hello, danger bay

2009-06-20T12:38:00.001-04:00

...and this just in!

i've confirmed with the man himself and 'piet masone' will be joining camp radio on the bill at the kaffe 1870 in wakefield on july 4th! suh-weet!

2009-06-20T09:58:00.002-04:00

westfest and upcoming shows

westfest, as always, was a pleasure to play and super fun. for those who missed it, dave was asked to put a set together for a sunday evening show. while we didn't get in all the songs we hoped due to time constraints, it was a great pleasure to share the stage with such incredible talent. it was the first time i'd played with jill, christine and jerusha...and i was blown away by their powerful voices.

did they ever make my songs sound good, huh?

.: striking a ghostly pose over dave, jill, christine and jerusha :.

here's a clip of jill's gorgeous song, reconcile.

oh, by the way, i've got a couple of upcoming shows. i'm playing solo with alberta pals lorrie matheson and mark davis @ raw sugar on thursday july 2nd. then camp radio is in at the fine kaffe 1870 up in wakfield QC on saturday july 4th.

2009-04-26T12:46:00.002-04:00

kelp records 15th anniversary party this weekend!

as the buds are exploding on trees over here and i'm cranked up on lack of sleep and too much coffee, i figured it was about time i get to updating this blog.

it's kelp anniversary time folks, when i know it is truly time to usher in spring! And there is SO much going on this week:

.: damn i love this poster :.

as you can see, camp radio is playing at the elmdale on friday night. i'm playing solo on saturday at the carleton tavern and with rhume at the gluepot saturday night. sleep? hell with it.

you should really get your passes ASAP here. i hear they're flying...

.: rolfster and jb: random alley shot :.

get all the details over at kelp, including show stuff, off-the-beaten-track and after-last-call activities as well as this year's cause of choice: ride to conquer cancer (it's true! matt and liz will be stationary biking during each show!)

the new kelp sampler, kelp 15, is also streaming off the home page, so be sure to give it a listen.

well allright! i guess i'll see you all at the shows...

2009-03-26T21:11:00.004-04:00

the austin texas recovery

.: at the hold steady, feeling fairly steady :.

okay so i think i'm fully recovered from sxsw. what was that, 4 days recovery time? not bad. hi-lites for me? they are far too many to list here. ask me over a beer. regrets? 5000 shows in 4 days is an awful lot to take in, so yes i missed a few and yes, i have regrets.

but man, what a great time.

i suppose i should get a flickr account or something and share some memories. i know. facebook too. how the hell do you people have time to update all this stuff! ;)

i'm loving twitter at the moment, so feel free to find me there. its rapid-fire-concise-no-time-to-waste blogging for those of you still curious. perfect.

KELP TURNS 15: keep the last weekend of april open! april 30th the music flood gates open. prez jon has lots up his indie sleeves so you don't want to miss a thing. i'll be playing a solo set (somewhere) of sure to be legendary gems (sometime - ha!) and camp radio will make an appearance, drunk on new material.

there's a new kelp 15 comp out and it's really wicked. i have a non-new-album track called 'calling all kids reunion' on there and camp radio contributed 'cracked up to be'. there's a ton of other great numbers from kelp artists and friends...be sure to grab one before the big weekend.

2009-02-27T20:41:00.004-05:00

SAVE CBC RADIO 3

please sign this petition and help save one of the most important supporters of indie music in this country.

i honestly can't imagine losing radio 3.

sign here

2009-02-11T21:09:00.006-05:00

camp radio back in the studio

.: dave heading to the moon room with jb, higs, civ and page :.

i'm happy to report that camp radio took major strides toward a brand new album this past weekend. 8 beds are down and 1 is finished, mixed and destined for the kelp records 15th anniversary comp due out this spring.

.: estee guards the drum troll room post smoke break :.

the comp track is a cool departure, i think. title TBD, though 'last minute comp track' seems to be the current choice (read: joke).

there are 6 more to add to the 8 in the coming weeks. we'll see how the indie rock ditch digging goes and if we can't wrap it all up by summer.

my solo record 'a date with a smoke machine' is currently being mastered by the good lads at little bullhorn. we're still targeting a mid-spring release on kelp and saved by vinyl.

.: draves has a new smoking coat :.

2009-01-31T10:04:00.003-05:00

in a cabin with...

