Who I'm listening to....4th installment

soooo...

haven't listed this in a while....so here goes...mostly Canadian stuff....I find Canadian artists so infectiously eclectic

Sam Roberts Band

Great Lake Swimmers

The Tragically Hip

Sarah Mclachan

Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko

People Project

Red House Painters

Cranston Foundation

Theset

Hot Hot Heat

Matt Mays & El Torpedo

K-os

Alexisonfire

Grand Theft Bus

Big Wreck

B-D Gottfried

Hawksley Workman

Jessica Graham

Matthew Good Band

Neverending White Lights

Likewater

Novillero

Pan Out Now

Our Lady Peace

Oliver Schroer

Sloan

Tannis Slimmon

Shawn Colvin

The Tea Party

Damn Good times

I dropped an old friend home on monday nite after band practice. He took his guitar out of my car, and I realized then just how many good memories I have of dropping him home after a jam.

How many times, over the years as teenagers and yound adults, we sat in his yard, jamming along to the late hours of the morning.

How much music I learnt from him.

The last time I saw him at his house was in May of 2002, when he was migrating to France. All his friends were sad to see him go, but we all knew he was bound for greatness.

Now, dropping him off last week, I remembered how much fun we had all those years, and it's great to have him back among us, even if just for a short while.

God bless you always Mark Dopson - son of Trinidad, and one of the most amazing guitarists I've ever known.

Learning and un-learning

It's never too late to change, nor is it ever too late to do something different.

You always hear people say 'You see, you learn something new everyday!'

I'm learning to re-wire my mind, jump through some unknown phobias I have.

Like football for instance, I suck at playing. But I've been going with a few friends recently to knock some ball, and even though I still suck, they keep on passing me the goddamn ball. But hey, I haven't broken any toes yet, so I will run with the ball.

Even if I scored on my own team, and never mind I gave away the ball many times to the opposing side today, I will learn how to play football.

I'm also trying to learn how to get over my phobia of sight-reading music. You put a piece of music in front of me for the first time, and I will piss my pants. Well, maybe not literally. But as my eyes scan the score sheet, all I can think is 'Holy S#@t, you mean those are triplets right next to a dotted semi-quaver and a quaver rest?, Good Lord!' At that point the bloody key signature has gone out the window.

But hey, nothing stays the same forever, eventually I'll be a good sight-reader of sheet music. I maybe 57 at that point, but why not.

I got my whole life ahead of me to learn new things and un-learn how I do things that might be hampering my progress on this journey called life.

Might as well start now.

Doing that is.

A prayer to the thieves from last week

This is not for myself, but for three friends, three fellow musicians who lost their laptops last week.

All the music they ever created was stored on those laptops. And although this maybe a waste of time. I'd like to make an appeal to anyone who knows Coreysan, Keshav and Stanton to please help them find their laptops. Spread the word, anyway you can.

They use them to write and create all their music, they are the tools of their trade.

Having lost all my gear a few years ago, I can only imagine what they're going through, and still, this maybe worse as this was their life's work stolen. Not just a piece of equipment.

It is a sin to steal and I just wish people to resort to such low levels of existence could have a heart before they commit such a terrible act. Shame on all criminals. You rob decent people of their way of life

Shame on you!

I hope Coreysan, Keshav and Stanton by some miracle find back their laptops and all their music.

Live music is happening on the Ave in Trinidad...

Something great is happening in Trinidad. A few venues are having live original bands on a regular basis and the crowds are coming.

People are enjoying original music and are coming out more and more to support the bands, they're singing the songs and slowly but surely, we're all building a strong foundation for a well thriving, self-sufficient, competitive but co-operative music scene here.

And all the bands and artists are benefiting.

It's a great time to be a musician in Trinidad.

Sesame Street: Martians Radio