Velvet

So we're back at Irene's starting this Tuesday for three weeks.

The first Tuesday (January 24th) might be a good one. As usual it's open to all and there's no cover, but in addition The Ottawa Folklore Centre is having their belated xmas party at Irene's that night, and the staff and teachers are being encouraged to sit in. The quality of musicianship amongst the OFC people is pretty impressive and should offer a pile of great jamming.

So, there is a good chance you'll hear members of The Murder Plans, Bluestone and The John Henrys, flamenco great James Cohen, singer/songwriter Kara Askwith, Bibbs will be doing more Django stuff, fingerstyle phenom Alan Marsden, mad musical genius Kurt Walther, Gaelic singer Anj Daub, and on and on.

I can't guarantee everyone will be getting up to jam, but suffice to say there should be a big variety of quality playing on Tuesday.

Drink up and tip heavily. Hope to see some of you there.

When?

I've never understood the old, "taste this, I think it's spoiled."

Um, you taste it buddy.

I won`t be going...bastard almost blinded me with science like 30 years ago.

Fri 03/16/12 Austin, TX Various Venues

Sat 03/17/12 New Orleans, LA Tipitina's Uptown

Sun 03/18/12 Orlando, FL The Social

Mon 03/19/12 Birmingham, AL WorkPlay Theatre

Tue 03/20/12 Atlanta, GA The Loft At Center Stage

Wed 03/21/12 Greenville, SC The Handlebar

Fri 03/23/12 Annapolis, MD Rams Head On Stage

Sat 03/24/12 Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live

Sun 03/25/12 Alexandria, VA Birchmere

Wed 03/28/12 Sellersville, PA Sellersville Theater 1894

Thu 03/29/12 New York, NY Canal Room

Fri 03/30/12 Northampton, MA Iron Horse Music Hall

Sat 03/31/12 Ridgefield, CT Ridgefield Playhouse

Sun 04/01/12 Montreal, QC L'Astral

Mon 04/02/12 Toronto, ON The Mod Club Theatre

Wed 04/04/12 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre

Thu 04/05/12 Chicago, IL Park West

Fri 04/06/12 Minneapolis, MN Cedar Cultural Center

Tue 04/10/12 Vancouver, BC Rio Theatre

Wed 04/11/12 Seattle, WA Showbox At The Market

Fri 04/13/12 San Francisco, CA Red Devil Lounge

Sat 04/14/12 Sacramento, CA Harlow's Night Club

Mon 04/16/12 San Diego, CA TBA

Tue 04/17/12 Los Angeles, CA Largo

The lead story on the 3pm CBC news was Northern Wish describing his drive from Sarnia to Ottawa.

Excellent read. Your writing chops seem to be accumulating.

Thanks pal. Definitely taking a little more time with each post these days and doing more editing after the initial barf on the page process' date=' so it's nice to know that it's making a difference. Read your most recent nerolog a couple of times to get me back in the writing state of mind.[/quote']

I often struggle with the decision between timeliness and editing. Basically, doing a daily travelogue implies that everything be a first draft, and very little quality can be found in a first draft.

By the way, phorbesie got me that LP book you recommended. Haven't broken the spine yet, but I will before we get to Africa.

Excellent read. Your writing chops seem to be accumulating.

Sounds like a great time!

Amex fotl presale on now!

I pulled 29th row floors so I dumped them back in and grabbed cheapies.

sigh

Sorry for your loss. Chilly Willy is getting extra hugs today in Marley's honour.

Happy New Year from accross the pond. Hope you're still rockin' the free world.

Why on earth is Kool & the Gang opening for Van Halen???

Worst musical pairing ever. #FAIL

Van Halen is notorius for booking opening acts that the average VH fan would have no interest in. The supposition is that this ensures they will not be upstaged.

Last time I saw VH one of Bob Marley's kids opened.

I saw half the song last night, thought they did a great job. Brad was nervous I think, watch his fingers.

Letterman isn't live, they tape in the afternoon. So awesome they got that exposure.

Kool & The Gand will be opening in Ottawa.

Omigawdomigawdomigawdgolly, I'm so excited! Van-mother-fuckin'-guitar-wailin'-Halen!

Now to decide whether to see them in Ottawa or Montreal.

Heard about this last week and laughed my ass off. I bet they don't make it half-way through that tour.

I've heard a few people say this and I wonder why. They toured a few years ago with the same lineup and I think everything went okay. It's not as if they can't afford four tour buses!

Anyway, I saw them in Montreal last time and it was pretty great, though there is a fair amount of canned music; 2nd guitar parts, keys and I'm pretty sure Michael Anthony's backup vocals are canned as well.

Woooooo!

That's too bad - I thought your bass player was quite excellent.

Good Morning!

nerolog

Stardate 123111, Cafe Dekcuf, Ottawa, Ontario

Sitting in a booth going over the guest list while the band finished setting up onstage seemed so normal and right. It's something we've done hundreds of times together and it felt just like being home again. Which of course it was. You could almost hear the spurs jangling.

The fact that we don't do this together anymore seemed very far away, the familiarity of okay, can we get some snare drum crack crack crack okay now some bass guitar just a minute while I check something immediately transcended novelty and nostalgia and settled into the here and now of our former daily life.

