Blog

It seems like forever. Either that means its been a long time or that it looks like it will last. After a thrilling arena rock vacation I have dedicated myself to a week of almost single parenthood. My other half…

Trying to shoehorn more than 24 hours into one day it is possible that you will get to see the sun and the moon from a few more angles than most people normally would. Sometimes you get the whole continuum…

Traffic cop. The buildings wore this weather as a wet dark cloak. One of those nights where nobody looks up. What would be the point of that? The blackish blue was reflected in the bubbling mirrored film laid out on…

All Hallows Eve approaches. All good christians stay inside. It must seem so frustrating that the harvest festival that they once tried to subvert has become such a lighthearted celebration of evil, darkness, debauchery and bacchanalia. What fun. I

The road has kept me from the net musings but delivered me in the flesh. Maybe I’ll get a chance late tonight to go to my happy place. The fine ales and wines of Quebec City and Montreal didn’t help…

Sorry to be away from my desk when you called looking for something interesting to read. I

OK. I have the time and place. I’ll be playing solo acoustic at midnighton Saturday Oct 18th at the Notre Dame Room at the Ramada Inn in Sudbury Ontario as part of the OCFF Conference. They have moved the giant…

I’ll be playing bass with Arlene Bishop at The 17th Annual Ontario Council of Folk Festivals Conference on Friday October 17th at 10:20pm in the Notre Dame Side Room at the Ramada Inn and Conference Centre in Sudbury, Ontario. Arlene…

Thought I’d put up an interesting e-mail exchange with a reader in Halifax. Dear Craig: Have you heard from anyone in Halifax about Hurricane Juan? The SOB absolutely nailed us, ripping through the city and environs in one hundred minutes…

Vicodins, Ativan, Penis Enlargement, VIP room, hot cum, Mortgage rates, khjsjdgqk where have you been? fw FW this is youfijnal notice — dfg. A Special Game for yu. Levitra. Scrap V1agra. Phentemine. Holy cow I can

At the time I was slave to what was available. Everyone was using. You could always find one and you felt somehow modern. Yes . . . the Roland JC-120. Arguably this was one of the lowest points in guitar…

What am I thinking? Don

The dog needs water. I am the dog. Clearing the decks for creative space gets harder all the time. There are just too many decks in the first place. September brings with it the logistical tangle. Why the promise of…

The loon and its young one barely move. The wake of the speedboat rocks them up and over its crest. They move imperceptibly as if posing as hunters decoys. Must be clipping along at 35 knots, bow trimmed down nicely…

I wrote this for Warren a day after he told me he had the big “C” and things weren’t looking well. I sent it to him then and said I wasn’t going to show it to anybody else. I think…

I put my wallet on the roof of the car and put my things on the passenger seat. I didn

Reading

There is always one hotel in the industrial park. Cheap land. Nothing nearby except the hotel bar and restaurant. Guaranteed business. I have been stranded in these outlands so many times the boredom seems to have its own unique flavour….

Seal Beach. That

Noise brings noise. Mayhem attracts mayhem. Quiet attracts noise. I can

Sorry that this isn’t original work but I thought if I could make it up it would read like this. Apparently this is real. It is so extreme that the chances of it being a hoax are, however, high. I…

Window or aisle? Windows for the sleepers and those who need to be entertained by the tops of clouds and the action of a take-off or approach. Aisle seats for the seasoned veterans who need to: stretch, get to the…

Newsy bluesy: Played a Craig Northey Trio show in Montreal with special guest Pierre Smith on guitar (Elvez

Gare Central. A muggy morning in Montreal. A city you can really feel. The humidity is only the cover of the book. Here in the train station it is all cool umber marble and large arched spaces. The slightest hint…

I like to run. There are few things better than a run on the first day of some time off. We have chosen a regular summer and spring getaway spot that we

Halifax. We flew for most of yesterday and I slept most of the way. I will sarcastically call the guy sitting beside me

A hail of marbles onto plate glass . The clouds of the prairies come down and cave in the skylight. Repaint your cars. Order more coffee to give you something to do with your hands. You can

