Checked out Mike Daley and Kevin Breit at Castro's and that was a beautiful afternoon...except at one point when I finally got a chance to say hi to Mike Daley and he said "I've been meaning to talk to you - you’ve got the listings wrong in your Newsletter.  Ooops ..read more

Got out to see the Orange Devils (17-piece band) at Monarch’s Tavern where they play the second Monday of every month. I ran into some old friends, including Colleen Allen and it was so great to see her and she was playing great - and that big band is so tight. There's nothing like sitting in front of a big band when they hit it - you feel the air move!  Bandleader Martin Loomer pointed out a young lady in the audience called Trombone Charlotte. She was about to appear in the Women's Blues Revue and we had been doing some promotion in the MapleBlues newsletter and so when she came by m ..read more

My first outing of the New Year was a blues night at Hugh's Room Live organized and hosted by Quisha Wint (who will be hosting the Maple Blues Awards) with guest vocalists Garnetta Cromwell and Sandra Bouza You hear just a bit of Quisha nailing ab Aretha classic then bandleader Michael Occhipinti and organist Joel Visentin het into “trading fours”. That night got lift-off a few times even though the rhythm section were all new to me. I told organist Visentin he bore an uncanny resemblance to the dearly departed Rod Phillips (who he had not heard of) …the look, the rig, the wild abandon in his ..read more

  *|MC:SUBJECT|* *|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* .. December 2023 View this email in your browser It's that time of year...tourtiere-time and here we are cooking up a batch - just how my momma did.  It was delicious.  I've been under the weather for the last couple of weeks - as have many friends.  I made it to one Xmas party and I got sick! So now it's New Year's Eve and I'm laying low.  It's the last day of the year and I'm posting the last Blainlet ..read more

Now that MapleBlues is put to bed (watch for some big announcements), I made another iPhone mini-compilation from last week's outings - this from Raha Javanfar's tour-de-force, "Sympathy for the Devil" Check out the accidental "special effect" at the top ..read more

Sandra Bouza lit up the Redwood at her CD Launch on Sat. She even had a hand in decorating the stage with some glitzy drapes. Stellar musicianship and a house packed with adoring fans, friends and family ..read more

..read more

Brian Blain (@thestrimngbuster), Gabriel Lavoie (@g.lavo.beats), Patrick Merner (@coolrichiemusicpatmakesmusic) and Joe Brand (JustJoe) jamming it up in the backyard. Joel Blain (aka Coi) at the board & hand puppet ..read more

My old bandmate Maurice Singfield​ just posted this clip from a reunion concert of the band we had back in the 70s. We played a lakeside dance hall called the  Terrace-Inn​ every Thursday, Friday and Saturday all summer long (you don't see steady gigs like that anymore). This is a song I wrote about the Terrace and this morning I'm thinking about the cat who produced it, David Baxter​ who is in hospital and not doing well. Also remembering a couple of other producers, Paul "Eggs" Benedict and Frazier Mohawk​ (aka Barry Friedman) who have both passed on and, like David, exhibited great pat ..read more

Coco Montoya played the Revival in Toronto with his crack band. This was the last Hugh’s Room show at an alternate venue. They are now totally settled into their new digs at 296 Broadview. Coco’s organist/second guitarist Jeff Paris was a stand-out. His playing was kinda “out there” at the beginning of the show but then he settled down and dug in and provided some great organ flourishes but when he left the keyboard rig and picked up a guitar I was amazed at his prowess on slide, and all the other guitar stuff he did. He also provided some solid harmony vocals. A real utility guy.  I ..read more