Ray-Cam-Tastic
The event yesterday morning at Ray-Cam went really well.
First of all, I arrived in the main lobby and a woman who uses the community centre recognized me from the news and told me how wonderful she thought the guitar was. Her name was Joyce and I just wanted to thank her for the warm welcome.
Down in the gymnasium, things were set up and ready to go with a little stage, sound system, projector and screen. And soon, the students arrived from Strathcona and Lord Seymour public schools – both in the area there around East Hastings. They were a very well-behaved group so I think they enjoyed the presentation. Then I handed Voyageur off to Steve Fisk. Steve is a renowned jazz guitarist from the area and he played a beautiful latin-tinged piece.
After that, I opened it up to any student who wanted to come and play it and everyone pointed to this one kid who looked like he probably played guitar: lanky, cool haircut, Aerosmith T-shirt. He came up and I asked his name. It was Muin. I had heard about Muin because one of the teachers had suggested him to play the guitar as we were organizing this visit. He had apparently been a bit too nervous to play for all those other students when the teacher asked him so I was really glad that he now felt comfortable enough to volunteer. He played a classical piece and an excerpt from..... "Stairway to Heaven". I know that breaks the rule a little bit but he was very good so it was worth making the exception.
Thanks to Paul McCabe, Caitlin and Jason from Roland Canada, Bob Gilson, Joe and Tim from Ray-Cam, Steve Fisk, Muin and all the students and teachers from Strathcona and Lord Seymour.
Posted at 11:47 AM
Early to Bed, Early to Rise
At the moment, not feeling all that wise, I must say.
Went to bed early but sat up blogging and touching up my presentation for Ray Cam today – knowing full well that I had to be at CBC Radio Vancouver for a spot on the Early Edition. And that means early.
Rick Cluff is one of the people who had me on the show years ago when I was still casting about for stories and pieces to go in the guitar so we were both excited to finally get this moment for him to see Voyageur in person. Plus, Cherelle Jardine joined us on air to play the guitar in advance of the show we'll be doing at the Richmond Cultural Centre tomorrow.
As usual, it took a while to get out of the building with people coming by the studio to see the guitar but I always secretly enjoy that. Besides, my presentation for the kids at the Ray Cam Community Centre is ready to go and it's not far from the hotel so the day is shaping up well so far. Too bad I can't nap because I'd love to catch up on some sleep.
Thanks to Jennifer Chen and Laura Palmer
Posted at 12:02 PM
Covering Ground
Saw a lot more of Vancouver today than anyone should expect to in one day:
Went off to an early morning meeting at the Vancouver Olympic Committee offices near Burnaby and my next appointment was for Global TV – also in Burnaby. Unfortunately, I'd double booked myself and in order to make it work out in the end, I had to go to Richmond first and then go back to Global and then back to Richmond. If you don't know Vancouver geography (and I didn't, really, until today) that's a lot of driving.
But it all went perfectly in the end. A great meeting at VANOC, a short and sweet interview on the Noon News at Global, a visit with Paul McCabe and the good people at Roland Canada (who are supporting our visit to the Ray Cam Community Centre tomorrow), followed by a drop in at Douglas & McIntyre to celebrate everyone's great work on the book (D&M staff pictured), followed by a quick dinner in North Vancouver before my presentation at the Capilano Public Library.
Feels great to be back at the hotel!
Posted at 2:34 AM
Second Home at Shaw TV
Found myself back at Shaw TV today – twice!
The first time was a nice long interview on Fanny Keifer's "Studio 4", a live show.
She reminded me a bit of Vicki Gabereau, actually, and I gather they used to work together. Was hoping to see Vicki on this trip too but she's out of town.
From there, Louisa Cohen from Douglas & McIntyre joined me for the long drive out to JoyTV in Surrey where we had another very nice interview session on "P3" with Randall Mark. At the end of the interview, the entire crew gathered around for pictures with the guitar. Unfortunately, I'd left the iPhone with my computer so you'll have to wait until they email me some that they took. I'm thinking maybe I should put up a Flickr gallery from this trip when it's all done.
On the road back from Surrey I did a phone interview with a station on Vancouver Island just to make things interesting and then dropped Louisa off at the D&M offices before heading back down to Shaw to pick up the DVD of my interview on Urban Rush yesterday with Barney Bentall doing a couple of gorgeous songs on the guitar. I just watched it and the performance is fantastic. I'll write to Barney and Shaw and see if we can get permission to post it on YouTube.
Now I realize I'm still wearing TV makeup and I've got socks and underwear to wash in the hotel bathtub. Ahh... the glamour of life on the road!
Special thanks to Susan Katz at Shaw TV and Louisa Cohen for the company.
