2014

Another long year behind me – another year and a half since I’ve posted here – plenty of good things have come and gone. My new studio “the Trailer” is alive and well, part of the Lower Dawes arts community in Toronto’s far east end – my greatest work to date, Julie Arsenault’s The Creature That I Call Myself was recorded there last winter… Been all around Ontario and Canada’s east coast touring with Sam Cash – fun times opening for July Talk, Adam Baldwin, The Arkells, Sam Roberts, many others, playing Hillside and TURF… Plenty on the horizon, made records this summer for the likes of Al Tuck, Darcy Windover, Jack Marks, Lucas Stagg, and others, all to be released sometime in the new year – looking forward to several more special projects coming up before the end of year too…

Remember, the trains always come on time. Be well.

January

I’ve had a busy past few months making records… I just finished up Grady Kelneck‘s album (minus a few additions in March) at the Lincoln County Social Club, made a new Dear Sister record and played Wurlitzer/Moog on an Animal Parts EP (both at Lincoln County as well), trekked out to London to produce Graham Nicholas’ sophomore full length at Simon Larochette‘s studio, trekked out to the Toronto island to lend some parts to some Emma Harvey songs, fought my way up Jarvis street to co-produce Raven Shields‘ solo EP with Joshua Van Tassel, all the while playing every Saturday and Sunday at the Cameron House with Sam Cash and the Cameron Brothers Band, respectively.

Also, more fun stuff – the past few months have seen the release of the Cameron Brothers Band album, an EP I produced for Graham Nicholas at Revolution Recording, Matt Bailey‘s debut record that I lent some parts to, and Jerry Leger‘s fifth full length record I played piano on….I also picked up the master for Jack Marks‘ new record from Reuben Ghose at Mojito Mastering which should be out later this year. Next week I’m back on the Toronto island doing some more tracks with Sam Cash for his next record… good times to be had. Stay tuned.

Back to work…

Hi all – I have been neglecting my website for about a year now but I figure I oughta update it if I’m going to have it… I just returned from a Canadian tour out west with Joshua Cockerill’s Animal Parts and figured this would be a good time to start again.

Much has happened in the past year – have been out east and out west, joined bands, quit bands, made records, bought records, and been on stage a good 75% of the time. I’m currently finishing up a few records which will be out in the next few months (The Cameron Brothers Band, Jack Marks, Dan Mock, Sam Cash, Graham Nicholas) and will be moving onto new things. In the meantime, however, I have booked up most of my fall playing with some amazing bands and songwriters. Here is my fall schedule as it looks right now:

Oct 10 – Sam Cash – The Piston / Toronto

Oct 11 – Tim Bradford w/ JD Edwards – Dakota Tavern / Toronto

Oct 13 – Cameron Brothers Band – Tir Nan Og / Kingston

Oct 14 – Cameron Brothers Band w/ Graham Nicholas – Cameron House / Toronto

Oct 17 – Kirty w/ Raven Shields – The Piston / Toronto

Oct 19 – Kirty w/ Raven Shields – The Masonic Lodge / Orillia

Oct 20 – Cameron Brothers Band w/ Graham Nicholas – Not My Dog / Toronto

Oct 21 – Cameron Brothers Band – Grinder / Toronto

Oct 21 – Cameron Brothers Band w/ Galen Pelley – Cameron House / Toronto

Oct 24 – Graham Nicholas opening for Graydon James & The Young Novelists – Cameron House / Toronto

Oct 26 – Sam Cash w/ Kirty – The Brownstone / Orillia

Oct 27 – Sam Cash – 3030 / Toronto

Oct 28 – Cameron Brothers Band w/ Ben Rough – Cameron House / Toronto

Nov 1 – Sam Cash – Jimmy Jazz / Guelph

Nov 2 – Sam Cash – Tir Nan Og / Kingston

Nov 3 – Sam Cash – Cafe-Bar Zenob / Trois-Rivieres

Nov 4 – Cameron Brothers Band – Cameron House / Toronto

Nov 9 – Raven Shields – Griffin Pub / Bracebridge

Nov 10 – Sam Cash w/ The Long Haul – Dora Keogh / Toronto

Nov 11 – Cameron Brothers Band – Cameron House / Toronto

Nov 14 – Graham Nicholas – The Spill / Peterborough

Nov 15 – Graham Nicholas – Raw Sugar Cafe / Ottawa

Nov 16 – Graham Nicholas – Grumpy’s / Montreal

Nov 18 – Cameron Brothers Band w/ Graham Nicholas – Cameron House / Toronto

 

Also coming up – Cameron Brothers Band east coast tour in late November, plus Christmas shows all through December from Joshua Cockerill’s Animal Parts, Sam Cash, the Swamp Yankees, Graham Nicholas, and Dear Sister!