.: check out the new myspace page here :.

on feb. 9th i'm playing a set as part of the dutch music recording project called 'in a cabin with'.

it's a pretty cool event that mashes up artists from the netherlands and the project's host country. the dutch musicians seek out cool and idyllic locales around the world and spend time holed up in a makeshift recording studio.

it's a fascinating project and i'm looking forward to hearing more.

from what i understand the mercury lounge show is a showcase of what's going on here in ottawa as part of the canadian leg of the project.

will be fun!

monday, february 9th: mercury lounge, 56 byward market sq., ottawa.

2008-12-31T16:41:00.002-05:00

taking a long walk off a short year

.: glengarry sunset, christmas day 2008 :.

some new year's revolutions for 2009:

i will:

- entertain the idea of purchasing an old guitar that's new to me.

- try not to loiter as much in the lcbo(s)...or worse on the home hardware book, vintages.

- endeavor to release a 'record' of original solo songs that the kids won't like

- try to keep my shit together

- entertain the idea of opening a facebook account for all you people who can't find me on the web

- ride my bike through an ottawa winter

- get camp radio to record those new songs we've been mulling over for two years

- drink and skate for the millionaires 10th anniversary at the exclaim cup

- record those long lost junior farmer songs and put them on the net for posterity

- brush my cat a bit more (his dreads in '08 were jah awe inspiring)

feel free to call me on any of these as '09 winds down...that's if you can find me on the web.

happy '09. be free. be happy. be true.

2008-11-19T20:01:00.007-05:00

maybe you'll keep me on your radar - cbc radio 3's tune o' the day

.: i'm there, really...in alymer...reading the paper or something :.

it was cool to find out killer online music emporium, cbc radio 3, picked one of my songs for this feature yesterday.

you can check it here.

originally only appearing on a kelp records comp, 'radar' is ironically the last song we tracked for my new solo album. i attempted to give it new life while dave attempted to give it some nasty camp radio-ish bass lines.

it just might get included it in the final track listing after all.

as with anything else in this snails-pace-broke-for-time-and-money-spiritually-beaten-down indie music process, we'll see what happens.

2008-11-03T19:10:00.004-05:00

camp radio LIVE this friday

.: estee on his best behaviour, note the halo :.

in celebration of our pals micarza camaro's album launch, camp radio is dusting off marsha for a rare local ottawa show this friday.

the dig hits the shins at 9pm in the lovely confines of what is becoming one hell of a nation's cap hot spot: the elmdale.

listen: camp radio's 'reinventing the laugh track'.

give 'er.

2008-10-27T19:26:00.009-04:00

spooky, kooky, rock and roll

.: elmdale shot of me by leila meltingplastic :.

sweet. it's shaping up to be a fun and freaky spook week here in the nation's cap.

first up, my brothers and i collectively as rhume will rip it up mat night style on thursday at the elmdale. i'm wondering what ol' jb'll have up his rock sleeve to mark such a devilish pre-hallowe'en tradition? we're joined by amsterdam's hospital bombers. dawn from saved by radio is fan. should be wicked!

friday i'll celebrate one of my fave nights of the year taking in the centretown massacre VI. the flaps fronted by mr. kelp with preside over festivities with several local dj's spinning for the local ghouls and goblins. if you're reading this, you already know where it's going down.

and i mean down.

have an evil week.

2008-10-13T17:42:00.004-04:00

waiting for the great leap forward

.: get out and VOTE on october 14th! :.

with the green party potentially poised to make serious inroads this federal election, i worry that with so many voters claiming to still be undecided, folks will once again vote for the better of two evils.

with the economy dominating the headlines, i'm concerned the electorate will run scared and vote status quo.

it's important to remember that if you vote for what you don't want, you will end up with exactly that.

sure, i can't even comprehend how devastating a 4 year harper majority would be for our economy, our arts, our environment, our foreign policy...our entire country. but i've made an informed decision and a strategic vote is not what i intend to cast.

be brave tomorrow: vote for what you want.

2008-10-07T10:36:00.005-04:00

merci montreal!

.:flecton rocks at les 3 minots. no one could tell us what minots means:.

kelp records staged two hugely successful shows this past weekend in montreal.

the first was a friday afternoon outdoor bbq as we teamed up with vancouver's mint records. yeah, it was a chilly and blustery fall day, but the crowd was hardy (hey, they're montrealers, man) and the bands rocked all afternoon. mint's novillero blew me away and angela devaux's set was wonderful as well. kelp camp pals flecton and the hilotrons joined camp radio to round out the bill.

