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Part one of trying to win Max Webster Tickets

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Well faithful readers, I am very desperate to get tickets for the super-Canadian Music Event of this millennium!

I decided to go down to Q-107 at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Toronto and attempt to obtain some tickets to this cherished show.

I put on my jacket, picked up my guitar and made a sign. I was determined to grovel and beg Kim Mitchel, the D.J. and Mr. Max himself, to give my wife and I tickets to the show!

I finally arrived in front of the street level Q-107 booth with guitar and sign in hand. I just set up my sign, took out my faithful Larrivee L-03 and with Kim Mitchell’s back against the booths window, knocked on the window. He turned around and at first glance he must of thought that I was one of those “more then a little misunderstood” street people.

He then glanced down at my sign and started to laugh! He then started to say, through the glass, “I have no tickets for you.” He then opened a side door and said that the office was now closed, and he said that they should have more on hand”. I then asked him if I could come down this Wednesday and play the song “On the Road” for him and hopefully get some tickets for my effort. He said sure, but said “You would/may have to play it on the air.” I said I’d do anything for tickets.

So please listen for me to be playing LIVE at Q-107 online and click on the “Listen Live” button. I will also try to tape it and put it on another post. Hopefully, if this happens it will be around 6 pm EST.

The pictures should say it all.

Just before I left!

Begging for max webster tickets 3

When I got back from the mighty “Q”

Begging for max webster tickets 2

Keep on Jammin’, cause you never know when you might win some tickets to the original MAX WEBSTER!!!




The ultimate ROCKMAN by Tom Scholz

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The ROCKMAN by Tom Scholz is the result of the business venture that helped many budding rock stars obtain that BIG FAT Boston sound that everyone was after in the 1980’s.

Unfortunately or fortunately for myself during those years I did not get my hands on any of these ultimate tools of the trade. I was a young player who tried to create the sound that I wanted by going as direct as I could.

I know that is contrary to most of my posts but I wanted to, in the back of my mind, be as pure and honest with my sound as I could. I was trying to slay many dragons on many fields at once. My guitar mentor at the time, always was suspicious about all those tricks that some players used to fool the listeners. This was someone who I had trusted completely and I never thought twice about questioning his judgment. I hope to have him back in my guitar life if he will let me.

Here is an example of the power of the Rockman Sustainor. I’d love to have this one for sure, what do you think?

So, go through this site and tell me if you have had any dealings with any of these products. Please give us the pro’s and con’s of all aspects of them and don’t leave anything out, even if you think that they are self explanatory.

Keep on Jammin’

The little Canuck that could

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Who says us Canucks are just good for beer and hockey alone!

You remember watching Rockstar last summer? You know the television show where they were trying to find a lead singer for Super Nova (aka Rockstar Super Nova)? Well, for the second year in a row a Canadian won the international competition. Keep on Jammin’ Luke Rossi!


The sweetest guitar solo ever

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Does any guitar player out there have a favorite guitar solo? Well I certainly do, it’s the one from the Rolling Stones, “Heart Breaker”, from their 1973, “Goats Head Soup” album.

This master guitar solo is played by a fellow not a full member of the group but player in the band, named Mick Taylor. This kaleidoscope of a mental voyage into another world of colorful and emotional notes, is the only lead that I have refused to figure out because some times things are made not to be reproduced but to be enjoyed and just put you in a certain mind set. I know that this sounds so unlike me but, somehow this solo just gets to me like no other.

When I listen to it, it just stops me in my tracks and I have to give Mick Taylor my complete and undivided attention. I just can’t think of any other way to describe it. I respect it like no other. It honestly freaks me out how the boys just blend off into the background and let him have full and total control of a song at that point. I still to this day don’t know how he pulled this one off being in a band with such head strong musicians!

He just squeezes and milks the hell out of his guitar and flies to such lofty heights then effortlessly soars down to earth and swoops up your emotions and takes them off to another dimension that we are afraid, but yet happy to just be brought there for such a short period of time! Then back to reality with the boys blowing the doors off the joint and do what they do best, straight forward Rock & Roll. No, I haven’t just had a huge flash back to the summer of love right in front of you, honestly!

