mark tonin

Wonderful news ... I'm getting goosebumps thinking back to when Katlin was born and I first held her ... my head was blown wide open ... I'm so happy for both of you!

Peace, Mark

Wishing you a happy birthday, Deb ... it's been great to be able to reconnect with you over the last year ... looking forward to many wonderful shared experiences in the future.

Peace, Mark

Hey Tonin; you still up for this?

Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to make this show after all ...

Peace, Mark

I am so stoked for this event ... thanks again backbacon for putting it together!!!

welcome to the harvard mouse club, paanmouse! and if you play keys we'll waive the dues :: *grinning*

There are some really fun things in the works for this event that I am excited about!

Peace, Mark

Hmmmm, if my family dinner in Welland ends at an early enough hour, I may find myself with an opportunity to head to St. Kitts for this show. I'd love a blast of Caution Jam, and it's been too long since I've seen any of the St. Catharine's crew. Throw in partying with Wi!!y and SevenSeasJim and my Easter weekend is looking like it has some potential for serious fun!

Peace, Mark

Thanks to niffermouse for the sweet poster!

I remember her drawing some of it during one of our practice jams, and it looked great then, but it looks even better now that it's finished and in colour.

Looking forward to a great show up at the Lanc!

Peace, Mark

Some tasty acoustic Fatties!

Peace, Mark

I'm going to the Kitchener show on April 19th ... I think they are also playing a couple of other shows in Southern Ontario during the week.

Peace, Mark

Lots of fun, very much looking forward to the next time.

Highlight for me was hearing a drums/bass break beat go down when Todd broke a string....definatley wasn't expecting that.

I agree Esau - that was sweet ... Dave Hill is a kick-ass bass player ... very inspiring.

Peace, Mark

Happy trails, Shain!

Peace, Mark

Thanks for the comments everyone ... much appreciated ... it sounds as if we are in for a treat on Sunday night.

Peace, Mark

Both the site and the festival lineup are looking great. Nicely done. I'm pretty sure you can count us in for this one. I will be nice to chill out with some mice again.

Now there is some news to get this mouse squeaking with excitement! ::

Hopefully the "pretty sure" will become an "absolutely positive" at some point ... we'd love to see both of you at the festival!

Peace, Mark

Wow, sad news, but after reading Paul's letter it sounds like he's ready to make the best of it. He will be missed on stage, that's for sure.

Wishing Paul and the rest of the JSB boys nothing but the best for the future ...

Peace, Mark

I'm wondering if some skancs have any input or comments about Jamie Oakes. I've never seen him, but I'm excited that he is playing at the May Come Together Fest. Anybody that I've talked to that has seen him has had nothing but great things to say. My sense is that he will impress the heck out of people when he plays ... his bio is pretty impressive:

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"The music of Jamie Oakes is soul music for the mind. Spawned from the blues, raised by folk and honed by rock, country and R & B, Oakes' sound is as much about earthbound existence as it is about spiritual enrichment.

A singer, a guitarist, a songwriter and a bandleader, Oakes' talents continue to evolve almost as quickly as his reputation. After a premature attempt at rock and roll stardom in the eighties with his original band Daba Rojaba , Oakes stepped back and began to refine his sound and style in the often-unforgiving "chicken wing" circuit around his native Ontario.

With his emotive voice, his ethereal guitar work and his natural musicality, it wasn't long before Oakes' talents became noticed. Studio session work for film, television and commercials began to fill out his schedule, giving his artistry an added cinematic scope.

In 1998, Oakes quietly released his solo debut CD Shadows in Dreams. Produced by longtime collaborator and bass player Paul Intson (best known for soundtrack work on such films as Girl Interrupted, Kama Sutra and The Sweet Hereafter), the breadth and depth of the album's sound, songs and performances enticed all that experienced them.

Despite its "independent" status, the tunes that made up Shadows in Dreams transcended and would be utilized to great effect in an episode of the hit television drama Queer As Folk, in the Touchstone Pictures film The Perfect Son and in the documentary The Last Stand (The Struggle for Ballona Wetlands) which also featured music by Joe Walsh, Kenny Loggins and fellow Canadian Joni Mitchell .

Four years after its release, Shadows in Dreams continues to find a new audience proven by Sleeman Breweries use of the track "Man in the Sky" in its current "label-free" radio advertising campaign.

The strength of Oakes' musicianship has not gone unnoticed by his peers either. Tom Cochrane, Holly Cole, Marc Jordan, Amy Sky and Rob Lamothe regularly call upon this multi-talented artist to fill out their own sounds while exposing Oakes' gifts across Canada, in Europe and as far away as Japan.

