Big Sky Gliders CD Release

Big Sky Gliders   On the Horizon

The Big Sky Gliders finished their new CD "On the Horizon" after many months of recording at Rick Garvin's Backyard Studio in Edmonton.  All songs on the CD, or individual songs can be downloaded from http://bigskygliders.bandcamp.com/.   You can download and pay what you want, but remember, it does cost money to record and produce these songs and even a modest 'donation' to our cause is greatly appreciated.  

The songs on the "On The Horizon" CD are all original songs written by the groups members Don Watson, Brian Waddell, and Jim Lapp.  The music can be described as alternative country folk music, or so I'm told.  This CD does show that we have developed our own sound based on a mix of instruments including guitar, bass, mandolin, bouzouki, banjo, and keyboards.  Our special guest on the Album, Kyle Jones, joined us to play fiddle on a couple of tracks.

We have already planned a song list for our next CD, which we plan on recording over the coming winter.  

Please visit our bandcamp web page and buy the CD, or wait to listen to us live and buy the CD in person.  We'll gladly sign your copy.

Don, Brian, and Jim

A Visit to a Kensington Market Music Store

Last week I was instructing a course in Brampton Ontario.  I stayed an extra day to tour around Toronto since I haven't done that in 20 some years.  One place I've had on my bucket list for many years was to visit was Kensington Market.  So that was my first priority. 

Kensington Market has a long history in Toronto and was first populated by British immigrants so the building architecture reflects that era.  It eventually became populated by Jewish and Italian immigrants who built store fronts along the street.  Actually, on the street.  Now you will see many different cultural backgrounds.   The area became well known across Canada because of a 1970's show on CBC called King of Kensington with Al Waxman.  There's a statue of Mr. Waxman in a park next to to the market street. 

As you walk the street you smell the foods and hear the music of these cultures.  Shops range from soup to nuts, literally.  There's coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries, cheese shops, produce, and clothing.  It's best to walk because the streets are narrow and the storefronts are built out into the side walk.  many of the shops are the old houses with a store front built onto it. 

I spent a couple of hours walking around and checking out the shops, the day was nice and I was enjoying the atmosphere.   It is a great place to people watch. 

As I was walking, I came across a little store front that looked like it was closed up.  There was no name and a stack of unkempt newspapers and other junk was piled in the doorway.  There was no name on the store either.  

What caught my eye though was the odd and strange musical instruments hanging in the window along with Elvis and Duke Ellington statues.   I wandered around Kensington a bit more then as I was walking back to the parking garage, I noticed the front door was open.  I had to take a look. 

The pile of newspapers in the doorway were shoved over the to the side so I walk in.  An elderly oriental man was on the phone and he waved at me to come in.  I'm sure he saw the stunned look on my face.  The little building was absolutely full of musical instruments and other junk.  some instruments were hanging on wall hooks, but most were piled in the middle of the floor.  I could hardly get over to see the stuff on the wall there was so little space.  I could see piles and piles of instruments at the back of the store, some in boxes, some just stacked in disorganized piles.   I instantly thought of the TV show 'the hoarders".  I should have guessed when I saw that pile of newspapers at the door.  

I looked at a few instruments.  He had cheap guitars and none of interest.  There was some mandolins for $50 and a bouzouki for $70.  They looked like that's about what they were worth.  Among all the hand drums and other stuff were some strange looking eastern culture instruments that looked like they needed a lot of fixing.  I came across a charango, a South American instrument.  I couldn't get to it to see what it was priced at.  There were some incredibly cheap looking banjos on the wall.   Everything in the store was under a $100, or it seemed.

Then I came across two gourd banjos.  I checked the price and they were over $400.  Again, I must have had a stunned look on my face.

I didn't get any pictures inside the store, which I regret.  You have to see it to believe it. I took this photo off of google earth of the storefront.   If you look close, you will see an electric guitar in the window shaped like a red maple leaf.  It was still there.   You can also see the owner sitting in the doorway (google brushed of course). 

Magpies Performance

We have worked hard on getting our songs ready to perform at the Heart of the City Festival in Giovani Park (Edmonton).  We weren't able to practice for a couple of weeks because our regular lives sometimes get in the way, but we managed to get together on Friday night.  After a two week period of not playing, the rust had surely found its way in.  at our practice, our first run through the songs was pretty rough, but on the second run through, we got it back.  So on Friday night we were ready. 

Saturday I spent my day at the HOTC Festival volunteering.  It was frightfully cold for June. there were reports of snow on the ground west of the City.  After 8 hours, I went home very chilled. 

Sunday morning was a great warm sunny day in June.  I was jittery all morning.  ran thru the songs on my own, just to make sure my fingers worked.  Got to the HOTC about 2 pm - our set was at 5.   Boogie Patrol - a local blues band - was playing and really rocked the place.  I talked to a few friends that showed up to see us play, then met up with Brian and his daughter Kathryn.  Kathryn was our official photographer and did a superb job capturing the Magpies at the HOTC. 

