Cottaging and Bluesfest

Here's the update for this hot stretch of August.
When we last left our hero...erm...I mean, since last post, my buddy Lane Burman had a birthday and we spent the afternoon smoking fish (no, that's not a metaphor), swimming, and enjoying some party treats. Twas a fine day and evening! Then my old pals Kevin and Melia dropped in (see pic below).
Part way through the long weekend I headed up to the cottage. Had fun with the family beaching it, kayaking, etc. My friend Luke Rogerson (gtr with Alysha Brooke Band) was cottaging with his wife and wife's family at Wasega at the same time so we did some narly (does anyone say that any more?) wave riding in some pretty high waves and capsized a few times. We hit a bar to check out a jam and a drummer we both know walked in out of nowhere...strange night indeed.
This weekend was the Kitchener Blues Fest - an event not to be missed! I saw many fine acts, including Jeff Healy, with my old friend Dave Murphy and his band as backup. Kevin Coates snuck out to hang out for that one. Shawn Kellerman was good on Friday night. Met some really cool new people - beautiful. On Sunday, I was having a beer with some friends at the Boathouse when the expected band didn't show up. So James, Doug and I grabbed some instruments and - totally unrehearsed - filled in. The first set was well received. The second set was not overly populated, but all of the important people were there. It was a blast. The 'hang out' afterwards was stimulating, too!
But I've gotten ahead of myself. Saturday I played for about 300 motorbikers with the Alysha Brooke Band. They were on a charity ride. We performed at the post ride celebrations - burning off tires and all. They were a bit scary, but since the average age of a biker is around 50 these days, I wasn't too worried. All went well and I made it back to Kitchener in time to catch a set by Douglas Watson and catch some fun down at the Boathouse.
Well, that's this week's excitement so far. Tune in next time when our hero will say...

Nod

Pics from out West

Here's a couple of nature pictures from my trip to Victoria. The one with the deer in it is as seen from my room at the writer's conference. And the white things are seals from my Zodiak whale watching tour. (None of the killer whale or porpose pics turned out very well :-( )

Suprise Visit

My old buddy from university, musician extrodinaire, Kevin Jones and his lovely wife Melia popped in out of the blue the other day. They live in and bring culture to Roanoke West Virginia. Here they are in my living room.

Midweek and Melting

Wow, both of you people who read this blog are getting spoiled...updates every few days! Don't expect the same when Fall comes around...
Friday humped gear for Saturday's wedding gig in the countryside west of KW. It was a wild affair. Young crowd (who danced more for the band than the DJ which is a good sign) in a tent in a field in the middle of nowhere. Full moon. Warm night. Free food & drink. We should have paid them! (Well, maybe not.) They blew up fireworks for half an hour between sets. It was fun and "The Wedding Singers" may have more gigs coming up!
Sunday I did a walk around the park. On a whim I ventured into the Boathouse to hear some bluegrass. Soon many of the area musicians were all assembled on the patio: Al Carter, Corey Williams, Douglas Watson, Doug Mceachern, and more. Juno award winner Charity Brown invited some of us back to her patio where we had orange juice and tea and listened to her latest recording endeavors. A cool 'out of the blue' kind of afternoon.
Monday and Tuesday were back in the studio laying down bass tracks with producer/engineer Mike MacDonald who runs the Bayou Boys, a CCR tribute that's pretty much a full time touring band. Tuesday night I caught some of Shawn Kellerman shredding the blues at the Boathouse.
Lots of music, not a ton of writing going on right now.
Stay cool!
Nod