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Canada’s 2009 Juno award winners

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So another year has come and gone and it was that time to showcase Canada’s premier musicians for 2009 Juno Awards. The Canadian equivalent to the American Grammys, The 38th annual Juno Awards are growing stronger then ever. At least that is what people on the street and in my world say.

These are the award winners that I liked.

The big news was that Nickleback eclipsed everyone with walking away with both The Fan Choice and Group of the Year.

The runners up that I like is this real neat, quirky gypsy jazz outfit from Quebec called The Lost Fingers That night they had two Juno nominations for both fan choice and for album of the year but unfortunately came up empty handed. These guys are such a refreshing change of pace that it is not funny. Leon Redbone, eat your heart out!

My favorite modern Canadian Rocker to date, by a LONG SHOT, is City and Colour, better known as Dallas Green! This extraordinary guitarist, won the first award of the night, Songwriter of the Year with his latest project titled Bring me your Love. His best solo creation is called Sometimes and is a MUST for anyone’s collection. I know that I’m wearing that damn thing really thin.

Sam Roberts and the boys brought home the Artist of the Year award. He has this intangible feel to his creations. He is musically invigorating, with that raw edge that people in Quebec have, musically speaking, it’s a good thing trust me.

The most creative song he did on that album was Save Your Scissors. When I first heard that one I was in my car. It impressed me so much that I pulled over to get a pen and paper out of the glove box to write down the name of the artist and song. This guy impressed me that much.

The Alternative Album of the Year went to The Stills. The one song that I heard on the Juno’s website has the guitar style of the Edge of U2. I love the slide and anything that has to do with delays! Nice work boys. Also please check out the other bands on this link, they make me proud to be a Canadian musician!

So that is my short list of what went on at this years Juno Awards. I’ll comb over the other categories and see what comes up. So, what were your favorite acts that either played or were nominated for any Juno’s??

Keep on Jammin’




The Future is unwritten by Joe Strummer of the Clash

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This is a documentary about Joe Strummer, the now deceased singer of the Clash, as he talks about how music can change the world. It is said to be a tribute, told by many of music’s great chieftains like Bono, about Joe’s influence, not only in the world of Rock & Roll but, about the role he/they as musicians and story tellers, play in today’s modern society.

The location of these interviews are in various campfire settings all around the world. Anything about sitting around a campfire, talking about life in relationship to our earthly existence and I’m in!

I must admit that I have NEVER SEEN THIS but, everyone and their dog seems to have thought of it as plain brilliant! A buddy of mine on his blog said …

The appearances of Johnny Depp, John Cusack and Steve Buscemi, who would have been enough to engross my train of thought for more then a passing moment, are just a side show compared to the words of Joe Strummer!

Along with great candid chats with yesterday’s and today’s Rock entertainers, we have the odd idiot thrown in, ie: David Lee Roth. In an entertainment article from the Star, they explain it to us. It certainly sounds like something he would say.

Has anyone here seen this doc? If so, what did you think of it AND do you think it’s worth seeing?

Keep on Jammin’ Joe Strummer where ever you are!

Heartbeats by Jose Gonzolez

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While my wife and I were watching the TV series Bones on our PVR the other night, I picked up on this tune that really stuck in my mind. The guitarist name is Jose Gonzolez and his breathtaking song called Heartbeats, is a thing of wonder.

It is one of those songs they play during a show that is playing in the background, at a low volume. Most people don’t give it a second thought but, it lingers in ones mind long after the show is over. After the show ended my wife found it, the women is a god on finding anything on the web, and sent me a Youtube link to it!

Most of you may recognize this fabulous piece of music from the Sony Bravia (bouncy balls) TV commercial. The song itself is just so graceful and pure to my mind and ears.

This guitar picking technique is my favorite style, Drone Picking! It’s very fluid approach to playing. You can implement this mode of performing to just about any song! It can make a listener hypnotized at the drop of a hat. The art Drone will also highlight your guitar playing versatility.

Heart Beats is very simple but, yet it contains layers of complexity that just allows the listener to float away quite easily. It is a song that when I close my eyes, grants me ability to see the song in colour. This is a phrase that I picked up from my God son.

He is completely blind in one eye and is 80% in the other. One day at my parents home in Brantford, he was there so I brought him into the piano room and played some songs and progressions on it for him to listen to. After playing a certain phrasing, I asked him what he saw in his mind and he said he saw particular colours! Wow, that made me think about music in a completely different train of thought from that moment onwards.

