Promises

All is quiet on New Year's Day
A world in white gets underway
And I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's Day
I will be with you again
I will be with you again

Under a blood-red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
Newspapers say, it says it's true
And we can break through
though torn in two we can be one
I will begin again, I will begin again
Oh and maybe the time is right
Oh maybe tonight
I will be with you again
I will be with you again

And so we are told this is the golden age
And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
To be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year's day

End The Beguine

R.I.P. Artie Shaw. Quite a dude.

Mavis Lives

The Horseshoe gig last Sunday went pretty well overall. There were a few rough spots, but a few sweet spots as well, including some of our best playing to date, at least from my perspective on stage (we have a DAT recording of our set, so we'll review that at some point). I always seem to play a few bum chords (like, "oops, that was supposed to be a B and I played an A" -- just mental mistakes), and messed up in a few other places, but nothing I'm gonna beat myself up over. Hey, Ronnie Wood is apparently renowned for playing bum notes, and he's doing all right for himself.

But the sweet spots were nice. We played "I'll Be Back" with a more rock-y feel, more of a snarl to it, more aggression--and it sounded great. Felt great. And our version of "Just My Imagination", which always sounds nice in rehearsal, came off equally well on stage, if not better. Nice vibe.

The Tele performed well in its debut. Sounded good, although I still find my sound at times is a bit dirtier than I woud like, so I'll have to work on that. I played the Epi for a 4- or 5-song stretch in the middle of the set which included Run Rudolph Run, I Can't Dance, Fed Up Blues--songs that call for that fuller sound. Felt like such a pro, switching guitars on stage! :-)

So our debut as Mavis came off pretty well, at least from a band perspective, which is key at this point in our evolution. We seemed to be received generally well, although it was impossible to see the small but appreciative crowd behind the bright lights. A couple of people got up and danced, so that's always good. We didn't hit the stage until about 11:45, and apparently by around midnight--our 4th or 5th song--people started leaving. I'll assume that had more to do with the hour than with the music.

And check this out: we got the blessing from THE Mavis. The previous Thursday night, Mavis Staples was playing Massey Hall, and Boag and Tim went to see her. Boag hung out at the stage door and got to meet the lady in her limo. She said she was honoured to have a band named after her, and she even signed the poster!

There's no stopping us now baby!

Jimbuck2's Picks Of 2004

In no particular order...

A Ghost Is Born - Wilco
Smile - Brian Wilson
From A Basement On The Hill - Elliott Smith
House Of Ill Fame - The Trews
Ghosts Of The Great Highway - Sun Kil Moon (late 2003 - you wanna make somethin' of it?)
The Tigers Have Spoken - Neko Case
All Of Our Names - Sarah Harmer
Van Lear Rose - Loretta Lynn
Get Away From Me - Nellie MacKay
Let It Die - Feist

Haven't yet heard: U2, Tom Waits, R.E.M., The Arcade Fire, Paul Westerberg


TOP MUSICAL MOMENTS OF 2004:

The Sweet Harmony Review concert, Detroit
Daniel Lanois, surprise appearance at Rivoli Christmas show
Los Lobos, free show at Harbourfront
Neko Case w/The Sadies at Lee's Palace
Broken Social Scene at the Sloan/Sam Roberts fest, Toronto Islands
Blackie And The Rodeo Kings at the Horseshoe
Wilco at The Mod Club
Bob Dylan at The Phoenix
Greg MacPherson at Healey's, NxNE
Hawksley Workman, Toronto Streetfest, corner of Yonge & Eglinton

Darlings

Look who got the "Best Bet" nod in the NOW magazine music listings for Boxing Day.




And to make it extra-special, we edged out the "punk rockers get their big break accompanying strippers". I've been telling Boag that he needs to show more skin, and now it's fnally paying off.
Before ever playing a note as Mavis, and the critics love us already!

Bloody Irony

Assailants kill 28 in Honduras bus attack

[From CTV.ca News Staff]
At least 28 passengers, including six children, were killed when assailants opened fire on a public bus in northern Honduras.
The shooting happened Thursday night in the city of Chamelecon, about 200 kilometres north of the capital Tegucigalpa.
The bus was driving through the neighbourhood of San Isidro when a car carrying an unknown number of armed attackers pulled in front of the vehicle and forced it to stop, police spokesman Deputy Commissioner Wilmer Torres said.
Torres said the attackers jumped out of the car and began shooting. Attackers in a second car fired from behind and alongside the bus.
Most of those on the bus were coming home with bags full of gifts and food for Christmas, Torres said.
The assailants left a taped sign on the windshield of the bus saying they were part of a revolutionary group against the death penalty.

