Live Performance on Univers Folk – Friday April 4th

On Friday April 4th at 7pm I’ll be joining The Scouts for a live in-studio performance on Univers Folk. This web-radio show airs every Friday evening on CHOQ.FM, the official internet radio station of L’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and promotes the music and concerts of local folk and acoustic-style musicians.

It will be my honour to join Univers Folk super-host Josie-Anne Huard in the studio that evening for some music and conversation. Since I’ve become familiar with her program, Josie-Anne has continued to be an avid supporter of the Montreal folk and acoustic music scene and welcomed many bands into her studio to showcase their music.

The show starts at 7pm on Friday April 4th and can be streamed directly from the CHOQ.FM website >>>> www.choq.fm

Darling Arms & Friends – Rap Machines, Friday March 21st

come by rap machines on friday night. bring your friends, loved ones and relatives. bring a warm blanket and a flask of whiskey.

we should get cozy and celebrate a long, under-appreciated winter. it will be gone soon, and we’ll be saying to ourselves, “hey, wow. what a great winter. we broke the snow record. that’s great…”

yes, come celebrate this record breaking act of nature with us. performances by darling arms, hi, lonely oak, my people sleeping and me.

it’s an early show, so you can get home before the kids are asleep.

7pm at rap machines (5752 st-laurent). six bucks. muchas gracias y bendiciones.

Midnight Poutine Podcast

This morning I decided to do a little research on podcasting. I’ve been working with Indyish recently on their podcast page, posting samples of new work, book readings, works in progress and what have you. We’ve been discussing the idea of creating a bon-a-fide weekly podcast series featuring music and other recorded material from local artists who would also join as co-hosts and contribute to the programming.

Midnight Poutine was one particular podcast that came up while brainstorming, so I thought it would be nifty to further investigate. I had visited once before when my friends in Belleisle had a track from their upcoming album played on the show, but didn’t really surf around that much. This time around, I discovered a bit more about the site, including an unexpected surprise… read on. Midnight Poutine is a blog maintained by a local crew that provides a daily dose of all things Montreal. Take a look at this blurb from their website:

Montrealers need Midnight Poutine. It’s a personal ongoing account of the city’s happenings. It’s a delicious high-fat source of rants, raves and musings. It provides the insight you never find in newspapers and the details and tangents that would never fit in a weekly. It possesses cheese-like flexibility. It’s sometimes snarky, often unusual and always informative. Your order has arrived. Dig in.

It wasn’t long before I stumbled upon Montreal Weekend Playlist #58 – the first podcast of the new year. And what to my surprise…?! There, tucked in amongst the rest of the playlist, was Borderline Ferry!!! My own little song, sandwiched between Rose Cousins and The Von Bondies. Huzzah!!!

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a treat to see one of my songs in the playlist alongside some great artists and bands including Basia Bulat, Hayden, The Luyas, CPC Gangbangs, Louis XIV, Editors, Hot Hot Heat and Young Galaxy.

I only wish someone would have told me about this earlier so I could have got the word out. But that’s the nice thing about podcasts – they are embedded in our virtual universe forever, so our posterity may tune in and have a listen at any time. So, please do. Go ahead and have a listen…

You can get to the Midnight Poutine Montreal Weekend Playlist #58, hosted by Jeremy Wade Morris, by clicking here >>>> Midnight Poutine Podcast.

AM Radio, Someone Still Loves You

Last night I joined a couple of folks from Indyish on a talk radio spot for Holder Tonight, a midnight AM radio show on CJAD hosted by Peter Anthony Holder. It was a last minute thing and Tristan Brand had asked me to come to the studio and bring along my guitar as there might be a possiblility to play some music. So, we trudged over to the CJAD studios in the freezing cold (a storm was brewing) and arrived just before 12:30am, in time to warm up and get a little bit nervous and freaked out.

We entered the studio, me with guitar in hand, sat down at the table in the studio and next thing you know… live radio! Peter was a great host and seemed genuinely curious about the operations of Indyish.com. I sat back for most of the interview and listened to Risa Dickens cover topics such as the inner workings of the website, the origins of Indyish, as well as taking a moment to straighten out some slightly embellished commentary about Indyish that aired on a national news program a few nights prior!

Indyish is a young company… or art network… or website… well, what is it really? I guess, after sitting in on the interview last night, I am realizing that it’s all of those things; but still young. And in my time working with Risa and company, I never once heard anyone talk about it being the next big thing; bigger and better than Jesus, or what have you. So the intentions of this group of artists remain humble – that’s something that I can respect and feel good about contributing to. Regardless how others might interpret it.

So, lastly, I was asked to perform. Aside from some distorted headphone speakers, it felt really good to play live on the radio. It’s much different than playing a show, where you can look into the eyes of your audience and feel a bit like you’re on display. There’s definitely an intimacy about playing in a studio that makes it unique from any other performance scenario. So, thanks Peter, Tristan & Risa. It was a great experience and I hope it happens again soon. Eventually we’l make a recording of the CJAD interview/ performance available on the Indyish Podcast site. So stay tuned…

Mike FM, Rap Machines & New Music

A few months ago, fellow Indyish staff member Sarah Pearson announced that she would be hosting a weekly radio series on 105.1 Mike FM. The segment is a showcase for emerging artists in Montreal and allows musicians like myself a bit of airplay and the opportunity to do a five minute interview spot on the radio.

Sarah was kind enough to invite me to the Mike FM studio on Friday to record a segment for the series. Skilled as a musician, but also very talented in her abilities as a radio host, Sarah asked very succinct questions that would allow listeners to get a general idea of what kind of music I’m creating, what influenced that music and even a bit about the technical side of recording the songs. I felt at home and happy to be answering questions from someone whom I’ve also had the pleasure to jam with!

The song Far Above the Sky will air on Wenesday March 5th at 9:50am. The segment with the interview will run on Friday March 7th at 9:50am and the song will also be played a second time. So tune into 105.1 CKDG on Wednesday and Friday morning and you can all collectively make fun of my radio voice…

Other news – I’ll be joining Darling Arms, My People Sleeping and Hi, Lonely Oak for a show at the Rap Machines on Friday March 21st. The venue is kind of new and was opened by members of Daygristle Screens & Montreal sadpop band One Candle Power. They recently turned their screen-printing studio into an intimate performance space where people like myself can go and hang out with other people like myself who like to play music. Rap Machines is located at 5752 St. Laurent. It’s an early show, so doors open at 7pm and the music will start shortly after that.

Last but not least…

There’s a sample of a roughly mixed recording I made today with violinist Jean-Frederic Lizotte posted on the Indyish Podcast page and the Solar Dog Music blog. The song is called Letters In a Book and we recorded the violin and guitar live off the floor and added a vocal track afterwards. It’s a rough mix, but it gets the idea across. We’ll be tracking this piece in the upcoming weeks and adding some textural elements to it; maybe some viola and cello. So enjoy the song while it’s stripped back.