This song really does it for me and I hope you get the same effect from it as I did. Just listen to this video and close your eyes … does this song give you the same sensation as it does for me?

Keep on Jammin’

Is your favorite TV show way too loud

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Over the past couple of years, my wife and I have noticed that the audio portion of our favorite TV shows have become increasing louder as the series progresses!

The volume appears to be ok during parts of the show, then out of no where it feels like we’re sitting front row center at an ACDC concert! I can’t get a hold of the remote fast enough to turn the volume down on the TV.

The worst culprits seem to be the CSI shows. Like when one of the characters are working in their laboratory, doing some sort of police work, and then audio guy on the show accidentally hits the volume control to 11! I now have to keep the remote in my hand at all times, expecting the sound to take off like a screaming jet! Sorry honey, I’m holding the remote in my hand for the good of our ear drums … honestly.

So is it just me or am I too much of a sensitive man of the new millennium?

Keep on Jammin’

Bare Naked Ladies-less

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As you may or may not know, Steven Page, one of the founders of the Bare Naked Ladies has now left the band to pursue a solo career. The crazy boy band from Scarborough Ontario is saying good bye to one of the masterminds behind their great success for the past 20 years!

I for one, like his old band. They were lots of fun and full of unbridled enthusiasm on stage. They brought out the kid in you and that really is what makes them a stand out act in today’s copy cat music world.

Steven Page’s first solo attempt (while still with the Bare Naked Ladies) was called The Vanity Project.

I only started to listen to bits and pieces of The Vanity Project while writing this post and it’s not that bad. Hit and Run is played in an open tuning format that has a nice, full feel and sound to it. The one called These Wasted Words reminds me a Toronto band called Needy Fingers. So Young, So Wrong, So Long is the type of song that one takes on a long road trip and Here Today And Yesterday has that incredible Klautu aura about it! I think I might pick it up!

My wife and I always wanted to see BNL live, but never got the chance. I guess they’re another great Canadian act that we never get to experience. Don’t get me wrong, The band The Bare Naked Ladies will still exist without Steven Page and perhaps we’ll see them play someday, but it probably won’t quite be the same. At this time the remaining members of The Barenaked Ladies do not plan on adding a new singer – they’ll continue on as they are and in fact are in the process of getting ready to go on Tour later this year.

Steven and the boys were not there to blow you away playing speed music or had that in your face onstage persona.

Steven Page was the one guy in the band that everyone could relate to. He is the modern day resonance man, and that is what he is about to do again. His next venture will be in the theatrical arena. He is the musical composer for the Thomas Patterson Group, Bartholomew Fair at the Stratford Festival. This appears to be a natural progression for him to follow. I think that he will eventually gravitate towards the stage, not the orchestra pit.

Steven Page’s style of guitar playing is very simple and straight forward and very much to the point. Nothing fancy at all in his approach but, it does the trick. His rhythm guitar playing is his bread and butter while playing in the band, plus he has done the odd little guitar solo here and there.

While reading the Toronto Star at work the other day, I noticed an article about Steven Page. It was about his first public musical exposure to the world since leaving the Bare Naked Ladies (BNL). He will perform as a solo act in the Neil Young tribute show coming up Wednesday, June 10 at Massey Hall here in Toronto. It will be part of this years Luminato festival of arts and creativity. I wonder what he will try and pull off at this gig, it’s anybody’s guess really.

As for Stevens adventure into the world of theatre, I am not sure if it will involve him in front or behind the stage. I can envision him in serious roles, desperately attempting to shake off the type casting of his kid like antics on the musical stage with BNL. I think this will be good for him. It will be an adventure that we will all be watching closely. So best of luck to Steven Page in his future endeavors!

My question to you all is, will he reach the lofty heights in his new career as he did with the Bare Naked Ladies?

Keep on Jammin’

Look who was on The Colbert Report

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To my amazement, an old friend of mine from high school, Carl Wilson, was on the Colbert Report the other day. Colbert had him on his show so he could talk to Carl about his new book. His book is about his hate and then his developing interest in some of Canada’s Celine Dion’s music.

You see he started out a hater and wondered why so many were fascinated with her music … in the end he came to like or at least “be able to listen to” some of her music.

The book is called Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste.