Boxing Day Blow-Out!

If you're in the Toronto area on Boxing Day, the 26th, and got nothing to do, drop by the Horseshoe. We're headlining the Boxing Day Blow-Out, along wth our friend Heather Morgan and her most-excellently named band, and a solo opening set by Amer Diab. That's us, Mavis!




(Thanks to Greg for the poster design. Great job!)

Coincidentally, Mavis Staples is playing in town tonight, at Massey Hall. Boag's going to try to get her to sign the poster. Apparently though, the name Mavis refers to the songbird known as the Thrush.

ma-vis n. See song thrush.
[Middle English, from Old French mauvis, probably from mauve, seagull, mew.]

mavis n : common Old World thrush noted for its song [syn: song thrush, throstle, Turdus philomelos]

Okay, that's a nice association. It's also a common name in Africa, I'm told.

Running Deep

Because of this, I'm working from home today. This is brilliant! Normally I wouldn't be able to do this, due to proofreading duties which pretty much require actual eyeballs on actual magazine layouts. But the only major thing on my plate for today was writing a few SOMs (Selections of the Month), which I can easily do in Word at home. And I finished those about an hour ago. Woo!

Now I get to go trudging through the snow to get some groceries. But that's all right. Hey, it's Canada. It's winter. Trudging through snow...it's in the script.

Had a wonderful time last night at the annual Rivoli Christmas show, normally hosted by Tamara Williamson, but in her absence this year, guest-hosted by the lovely and talented Mia Sheard. The usual suspects performed: Kurt Swinghammer, Lori Cullen, Mia, Kevin Hearn, and the ever-humble and wonderful Ron Sexsmith, who sang a Chris Rea song called Driving Home For Christmas and his own neo-classic Maybe This Christmas. Kevin Fox did an impressively beautiful rendition of Joni Mitchell's River. But the highlight was a surprise appearance by none other than Daniel Lanois. He was apparently just there to meet a friend, and decided to do a number. He grabbed an acoustic and sang "Still Water" from Acadie. A fine, fine time.

I'll go out to my brother's place in Oshawa on Christmas Day. Will spend Christmas Eve alone at home, and that's exactly what I need. Between band rehearsals, Christmas running around, working late, etc, I can't remember the last time I had a quiet evening to myself. Plan to just chill and maybe get back to writing those songs I started but never got back to. Might be a good night for that. Have to be in the right headspace.

I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season, and all the best for 2005.
Personally, I think 2005's gonna rock!

Merry Merry Happy Happy and all that!

Me On Tele

I posted a while back about looking to pick up a Fender Telecaster one of these days. Well sir, that day was Saturday.

I am now the proud owner of my first Fender guitar, a lovely four-year-old, black-and-white, American-made jobbie with a rosewood neck. This is her.

It's real nice. I'm kind of partial to rosewood fretboards, over maple ones, I guess just because I've only ever owned guitars with rosewood. The bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan that I assume the previous owner had installed. It's pretty hot, in terms of output, almost like a humbucker, though it has that Tele snap to it. Only problem is, it's noticeably louder than the neck pickup. It's just that much hotter. So if I were to switch to the neck pickup, or the middle position, during a song, there would be a significant drop in volume. Not cool. I'll leave it as is for now, wanna see how it performs at our gig on the 26th, then I'll look into either replacing the Seymour Duncan with a normal Fender Tele bridge pickup, or maybe replacing the stock neck pickup with a Seymour Duncan Tele neck pickup, which would likely have a similar output as the bridge pickup.

