NAC, yeah u know me.

Kids  

I'll keep this short (do people still go on websites)? 

This Friday April 21, I will be playing the NAC Studio theatre. It's a big show for me. I don't do these fancy places often. I played the 4th Stage but I think it was 12 to 14 years ago. I played solo that night and my pal Chris Page opened. 

A lot has changed in those years. Chris and I rarely get to raise a glass living in opposite ends of the city and living different lives. I had kids, blah blah blah. 

This Friday I'll be taking the stage not solo, but with 4 seasoned jazzheads, led by Petr Cancura, who programs the Ottawa Jazz Festival, and plays like the wind. We'll bend, stretch and flip songs on their heads and I barely have to do a thing, just remember the words and play a few chords here and there. 

Join us if you like the sounds of any of this as it will be a rare bird this one.  

Also on the dance card this weekend is the Roots North Festival in Orillia, Ontario. Lovely Saturday drive awaits. 

So if you find your way to this page and read this far, tell me. Twitter a holler my way.  

The Shows Keep Rolling

Thanks to you kind salt water inhalers of Halifax, my show there has sold out weeks prior to us playing a note on that tour.

Much love and thanks.

Dan Ledwell will be accompanying me on all those eastern shows.

Also on that trip we play

The Trailside: PEI

The Union St Cafe: Berwick NS

Jeff Liberty Presents: Kingston Island, NB

And hey this week we got shows in London, Owen Sound and Guelph!!!! Some with Blair Hogan, some full band. 

Also coming up:  

Small Halls Festival shows  

Alberta  

Check the shows page and come say hello and help me buy snow tires.

SHOWS THIS WEEK

Ok Stittsville Pals: 

The week is upon us and the our threw sold-out shows are but two days away. I went through all the day to day details today with the Quitters folks and everyone is super excited. 

Please bring your PAYPAL print out with you. We have all the name on a list with the corresponding amount of tickets. It was a tester for sure using PAYPAL and down the road I will tweak this and make it better. 

Doors are at 7:30pm and the show will be two sets starting at about 8:15. 

There will be CD's and LP's for sale should you care for such products to take home. 

Lastly, I thank you all so much for coming to these shows and for the enthusiasm in which the tickets were bought up. 

See you soon pals, 

j,

A THIRD SHOW ANNOUNCED

Stittsville:

I promise this is the last time I will do this. We have decided to add a third show on Saturday, Feb 20th.

Here is a link for tickets: these are more limited as the Thursday show oversold and we had to push 10 or more to this show: This show is sold out. 

Sorry for the "Great Paypal Crisis of 2016"

Hello All:

Sorry for the Paypal crisis this morning, I ended up having to go in twice and edit it to get it working. People got through in the end, but I feel bad for the folks who did not. The support you have shown is incredible and this Paypal BS was a real bummer.

Thank you all so much again.

SECOND SHOW ADDED STITTSVILLE

Hello Again Stittsville:

First of all thank you to everyone who bought ticket for my Feb 19th show: We sold that dang thing out in minutes flat!!!! What does this mean? Well, we have added a second show the evening before. These are also very limited seating and sadly, tickets do NOT guarantee an actually seat for your bum as Quitters has quite limited actual seats, but you will love the atmosphere and standing is good for your posture?

UPDATE: Tickets are sold out for this event. 

'Somewhere We Will Find Our Place' Release Date UpdateD & Album Launch Performances

The forthcoming album 'Somewhere We Will Find Our Place' is set to release on February 19th (moved from the 12th as originally stated). 

You can now Pre-Order the album via iTunes HERE as well as listen to the lead track off the album, "The Depression Dance" HERE. 

Celebrations for the release of the record will take place with launch parties in both Ottawa and Toronto. These live performances should not be missed - join us;

February 19, Quitters, Stittsville, ON | TBA

February 25, The Burdock, Toronto, ON (Early) | Tickets

February 25, The Burdock, Toronto, ON (Late) | Tickets

Additional information regarding ticket availability for Ottawa’s show date is forthcoming. Ticket's will be limited so check back soon for more details.  

It's been a long journey friends - can't wait to share this album with you. 

Might as Well Say Something

Well Gang:

Here I am in the 3rd week of May or whatever it is on the calendar. I have lots of things going on and I have been feeling really solid about the trajectory of the Fixed Hinge Recording world. I think I will also launch that name as my own little label for things I do of the musical varietal. I will of course licence these recording to big massive labels with monsterous amounts of staff to handle the "boom boom, here is Jim" portion of the process. 

The word on my recordings is as such: I have a full length record now fully mixed and soon to be mastered, it will be called "Somewhere We Will Find Our Place" and I am super proud of it in every respect: from the music to how is will present visually. I sort of have let other people I know and respect do things and I stayed out of the way for the first time. The result is a recording that brings a new sonic landscape element to the familiar world of my songs. I am too old to try to totally change how I do everything, but I can hand it over and let people guide it. It is a time where I have not cared more about music but also seem to not give a shit as well. 

The second recording is going to be an EP called "Tired of Waiting" and it literally was recorded while I waited 5 months on the Alabama Shakes back burner for my record to be mixed. I made this EP in 2 days of recording this past winter with Jonas Bonnetta and a few friends. It is definitely the more intimate of the two recordings and I think with the eventual release of this EP and the full LP will provide a nice ying and yang of what I do and love. 

In other worlds I have been working in the production and recording world with some wonderful people and have been hard at making sure I can make other peoples projects and visions sound like music you will love to hear.

What else you ask? Just working on the day to day course of understanding my fragile brain and trying to be kind more than hurt.

Until you read again,

j,

Holland and The Daze of Leaving Home

Folks, people In our parts are pretty excited for spring and I don't even think I like going away anymore, but I am here to tell you with an absolute amount of joy I will be playing and singing and then playing and singing songs opening for Oh Susanna in the coming days in the Netherlands. I am not sure how many more times I will even ever go away and be a side person as you just never know how the changing landscape of  life will keep changing.

This I do know: I love this life that is music and I have never made more of it in my life, so even at my old age kids, I think I might got lots more to do if I get the chance.  

Why you ask do I ramble on and on? Well there was a time long before Facebook and Twitterbook where my website, this .org was the single and sole way other than in person that I would get to say and speak the things that pop in my head. That all started when friends like Jason Wells and Chris Page helped me make a website and taught me how to use said site to say the things that were in my brain.  And what thoughts are in said brain tonight? Well, tonight I spent the an hour or so talking to my 6 year old daughter about her feelings of how she has no friends and hates school and sits along the fence alone building castles out of rocks watching other kids do things and wishing she could just home. 

So call me ungrateful or whatever you may about my lack of jumping for joy about leaving this family and everyone from Stewart McLean to Gord Downie have told me this is what we have to do, but I am not sure I do, but I do and will but not without missing these kids like hell and making sure everything about their everything can be ok forever.  

Right? Right. Now back to these show in the land of tulips: just tap up there on the shows link to find out all the marvellous places this trip will take me from this weekend until April 21st, which is my brother's birthday.  

Take care and hold on and hang in and feel ok that all this is a work in progress friends,

j, 

Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival

 

Hey Gang: 

Great to announce I will be a part of the 2015 Ottawa International Dragonboat Festival this June. 

This festival is a real sneaker and has become a primo FREE event with a bang up line-up.  

We are the playing the opening night with Yukon Blonde and other folks playing include: Dan Mangan, The Acorn, Kalle Mattson, Hey Rosetta, Jeremy Fisher and others.  

Right on gang, 

j