Guitar
On June 19th my good buddy Sandybone and I will be celebrating our sixth anniversary of hosting the "End of the Line" jam session at Vancouver's Princeton Pub (1901 Powell St., 9pm-12, if you've never had the pleasure).
I can not over emphasize how good this gig has been to me: not only has it fed myself and my family for all that time, the eclectic mix of performers has pushed me into multiple new places as a player, and the jam has acted as our social centre in town- especially now in "my married with kid" scenario, the ability to have a weekly one-stop-shop social evening is a real blessing, as it's difficult to get out of the house as often as I might prefer.
We have always tried to stand a bit apart from the other sessions in town. We are not a stereotypical blues jam: we don't have a full drum kit, just a snare and cymbal, and up until now we have been notably low on bass players as we have no bass rig either (that'll probably change soon). This has allowed us to sidestep the traditional blues-jam guitar wars that tend to arise just about everywhere (I've hosted blues jams from here to Texas), whilst still attracting some excellent blues artists.
We aren't a country jam, but we do attract country artists, and know how to accompany them appropriately (I'm usually on lap-steel).
We are also not a stereotypical open-mic: I generally accompany all of the performers, so while there is a certain number of excellent singer-songwriters attending, we don't have endless strings of solo acoustic players across the stage all night.
The result has been a delightfully eclectic mix of musics, with not a whole lot of rules in place: don't be insanely loud, and don't randomly jump the stage uninvited being the only real guidelines. As a result we've had a pretty remarkable group of performers contributing over the years. And naturally, I was able to gain the benefit of their experience (or lack thereof) for all those years, too!
When we started the night, my only real focus had been playing blues for years, and it was instantly inspiring, challenging and fun to tackle bagfulls of new tunes, and work with a new group of faces, (many of whom would hire me down the road). Really, no gig I've ever done has opened up my mind more, and certainly no house gig I've done has been as consistently stimulating and musical. It is also now two and a half years longer in duration than my previous record for a house gig.
So, to Les, the one-time bar manager who took over ownership of the club: thank you for continuing to believe in us, and letting us become part of the culture and texture of your room.
To Sandy, the leader: thank you for the opportunity to grow so much, and for the excellent camaraderie, which has kept me (relatively) sane and centred.
To the regulars: thank you for defying the expectations of a wrong-side-of-town address, and being super cool, warm and friendly. Oh yeah, thanks for the drinks!
To the players: thank you for allowing me to participate in your musical journey, and for sharing your excellent talents and vibes with our community. Oh yeah, and thanks for all those gigs on the side!
Here's a little list of some of the performers who have contributed over the years: (if I missed you or someone you enjoyed, add it to Comments, and I'll add it in. Likewise, if you have any photos to share, send 'em along and I'll post 'em).
Art Bergman, Muddy Fraser, Gary Kuliger, Rachel Davis, Barbara Ann, Blaine Dunaway, Big Joe Burke, Harpdog Brown, Sophie Hooper-Dykhuizen, the Boomchix, Witchita Trip, Steve Kozak, the Bicycle Shed Ensemble, Ana Bon Bon, Righteous Ike, Steve Taylor, Rick Taylor, Taylor Little, Jon Card, Jack Lavin, Huggybear (Leonard and the Lab Rats), Bob and Franny Beezer, Steven Drake, Adam Drake, Dave Paterson, Dave Webb, Pat Darcus, Martin Eade, Steve Hinton, Cary Dijkhuizen, Stoic Steve and the Ganglion Cyst, Tim Hearsey, Charles Martin, The Cow Jazz Billionaires and many, many more.
http://www.princetonpub.com/
http://www.myspace.com/princetonpub
http://sandybone.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/sandyboneandthebreakdown
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Guitar
The End of the Line Jam, six years in!
 |
| Our home away from home |
I can not over emphasize how good this gig has been to me: not only has it fed myself and my family for all that time, the eclectic mix of performers has pushed me into multiple new places as a player, and the jam has acted as our social centre in town- especially now in "my married with kid" scenario, the ability to have a weekly one-stop-shop social evening is a real blessing, as it's difficult to get out of the house as often as I might prefer.