It is so nice to see someone that you know doing so well in his/her related field and then to be interviewed on a popular talk show and have it turn out to be a fantastic hit was a bonus!

When I woke up the other day, my wife put a postie on the breakfast table for me. At first I thought, like most men do when they see something like this is, what did I do now or what do I have to do later? Upon reading the message, I was quite taken back to have read a shocking memo. Before going to bed, she had noticed a familiar name listed as a guest for that nights Colbert Report. She then recorded it on our PVR (TIVO) machine so I could view it later to see if I knew the interviewee. Thank God she did because it was Carl Wilson from my old high school in Brantford, Ontario!

After seeing it for myself that evening when I returned from work, I had to check out Facebook to see if anyone else saw it. As it turned out, a few people did! Then I checked out one of his web sites called Zoilus and found a real neat video of a actor named James Franco being interviewed while on the Red carpet at the Oscars about what some of his guilty pleasures are. He then brought up Carl’s latest book. It seems like the little guy from Brantford does good, way to go Carl!!!

L-R Me, Yuergen Beck, Carl Wilson and Mike McGraw

Keep on Jammin’ Carl

How does Youtube make money

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This is a question that has been going through my mind for ages now. I’ve asked this question to many people that use this service that are quite internet savvy and the answer that most of them reply with is they sell adds on their site. Ok, that I understand but what is another monetary generator that they have at their disposal?

My wife, who has the most keen internet mind that I know, always tell me to not watch too many tunes on Youtube. I told her that I use this site in order to find other ways to play a tune, that will help me change it up if I play the song live OR just to to be a more well rounded guitar player. At first I asked her why and she said that we have to keep close attention to the bandwidth that we use watching things on Youtube. If we go over the band width too much, then the our ISP will bump us up to a more expensive package! Really, I said?!

You have a site that has millions of people uploading and downloading daily! They put up anything THAT THEY deem important and it is saved on this site for God knows how long.

First of all, imagine how many hard drives that these guys use? They obviously have many locations that support their servers, that must cost a few bucks. Then, try to wrap your head around that bandwidth issues that they have?! And I’m worried about mine! I also wonder if they use any RAM in their servers? Humm?

Personally, I think that they must get some HUGE kick backs from your local ISP (Internet Service Provider). Your provider makes more money when you overextend your bandwidth and Youtube provides the tool to help you blow by your coverage?!

What do you think about this concept?

Keep on Jammin’

Beer bottle blues

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I’m not sure, but I think that this form of music is a dying art. Passed on from one musician to another … or maybe drunk to drunk!

The technique looks simple enough. Trying to tune this instrument is another story!

My wife was just asking me if it has a carrying case and I just shrugged my head … I think it comes in a cardboard box with a single or dual handle?!

The bass instrument must be a big silver tube, heavy when full and quite familiar with the frat house institutions.

beerbottleblues.jpg

I wonder what the instruments techie is called, any ideas?

Keep on Jammin’

2009 Brenda Carol Renaissance Jazz Fair

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This event, Brenda Carol Renaissance Jazz Fair, seems to be taking the neighbourhood by storm! Believe it or not, my neighbour told me! Once again I found out about this near by extravaganza by leafing through my bi-weekly newspaper called the Mirror! The only thing was I found it this Sunday, about 2 weeks after it was delivered! In the words of my good friend Charlie Brown, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

This event, the 3rd annual no less, sounded like it blew the lid off the joint. The event was held every night from Friday Jan. 30th through to Sunday Feb. 01. The joint in question is our local Renaissance Cafe at 1938 Danforth Ave. in Toronto. This place is about half the distance from our home, as compared to the Broadview Espresso Cafe, so I can even ride my bike there.

Checking out some of the acts that were held at this year’s event, it looks like Brenda chose a nice collection of jazz bands. I love the fact that they had a one much younger player in this year’s line up. That musician is Sam Dickinson on guitar, at the tender age of 17! Wow, there was even a guy playing there from my home town of Brantford named Kyle McGregor! He played both guitar and piano on Sunday.

Jazz music is a positive and creative genre played from the heart for the sheer love of the art.
This jazz fair is intended to showcase performers giving them the opportunity to perform in front of
peers, a respectful audience and to enjoy this exceptional opportunity. This Jazz Fair is not an open
stage show. All performers are selected and allotted performance time.

This time, I have given myself a reminder of the show next year and God willing, I will be able to give you a REAL critique of the event!

Keep on Jammin’

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