New keyboard player
I was looking into getting a little synth or some sort of keyboard to add to my set up, when I stumbled upon the person who NEEDS to be my keyboard player. Who knew I’d find them at Longe & McQuade in Toronto!
“Fix” on MuchMusic’s ‘The Wedge’
Live excerpt of the music video for “Fix” by which was featured on MuchMusic’s ‘The Wedge’! It was first broadcast on March 5th, 2010.
The music video itself was directed by Shannon Lepere, and you can watch the full thing here.
November 12th – Lethbridge – The Slice
I woke up in Lethbridge again, and had a stressful day. I needed to have something mailed to Toronto by the next day at 5, so I was really stressed as I put together the package to be mailed and then proceeded to miss every single courier. Thankfully Shannon helped me out big time by mailing it out from Thunder Bay, saving me many hundred dollars! This is me being stressed (but also excited that the ridiculously has ended).
November 5th – Winnipeg – The Academy
The Western portion of the tour has begun!
I left Thunder Bay a little late, and the Winnipeg drive was partially at night, but it definitely allowed me the opportunity to check out some sunsets.
Northern Ontario really is quite lovely, and has it’s own appeal as I travel across the country. Even to the point where I did see some other sunsets and did take some photos while driving. I know…I know.. but it’s pretty!
I did make another mistake though, and that was get out of the car to take some photos while wearing sandals in some higher snow. No…wearing socks and sandals isn’t a mistake!
I played at the Academy that night with several acoustic acts (Take Me To The Pilot and The Way We Talk), but unfortunately the turnout was a bit poor. Ah well, the staff really got into the music by the end of it, and I even had 2 people at the bar asking me to play ‘Fix’ a second time! They really liked it, and wanted one of their friends to hear it, as he runs a lounge and was looking for an act like me to perform there. We’ll see how that pans out. I also purchased a cd from a band called The Idgets. They literally received their cd’s that day, and were excited to share, so I grabbed a copy!
October 9th – Ottawa – Avant Garde Bar
October 9th was my birthday! So of course, I spent it driving from Hamilton to Ottawa. But when I got there, I was surprised with a treasure hunt to a little bakery where I found these little treats from Shannon:
They were absolutely delicious, but so rich that we couldn’t eat more than one, and even later on I had to try to pawn them off on other bands because my stomach couldn’t handle the ‘buttercream’.
After that, I went out for celebratory poutine and a milkshake with Josh Hogan, and then I went to the show, which I was SUPER EXCITED FOR! I got to spend my birthday listening to awesome metal bands in a really tiny venue: Ninjaspy, What’s He Building In There? and Ace Kinkaid. My set went really well, but there was one hiccup during my final song with the sampler, but I shut it off, kept singing a cappella, then brought it all back together towards the end, and everyone recognized what an awesome save it was, and started applauding! It was a great moment. Ninjaspy was great, although they didn’t play my favorite breakdown (size of the room became a factor, ha!). What’s He Building In There were really cool, again blending genres with metal, and I’d become good friends with these guys over the next few weeks. Ace Kinkaid was an instrumental act, and jesus, they were great, and I’ve actually written a review of their disc which I might put up here if they’d like. After the show, I crashed at Ignacio’s place, where we caught up on each other’s lives, as well as our newest favorite comedians!
October 4th – Toronto – The Central
I finally made it to Toronto, where I was going to have another ‘northern’ night, splitting the evening with Nick Sherman and Aviva Thierry, both from Sioux Lookout. Nick went up first, and I joined him for his last song, which is so catchy, I’ve literally been humming it for days after, and now that I know how to play it, I just want to keep it for my own! But I will refrain…Still…it’s an awesome song.
Aviva went on after that, showing off her amazing voice and switching between guitar and keys very well.
I ended the night, getting several encores and requests, making it a good night after having a tearful goodbye with Shannon at the airport that afternoon as she went back to Thunder Bay.