Well, that was quite a way to wake up today: HUGE coverage in the Ottawa Citizen. That bodes well for our presence at Major's Hill today and - at least for the moment - it looks like the weather may cooperate, no matter what the forecast says. Posted at 8:37 AM
Today went like clockwork.
Did a photo session at the National Arts Centre with Ashley, the photographer from the Ottawa Citizen. That will accompany tomorrow's articly about the guitar by Peter Simpson. Then went to the Byward to meet Sarah and up to Major's Hill Park to pick up our parking passes from the production trailer. From there, we went for lunch at the good ol' Manx on Elgin and then around the corner to Vistek to pick up the seamless backdrop. While we were there, Gabriel arrived and we arranged to rendez-vous back at the hotel and do our preliminary set up at Major's Hill.
Once we were done that, Gabriel and I headed over to Parliament Hill for the rehearsal with Shane Yellowbird. Things were a bit behind due to the crazy weather here today. Hope it stabilizes for tomorrow. Doug and Sally arrived in the midst of all that and came to hang out backstage on the Hill.
Lots of folks coming up to see the guitar backstage. And of course, our good Uncle Robert is there to make sure Voyageur is well looked after while it's here.
The golden moment came when Gordie Johnson arrived for rehearsal with The Respectables. I worked with Gordie many times in the early days of Big Sugar – both when I was working at Zydeco on Markham St. where they were practically the house band and at Harbourfront Centre where they transformed from vintage jazz trio to screaming dub-blues-rock outfit driven by Gordie's monster Marshall stacks. Gordie is the ultimate in cool and now lives much of the time outside of Austin Texas, where he fronts his project Grady. So, Gordie rolls in in his cowboy hat and looks at me with that wiat-a-minute-don't-I-know-you look on his face. We have a little reunion and he says: So what have you been doing these past 12 years? I took him over to show him the guitar and he just loved it. He played it for a long time and kept saying how great it sounded and then brought the backstage to a hush with a bluesy rendition of O Canada.
I only wish it was part of the official programme.
Bumped into Justin Rutledge on the walk back to the hotel but couldn't convince him to join us for a nightcap at the Arc (good man, Justin, but we'll get you tomorrow night).
We're ready for tomorrow and the only thing worrying us at this point is the grim weather forecast.
Posted at 6:50 PM
Really excited to be invited to be part of Canada Day on Parliament Hill for the fourth year in a row!
Turns out they didn't really need the guitar for today's rehearsal since it was just the video component they were running through tonight. That's just fine, since it gives us a chance to see Richard, Erin, Oliver and Toby and perhaps top off the night in the Arc Lounge a bit later. We're on the rehearsal schedule tomorrow with Shane Yellowbird who will play the guitar during the evening show on the Hill.
Doug and Sally and Gabriel are coming up tomorrow separately to help with set up over in Major's Hill Park. In the meantime, I've just done long interviews with Canadian Press, Commentary.ca and the Ottawa Citizen so that's probably enough work for one day (if only!)
Thanks to all the nice people at the Sheraton on Albert Street who remembered us from previous years!
Posted at 6:41 PM
After a fair bit of anticipation around this weekend's appearance at the Oakville Waterfront Festival, we're feeling a bit "all wet".
Attendance on Friday night was pretty good but soggy weather kept things pretty quiet over the weekend. Still, as usual, we met some great people and had some great conversations. In particular, Oakville M.P.P. Kevin Lynn came by on Saturday to meet the guitar and get his portrait taken and then came back again today to get me to sign his copy of the Six String Nation book and get a few more shots with his wife, Janice. Kevin really took to the project and is going to try to organize a portrait session at the Ontario Legislature in the fall. That would mean we would have done Toronto City Council, the federal Parliament AND the middle level of government. While experience suggests I can't exactly say it pays to have friends in high places, it certainly can't hurt!
Thanks to Jill, Dave, Zero and Kevin.
Tomorrow, we're off to Ottawa for Canada Day rehearsals for our fourth consecutive appearance at Parliament Hill.
Posted at 9:30 PM