We have always tried to stand a bit apart from the other sessions in town. We are not a stereotypical blues jam: we don't have a full drum kit, just a snare and cymbal, and up until now we have been notably low on bass players as we have no bass rig either (that'll probably change soon). This has allowed us to sidestep the traditional blues-jam guitar wars that tend to arise just about everywhere (I've hosted blues jams from here to Texas), whilst still attracting some excellent blues artists.
We aren't a country jam, but we do attract country artists, and know how to accompany them appropriately (I'm usually on lap-steel).
We are also not a stereotypical open-mic: I generally accompany all of the performers, so while there is a certain number of excellent singer-songwriters attending, we don't have endless strings of solo acoustic players across the stage all night.
The result has been a delightfully eclectic mix of musics, with not a whole lot of rules in place: don't be insanely loud, and don't randomly jump the stage uninvited being the only real guidelines. As a result we've had a pretty remarkable group of performers contributing over the years. And naturally, I was able to gain the benefit of their experience (or lack thereof) for all those years, too!
When we started the night, my only real focus had been playing blues for years, and it was instantly inspiring, challenging and fun to tackle bagfulls of new tunes, and work with a new group of faces, (many of whom would hire me down the road). Really, no gig I've ever done has opened up my mind more, and certainly no house gig I've done has been as consistently stimulating and musical. It is also now two and a half years longer in duration than my previous record for a house gig.
 |
| Sandybone |
To Sandy, the leader: thank you for the opportunity to grow so much, and for the excellent camaraderie, which has kept me (relatively) sane and centred.
To the regulars: thank you for defying the expectations of a wrong-side-of-town address, and being super cool, warm and friendly. Oh yeah, thanks for the drinks!
To the players: thank you for allowing me to participate in your musical journey, and for sharing your excellent talents and vibes with our community. Oh yeah, and thanks for all those gigs on the side!
Here's a little list of some of the performers who have contributed over the years: (if I missed you or someone you enjoyed, add it to Comments, and I'll add it in. Likewise, if you have any photos to share, send 'em along and I'll post 'em).
 |
| Huggybear and me |
Art Bergman, Muddy Fraser, Gary Kuliger, Rachel Davis, Barbara Ann, Blaine Dunaway, Big Joe Burke, Harpdog Brown, Sophie Hooper-Dykhuizen, the Boomchix, Witchita Trip, Steve Kozak, the Bicycle Shed Ensemble, Ana Bon Bon, Righteous Ike, Steve Taylor, Rick Taylor, Taylor Little, Jon Card, Jack Lavin, Huggybear (Leonard and the Lab Rats), Bob and Franny Beezer, Steven Drake, Adam Drake, Dave Paterson, Dave Webb, Pat Darcus, Martin Eade, Steve Hinton, Cary Dijkhuizen, Stoic Steve and the Ganglion Cyst, Tim Hearsey, Charles Martin, The Cow Jazz Billionaires and many, many more.
http://www.princetonpub.com/
http://www.myspace.com/princetonpub
http://sandybone.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/sandyboneandthebreakdown
- 2013 - A Year In Review
Wow. 2013 is all but over and I can't believe all the plot twists that developed and defined what was a landmark, watershed year for me. The biggest development was really the lack thereof: my wife and I had planned to move to...
- Tony Robertson- Six Strings Down
Tony Robertson. We'll miss you, buddy. It was with a heavy heart that I learned my old friend Tony Robertson had passed away this past weekend. Tony succumbed to a bone marrow illness after a long and brave fight. I first met Tony...
- Weekend Update
There's been a few interesting developments in the world of D this last week, the first being a corporate gig I was hired to do in a swanky hotel downtown. Basically we had to provide audio wallpaper for a gang of municipal employees...
- 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...
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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...