Sorry…and Vote for Me! I haven’t been posting as real life has taken over my time and mind. Some quick notes: the Bob Kemmis “Arena Ready” album is done and mastered! Almost three years of falling between the cracks and…

This is an exerpt from something I wrote for an upcoming issue of Canadian Musician. You’ll have to keep checking your newstands to get the full deal…. The great thing about technology is that it can be used to make…

Part of my heart was in a deep freeze. It lasted 23 years. That was the day my dog died. He came to us on Christmas day 1966 and left on easter Sunday 1980. I never had another dog but…

Movie hangover. Its the length of time it takes to feel that you aren

A desperate note. A plea for a few words. I hear you. Let me speak of the Motown Meltdown held this last Saturday at the Plaza of Nations in Vancouver. It was all for a good cause ( the short…

You know what? If you watch

House concerts. They

I listened to the parents at the baseball game. I tuned out the game and started my senses working on the soundscape, the smells… the general and specific at the same time. If you stop caring about the score it…

Mind the gap. The gaps in my internet ramblings have been brought to you by an attempt at a balanced life. This should come with the warning that this is only an attempt. On a

Bumper crop in the field of dreams. If you’ve just read last night’s post then you would understand why it would be strange for me to be out seeing a friend’s play and run into Gene Simmon’s and have a…

That old school bus had been there too long in the parking lot of the complex. Anything that sat too long around here got tagged, invaded or otherwise consumed by the fiery and restless bands of school age marauders. Not…

Thanks to Chris Blake for inspiring this one: New School Bio For a Emerging 4 Piece Male Rock Band (insert name where it says

He liked the heal of the loaf of bread or the middle seat in the back of the car. Sure you sat on the martyr

You figure the arc of your team

The blades of the whirring push mower created that surging, warm pleasant rhythm that arcs upward and then dies in waves. It was five or six front lawns away up the next street. It was a quiet enough neighbourhood that…

Five year olds write good songs: Name My Dog I don

In the half light at the beginning of a day. I can see the shapes that sound makes when I

There are terrible truths to tell. I went away from the internet. I spent several weeks working hard on things I could touch, taste and smell. I have strayed but only by accident not intention. I discovered how to do…

My dog came to the family on Christmas day. He died 14 years later on good Friday. My cat Nigel was born on Christmas eve. He seems immortal. Nothing can kill him. Pet messiahs. This reminds me of the story…

Emperor Caligula would have been proud of the college students. I went out to see my friends Treble Charger and 54

Brian Fukushima has immortalized a few minutes of one of the Green Room shows in his new Bent Comic. Have a look at it here Recovering from the Canucks first loss by sitting in my hyperbaric chamber.

Joyful and triumphant. Celebrating 4 or 5 explodingly blowing up times at the Green Room. Many notes to go in many perfect places. Tonight should have been taped. I always forget that part. Someone should take that job from me….

I just read that last post. Usually I just type on this thing like its a loom and soon there is enough cloth and I throw on the shawl. I don

I

A nice announcement. Paul Myers will be the support act on this weeks show at the Green Room in Vancouver. He’ll start at 8:45pm so come early to enjoy Paul. You’ll like it.

All I want is one slow news day

Look to the sky as quickly as you can. Say,

OK. The last line of the last posting was supposed to read. “Please let Rosanne know she is not alone”. I tried using a cheat sheet to “hyper link” her web page (rosannecash.com) and whatever I did wrecked my ability…

So much has happened about things that don

Just gathering thoughts is a tough enough task. Making sense of anything seems impossible. At some point the bombardment of negative information will pierce a hole in all hope. I haven

It was a good night of music at the Green Room. The set included the usual suspects and featured some odd choices like:

On the eve of imminent war I can’t write anything that hasn’t been said. You know how you feel. Let everyone else know. I think its total bullshit. There . . .I said it . . .the Dixie Chicks records…

Forbidden Pez part 4 At random intervals. . .well . . .they seemed random but probably averaged out into regularity, Hammond would uncloak the dark wood behemoth and fire it up. This was something his dad had forbidden the children…