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| GREAT BIG ROCK JAM Published by Erika The Red � 2005 (Graphic donated by Don Berryman) |
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| April 10, 2005 - Page 1 |
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| St. John�s (NL) has no shortage of musicians to make an acquaintance with, and my most recent ones were blues guitarist Denis Parker, whose band I caught in action at Fat Cat, Newfound Jazz (Dana Parsons, Wade Tarling and Paul Murphy) and Brendan Lee and Ammon (the latter from the Ottawa Valley area), two musicians I met while they were busking on Water Street. I got to experience another of Blair Harvey�s musical projects when he performed as Blair Harvey & The Dregs with Love Hijacker (Steve Edwards, Mike Dowding and Brad Wheeler) at The Ship Pub on April 9. Suffice to say I was blown away by both of these bands and even bought the very last Love Hijacker CD. More on them at a later date. On April 21, I�ll be attending Ron Hynes� live recording at LSPU Hall, the first of two nights. His publicist, Lynn Horne, tells me Ron�s nephew, Joel Hynes, is planning to have a second novel released in spring 2006, following up on the success of his Down to the Dirt writing d�but. Down to the Dirt is scheduled to be reprinted by Harper Collins Books next month (the first printing was through Killick Press). Lynn, of Nova Scotia, just received her very own ECMA statuette from The Trews, whom she has also been representing for almost three years. She was absolutely thrilled at this magnanimous gesture by the band, of course! I remember seeing The Trews at the Mermaid�s Lounge in Hamilton a couple of years ago, before they hit the big-time, so it�s nice to see how far they have come in such a short time. Congratulations to them on sweeping all kinds of awards across the nation! Lynn Horne, a former writer with Saltscapes and Music East magazines, also handles publicity for guitarist Duane Andrews (who has also just won an ECMA as Best Jazz Guitarist for his self-titled debut CD) and Sons of Maxwell, in addition to managing Ron and Steven Bowers. And I thought I was a busy lady! I�m looking forward to meeting her in person some day. Another group of musicians I met this month were guitarist Scott Goudie (who is also a landscape painter), mandolinist Caroline Clarke (of bluegrass bands Five for Silver and Kentucky Tundra) and guitarist Paul Smith. Scott�s artwork can be viewed at the Christina Parker Gallery. It's well worth taking a look at, not to mention purchasing one or two for your own art collection. Scott is an alternate host at Fat Cat�s Friday matinee show, which I urge you to check out, especially those looking for a relaxing wind-down after a long work week. In February�s issue of this journal, I wrote about another multimedia artist I had met in St. John�s (Ran Andrews), but my web page was inadvertently overwritten (oops). This award-winning international artist�s samples, biography and exhibition dates can be viewed at www.northeasternfolkart.com/ranindex.htm, but he is planning the construction of his own website, to be launched sometime later this year. In other recent news, I have learned that a daughter of Kelly Russell (of Figgy Duff and Wonderful Grand Band fame) is seriously ill in hospital due to kidney failure. Here�s hoping for a speedy recovery for her. Kelly is being interviewed by CBC this month and possibly by CHMR 93.5 FM, as well. Newfound Jazz Trio had a very successful night at St. John�s Masonic Temple on April 9. The dance floor was occupied throughout the evening by couples in their 20s and right up to those in their �golden age�. I heard several positive comments as people were leaving, mentioning that they enjoyed the band and liked this venue�s dance floor, which was large enough to accommodate everyone without feeling crowded. There was a group of people there from the MUN Dance Club, who had obviously been professionally taught. They were almost as entertaining as the band itself, especially during the faster-paced final set of Motown r&b and early rock�n�roll (e.g. �Shake, Rattle and Roll�, �Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown�), but they were no slouches in ballroom dancing either. My thanks to the couple who welcomed me to their table for the evening. Unfortunately, their names escape me at the moment... |
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