Tuesday, June 22, 2010

June 22 - No Jazz Fest gig

Well, my noon gig for the Calgary Jazz Fest was cancelled on 36 hours notice (I've sent them an e-mail reminding them they still owe me for the gig). I'll be at Mikey's tonight, however. How does a festival get in that kind of shape ? My intrinsic suspicion of Boards of Directors is somewhat aroused.

The past week-end was brilliant - dropped off one of my vintage instruments at Schifflett Guitars in High River, had a beans-and-cornbread dinner with old friends Mel Wilson and Ian Tyson (hardly any stories got told at all...), and played with my rhythm section at Carlsons On Macleod, a wonderful club in an old heritage building where the hosts, Don and Brenda, treat performers and audience alike as if they were honoured guests instead of employees and customers. A few hours sleep in a cheap room, and off to the Pincher Creek Cowboy Poetry Gathering where I performed two sets from the "When I Was A Cowboy" cd, visited with numerous friends I hadn't seen for a long time, and watched the afternoon's Ranch Horse competition (cutting/reining/ranch roping). I got back to Calgary just past midnight and was up at 8 to teach a guitar clinic and perform one mainstage set with my band at the Parkland SummerFest in South Calgary. The weather was gorgeous and the crew at the festival are superb...we had a great time (Howard "Schmenge" on accordion doing a great job replacing Ron Casat, my usual keyboardist) and so did the crowd. Dinner with my wife while watching "Shutter Island" and a few beers, and 9 1/2 hours of the best sleep I can remember in months.

The rest of this week : Mikey's tonight, solo; a session on Allison Demeter's cd tomorrow; Quincy's (downtown Calgary) on Saturday with my long-time bassist Suitcase James and the great Thom Moon on drums. Hope to see you there !

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