Guitar
We arrived in Edmonton mid afternoon on Sunday the 17th of March and checked into the Commercial Hotel without incident and with a night off before we were to start our seven day, nine show week at the hotel's bar, Blues on Whyte. The bar manager was present as we checked in and he made sure we all got decent rooms; indeed, Dave Hoerl received the keys to the bar manager's private room, with fridge, microwave and coffee maker, all mod cons that Dave barely used and the rest of us lacked. Fortunately the winter weather in Edmonton made out window sills into reasonable facsimiles of fridges and a microwave was available at the front desk. I had a fair bit of food from home with me and would only end up eating out four times in our week's stay in Edmonton, three out of four of which were pretty disappointing (don't get me started on getting decent hospitality staff in an oil economy...). I was both pleased and relieved to have a fair bit of my own home made food.
The Sunday night was our only night off on the trip and seeing as it was St. Paddy's day, we all bellied up to the bar for the traditional drunkening. Thankfully, my natural intolerance for celtic music sent me up to my room before any serious damage was done, but rumour has it that one member of our orchestra needed a bit of help up to his room at the end of the night.
Monday we scraped our tired and hungover carcasses up out of bed and went down to the bar to set up our gear and soundcheck (with the exception of the tee-totaling Roger, who was up and out early, enjoying the day, the clever and responsible bastard). The Blues on Whyte has had the same soundtech for the whole thirteen years I've been playing there and I suspect he's been there longer than that. As you would expect, he is adept at dialing in the room quickly and setting up a mix that is good for the week, so soundcheck was a quick and painless affair.
I had the pleasure in setting up my Garnet stencil head atop my Carvin 4x10 cab in a room which is big and rowdy enough to crank it up a bit. I'd been looking forward to opening up the Winnipeg built amp, and this was going to be my first chance. It did not disappoint. It's evil. It's punchy. It's the coolest sounding rig I've ever had. And with no name-plates on the amp or cab, it became a magnet for Edmonton guitar geeks for the duration of our stay - "What the hell is that?! It sounds GREAT!!" being the general theme.
On the pedalboard for the tour was a Boss TU-2 tuner, my prized Joe Gore Codpiece booster, a newly rehoused Denelectro Tuna Melt Tremelo (KILLER!), and my Maxon AD80 analog delay. I set the booster pretty hot and got a tight, deep Bassman-like rhythm tone with the volume knob rolled back on the guitar, and a searing, sustained wail with the volume dimed. The Garnet defies easy description: it's got old Marshall tightness, but doesn't sound British. It's got Fender-y spank but doesn't sound particularly Fender-ish. Really, the only amp it reminds me of is my old Garnet Rebel head, which I so sadly sold years ago.
Not surprisingly, the Monday night was pretty quiet as most of Edmonton nursed a post-St. Pat's hangover, but we had a good opportunity to dial in our sound a bit without too much pressure. Tuesday night we had the pleasure of visits from Grant Stovel, Ben Sures, and Chris (whose last name I will not attempt to spell) all good friends, fellow travellers and great musicians. Grant hosts a long running blues show on a local college radio station with his good friend and keyboardist-extraordinaire Graham Guest, so we arranged to pop by for a pre-show in-studio visit before Wednesday's show.
Wednesday marked the spring equinox, so naturally we were hit with a blizzard in Edmonton. I went trooping around to the guitar shops (Whyte Avenue has a few good'uns) in six inches of fresh snow. On one of the local highways there was a one hundred car pile-up with no fatalities that day. Ah, Edmonton...
Dave Hoerl and I headed down to the radio station that evening for a visit with Grant and Graham. I brought along my Danelectro '63 reissue guitar in open D, my Boneshaker Pedals micro-amp and an EHX Freedom Brothers amp cabinet and Dave and I did a few slide numbers and an interview. Grant questioned me on my punk roots and my belief in the interconnectedness of American musics. I figure he asked me about the punk thing a) because we had some time to sit in the van and discuss such issues whilst touring years ago, and b) because of the unhinged, loud'n'proud, Johnny Ramone-stanced performances I had been unleashing at Blues on Whyte. I'm proud of those performances - I like to bridge the gap between the blues purists and the rest of the audience (who usually are in the majority). And I don't see why music pioneered by folks like T-Bone Walker, who played behind his head whilst doing the splits, among other tricks, should be performed with all the charisma of a stone statue. The Blues on Whyte stage offered me about fourteen feet to move left to right, and I used all of it, as well as venturing up on a couple of tables during the week.
The Thursday night was awesome, packed and rocking. Staff said it was their busiest Thursday in many months. Friday was much the same.
Then comes Saturday. One of the features of the seven night engagement at the Blues on Whyte is the jam session matinee sets one has to perform on the Saturday and Sunday, adding up to a four-hour playing day two days running. Ouch. That's a lot of hours in a very busy, rowdy beer hall. That's a lot of will power used trying to drag yourself out of the bar to get food and rest before the evening show. We had a great Saturday matinee and a great Saturday night show.
