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Every Sunday Afternoon at Graffiti's Bar and Grill
w/ Steve Briggs
Sundays, 4 - 7 p.m.
In the Heart of Kensington Market
170 Baldwin St.
Toronto, ON
http://www.graffitisbarandgrill.com
East Coast Music Awards - Americana/Country Showcase
w/ My Acoustic Trio
Thursday, March 4, 11:20-11:50 p.m.
Steel City Tavern
Sydney, NS
http://www.ecma.ca
Seanachai's Irish Pub
Michael Brennan Band
Friday, March 26, 9:30 p.m.
1106 Danforth Ave. (E. of Donlands)
Toronto, ON
http://www.thesip.ca
Dora Keogh
w/ My Acoustic Trio
Saturday, April 3, 9:30 p.m.
141 Danforth Ave. (E. of Broadview)
Toronto, ON
http://www.allens.to/dora/
Arts Can Benefit
w/ Steve Briggs
Saturday, April 10, 8:00 p.m.
Newmarket, ON
The Local Pub
w/ My Acoustic Trio
Saturday, May 1, 9:00 p.m.
396 Roncesvalles Ave.
Toronto, ON
http://www.thelocalpub.ca
Inverness Arts Centre
Thursday, August 5, 9 p.m.
Inverness, NS
http://www.invernessarts.ca
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Just found out that I've been nominated for Best Country Music Recording of the Year by Music Nova Scotia. It's my first nomination and I'm pretty excited. So I'm going to be heading back to Nova Scotia in early November for the awards show and conference. It's in Yarmouth, which is on the southern end of the province and I'm really looking forward to the drive along the southern coast. Haven't been there since I was a kid.
September 9, 2009
Had a great summer in Cape Breton. Saw lots of wildlife including bears, moose and what I believe was a linx. Also had a number of great gigs, most of which were in Halifax.
My favorite was in my hometown of Inverness where I played for the grand opening of a convenience/country store called Rorrison's. They sell just about everthing including guitars and guitar strings. We played on the front porch with cars parked out front and people of all ages hanging around listening, dancing or singing along. And to top it off we were served very special green slushies. I loved it.
Looking forward to be back playing at Graffiti's on Sunday afternoons which will resume this Sunday, Sept. 6th and of course all the other Toronto and area gigs I've got coming up.
September 2, 2009
Winter is almost over and I'll be booking my Maritime tour soon. Hard to believe. Anywhere But Here has been doing very well, charting on at least six college stations and on a Roots Music chart in the States. CBC has given it lots of play across the country and it's made it on two top ten lists for 2008.
I'll be playing London, ON soon with Rae Billing, a fine roots singer/songwriter, and doing a weekend of gigs in Ottawa and Montreal. Really looking forward to Montreal, it's a great city.
Pump Audio, a U.S. company that provides music for TV and film has used a few songs from Cautious Man for programs like HGTV and they've taken on the new album as well for future use.
I'll be celebrating nine years of Sunday matinees at Graffiti's today. I can still remmber doing the first one with Dave Tufford. Can't believe it's been nine years.
March 1, 2009
The CD launch for Anywhere But Here was fantastic. The Cadillac Lounge was packed and the band was Rockin’. And what a band it was: Steve Briggs and Kurt Swinghammer on guitars, Rob Gusevs on keyboards, John Dymond on bass and Gary Craig on drums. These guys can play! One of my best gigs ever.
The hard work of promoting and selling the CD has begun but is going well so far. It’s been shipped to CBC and Campus Radio across Canada and I’m starting to hear about airplay already. And a company in the Netherlands wants to sell Anywhere But Here from their online store.
Since the release I’ve had more good news. First I found out that I had received an Ontario Arts Council songwriting grant and then just yesterday I heard that I was approved for a FACTOR Recording Loan. Very nice, not just for the money, but for the recognition.
Lots more gigs to come and lots more work to be done.
November 8, 2008
The new CD, Anywhere But Here, is here at last and the launch, at the Cadillac Lounge here in Toronto, is just over a week away. It’ll be a great night, with most of the band from the recording on the gig. Only Kevin Breit couldn’t make it but I’ve got another great guitar player, Kurt Swinghammer, filling in.
I think it’s a fantastic CD, my best work by far. I must thank producer David Travers-Smith for doing such an incredible job and putting so much time and effort into the project. You can hear him on trumpet on two of the songs. And of course I had such great musicians to work with: Kevin Breit, Steve Briggs, John Dymond, Gary Craig, Rob Gusevs, Steve Dawson, Chris Coole and Rebecca Campbell.
My summer wasn’t bad though the weather wasn’t great in Cape Breton. I had a fun little tour of Nova Scotia and P.E.I. with Steve Briggs, the highlight of which was a gig in Charlottetown with Matt Putnam of Nudie & The Turks. And as always, my home town gig in Inverness was great.
Hope you get a chance to make it to the launch. If not try and pick up the CD, Anywhere But Here.It'll be available on line soon and it'll always be available at gigs. You’ll be in for a treat.