.:the bbq crowd hit the kegs and grills despite the chilly day:.

next up for the kelp caravan was a showcase at a quaint and esthetically pleasing les 3 minots. andrew vincent, rhume, flecton, camp radio and the hilotrons turned out amazing sets for the capacity crowd that cycled through all evening. kelp has some solid traction in our neighbouring city to the east!

thanks to mark lepage for some swell notes in the montreal gazette.

.:andrew vincent and a swell looking fire jet:.

while the gear load-in to hotel rooms was getting a little tiring by 3am sunday morning, the team effort once again turned out to be a killer success.

watch for pics from kelp's photo stream coming soon.

2008-10-02T16:52:00.006-04:00

camp radio pop montreals (and i elmdale!)

.:thanks jeff for this classic (!?) pic of me in a post-show montreal hotel room.:

camp radio returns to my place of birth this weekend for two wickedly fun shows!

friday afternoon is the 2nd annual bbq at notman house (sherbrooke/clark) and gets going at 1pm sharp. this year kelp has teamed up with the illustrious mint records and these fine acts will be joining us for some parking lot free beer and free food: flecton, hilotrons, angela devaux, novillero and buttless chaps.

saturday night we're at les 3 minots as part of the kelp showcase that will also include andrew vincent and rhume.

sunday i'm back in ottawa to hang with west coasters the buttless chaps at the elmdale tavern in ottawa. it's an early show, 8pm.

2008-09-04T22:53:00.003-04:00

chris live at the bytown saturday

i'm playing with pals the allrights and cam malcolm this saturday in ottawa at the bytown: 292 elgin.

i'll test drive some new songs from the upcoming album (you be the judge) as well as some older numbers. maybe i'll even get ahead of myself and work through an unreleased camp radio tune...depends if estee is in the house.

come early, show starts at 9pm.

and yeah, the cover is super dirty deeds style cheap.

2008-08-25T12:24:00.005-04:00

seattle dreaming

.:the stand gt at the legendary and now defunct crocodile cafe:.

while a good friend of mine is off to bumbershoot, i thought i'd kill a couple of birds by getting to an overdue post and writing a bit about a seattle-related omission from the stand gt discography page (thanks biopunk!).

'13 soda punx' was a dizzyingly cool comp put out by seattle's top drawer records in the mid-90s (and on glorious vinyl via munster records in spain). it boasted a killer line up that included such legendary west coast luminaries as the young fresh fellows, the fastbacks, bum, the smugglers, mr. t experience, cub and a little known band from way out in the boons of eastern canada!

the stand gt's contribution was a crushing pop nugget called 'corner store' (grab the mp3 here!), a track that has never appeared anywhere else. the song is about a late night cigarette trip in a wheel barrow after a post-show party in beautiful sault st. marie! while the comp is long gone and waaaay out of print, i still have a few floating around my closets. 13 soda punx was one of the great comps from this magical era in the stand gt's relatively unheralded history.

2008-07-03T21:19:00.002-04:00

taking the '62 vette for a ride in the country

.:somewhere in the hills for canada day:.

while i know my dad would interpret the title of this post much differently than i intended, i still think it's amusing to talk about a guitar as if referring to a classic car. ah, good ol' gretsch!

this past week i had the new '62 (new to me) out on the front porch of the cottage, competing with, er, i mean, complimenting the nature sounds all around me. i've been trying to capture some of that glorious mountain magic on 'tape' for my new solo record that i've been babbling on about.

the conditions for yesterday's session were a bit on the breezy side and the mic felt it, so i'm not sure how many of the takes are usable. but it was sure awesome to set up there again and try to coax some sweet, mysterious and fateful sounds.

> yes i know, that's a rancher in the shot...the corvette was done for the day when i remembered to document the afternoon with a pic. :)

2008-06-21T07:46:00.006-04:00

RBC blue water project:
someone at the royal bank didn't get the memo

.:someone please stop the madness:.

while it's all fine and dandy for money-gobbed conglomerates to play responsible corporate citizens, i find it particularly interesting and extremely disappointing when they fail to practice what they pretend to preach.

rbc is filling its corporate social responsibility dance card by throwing their hard earned cash at water sustainability: an extremely worthy cause which is near and dear to my heart (not to mention the literal rest of my being).

so imagine my surprise when i noticed royal bank branches giving out bottled water as part of 'customer appreciation' last friday (june 13th 2008).

maybe i should apply for a community action grant to stop the water bottling plant that is destroying the aquifer and surrounding environment in the community where my dad grew up?