I had had my eye on an incredible and purty pink paisley Telecaster that was for sale in the same store when I dropped in last Saturday. I picked it up out of curiosity, and man, did it ever feel nice! Some guitars just have a vibe to them, and this was one. It's a 1990's Japanese-made reissue of the discontinued 1969 model James Burton played with Elvis in the late-60s, early-70s. (I believe that picture is actually of Burton's, which features the older-style bridge. The reissues have newer, modern bridges.) Maple neck, but it felt pretty awesome to me. If it had been in the store when I returned yesterday, I may just have walked out of there with it instead of the one I bought. But, these pink paisley Teles are apparently hot commodities and well regarded by those in the know, and someone had snapped it up during the intervening week. It was even about $100 cheaper than mine. Oh well, I don't know if pink is my colour anyway, and I was a bit hesitant about making that my guitar. Seems like the kind of guitar you can justify playing only if you're a real hotshot guitar-slinger. I don't really see myself like that. I ain't no James Burton. Tim Burton, maybe. Still, if I ever see another one of those pink paisley Telecasters, I might just have to snap it up.

But I'm pretty happy to be a Tele owner. I feel bad for my Epiphone though. It's stood by me and served me well during my first forays into the world of live performance, and now it's relegated to back-up status. I'll probably still play it for certain songs that call for that fuller sound and the bite of humbuckers. Maybe for "The Fever" or for straight-up blues numbers like "Fed Up Blues", or maybe for "I Can't Dance" to conjure that Chuck Berry thing. Great to have two such different guitars though, to cover off different types of sounds and types of music. They complement each other well.

Sorry for the guitar-talk for those of you who aren't axe-inclined.

Dixie Hangover

Had a merry ol' time Thursday night. Our new keyboard player, Roberta, had a Christmas gathering at her place. She plays in a New Orleans-style jazz band called The Happy Pals, so a few of those folks were there, along with some players from another jazz band called The Silver Leaf Jazz Band. After some obligatory socializing, out came the trombone, tuba, sax, banjo, cornet, snare, guitars, with Roberta on piano directing traffic. What a blast! It was a small basement apartment in a house she shares with her sister and mother, who live above, but everyone was down in the basement. Space was at a premium, but thankfully nobody was skewered by the trombone.

I sat in on nylon-string guitar for a few bluesy numbers (couldn't play real jazz to save my life), and then later in the evening (morning by then, actually), I sat behind the snare and had fun holding down the beat or a while. It was a great time. I left around 3 a.m., had to run like a bugger to catch the bus down Coxwell. Woke up at 7:30 a.m. on my couch with my head on the arm rest. My first thought was 'oh my god, I'll be late for work', then remembered with much relief that I had taken Friday off. My ear was numb for the rest of the day and part of the next, where I had slept on it on the couch. My back was killing me, also from the posture I had slept in, my left calf muscle was sore as hell, likely from the sprint for the bus, and I was hung over like a bastard. A hurtin' unit I was.

Got up from the couch, threw some food in the cat's dish to shut him the hell up, and crawled off to my bed. Woke up around noon to a dreary, rainy day. Rest of the day was a write-off while I recuperated, though I had to slog out to buy cat food and groceries. Felt good to get back inside, warm and dry, and spend the evening watching a tape of the Gram Parsons tribute on "Sessions At West 54th" and the "VH1 Storytellers" with Tom Waits. A night to explore one's inner raindog.

iTuning Out

Nice to see that the iTunes Music Store is finally available in Canada, a year and a half after its launch in the US and after launching in various European countries, including Belgium, Greece and Portugal. Apparently Apple felt the Belgian market was a bigger priority. What's up with that?

When I downloaded my first iTunes track last week, I had a brainstorm. I'm in the midst of trying to put together another Christmas CD, and I thought instead of frantically searching the web, downloading "illegally", or buying entire Christmas CDs just to get that one needed song, I could use the iTunes Music Store to find the songs I need, and buy them individually! Oh the joys of the digital commercial age (and the rosy glow of ethical decision-making that it bestows!).

Except...
In reading up on the fine print with respect to computer authorization and Apple's Fairplay encryption technology, I was confused about the number of times I could burn a track purchased through iTunes. So I asked the Apple:

According to your description of Fairplay it "...allows unlimited burning for individual songs and lets you burn playlists up to 7 times each." My question: If I create a playlist comprised of songs from my own CD collection and one or two songs purchased from iTunes Music Store, will I be able to burn that playlist an unlimited number of time, or just 7 times?

This is the response I received:

Dear Jim,

Thank you for contacting the iTunes Music Store.

In accordance with the contracts between the artists, the record companies, and the iTunes Music Store, you may burn unchanged playlists up to seven times each even if they only contain only a single title from the iTunes Music Store.

You may, however, enjoy unlimited synching with your iPods, and you may burn unlimited CDs of individual songs.