Seemed as soon as we got up to play, a dark cloud slid over the park, the wind got up, and a bit of rain started to fall.  A few in the crowd started to scatter, but the die hards stayed on to give us a listen.  

At the Heart of the City, there is no time for sound checks, so you cross your fingers and hope the sound guys get it right.  Both previous years we've had issues with the first song. Year 1, the sound guy had the reverb/chorus cranked up so high, and when he finally noticed, he ran as fast as he could to the sound board to fix it.  You can hear that on the 2009 Youtube video that was put out by HOTC. 

Year 2, the sound guy didn't turn on the microphones until half way through the first song.  He must have been asleep because the audience was yelling to turn up the mike. 

I think this year, it was much better.  there were still some sound issues. My guitar apparently had a buzz going on that I didn't hear.  I know I had difficulty hearing my vocals on the monitor.   Over all, I think we did pretty well.  I definitely think it was our best performance of the 3 years.  Some of that has to do with our song writing is getting more interesting and because we are adding in more instruments.   It also has a lot to do with practice, practice, practice.   Can we do better? Absolutely.  You always strive to improve on your last performance.  

Speaking of instruments.  I think the sound guy on the acoustic stage we played got used to setting up one, or maybe two instruments for each performer over the two days.  The 3 of us showed up with a total of 7 instruments (8 if you include Don's shaker).  The look on his face was well worth the effort of hauling all that stuff down there.  (3 guitars, bouzouki, banjo, keyboard, bass guitar, and don played percussion with a shaker on the last song). 

We had instrument changes on every song, which made the sound folks earn their keep because they had to pay attention to the sound balance on every song.  You also have to remember the sound guys don't know our music, and they don't know what instrument should dominate through the song. 

All in all, I think our performance went over well.   I was watching the crowd out front (the ones who aren't our friends and family) and I think their was a positive reaction to what we were doing.  I stuck around after the last performer to help with tear down, and I got some good feed back from the organizers, so I left feeling pretty good. 

The song list (and song writer):

• Sitting Here (Jim)
• Earnest and Lucy (Don)
• Clouds of Alberta (Don)
• Melt Sugar (Don)
• Johnson Brown (Jim)
• Road to Nowhere (Jim et al)
• Green Valley Monsters (Jim, Don, Brian)
• Black Room (Jim)
• Two Feet in the Water (Jim)

Two feet in the water wasn't in the planned set, but for the 3rd year in a row, we were also asked to do another song. this year we were somewhat prepared, except we didn't practice that song on Friday. 

Road to Nowhere - Part 2

In a very early post, I included a version of the song "Road to Nowhere" that was recorded with me playing electric guitar along to an electronic drum rhythm.   This is a new version that I play with Don and Brian.  Don is on keyboards (synth) and Brian is playing the bouzouki.  Me, I just play 6-string guitar.   I think you'll like this version. 

Magpies Extravaganza

Playing a Jimmy Rogers tune

with Louanne, Tom, Don, & Brian

Performing "Road to Nowhere"

We had been thinking of doing something where we could invite a few people we sometimes play music with, so they could all showcase what they do.   So, we rented Expressionz Cafe for the evening.  Expressionz is this great place in Edmonton where musicians and artist can showcase their talents.  We've been going there since last year, so it seemed to be the perfect place.  

I can't begin to tell you how much fun I had.  I think everyone there who came to play got the opportunity.   We ran it much like an open stage, but we encouraged everyone to ask others to come up and play.  It made for a very interesting evening that included standard country tunes with great guitar & fiddle playing, some folk and country folk tunes with everything from bouzouki, mandolin, fiddle, keyboard, bass, and accordion, and sometimes all at the same time.  It was great to hear some of our standard songs played with a whole new sound.   

We had some blues tunes played and a few more rockin' tunes too.  

I figured that I would only get up and play on a few songs, but ended up playing most of the night.   I invited a lot of good friends, some who I haven't seen for a while, and my biggest disappointment is that I didn't get to visit with them much.  

My biggest thrills for the evening is getting to play 3 new song for the first time in public.  Our friend Irene did a great job on vocals for "Two Roses". (we are going to do it again tonight in Stoney Plain).  We also played "Valley Green Monsters" for the first time.  This is a song that Brian, Don and I wrote.    We also did "Road To Nowhere" but differently that the version in my video (see a past post).  With Brian on Bouzouki and Don on Keyboard, this song has taken on a whole new and much more interesting life. 

We asked everyone to take lots of photos and videos.  We had a couple of family members take photos and videos of the entire evening, and we recorded it off the soundboard.  Once we gather up all the photos, videos, and 'soundtrack' we'll try to put it all together into a kind of documentary on the evening.  

In the end, we had to put out a bit of our own $ to cover the expenses, but it was a really cheap way to have fun with Friends and family.   Now, to plan the next Extravaganza