May - Videos, Recording, Awards and Festivals

As T.S.Eliot wrote in The Waste Land, "April is the cruelest month."  This year, the weather gods gave us a pretty good example of that.   Still, it's May now and we're moving on with barely a backward glance and the promise of warmer days.

I have to say, though, that April was pretty positive in a musical vein.

• We now have the finished versions of the videos we shot in March - see the April Blog entry for the story.
• I was into David Findlay's studio for an afternoon and we laid down guitar tracks for three new songs. That makes seven towards the next CD.
• We did the initial shoot of videos for two of the new songs.
• The Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival added your humble correspondent to the line-up for the 2013 festival in August.
• I've also been booking tour dates through upstate New York and New England in the fall - more on this later.

Anyone hearing me complain about April is invited to smack me.

Videos
If you're following me on Facebook, you've already seen that I've set up a YouTube channel to collect my videos in one place.  The lovely and talented Andy & Ariana who run the Night Kitchen monthly concert series in Wolfville have several videos of my performances.  The Hamilton Guitar Association has one as well.

A few days ago, we added the first of the two videos we shot in March.  Waiting For McAfee is a guitar instrumental that started during an attempt to repair broken anti-virus software.  While I was chatting with their on-line support, their technician took over control of my computer remotely.  As he tinkered around with the software, I was just watching so I picked up my guitar.  I put the guitar into open G minor tuning (D G D G Bb D) and started noodling.  After about 20 minutes of watching the remote session, I had the bones of a pretty good piece. They eventually fixed the software and gave back the computer and over the course of a few days, I finished the song.

As an aside, the software broke again several times and I went through several more on-line remote sessions and came up with another song, also in open G minor tuning.  Its working title (stolen unashamedly from Douglas Adams) was McAfee are a bunch of mindless jerks who should be first against the wall when the revolution comes.  It seemed a bit long to put on the back cover of a CD so its final title is Still Waiting.
 
You can watch all the videos and subscribe to my YouTube Channel here

Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival
The other major news is that I am delighted to announce that the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival has added me to their line up for the 28th annual edition of the festival in August. Details are still to come on the schedule but I can tell you that I will be involved in a guitar workshop and will be performing on the Bandstand Stage during the festival.  The festival runs from August 8th through 11th.  The line-up looks excellent and tickets are available on the website.  Sorry, the early bird deadline has passed but it's still a great deal.

More To Come
There's lots more news but we'll leave it there for now.  I'm off to New Orleans for the 9th Annual ZMR Awards on May 11th.  I'm honoured to have been nominated for Best Instrumental Album - Acoustic.  The winner for this and the other categories will be announced at the show which promises to be a great evening's entertainment regardless of who wins.

I'll have more news on the other videos and the recording we did in April in another blog.

Visit bobardern.ca. 

April - It's a winter wonderland - oh wait - it's spring!

You wouldn't know it from the weather but spring has arrived on the South Shore.  There's a few crocuses popping their heads out of the frozen soil and getting smacked by the weather.  Waking up to a dusting of snow on the 3rd of April is not your humble correspondent's idea of spring.

And speaking of not my idea of spring, we've been shooting some videos over the last little while. Brandon Mercer and Chelsea Comeau are two hardy souls from the Halifax Centre for Arts and Technology and they came down to Lunenburg in March and we shot the footage for a couple of tunes from Wires Rosewood & Roots.  The first part of the shoot was easy - it was indoors chez moi and quite comfortable.  Then we went outside to about as cold a day in March as we could possibly have chosen.

The first piece we shot was Windrush and it was kind of a calm day during the morning.  We wanted to have wind effects and there wasn't much in town so Bob the genius had the idea we could go to Hirtles Beach just down the shore.  If there's wind on the South Shore, you can generally find it at Hirtles and we weren't disappointed.  Brandon's first words were, "This is perfect."  He and Chelsea set up some scenery shots of the waves and the whitecaps and the breakers washing over the rocks on the beach.  Then they said, "OK, Bob, get out the guitar and play."

It took a few minutes to set up the shoot and then I played the song all the way through.  By the time I was finished my hands were so cold I could barely move them so I had to go sit in the car with the heat full on to warm them up. Before long Chelsea and Brandon were in there with me.  Even though they had gloves on it was just as cold for them behind the camera as it was in front of it.  Once we were warmed back up, we went back out and did two more takes.  At this point, the director (Brandon) said, "OK I think we've got enough footage." The cinematographer (Chelsea) agreed and there was a mad dash to pack everything up and load it all back into the car before frostbite set in.