Yamaha Canada has also acknowledged Oakes' considerable abilities by inviting him to join Randy Bachman, Rik Emmett and Jason McCoy among others as one of only a handful of guitarists nation wide to be officially endorsed by the legendary company.

Still it is Oakes' own muse that remains his driving force. His recently released sophomore effort Eloquence lives up to its title while proving that his debut was not a case of beginners' luck. Reunited with Intson, and supported by longtime timekeeper Dan Lockwood (Stompin' Tom Connors, Carlos del Junco),Eloquence consists of eleven stellar, self-penned tracks which further emphasize Oakes' often revealing style of songwriting, his spiritually charged vocals and the intimate musical interplay of the dynamic shared by this seasoned trio.

Selections like elegantly romantic R&B of "Love & Grace," the jazz-tinged feel of "Moon on A String," the folk-rock of the self-descriptive "Dylan Song" and the rural waltz of "Far & Away" prove that Oakes' creative scope is only exceeded by his ability to transcend narrow musical categorizations.

Eloquence is not only the title of Jamie Oakes' latest masterpiece; it is also an apt description of his approach to just about everything he does."

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Any comments? I'd love to read some thoughts about this guy.

Peace, Mark

Papa was a rolling stone, half an hour version...played forever...

That was a magical moment in time ... May 20, 2001 ... that's the date on the disc I'm looking at right now.

Peace, Mark

I've been to this festival once, many years ago, and it was the most organized festival that I have ever been to. Musically it was good, not great, but this year's lineup looks fantastic!

I remember at one point a rainbow formed right behind the stage ... better than any video or light show I've ever seen.

Have a great time Esau ... I'm sure you will.

Peace, Mark

Speaking of good memories, Burt at the May 2001 festival at Frontier Ghost Town still ranks as one of my most memorable and mind-blowing concert experiences at a Come Together Fest.

Peace, Mark

Now I'm really stoked ... If you go to the Come Together Festival Web Site, you will notice that it has a brand new look. And check out the lineup for the May long weekend that has been posted! I believe that this is the most exciting and diverse lineup that we've ever seen at a Come Together Festival!

Thanks to Mark Wilson for once again setting the stage for a fabulous May long weekend.

Thanks to LMP for the new site ... it looks fabulous!

Thanks to briguy for helping to book some kickass bands.

Wow, I am so very much looking forward to another awesome May long weekend, when I 'll get to enjoy great live music with some of my best friends under the sun, moon and stars ... ok, and maybe a few clouds ...

Peace, Mark

We all love you, Lex! ::!

I just emailed Mark Wilson with a link to this thread and asked him for his input on this.

My first CTMF was also May 2001 but I know that there was stuff going on at Ghost Town the year before. I remember seeing a poster in the saloon with Mark Wilson & The Way It Is, Fat Cats, and Burt Neilson Band ... I think that happened in 2000.

Peace, Mark

At Mark Wilson's birthday bash he showed me a ticket stub from the first CTMF,I can't recall the year or venue but I know it was pre-ghost town days anyway.(pre-2000)

First ghost town CTMF I attended was may 2000,which I believe was the first one there.

I think that Esau is right on both these counts. Having said that, the last time I talked with Mark Wilson about this he told me that he wants to call this year "the fifth year" for the Come Together Music Festivals, making 2001 the first "official" year for the festival.

Peace, Mark

Hamilton is fortunate to have both of these venues (The Casbah and PJC) ... wishing both venues lots of success so that they can continue to support tasty live music.

Peace, Mark

How about 3 sets? ... an opening acoustic set and then 2 electric ones ... now that would be a Fat St. Patty's day! ::

I think it's a nice solution to keep both Wi!!y and paisley happy!

Peace, Mark

I'm due for a rager ... see you there!

Peace, Mark

A fun show in a sweet little venue!

I thought Josh tore it up on the keys. I love the hammond but last night he sounded sooo good..........

Agreed ... I think he was playing a Wurlitzer electric piano, and he was tearing it up.

Looking forward to the next Fatties show!

Peace, Mark

Happy birthday backbacon aka keri aka kk aka double k aka anti-cary!

Cheers to the great times we've had together, and I'm very much looking forward to sharing lots more of them with you in the future. Can't wait to tear it up at the Chatham Schoolhouse on Sat. May 7, my friend! Hope to see you before then though ... it's been a while.

Hope you had a Dickey Betts birthday blowout last night.

Peace, Mark