any given night

my big stage debut...

... is tomorrow night. 

I'm feeling much better about it today than I was feeling about it yesterday.  It wasn't nerves it was just a royally bad mood.  I apologize to everyone I came in to contact with yesterday.  (Fortunately, I had the good sense not to leave the house yesterday!)

Wish me luck!

reports of my father in law's death, not what I wanted to give him this Father's Day

Well, this is my first little taste of being quoted oh so wrong in print and I tell you, it is indeed bitter.  An article came out in one of the local papers yesterday.  I was excited about it.  The CD release party was last Friday (more about that later) and the article was timed to be a nice little follow up.

Unfortunately, the write-up focused very little on the new CD and turned out to be a lifestyle sort of piece.  I guess that's fine, but half way through the article it was stated that my father-in-law had died.

Not true. I cannnot express how terrible I feel about this. 

I wrote a letter to the editor doing my best to be gracious and light about it, but wanting to make it known that my father-in-law is indeed alive.  As we share the same surname I didn't want an old friend or aquaintence to read the article and get the wrong idea.

The Editor,

Re. “Any Given Night songs come from experience” (Tri-City Arts by Diane Strandberg, The Tri-City News, June 15th).

I want to thank Diane Strandberg for covering my story but there is one detail I feel I must correct. It was not my father-in-law who passed away. In fact, he is alive and well in the Tri-Cities and is a loyal reader of your publication. A false report of his demise isn’t what I wanted to give him this Father’s Day, so instead please give me the opportunity to wish a Happy Father’s Day to Americo Di Gregorio. We so glad you are still with us.

Kristia Di Gregorio, Port Moody

Well, they said they couldn't find my letter and would not publish it even if they did.  I did manage to get them to agree to a retraction, but who even reads those?  At least I have a blog where I can set things straight.

On to other things...

The CD release party at the Montmartre last Friday went beautifully.  Tom Landa from the Paperboys was revealed to be my mystery guest.  Not often I get a Juno Award winner opening for me!  He was just amazing... he had us all singing along with him by the end of his set.

The place was just absolutely packed, so it was very exciting to play to a full house.  The paper fans we handed out turned out to be a practial item as it was HOT in there!  I just had so much fun, so many great musicians, friends in the audience.... a great night.

I kind of crashed the day after.  As a little kid I always got that 'after the birthday party' thing... so much excitement the day before would leave me tired and a bit sad the day after.  Well, this time around it turned out to just be a cold that showed up post CD release party.  Ah well...  I still have time to beat it before our show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre next week...

Just talked to my Grandma.  I told her I have a cold.  She said, "you have a bear?"

No.

catching up...

Things are well... very well.  And they've been taking me away from the computer which in many ways is a very good thing right now.  I can get so obsessive about watching my email, waiting for feedback on this CD.  The best thing for me right now is to be so busy that I rarely have time to check.

It's truly been a great week.  Last Friday night Chandra, Joanne and I celebrated our recent successes with a girl’s dinner out on the rooftop deck of Sandbar, overlooking my former home of False Creek.  A glass of champagne, candles flickering in their wrought iron candelabrums, and fires blazing in the stone fireplaces.  A beautiful setting to reflect on this happy time.

Chandra recently landed a job at the Chan Centre and I am so proud of her.  We all knew she was going to get it.  I mean, she has the perfect name for it!  Joanne's cover illustration for Pique Magazine came out last week too.  So amazing to see her get the recognition she deserves.  And my bit of news?  The CBC music resources department sent me a little email with the title, "CBC likes Any Given Night".  They're picking it up for national distribution to all their music libraries which means radio airplay across the country for yours truly!

The next night Joyelle and Rob invited Tony and I to the symphony.  I love, love, love the Orpheum.  I'm fixated on playing there someday.  I just sat there gazing happily at the swags of red velvet and the gilded everything.  We took a tour of the place one summer.  We've actually walked the catwalk above the ceiling facade.  I want to spend more time there exploring.  I hear there's a ghost...

Imagine playing with a symphony!  That really would be something.  Next life I'm coming back as a cellist.  I promise.

The gig at the Railway Club on Tuesday night was a bit of a disappointment in terms of the turn out, but I'm really happy I had the chance to play there again after all this bloody time.  Nice to have an excuse to play with the boys too.  Allan, Boris and Gary joined Tony and I on stage.  A rare treat.