But Sunday...oh dear, those were some tired, beaten up, stiff and sore musicians taking the stage. I was glad the Sunday was somewhat ill-attended, because we were a bit past it. We called some guests up to help us out Sunday night, but, naturally there wasn't a guitarist for me to sub in - no rest for the wicked.
Monday morning I awoke with a truly awful hangover and began a haphazard packing job that, by some minor miracle, got all my possessions home. It took three trips to get all my junk down the stairs to the bar; I'd had my home studio set up, video camera and hotel-room amp in addition to my luggage. I happily found the van parked in the optimum load-out spot and commenced to load the whole band's gear; my fellow band members don't seem to grok the logic of gear'n'luggage tetris, so it's easier for me to do the whole load solo than constantly chase them and their frankly bizarre attempts to load stuff away. Aside from an overly interested young man hanging around the van for a few minutes, the load went in low, balanced and stable, and without incident.
We loaded up and were on the highway shortly after noon. Fourteen hours later we arrived in Vancouver and started dividing up the gear and going our separate ways. I would get three hours of sleep that night before I had to get up and be house-dad. I had a gig that night, and shows booked Thursday, Friday and Sunday still to get through.
Exhausted as I was, I arrived at home refreshed by the adventure and all the music. As hard work as it is to be a travelling musician, I thrive on all of it. We racked up thirty-two hours of driving and twenty-nine hours of performance time over eleven shows in the space of twelve days.
- Off On Another Quixotic Journey
Time to haul this bad-boy up the highway! Hello gang. I just thought I'd write a little note before I crash down for an early evening's sleep before a twelve hour drive from Vancouver to Calgary. Hurricane and the Hooligans...
- Ephemera And Updates
Garnet Stencil head. 4x10 open-back cabinet comes this week! Lookout Vancouver! Hello everybody. Once again I have let a significant period of time go by without posting anything new. I know how much this makes me crazy when I'm...
- Comfortably Numb
Into the great wide-open, a rebel without a clue... I had an interesting revelation last night: I played better (more dynamically and sensitively) when I had had no idea what was going on than when I did. As regular readers know, I host a...
- Very Normal Activity (ie. Not Normal At All)
Hello my dear readers. I apologize for the lack of any recent content, but the gap in posts happened for the best possible reason. You see, I blog because I don't necessarily get to play as much music as I would like...
- A Tale Of Two Tours- Part 2
Sandybone and the Breakdown, Tilting at Windmills Tour 2012 ...
Guitar
Home in one piece - part 2, Edmonton.
We arrived in Edmonton mid afternoon on Sunday the 17th of March and checked into the Commercial Hotel without incident and with a night off before we were to start our seven day, nine show week at the hotel's bar, Blues on Whyte. The bar manager was present as we checked in and he made sure we all got decent rooms; indeed, Dave Hoerl received the keys to the bar manager's private room, with fridge, microwave and coffee maker, all mod cons that Dave barely used and the rest of us lacked. Fortunately the winter weather in Edmonton made out window sills into reasonable facsimiles of fridges and a microwave was available at the front desk. I had a fair bit of food from home with me and would only end up eating out four times in our week's stay in Edmonton, three out of four of which were pretty disappointing (don't get me started on getting decent hospitality staff in an oil economy...). I was both pleased and relieved to have a fair bit of my own home made food.
The Sunday night was our only night off on the trip and seeing as it was St. Paddy's day, we all bellied up to the bar for the traditional drunkening. Thankfully, my natural intolerance for celtic music sent me up to my room before any serious damage was done, but rumour has it that one member of our orchestra needed a bit of help up to his room at the end of the night.
Monday we scraped our tired and hungover carcasses up out of bed and went down to the bar to set up our gear and soundcheck (with the exception of the tee-totaling Roger, who was up and out early, enjoying the day, the clever and responsible bastard). The Blues on Whyte has had the same soundtech for the whole thirteen years I've been playing there and I suspect he's been there longer than that. As you would expect, he is adept at dialing in the room quickly and setting up a mix that is good for the week, so soundcheck was a quick and painless affair.
I had the pleasure in setting up my Garnet stencil head atop my Carvin 4x10 cab in a room which is big and rowdy enough to crank it up a bit. I'd been looking forward to opening up the Winnipeg built amp, and this was going to be my first chance. It did not disappoint. It's evil. It's punchy. It's the coolest sounding rig I've ever had. And with no name-plates on the amp or cab, it became a magnet for Edmonton guitar geeks for the duration of our stay - "What the hell is that?! It sounds GREAT!!" being the general theme.
On the pedalboard for the tour was a Boss TU-2 tuner, my prized Joe Gore Codpiece booster, a newly rehoused Denelectro Tuna Melt Tremelo (KILLER!), and my Maxon AD80 analog delay. I set the booster pretty hot and got a tight, deep Bassman-like rhythm tone with the volume knob rolled back on the guitar, and a searing, sustained wail with the volume dimed. The Garnet defies easy description: it's got old Marshall tightness, but doesn't sound British. It's got Fender-y spank but doesn't sound particularly Fender-ish. Really, the only amp it reminds me of is my old Garnet Rebel head, which I so sadly sold years ago.
