October 27 (where did the year go ?)

I passed, of all things, what appears to be a Christmas Tree lot setting up for operation four days before Halloween. I appreciate that times are tough (believe me, I get it) but really, don't you think we should wait until the plastic skulls are packed away and the rotting pumpkins are composted (one hopes) ? A busy month. Release gigs for two cds I played on, gigs at Mikey's Juke Joint (solo every Tuesday plus a Saturday night with the 5-piece Electro-Fires), Saturday jams plus a solo gig at the new Blues Can, and one-nighters in High River and the Crowsnest Pass. I just had a re-order yesterday for the "When I Was A Cowboy" cd (from cdbaby.com) and have begun the annual grind of applying for next year's festivals...so far I only have the Filberg Festival in Comox (Vancouver Island) for August long week-end. The re-released disc "Evenings Among Friends" is selling well at gigs (boy, do I miss Festival Distribution) and should be up on cdbaby.com in the next few days.

If anyone had told me a year ago that Calgary would elect a liberal, Harvard educated, brown-skinned Muslim for mayor, while Toronto elected a boob who looks like Chris Farley and acts like an extreme satire of Ralph Klein on steroids, I would have called for an ambulance with restraints to take you back to the institution you'd so clearly escaped from. I now hope city council can stop their bickering ways and unite behind him, and that the populace doesn't expect a miracle in sixty days like so many former Obama supporters did.

I'm enjoying staying put for awhile, although I'm planning two tours of B.C. and one each of Northern Saskatchewan and Northern Alberta/B.C. in the new year. Still no word on the new blues mandolin dvd from learnrootsmusic.com, but how much longer can it be ? Surely by summer. Stay warm as the weather gets colder...many of the places I play get quite warm (they serve beer and cocktails to counterbalance that). Hope to see you at a gig soon !