The Railway seems like one of those places that has always been there and will remain.  I'm amazed that in the 6 or 7 years since I last played there it has changed so little.  Yes, there's no smoking in Vancouver venues and they built an outdoor deck to accommodate, but they left the yellowed walls and ceilings as they are, looking the way only tobacco-cured paint can look.

We got to bed at 3am that night and had to be awake and functional quite early five hours later.  Nothing like a photographer and interviewer showing up to your house when you're tired and puffy and in need of caffine.  I was rushing around before they arrived with frozen spoons on my eyes to make me look bright-eyed and awake.  That, coupled with some Visine did the trick!

Last night Tony and I had a duo gig at a gala at Hycroft Manor.  I'm quite ready to move in.  We were treated so well... enjoyed wine and food in this amazing mansion from 1911.  I still can't get over the green tiled solarium.  The whole thing was done up in hand-made tiles with beautiful stained glass windows and ceilings. 

We performed in the foyer near the entrance to the back yard terrace.  I loved the room we were in... near the amazing arrangement of Casablanca lilies.  My very, very favourite.  I really don't mind being background music to events like these.  It's a VERY nice way to make a living.  Chances are good we'll be back for other events.  The staff seemed to enjoy us quite a bit.  And I'd like that.  It may not be as artistically fulfilling as a club/bar gig because the focus isn't on the performer, but you know... if I had the choice between getting stuck in the bar scene or getting stuck in the gala scene...

Bring on the chandeliers!

choosing one's tribe

Jonni wrote an article on this subject months and months ago.  The phrase has stuck with me as I've slowly eased back into a musical life.  Last night sitting in the worn but warm atmosphere of a venue with my buddy Rock, listening to Leslie up on the stage... I had such a sense of being back with my tribe. 

There were familiar faces and friends there.  Hugs exchanged, excited talk of gigs, projects, other artists... introductions made.  Most notably to Jane Siberry, who I had the great honour of meeting last night!

What I need to do now is sit down and practice.  I feel that way every time I see Leslie perform!  I need to tighten up the songs and feel sure-footed up there.  I've been so much into 'marketing-head' that I've spent very little time with my beloved guitar.  And very little time with my pen as well.  If anyone wants to strike up an ongoing real letter exchange I'm all for it!  I need activities that give me breaks from the computer.

I'm getting excited about the CD release party.  I've decided to hold it at the Montmartre Cafe.  It's a little venue, but it's the right place to be.  Only two blocks up from where the South Hill Candy Shop stood before the fire.  That place was filled with so much music and so many memories.  The Montmartre has stepped in and given us displaced Southhiller's a musical home.  I love Courtney and Ali who run the place, so yes... it'll be good to celebrate the release there.  More details and photos to follow soon...

The much missed South Hill Candy Shop

Yay! Now it's really, really done!

Well...  if the recording is finished I guess this isn't my recording blog anymore.  At least not for the moment.  I'm sure we'll be back in the studio sooner or later but right now I want to share other experiences with you.

My CDs finally showed up.  I make it sound like they were terribly late.  Really, they showed up only a handful of days later than hoped but the wait has felt like an eternity.  I'm sure we all go through periods of living so far in the future that we don't enjoy the present and that very much the feeling I've been carrying around with me.  I've been grumpy and distracted and tired and in need of a lot of sleep.  I've been making lists and mechanically getting through tasks.  I've been phasing out during conversations, my mind wandering to days ahead when the CD would arrive.  I was distracted right up until I took that first CD out of the box.  It was only then that it hit me that I had actually done it.  I finished it. 

Chandra took me out for a two martini lunch after she helped me load the boxes into her car.  I was excited and relieved at seeing how well the full colour delux printing turned out but, of course, wanted to hear the audio quality.  Of all things the POWER WENT OUT, so not only could we not listen to it in her car (no CD player) but there was no power at home.  Fortunately, those martinis had mellowed me out considerably.  The power eventually returned and the CD sounds great, if I do say so myself.

I feel really peaceful for the first time in ages...

the wait continues...

But only for 8 more days!  The CD is scheduled to arrive at my door on April 15th.  I've been full of nervous, buzzing energy waiting for the arrival for that stack of boxes.  I feel like there's so much to do to get ready for it.  The first time I did this (9 years ago) I had no clue.  I thought I was finished my work by the time my CDs arrived. 