This is a song that I will not figure out on principle. I had to give it a shot one time when I was with a student, who was my boss one time at Mr. Case in Toronto.

Listen to great new musical artists at Unsigned.com

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A couple of months ago my wife introduced me to this great new site called Unsigned.com. It’s a site dedicated to giving independent music and vocal artists an outlet to be heard on the internet.

The site is a great place for unsigned artists to create a profile and upload their music. The website now has over 4000 artists and listeners using the site on a regular basis. When visiting the site you can find musicians that play in a variety of genres such as Rock, grunge, hip hop, metal, country, jazz, and New-Wave Artists. The variety is fantastic, and I’m sure anyone who loves music and enjoys discovering new bands will like Unsigned.com.

I mentioned New Wave artists because, believe it or not, I used to really enjoy new wave music. New wave has changed since it first came out in the 80’s but it’s still a great genre. At this time there’s 13 different artists listed in the New Wave category. You should visit and have a listen, or if New Wave isn’t your thing check out some of the other types of music that the independent artists have uploaded. You’ll be hooked on Unsigned.com before you realize what’s happening.

When I get my act together I’m going to have to upload some of my work onto the site. Then you’ll be able to hear some of my music too. Come to think of it, I’ve got a few friends that would probably be interested in Unsigned.com. If they upload their music I’ll be sure to let you know.

My 1980 Fender Lead II

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This is the guitar that I have is to play more Rock and Roll tunes on. It’s a lot lighter then the RD Artist but heavier then the Fender Duo Sonic. The width of the neck is right in between both of the other ones. The intonation is perfect for the Ozzie stuff but it’s not as wide for the Jazz approach. I find is fabulous for playing the electric version of Neon that allows me to use my thumb on the upper E string.

The 1980 Lead II and the 1982 Lead II are both fine guitars. The Lead II Manual, which I wish I had the original, went missing somewhere in my parents house in the 80’s.

Not many scratches (I think that they’re character markings like the colour of the neck being worn down) on the body. The pick guard on the other hand has lotz of character, because of my aggressive NOT THRASHING style of attack in my playing. I use the D’Aaddario True Blue medium strings on this puppy.

My Serial # is E0009736 which makes it made in 1980. The guitar came with a brown shoulder strap bag and that was it, bare bones. I purchased in Hong Kong by a foreign exchange student but, his name eludes me right now. He live at Mr. Zryrini’s house down the street from my parents home in Brantford. I remember him being a great guy who could play the guitar not that bad but, he sure looked like he was having a hell of a lot of fun playing it!

He was a bit strapped for money at the time so I bought it off him. He was always at our house that summer and i showed him tons of stuff. I really felt bad for the guy because he no did not have an axe to jam with at home so I lent him the one he sold, weird eh? I had to because there is nothing worse then stunting the growth of a guitar player!

Just Jamming on my own!

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Well, now I was at a point where I was playing in school and at mass. I kept listening to songs on the radio over and over again. I was never a writer of songs, so I just listened to the guitar parts in every song. I remember trying to figure out the song in my head by paying attention to the low end of the song. What I mean is the bass part.

I put everything out of my mind and listened intensely at this. I hummed it in my head and tried to slow it down as well. Once I started out with the bass components, the chords just started to pop in place. My knowledge of chords was limited so, that is when I asked Mrs. Lord if she had anything more up her sleeve, so she gave me this book, and I dived into it. She had started me out on “The bar Chords”!

This was really cool because no one else in our class was doing it but me. This opened up some area that was fun for me! I tried to simplify what I was shown (imagine playing a B chord without barring the second fret) and tried making a more bassie/bottom end sound to the chord. That is when I started barring the chords the way everyone else does. This helped me obtain that rock sound that was being played on the radio at the time. For the longest time I tried to figure out how they got that sound, it must have been that big black thing with lights and knobs on it that I saw at the school concert.

How did everyone start out figuring songs at a young age, like this?

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