Posted at 7:08 PM
Shaw TV with a Nice Surprise
Was booked yesterday for the local ShawTV "Urban Rush" show with Fiona and Michael - popular Vancouver TV hosts who have a great rapport. It was a pre-tape and they let me know that when they asked Barney Bentall to come in and bring Voyageur to life, he jumped at the chance.
The interview about the book went really well. Sometimes those daytime shows can be so rapid fire that the story can get lost but this unfolded in a lovely way. Then, in comes Barney Bentall and he was a total gentleman. He said he'd been following the travels of the guitar on his own and was pleased for the chance to meet it in person.
For the show, he performed the title track from his new album "The Inside Passage" – a really beautiful song. He then asked the producers if they would indulge him and let him record an instrumental with Voyageur and they readily agreed. Another gorgeous piece that had the studio fully hushed.
It was an honour to have Barney play the guitar and also to meet his friend, collaborator and sometime guitar-maker Dave Reimer.
Thanks to all the folks at ShawTV in Vancouver. I had such a good time that I'm coming back today to do the Fanny Keifer show!
Posted at 10:40 AM
WOTS UP!
After the blistering heat of Calgary and Rossland last week, Vancouver felt today a lot more like fall. But the blustery winds and chilly air didn't seem to deter people from coming out to Word On The Street, which took over the streets around Vancouver's beautiful public library building. Although I confess that the tent in which I was due to be interviewed by guitarist and columnist Alex Varty looked a bit empty when I arrived.
Happily, by the time Alex and I took the stage, the place had packed out. We were on a pretty tight schedule and went a little bit over with the interview before I had to head over to the book-signing table. I would have been overtime there too if we hadn't sold out of books!
My cousin Bruce Hamilton came with his partner Julie and their daughter Holly and Lisa Cole – the Support for Six String Nation Facebook Group admin – came over from Vancouver Island to watch the interview and the show that followed. Just as I started talking about the Golden Spruce, I noticed Alan Waterman standing in the crowd. Alan was with us on the journey to Haida-Gwaii for the Golden Spruce, shooting the story for a CBC Newsworld documentary. It was great to see him again.
From the book signing we went down to the stage at the corner of Robson and Homer where both Alex Varty and Jim Byrnes were set to play Voyageur. Alex swears he made many mistakes in his playing but I sure couldn't hear them. And Jim Byrnes was brilliant again with his luxurious sandpaper blues voice. He did a short solo set including "Folsom Prison Blues" and a reprise of Justin Rutledge's "Lay Me Down Sweet Jesus". I like Jim a lot and only wish the Sojourners had been on hand for the vocal harmonies. Next time.
Thanks again to Bryan Pike and everyone at Word On the Street, GlobalTV BC, Louisa from D&M, Alex Varty, Jim Byrnes, Bruce Hamilton & family, Alan Waterman, Lisa Cole and Jordan Kallman.
Posted at 8:36 PM
NJAMS Returns
Rob Friedman opened Not Just Another Music Store 25 years ago on Main St. but moved to a couple of Granville St. addresses in downtown Vancouver starting in 1990. Now he's moved back to Main St. as of just a few weeks ago and our visit yesterday was part of the welcome wagon for the new location and an invitation for the new neighbours to check out the store.
Producer John Hamilton accompanied me to the store and we were greeted by a friendly staff, a tray of nibblies and a display of Six String Nation books on the main counter. A silver-haired gentleman in denim was leaning over the accessories counter with his back to us. In a scene right out of a movie, he turned around to introduce himself: it was Jim Byrnes! He'll be playing Voyageur later today at Word On the Street but he wanted to get a bit of a preview. He sat down and played a blues as the store began to fill up with people. Then I asked him to favour us with a little Justin Rutledge and he obliged with his soulful cover of Justin's "Lay Me Down Sweet Jesus".
The next person to step up to play was Ed Henderson. I thought he looked a bit familiar. He was formerly in the band Chilliwack with his brother Bill, who met the guitar a while ago at the Songwriters' Association of Canada AGM, where he is an executive.
Ed is quite the guitar player and really put Voyageur through some fancy paces. There were a few other players and lots of folks just wanting to hold the guitar and get a picture on their cameras – including Ed's wife, Jean Teillet, the great great grand-niece of Louis Riel, who is so prominently represented on the back and sides of the guitar.
Thanks again to John Hamilton, Rob Friedman and the staff of NJAMS and everyone who came by the store. Thanks especially for the "Just Say No to Stairway to Heaven" T-shirt!
Pictured: Rob, Damon (who did the "O Canada" metal sculpture in the window) and Ed.
Posted at 2:16 PM