For more information about burning CDs from playlists or making new playlists, open iTunes and choose iTunes & Music Store Help from the Help menu. Click Contents, then click Burning CDs or DVDs.

Sincerely,

The iTunes Music Store Team

Well, that's just wonderful. I can burn "unlimited CDs of individual songs." Yes, I love doing that. Who doesn't mind wasting entire CD-Rs by burning only one song on each one? Seems though that the key phrase in their reply is where they say "you may burn unchanged playlists up to seven times each even if they only contain only[sic] a single title from the iTunes Music Store." But what does that mean? If I alter the positions of the last 2 tracks after every 7th burning, can I then burn the playlist 7 more times, then switch them back, and on and on?

Does anyone have any experience with this? Seems pretty stupid to me. If I bought the damn song, I should be able to burn it as many times as I want. I likely would have used their store for several more purchases, but now they've driven me back to the P2P realm. Seems contrary to the whole idea if you ask me.

Whipping Up An Update

Been too bogged to blog much lately. But I'll try some catching up.

Played a gig last Sunday at the Cadillac Lounge out in Parkdale, a cool little bar. Things went okay overall, though we had some tempo issues with some songs. For some reason, we launched into "Men Without Women" at about half-speed. It felt like we were playing on quaaludes. It was kind of funny actually. It was quite a casual gig. Boag was talking to a friend of his who plays in a band called Der Backbeats, and he just said "hey, you guys should come along and open for us." So we did.

But, with every gig we discover things that we need to address, and it's good to learn these things. Plus, to be fair, we've played three gigs with three different fill-in drummers, so it's a bit hard to become a tight combo under those circumstances, no matter how good the drummer-of-the-moment is. This gig we had a great drummer sit in with us, Cam Giroux from By Divine Right, who has also played with Weeping Tile (Sarah Harmer's first band) and Oh Susanna, who showed up with him to catch the show. Cam's also a really sweet guy. A pleasure to rehearse and play with. But our search continues for a full-time drummer.

We have, however, found ourselves a keyboard player, in one Roberta Hunt, who has a background in jazz and boojee-woojee and possibly other stuff as well. We had our first rehearsal with her this past Wednesday, and it sounded great. She'll be adding piano and organ into the mix and it's just what we needed. She's also a very sweet and pleasant person (fed us pickles, cold cuts and beer at the rehearsal at her place), so I think she'll fit in marvelously.

She'll make her debut with us on Boxing Day (Dec. 26). We booked The Horseshoe for the evening, and our friend Heather's band will be joining us, along with another band to be determined. Should be fun. It's always nice to play The Horseshoe, and we'll see if we can get some people to come out and shake off some holiday stress with some good tunes.

Another good thing about having Roberta on board is that she lives relatively close to me--a short bus ride up to Coxwell station and then one stop over to Greenwood. Has a basement pad in a house I used to walk by almost every day when I lived on Greenwood. We'll likely end up rehearsing mostly at her place for practical reasons--her keyboard being less portable than our guitars--so it'll be less of a schlep for me, compared to going to Tim's place on Yonge Street south of Bloor. As much as I Iove my new Fender amp, it's a bit heavy even for the shorter trip. Lugging a 30-lb amp along with a guitar case and a backpack containing pedals and cables and such, is just too much of a hassle. So for rehearsals I'm looking to get a smaller, lighter amp, and I think I found one I like. Tried out a small Fender XLS(?) amp at Songbird. Can't weigh more than 7-10 lbs. Sounds good enough for rehearsal. Has an overdrive dial (which I probably won't even use), and even has reverb. $95 used. Should suit my needs just fine, and save some sore muscles.

We're still playing under the name The Braveyard Whips, but the push is on to come up with a new name for this gig. Tons of suggestions have been flying around, but so far nothing has stuck. Or at least nothing that has gained unanimous support among the band members. Some of the contenders at this point in time include:

The Dick Ellis Revival
The Handlers
Mavis
The Mayfields
The Mercy Patrol
The Tenders

Of some of the others I've suggested, I like:

The Molly Beggars
The Saturday Flyers
The Gonners (or Boag & The Gonners)
The Radio Sweethearts
The Boagarts

Ah, it's a tough business this band-naming thing. I honestly think the name will reveal itself to us, in something someone says offhandedly, or in some serendipitous event. We shall see. Suggestions are welcome.