Not surprisingly, the Monday night was pretty quiet as most of Edmonton nursed a post-St. Pat's hangover, but we had a good opportunity to dial in our sound a bit without too much pressure. Tuesday night we had the pleasure of visits from Grant Stovel, Ben Sures, and Chris (whose last name I will not attempt to spell) all good friends, fellow travellers and great musicians. Grant hosts a long running blues show on a local college radio station with his good friend and keyboardist-extraordinaire Graham Guest, so we arranged to pop by for a pre-show in-studio visit before Wednesday's show.
Wednesday marked the spring equinox, so naturally we were hit with a blizzard in Edmonton. I went trooping around to the guitar shops (Whyte Avenue has a few good'uns) in six inches of fresh snow. On one of the local highways there was a one hundred car pile-up with no fatalities that day. Ah, Edmonton...
Dave Hoerl and I headed down to the radio station that evening for a visit with Grant and Graham. I brought along my Danelectro '63 reissue guitar in open D, my Boneshaker Pedals micro-amp and an EHX Freedom Brothers amp cabinet and Dave and I did a few slide numbers and an interview. Grant questioned me on my punk roots and my belief in the interconnectedness of American musics. I figure he asked me about the punk thing a) because we had some time to sit in the van and discuss such issues whilst touring years ago, and b) because of the unhinged, loud'n'proud, Johnny Ramone-stanced performances I had been unleashing at Blues on Whyte. I'm proud of those performances - I like to bridge the gap between the blues purists and the rest of the audience (who usually are in the majority). And I don't see why music pioneered by folks like T-Bone Walker, who played behind his head whilst doing the splits, among other tricks, should be performed with all the charisma of a stone statue. The Blues on Whyte stage offered me about fourteen feet to move left to right, and I used all of it, as well as venturing up on a couple of tables during the week.
The Thursday night was awesome, packed and rocking. Staff said it was their busiest Thursday in many months. Friday was much the same.
Then comes Saturday. One of the features of the seven night engagement at the Blues on Whyte is the jam session matinee sets one has to perform on the Saturday and Sunday, adding up to a four-hour playing day two days running. Ouch. That's a lot of hours in a very busy, rowdy beer hall. That's a lot of will power used trying to drag yourself out of the bar to get food and rest before the evening show. We had a great Saturday matinee and a great Saturday night show.
But Sunday...oh dear, those were some tired, beaten up, stiff and sore musicians taking the stage. I was glad the Sunday was somewhat ill-attended, because we were a bit past it. We called some guests up to help us out Sunday night, but, naturally there wasn't a guitarist for me to sub in - no rest for the wicked.
Monday morning I awoke with a truly awful hangover and began a haphazard packing job that, by some minor miracle, got all my possessions home. It took three trips to get all my junk down the stairs to the bar; I'd had my home studio set up, video camera and hotel-room amp in addition to my luggage. I happily found the van parked in the optimum load-out spot and commenced to load the whole band's gear; my fellow band members don't seem to grok the logic of gear'n'luggage tetris, so it's easier for me to do the whole load solo than constantly chase them and their frankly bizarre attempts to load stuff away. Aside from an overly interested young man hanging around the van for a few minutes, the load went in low, balanced and stable, and without incident.
We loaded up and were on the highway shortly after noon. Fourteen hours later we arrived in Vancouver and started dividing up the gear and going our separate ways. I would get three hours of sleep that night before I had to get up and be house-dad. I had a gig that night, and shows booked Thursday, Friday and Sunday still to get through.
Exhausted as I was, I arrived at home refreshed by the adventure and all the music. As hard work as it is to be a travelling musician, I thrive on all of it. We racked up thirty-two hours of driving and twenty-nine hours of performance time over eleven shows in the space of twelve days.
- Off On Another Quixotic Journey
Time to haul this bad-boy up the highway! Hello gang. I just thought I'd write a little note before I crash down for an early evening's sleep before a twelve hour drive from Vancouver to Calgary. Hurricane and the Hooligans...
- Ephemera And Updates
Garnet Stencil head. 4x10 open-back cabinet comes this week! Lookout Vancouver! Hello everybody. Once again I have let a significant period of time go by without posting anything new. I know how much this makes me crazy when I'm...
- Comfortably Numb
Into the great wide-open, a rebel without a clue... I had an interesting revelation last night: I played better (more dynamically and sensitively) when I had had no idea what was going on than when I did. As regular readers know, I host a...
- Very Normal Activity (ie. Not Normal At All)
Hello my dear readers. I apologize for the lack of any recent content, but the gap in posts happened for the best possible reason. You see, I blog because I don't necessarily get to play as much music as I would like...
- A Tale Of Two Tours- Part 2
Sandybone and the Breakdown, Tilting at Windmills Tour 2012 ...