It was a long time ago that nero held down a regular Tuesday night stint in this room, working out a sound that fourteen years on would sell out the same venue in less than twenty-four hours. It was also a long time ago that the band virtually lived on the road, briefly visiting Ottawa for tiny sporadic snatches of home life in between playing 150 shows a year throughout Canada and much of the USA. And as I stood by the door and watched a virtual This Is Your Life of people parade through the gate it occurred to me what a blessing and a godsend it is that we can still get together and do this thing.

After an hour of hugs, handshakes and holiday “Cheers!†the band stepped onstage and started things off with what was to become a raging Miko Mard. Midway through the first song the guys already sounded like they were in the middle of the second set and the crowd surged accordingly. High fives and smiles all around, the evening was off to a great start.

The room filled up nicely and sounded great. There was a last minute email flurry from people that had found themselves ticketless but I think we managed to get everybody in. It was crowded but nowhere near uncomfortable, there was plenty of room to shake yer bones and getting a drink wasn't that much of an ordeal. The bar had taken out the middle booths giving the room a more spacious olde-school vibe.

Partway through the first set I found myself perched in the little upstairs booth where I could survey the room. There was the band enthralled and enthralling, smiles and eyes closed tight; the tapers quietly grooved beside their mic stands occasionally checking recording levels with little flashlights; there was the crowd, turned to the stage and locked in that old symbiotic sway. And there was Whitey right up front, his air-guitar almost set aflame trying to keep up with the band.

When he had arrived earlier that evening Whitey seemed tired. “I've been working out with a rubber ball and the new Hendrix album,†he told me. “Last time Dave kicked my ass, this time I'm ready.â€

“Someday there'll be a statue of you in this town,†I told him.

“There'd better be,†he answered, with more than a hint of exasperation.

I ducked out for a quick slice next door and made it back just in time for the countdown. “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!†More hugs and handshakes, with a few kisses thrown in, tickets were traded for champagne and the band Auld Lang Sine'd everyone's asses off.

What a great, great first set of music.

With the setbreak came the usual mass exodus as smokers and friends of smokers gathered outside in little groups of friendliness just like we always do (did). It was a beautiful night outside and spirits were high in the wake of 2012.

Back inside for round II was more of the same, which is to say a crowd that just kept getting happier and happier as the band continued to deliver like they had never gone away. There's little question that the band was playing as well as they ever had since they stopped touring, each player better individually than they have ever been while the band's history lends them a cohesiveness that has become almost unavoidable.

Zedonk, Medicated, Chocolate Monkey Machine, Condor, the music was heavy and relentless, making it all the more surprising at how perfectly they nailed Maneater by Hall & Oates. The juxtaposition alone was enough to ensure it was a crowd pleaser, but the fact that they sounded so total pro propelled the surprise cover beyond whimsy.

I was honored once again to join the band onstage for the encore. With a foresight that bordered on masterful, a song was picked that was so easy to play that even in the case of severe impairment and a dearth of monitors I would have minimal difficulty stumbling through. It turns out that the acoustic guitar in Flutes Of Chi by Ween involves little more than strumming a G chord in ¾ time so I was free to concentrate on how fun it was to stand onstage with one of my favourite bands and look out into a crowd of some of my favourite people, each one smiling like we had all just won the lottery.

One more tune and the show was done, though the night would prove to be far from over.

A quick enough pack up, the business end of things were taken care of and the crowd dispersed. The band came back to my place to relax for an hour or so before we hit the suite-est party in town eight storeys above Albert Street. The fun continued well into the daylight – I hope to gawd the hosts have the room for an extra night or two to recover – and I found myself staring down a wholly unneccesary Elgin Street poutine at approximately 10am, the evening's final rare act tinged with the scent of past familiarity.

The last thing I remember Dave saying before I stumbled out the door:

“I wish we were doing this again tomorrow night.â€

Indeed.

When Whitey arrived last night he told me he'd spent the last week prepping for NYE with a squeeze ball and the new Hendrix album.

"Dave kicked my ass last year," he grizzled, "This year I'm ready."

Truth

If I miss one day’s practice, I notice it.

If I miss two day’s, the critics notice it.

If I miss three days, the audience notices it.

— Ignacy Paderewski, Concert Pianist

Mmmm....turkey sweats.

Merry Xmas everyone!

There is only one fruitcake.

Very glad to hear you and work are finally getting along.

Paul McCartney has collaborated with Diana Krall, Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder on an album of standards to be released in time for Valentine's Day.

McCartney announced the project Monday, as he released the first of two original songs on the album to fans on his website. There are only two new songs on the album – My Valentine and Only Our Hearts.

But love is clearly in the air for the former Beatle, who married American Nancy Shevell in October.

His song list includes romantic works from the American Songbook, by composers such as Cole Porter and Harold Arlen. And it comes out just ahead of Valentine’s Day on Feb. 7.

McCartney says he and John Lennon were inspired in their own writing by some of the standards, which he first heard when his father performed them at home on piano.

McCartney worked with Vancouver-based Krall and her band in recording the as-yet-untitled album, and Clapton and Wonder also make appearances.

McCartney says he’s been thinking about the project for 20 years and, at age 69, figured “if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it.â€

www.cbc.ca

Thanks so much for the opportunity to open the show Ms Hux, you guys were really, really good.

All four members of Dirty Little Secret are on top of their game - everybody steps up to bat and together they make a great big sound.

If you haven't seen them yet you should.