2008-06-16T20:25:00.012-04:00

"no, i am not wearing a margarita" - kelp/saved by vinyl nxne bbq!

.:camp radio photo copyright/courtesy chromewaves.net:.

yes, i was asked.

for those of you who missed the rhume set earlier in the day, it was friday the 13th after all! our fearful kelp leader jon bartlett didn't disappoint as a roller-skating, surreal spectacle of corn starch, plastic axes and rock and roll!

so yes, those would be 'blood' stains. ;)

it was wicked to finally get camp radio to toronto and play with such great 'family' and friends. thanks to all who came out, hung out and made this a rousing and raucous event for the second year in a row (special thanks to kelp, saved by vinyl, cbc radio 3, exclaim and global village backpackers for the support).

and, in all honesty, i don't know if it's 30km, 30 hours or 30 days. but sadly it just doesn't seem to be working for me anymore either. see grant's quips and quotes for more nxne 'overheard'.

2008-06-10T20:48:00.012-04:00

camp radio steps into big smoke

.:photo by leila meltingplastic:.

this friday is the second annual 'east meats west' bbq at nxne in toronto. kelp and saved by vinyl are once again teaming up for what promises to be a killer afternoon. show starts at noon and goes right through the afternoon with 11 acts, free bbq and free beer (seriously, though; we aren't supposed to talk about that part much).

last year was overwhelmingly successful, so we decided to give it another go. camp radio is in fact along for the ride this time. we hit the 'stage' at 5pm-ish. see you there for our first show in toronto.

more details at kelp

2008-06-04T19:29:00.003-04:00

comb my hair with a pork chop for clean air day

.: scott, tony and chris at cbc vancouver in '02 :.

cbc radio had a great bit about a recent report on the "air in airplanes" this morning. i've always wondered after a plane ride why my skin felt like it was caked in bacon grease and my hair was combed with a pork chop. (thanks tony and scott...that expression still makes me chuckle). did you know that the degradation of oxygen on an airplane at 30,000 ft is akin to sitting on top of a mountain 8000 ft above sea level? and that the air pumped into the pressurized cabins actually comes from the engines and that there is now concern over what else is seeping in with that fabricated air? eew.

but here on the ground, as i whizzed by non-car-poolies sitting at lights on my bike to work this morning, i wondered how many actually contemplate something like clean air day...regardless of their chosen mode of transpo.

as my mom used to say, tongue in cheek, 'shouldn't every day be mother's day'?

2008-06-02T20:11:00.000-04:00

dueling L4s and the daunting task of record making

this new solo record of mine is well out of the bed-track gate and my coveted L4s are really producing some exciting sounds. i'm surprised at how mellow things are starting out, but we'll see how that unfolds when dave and i plug in some amps and turn this thing up a notch.

i'm tracking 17 songs, 5 of which you may have heard in previous incarnations (3 from kelp comps, 2 from the most distant past). i'll post some mp3 progress soon.

2008-04-02T21:24:00.001-04:00

new spring, new board, new songs

that's no 70s juke draves is cueing up!

it's his new magic machine all lit up, just before taking its place on the sleek steel shelf and preparing to play the role of 'heartbeat' to the mighty little bullhorn prods!

i've started recording my new solo record with dave. the sounds we are already getting out of this beast are blowing us away! it'll be super interesting to see how the record progresses.

2007-07-03T21:42:00.000-04:00

a buck seventy-seven

i bought the most incredible raspberries tonight at the god-forsaken 'super' market.

they were PERFECT. not a blemish. super plump. super shapely. so RED! all tucked sweetly in little plastic containers, lovingly stacked in a 'pay-attention-to me' pile that glimmered under the fluorescent lighting in there: there, in the non-organic produce section of said god-forsaken store.

the kicker? they were $1.77 per container. in total. each. one dollar seventy-seven! and ALL the way FOR ME from watsonville, california: zip code 995077.

i was so blown away by my good fortune, stumbling upon all of this dirt cheap perfection here in eastern canada in the summertime, that i bought three of those little tiny plastic packages (yes, i know what you're thinking...and i should have bought more).

another great day for me. another great day for the environment. i'm going to have some for breakfast.