Next up was Waiting For McAfee, part of which we'd shot indoors earlier.  For this piece, we went down to Blue Rocks, a lovely spot just along the shore from Lunenburg.  It's a working fishing village and one or two lobster boats were bobbing in the water at their docks.  All very scenic and picture postcard.  Again, Brandon and Chelsea took a few scenery shots then we clambered down onto the rocks where Brandon said it would look good.  

It may have looked good but the wind was right in the artist's face and blowing right down the open-necked sweater and shirt and I just could not play.  They say you have to suffer for your art but this was too much.  Back we went to the car to warm up again and we drove around for a few minutes, found another spot on the rocks but with a little shelter this time.   Just like at Hirtles, we did the set up/play/car cycle and did two takes.   The director asked, "Have you got one more take in you?"  So being the battle-hardened veteran, I said, "Sure."  

I know my playing was a little untidy to say the least.  It certainly felt like my fingers weren't responding the way they should but Brandon was really excited.  The sun had dipped to the perfect angle and he said it was the best take of the three.    Fortunately, the soundtrack uses the recorded version of the music from the CD, not the live version.

I learned quite a bit about shooting videos that day.  I learned, for example, that my three favourite words are, "That's a wrap."   I also learned that there's a lot of sitting around while the director and cinematographer set up the shot.  At one point after we were all back at the house I commented that we'd spent about 7 hours shooting what would eventually become about 7 minutes of video and the response was, "Yeah, that's about normal." 

So then it was back to Halifax for Brandon and Chelsea to do the post-production work:  editing, marrying the music to the playing, and so on.  It sounds like the visual equivalent to audio mixing which can be a tedious process but they were looking forward to it because for them it's fun.  It was a great time and I really enjoyed working with the two of them.  They're young, enthusiastic and skilled - a pretty good combination.  I'm just about to head into Halifax for a look at the finished work, which I'll be introducing to an eager world over the next while.  Watch this space for details.

Visit bobardern.ca


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February - Storms and Awards

Hi from the terribly snowy South Shore.  Old Man Winter blew through here over the last couple of days and left us pretty well buried, although we didn't suffer as badly as some of our friends down the shore in Shelburne and Yarmouth.  Today it's bright and sunny as usually happens after a nasty storm so I guess we should be grateful for small mercies.

As you may know if you've been following the Blog and my FB page,  Wires Rosewood & Roots made the first cut for a couple of Zone Music Reporter Awards. The voting has been tallied from the qualification round and I am beyond excited to report that Wires has been nominated for Instrumental Album of the Year - Acoustic.  In essence, all the people who listen, play, review and generally report on instrumental music think it's one of the five best acoustic instrumental albums of 2012.  Of course, it would be a fabulous honour to win the award but it's fantastic achievement just to be nominated.  Given the calibre (and the quantity) of instrumental music being released, to be considered one of the five best in class is beyond my wildest dreams.

The awards will be handed out on May 11 at the ZMR Awards Show - which is kinda like the Grammys for independent artists (and without so much industry hype and warnings from CBS about what's appropriate to wear on TV).

Producer David Findlay was very confident that we had made a good record and a great debt of gratitude is owed to David for both his playing and production as well as to my friends Kev Corbett and Alyssa Wright who added their musical talents to the album.  Thanks are also due to Ed and Stacey Bonk of LAZZ Promotions.  Ed and Stacey took me under their wing and did a fabulous job of promoting Wires when it first hit the street.

Thank you to everyone who has been playing Wires on the radio, in your CD players and on your iPods.  Thank you to all the people who come out to my live performances.  It's a treat to play for an audience and (as all my musician friends will attest) without the audience there isn't as much point to what we do.

Last and by no means least a particular thank you to all the people who voted for Wires Rosewood & Roots during the first round.  Without your support, we could not have achieved the success that we've done.  Oh yeah, a plug for your continued support on the next round.  I'll shamelessly ask for your vote one more time because I truly would love for Wires to win but if it doesn't, we'll continue making music - soon as we finish digging out from under the snow.

Cheers, Bob

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