Hey folks. Here I sit, on the comfy ‘used to be white’ couch. This little love seat has been my home for the last 12 days, back ‘n forth between the microphone and these plush cushions! It’s been an amazing process so far, here, tucked away in the basement of a church in Ottawa’s Glebe. With Dean Watson as my producer, I have been blessed. Dean and I have been friends for years and we work together even better. Not only does he have the ears of a bat, but he is an excellent musician as well. When I emailed him (or was it Facebook?) a few months ago, he was gung ho, and I was so excited by his positivity, he was happy to take on the project, and a 12 day project at that!! The first cd I recorded took exactl y one year from it’s start date to the CD release party… and I decided to do exactly the opposite this time and so far so good! Last Autumn, I won $5000 towards my career, through The Big Money Shot music competiton (Live 88.5 NewCap Radio) and immediately knew it had to be put towards this album. It also has to be said that I could not have done this without the help of my band mates; Rob Rose, Chris Hopkins & Rob Milicevic, their musical skills have saved me on more than one occasion. They are also featured on this new album, which will be called “Monkeys Under Stars.” As I sit here typing to you, Dean is working hard, and we are listening to “Got No Time” in its (almost!) finished version. With only one more song to go in the “mixing” department, the album will be ready for it’s mastering session (with Bova Sound Studios.) Mixing is akin to balancing things out; perhaps taking harmonies down in volume, or cleaning up the sounds of the drums (i.e taking the tom drum echo out of the snare hits) it’s actually a long process… cleaning up breath, aligning everythign together, syncopating it all, so there are no odd sounds or beats in the mixture! An analogy for the mastering process has been explained to me like this: take your favourite spaghetti sauce, it’s delicious!! Add to it a little parmesan, gruyere or mozzerella and the pasta dish just became even better… I never eat my spaghetti without cheese, and I suppose mastering is like the cheese! It polishes off the sound, rounds it out in a way… SO! The best news is yet to come… The CD Release will happen at The Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield Quebec on June 5th. See you there??? Xo (turns out we need to finish the mix on ONE more!! Day 13 it is!!)
Top 10 shows of 2009 in no particular order
ANA EGGE Last February I was a part of a winter festival in Halifax (In the Dead of Winter) and I had the pleasure of hearing this woman’s voice, or should I say, FEELING this woman’s voice, warm honey meets soft leather, I don’t know, it’s really smashing though. You should check this American Songstress out, she is truly something.
K’Naan
After years of being on the Canadian music scene, I was finally able to catch K’Naan and his awesome band, at Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest this Summer on The Black Sheep Stage. His performance was one for the books, his message powerful and his craft well tended to, he was just so darn good! Later in his set he invited all the kids to dance on stage with him and the chaos behind the scenes ensued shortly when it was time to get off. It is however, OTTAWA and it all came together in the end.
MOTHER MOTHER
This band is by far my favourite band right now. I saw them play twice this year. Lucky me! They came to The Black Sheep Inn, in Wakefield Quebec and they blew the house down. What a great venue to see such a tight, inventive, precise, crazy wonderful band. I am a strong Lover of harmonies, and they are seriously KICK-BUTT in this department. If you see them coming to a venue near you, RUN like the wind. I promise you will NOT be disappointed.
Craig Cardiff
Craig was a part of a musical showcase that I organized at a music conference called Ontario Council of Folk Festivals. His slot was at 3:30am, yes in the morning! It’s a long weekend of music and conferences and showcases, and by that hour, we are all tired and looking for something new in order to keep us awake! Well, Craig played his heart out, like I have never seen or heard him before. There’s no doubt about it, he’s got the soul and he shares it.
Paulo Nutini
This guy has a voice, and stage presence and the SONGs he writes, no wonder he is Scotland’s gem right now. I had the pleasure of standing on the side of the stage for his show, as it was the same stage I performed on during The Ottawa Bluesfest and what a THRILL!! Run out and get his music, somewhere! He is worth every note.
Fever Ray
There are almost no words to describe the best show of the year. Yes, this list is supposed to be in no particular order, but she, her band was unREAL at Monreal’s Metropolis and yes, the best show of the year. I have to thank my brother for introducing me to this band… their live show is outstanding and is not comparable to anything I have ever seen. Google-ing them will not do justice. Since they are from Sweden, chances are, well you might not get the chance to see a live show for quite some time. The stage was covered in old lamps that turned on and off in rhythm with the beats, and their laser show was surreal, floating colours all through the venue. The bass was so load your whole body moved even when you tried to stand still. What a brilliant time spent.
Magoo & C.R Avery
I went to Blueskies Music festival this year, and this show was the grande finale to a beautiful camping weekend. Magoo is the M.C of the festival and has been for many years. C.R Avery is a poetically musical beat boxer who blows most beat boxers out of the water… but when C.R challenged Magoo to a musical duel, he rose to the occasion blowing every single listeners mind. No one had ever seen such an outstanding performance by Magoo, in all the years, I guess he kept his beat boxing secret… but BOY was he phenomenal, I almost fell off my feet, it was the BEST moment of the weekend by far.
Delhi 2 Dublin
Delhi 2 Dublin was the grande opener to Blueskies Music festival. They brought the entire ‘house’ down with every single attendee dancing up a storm to an amazing band from Vancouver. I have never seen such dancing at Blueskies and this is a festival KNOWN for its dancing and dancers. They even had non-dancers jiving and Loving every minute of it (including me!) Check them out, their mix of Indian singing and Celtic music is quite the combo.
Divine Brown
This was probably the biggest professional show complete with lights, dancers, and a whole separate sound board, almost bigger than the length of the bar at The Black Sheep Inn, and what a BABE! Divine Brown, what an awesome performer, costume changes, dancing, dancers and craziness! All at a little juke box jive joint on the Gatineau River. What a show!!
Steve Earle
I had the pleasure of opening up for Steve Earle at this year’s Ottawa Bluesfest. I got to stand on stage watching him sing solo with guitar, only feet away. It was such an honour to listen to songs like his one’s I have grown up with and made life memories to. What a treat. His voice is still as sweet as ever and his heartstrings still get played and he plays yours too. Singing aloud to Copperhead Road… what a blast.
OCFF Dreaming...
It's amazing, what a body can do with no sleep. I am quite surprised at how well my voice held out with all the singing over the past weekend. Singing in the doorway, hallway, staircase, elevators, shower singing, mic singing, harmonies too...not to mention banjos, pedal steel, violin's, drums, upright bass, electric one's, guitars, mandolins, melodions, keyboards, computers too all together jamming having fun one two!!! Sounds a bit overwhelming and it was, especially with only a few hours sleep over a four day period. It's the Ontario Council of Folk Festival Conference and happens once a year, featuring musicians and industry people from all over Canada... and some state-siders too... conferences all day and music all night ( & into the sunshine!) I hosted an "All Ottawa Showcase Room" and it went over smashingly. The room was packed solid for two nights (mornings!) in a row. Thank you thank you thank you Ottawa for having such a talented amount of people. I am glad to be a part of it sometimes. What a blast. After such a weekend, I feel totally re-generated. After all the time I spend on the computer, alone, trying to get gigs, organize gigs, search for this that and the other, it can get a bit tiresome and lonely, but after attending a conference such as this, it makes me realize that I am doing it all for the right reason and that every second of sweat and tears is worth it in the long run. Thanking you....Lindsay xox