So far from the truth.  The real work begins now.  It's not enough to make a recording.  The point is to make a recording so that I can reach out to people.  The question is:  how do I get my music from my house to yours?  And how do I do it without a record label, music video, major endorsement deal or glossy print ad campaign?

A question for the ages...

I can't wait until you hear it!

OK... done

It hasn't sunk in yet.  The recording is finished.  ANY GIVEN NIGHT has been sent off to get mastered and next week will be sent off for manufacturing.  This means no more redoing vocals, no more remixing, no more last minute guitar parts.  It is what it is now.  We're committed to it.

I feel good, but a little lost.  I know I've got to keep my focus up long enough to get the graphics and copy finalized today.  I've got to get all the files and order and paperwork in place and cheques made out and stick it all in a big envelope next week addressed to the kind folks who will be pressing my CD.  I just have to push that little bit further to the end of this.

Then what?

I'm counting on divine coincidence to lead the way.  Perhaps not the best business plan but something quite amazing did happen a couple of days ago.  A friend mentioned a 3 day workshop on touring specifically geared to my type of music that's being put on by Canada Council (of the Arts).  The submission deadline had long since passed but they had an extra space.  She recommended I ask if they might let me in, and they did.  So at the end of this month, while I'm waiting for my CDs to arrive, I'll be getting my head deep into planning a successful tour.  And that's exactly what I should be thinking about.

Timing is such an odd thing...  I'm at mercy to some sort of yearly schedule.  March seems to always be a hard one for me.  I feel like some small green thing pushing up through the dirt.  But the beginning of April is when new things come to life for me...  it's when I got engaged, when we opened the studio, when we opened the store and now it's when we will release the CD.

Two more weeks...  Two more weeks...

inching closer still...

It was a challenging weekend in the studio.  My voice wasn't cooperating and my ears have been giving me trouble.  I just can't hear anything well.  Perhaps it's just lingering effects from that flu thing over Christmas.

I've been fighting and fighting with this one song called Healing Touch.  Of course it's the opening song of the album.  Of course it's the song that introduces the mood and lyrical theme of the project.  It's the first impression song and it has to be good.  And it wasn't working.

It drove me bloody crazy all weekend.  I thought I had nailed it in Saturday, but listening back Sunday morning proved otherwise.  I hit all the notes but they all lacked that 'spark' than makes something authentic.

I finished off tracks for Loves Sweet Decay, Foreshadow and Sweet Sugar Honey Bee yesterday and by last night I was tired.  I took one last kick at Healing Touch and...  it worked!  Obviously I just needed to get tired enough.

All the lead vocal parts are now completed.  We have a couple of guitar parts to do... a few backup vocals... and a bass part we mysteriously lost and then...

it will be done. by the end of next weekend.

(holy crap.)

no news is good news

It's been quiet here on the blog front.  Things are well, though.  Very well.  The recording is coming along a bit more each day.  The parts are pretty much all together now except for some vocals that need to be redone.  I'm getting perhaps overly picky about it.  I can't even really tell what makes for a good take anymore.  I'm not sure if a good take even really matters.  This is not going to be a super slick sounding album.  It's just kind of handcrafted and homemade.  That has to be good enough.

At some point during this process we have to say... this is good enough.

And call it finished.

this year past

Long time no type.  Sorry about that.  I've been low down under the weather, struggling with influenza or pneumonia or some such bronchial/fever thing that knocked the wind out of me during the holidays.  I'm doing better now, back on my feet.  Trying to pick up where I left off with this project.  We had planned to spend the holidays finishing off the last bit of Any Given Night.  But that plan did not manifest quite obviously.

So very frustrating.

So it's nose to the grindstone for the next few weekends.  Boris will be by on Sunday to do some accordion and rhodes parts.  And hopefully Christina will be able to make it out to do cello parts the weekend after.  So don't ask me to socialize.  I can't, I can't, I won't.  I've got to get this done before I go out-of-my-tree crazy.

Other than recording angst things are well.  It snowed today.  It was so beautiful while it lasted.  There's more expected tomorrow and I'm quite happy about that.  I love this cozy, winter mood.  Of course, there's been no need to shovel the white stuff yet.  Ask me tomorrow what I think of winter!  At least for tonight I'll be curled up by the fire with my soy hot chocolate and my vegan marshmallows... contented.

I hope you're well.  Happy new year to you...