Shore and the feeling of spring is in the air.
Big news - after years of resisting, I finally signed up to Facebook. It's insidious the amount of time you can spend (dare I say "waste"? he he he) watching what the rest of the world is doing. I sorta rationalize it at the moment cause I'm feeling unwell and don't have the energy to do much of anything other than sit at my computer but I will have to change my habits once I'm back to full strength. Can you get Facebook Addiction and is there a 12-step program for it?
That's all for now. Cheers, Bob
March 10, 2010
Well, goodness me, where did the time go? It was late January when I was last in here with any news and now here it is March already.
Preparations are well under way for the CD release party. We've been having a ton of fun working out set lists, rehearsing, and generally getting ready for the big night. If you haven't been to the Lunenburg Academy theatre, you're in for a treat. The acoustics are great and the room is cosy and intimate so I'm really looking forward to a fantastic evening.
I've added a few new dates on the tour in Northwestern Ontario - a house concert in the Soo, a house concert in Wawa, and a cafe in Thunder Bay. Check the In Performance page on the website for more details.
That's it for the moment - thanks for stopping by.
Cheers, Bob
Preparations are well under way for the CD release party. We've been having a ton of fun working out set lists, rehearsing, and generally getting ready for the big night. If you haven't been to the Lunenburg Academy theatre, you're in for a treat. The acoustics are great and the room is cosy and intimate so I'm really looking forward to a fantastic evening.
I've added a few new dates on the tour in Northwestern Ontario - a house concert in the Soo, a house concert in Wawa, and a cafe in Thunder Bay. Check the In Performance page on the website for more details.
That's it for the moment - thanks for stopping by.
Cheers, Bob
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