November Residencies

I’m playing three residencies in the month of November! Two of these are album release residencies – Sam Cash & Danielle Duval – and the other is Jack Marks’ continuing residency at the Cameron House.

Jack Marks‘ continuing Sunday matinee (6-8) at the Cameron House is a great show every week. The regular band will be myself on mando/accordion/guitar, Arif Mirabdolbaghi on bass, Devin Cuddy on piano, and Pat Phillips on drums. We’ll be hitting the studio soon with myself in the producer’s chair and aim to finish his new record within a few months. We’ll also be playing in Hamilton at Homegrown Hamilton on Fri, Nov 25th .

  

Sam Cash will be promoting his new record Teenage Hunger at the Magpie every Tuesday, 9:30pm. The record was produced by Dave Clark (Rheostatics, Woodshed Orchestra) and features contributions from Serena Ryder, Afie Jurvanen, and Neil Quin, among others. There will be a different opener every week. Sam’s band will be myself on guitar, Julie Arsenault on backing vocals, Gabriella Ciurcovich on bass, and Kyle Sullivan on drums.

Danielle Duval is also promoting her new record every Wednesday at The Piston, 9pm. This is an amazing record produced by Mike O’Brien and Carlin Nicholson of Toronto band Zeus. Her live band is Ian McDonnell on guitar, Simeon Abbott on keyboards, myself on bass, and Mike Duffield on drums. There will also be a different opener every week.

Live videos w/ Jack Marks

The last show of the Jack Marks 2011 Western Canada tour at the Ironwood in Calgary was filmed by Tom Funasaka. Check out the video for Without A Chauffeur.

Danielle Duval

I’m now playing bass for the amazing Danielle Duval. Her record, which has just been released, was produced by Mike O’Brien and Carlin Nicholson of Zeus. We’re playing every Wednesday in November at the Piston, an amazing venue near Ossington/Bloor. Also doing a one-off show at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, QC on October 29th. You can stream the whole record on her website.

Alberta Tour w/ Jack Marks

I leave tomorrow to go on tour with Jack Marks. The band also includes drummer Pat Phillips and organist David Aide. We’re playing in Alberta with one stop in British Columbia. The dates are as follows:

Sep 23: Mikey’s Juke Joint / Calgary

Sep 26: The Slice / Lethbridge

Sep 27: The National Hotel / Fernie

Sep 28: Bruno’s / Banff

Sep 29: The Hideout / Red Deer

Sep 30: Balehouse / Lloydminster

Oct 1: Blue Chair / Edmonton

Oct 5: The Drake / Canmore

Oct 6: Nanton Auditorium Hotel / Nanton

Oct 7: Twin Butte General Store / Twin Butte

Oct 9: Ironwood / Calgary

Sam Cash @ Not My Dog

I’m playing tonight with the Sam Cash band at Not My Dog, a great venue in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood. The band is Sam on guitar/vocals, Julie Arsenault on backing vocals, Gabriella Ciurcovich on bass, Kyle Sullivan on drums, and myself on lead guitar. We just received the master of his upcoming record which was produced/mixed by Dave Clark and mastered by Joao Carvalho. A release party and subsequent shows should be planned in the near future; in the meantime, you can download three tunes from the record at any price you’d like on his Bandcamp page. Check it out!

Also on the bill tonight are Proof of Ghosts and BEAMS. Show starts at 10pm.

Featured in blogTO mixtape

My tune Waltz For Her was featured in this week’s Neighbourhood Mixtape, a weekly series run by Aldrin Taroy for blogTO. It also features songs by Solvent, Indoor Voices, OPOPO, and Huddle. Check out the new mixtape every Sunday!

Raven Shields @ C’est What

This Friday, Raven Shields and myself (of Dear Sister) will be playing at C’est What, a great brewpub in Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market area. We’ll be opening for the lovely Corinna Rose. It’s an early show – doors at are 7:30 and we’ll be on at 8. Gabriella Ciurcovich will be joining us on the double bass, and Kyle Sullivan may be joining us on drums. Hope to see you there!