October 7. 2008
March is finally here but the snow storms keep coming. Can’t remember a winter in Toronto quite like this one. Had a great time again at Winterfolk Blues and Roots Festival a few weeks ago. Did two fun gigs with Steve Briggs then had to hop on a plane for the ECMA’s in Fredericton, N.B. to do a solo show. It was fun but exhausting. Got to see some friends like Matt Putnam from Nudie and the Turks and Dave Marsh from the Joel Plaskett Emergency as well as some New Brunswick relatives.
Demo recordings for the next CD have begun and I’m quite excited about it. It’ll be more roots sounding and a bit more musically adventurous than the last one. The producer, David Travis-Smith has been great to work with. And the band, Kevin Breit and Steve Briggs on guitars, John Dymond on bass and Gary Craig on drums were fantastic. We had a lot of fun in the studio. It should be finished in July and I’ll release it in the fall.
I’ve already started booking my summer tour and this year Steve Briggs and I’ll be playing P.E.I. as well. I’m planning on a second Maritime tour for the spring of 2009 to promote the new CD and a short Western tour as well.
Tomorrow I’ll be celebrating 8 years of playing Sunday Matinees at Graffiti’s Bar here in Toronto. Time does fly. I’m sure we’ll have a blast.
March 8, 2008
I can’t believe summer’s here and in a couple of weeks I’ll be on the road to Cape Breton.
So what’s new? First of all I’ve lined up a producer for the next album that I hope to begin recording in the fall. David Travers-Smith has recorded with Jenny Whiteley, the Wailin’ Jenny’s and Kevin Breit. He’s also a very fine musician and I’m eagerly looking forward to working with him.
And of course there’s my annual Maritime summer tour with Steve Briggs. It’ll be like a vacation on the road.
I’ve pretty well wrapped up promoting “Cautious Man”. The radio promotion has gone very well. It’s been played on about 40 stations in the U.S. and made it to #12 on the Freeform American Roots Chart published by 3rd Coast Magazine in San Antonio, Texas. In Europe it’s been played in Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands and more. “Cautious Man” was an Album of the Month Pick on the Euro Americana Chart published in the Netherlands. And it’s been on playlists as far away as Uruguay and Australia.
Here in Canada, the single I released, “Lights of the Town” made it to #47 on the Cancountry Top 100 published by Country Music News who also gave the album a special mention as an Album of the year for 2006.
Because of a few reviews and airplay, two small companies have picked up the CD for online distribution. There’s Dusty Records out of Sweden who will sell the CD in Europe and The Musicmeister in Massachusetts who’ll sell it online in the U.S.
So right now I’m looking forward to the summer where I can sit on the front porch of our cabin in Cape Breton watching the waves roll in and the birds fly by.
June, 2007
I’m finally releasing a single to Country Radio here in Canada. It’s “Lights of the Town”. Let’s hope for the best. I’d hemmed and hawed about it a while, got advice from various people in the industry, and finally decided to go for it. It’s just been released so it’ll be a few weeks before I hear of any radio airplay.
I’ve already been getting a fair bit of airplay in Europe, primarily in the Netherlands, but also in Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and Sweden. There’s an amazing network there dedicated to all forms of Americana Music.
As for the U.S., I’ve just sent out about 75 CD's, all to stations that report to what’s called the Freeform Americana Chart. Hopefully I’ll get some positive response there as well.
Another gig with The Wayward Angels is coming up on November 10th and again it’s at the Cadillac Lounge. I can’t wait. I rarely play with the full five piece band these days and it’s always great to be back with them. We’ll be rockin’.
October 28, 2006
I’m back in Toronto after a summer in Cape Breton. It’s a tough adjustment after the paradise of waking up in the morning to a view of the ocean and the ravens, hawks and bald eagles flying overhead.
Musically, it was also a great summer starting with the Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, Ontario. It’s a beautiful spot for a festival and the audiences are such music lovers. All my songwriter’s workshops, with Dave Tufford, were a blast. And I got to play rhythm guitar, along with Dave’s lead, behind Laura Hubert. That girl knows how to put on a show. Some of my other favourites were Feist, Ron Sexsmith, Laura Myles, Lenny Gallant and most of all, Ron Hynes. He’s such a great songwriter and there’s such passion in his voice.
My own little Nova Scotia tour with Steve Briggs went well also. My favourite gig was at the Arts Centre in my hometown of Inverness. It was more like a concert setting and Steve and I picked up on the energy of the room. It was one of those shows I won’t forget.
I got a bit of writing done in our cabin again this year and I’m starting to think about the next album. Hopefully I can get as start in the new year.
That’s it for now. I’ll try to get back to you sooner next time.
August 28, 2006
I had a great time at the Winterfolk Festival on the Danforth last month. Playing with Dave Tufford again and having Conrad Kipping sitting in with us on mandolin was a real treat. And it was fun going from bar to bar catching some great live music like Caitlan Hanford and the Marigolds, Jenny Whitely, Cindy Church and Jason Fowler, and so much more.
Now I've been invited to play Mariposa this summer and I'm very excited about playing the festival. I was there last year and saw so much really good music.
I've begun booking my Nova Scotia tour for the first week of August. I'll be playing Halifax, Baddeck, Mabou and my home town of Inverness. I ran into some familiar Toronto faces there last year and hopefully I'll see some this year.
April 2006
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