These Days

These days I wonder if I will ever make another record. I wonder why I should bother when there are so many great records out there that i have never even heard. Take for example the Incredible String Band. I have bought a couple pieces of vinyl from this great hippy band from the early seventies. They are so interesting.

Also, I am spending considerable time working on my fiddle playing these days. I really don't know where this will lead me but it is the thing I am most compelled to do. I enjoy playing Irish music, Quebec fiddle tunes and love playing along with folk music. I do occasionally take it out and play a bit on gigs and I even have started playing in my friends jazz-fusion band.

The other day a friend described me as a banjo player and didn't even mention my guitar playing. I found this a bit odd as I have been playing professionally for more than twenty years now and I still play the guitar most every day. And yes, I love the guitar. I find my interest in music generally is as spirited and honest as ever. I can't get enough. I want to listen more. I want to practise more and I want to compose more.

With all that in mind, my priority is still my family. When my kids want to play catch in the park there is only one answer. When one of them wants to play music with me, I am there in a second. This is a part of my life that I cherish and it won't be around for ever. Music, my first love will never go away. Who knows, maybe I will even make another record some day.

International Record Store Day

I don't remember when a loaf of bread began costing at least a couple bucks but I do remember when vinyl went up a couple bucks from 5.99 to 7.99. I was outraged.


When we were in grade 7 my pals and I started a record club. We used to each put in a quarter and walk up the street to Record World, look through all the 45s and collectively decide which one we would buy that week.


I remember some of the records like Angel and The Ruttles. Our main directive was to buy something we had never heard and could not even imagine what it would sound like. We would take it home and listen to it on my record player and then talk about it. Eventually I think we gave it a rating.


Record World was a cool place. That is all I really remember about it. I knew you could buy band buttons there and I did.


Eventually I would walk the extra ten minutes to the Burlington Mall to buy my records. I always price compared between Sam the Record Man and AandA's. (Heck I might have saved seventy five cents!)


AandA's was also the place that we basically slept out over night in high school to get "floors" at Maple Leaf Gardens for Rush. Although I was there quite often I don't really remember ever getting to know any of the people that worked there. I guess Burlington had a pretty quick turn over in staff as people who were really into music were probably trying to get out of Burlington and move to Toronto.


As I grew up there were always record stores in my life. I even worked on the Yonge St. strip at Cheapies when I was in University. (I can spin a record on my finger to this day!)


When I moved to Montreal we always went to Cheap Thrills and bought piles of used jazz vinyl. Later on when I started touring with my own bands we would always find the local record store. There was always one in each town that was THE cool place like Soundscapes is now in Toronto. It would be a great place to try to let a couple local people know about our gig, put up a poster and we had to go through the bins to see what treasures we could find. That was always a bit silly because if you bought vinyl you had to carry it with you for the next week or two of the tour.


Before the internet I would go to the record store to see if new releases were out yet. The new Rush record was always a big day as well as the mysterious release of Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door. I also clearly remember waiting for and eventually buying Pat Metheny's Song X. I was very excited about the meeting of jazz legend Ornette Coleman (who I knew little about) and guitar god Metheny. I brought it home, put it on and yelled out "Yuckkkk!!" I literally pushed it into my garbage can right there in my bedroom and swore I would never listen to it again. Today it is on my top five list of greatest recordings ever.


I still haunt the record stores in my neighbourhood week in week out, June Records, She Said Boom, Rotate This or Grasshopper Records. I still like a good deal. ie. I almost never spend more than ten bucks on a piece of vinyl. I love the dollar bin!


My kids go with me sometimes now (and I think even go without me sometimes!) but really I like being alone so I can take my time and look at every record if necessary to find that one gem that will make my day, improve my week or even change my life.

Tim's Toronto Tour

It occurs to me that there are lots of musicians and music industry folk in town for the International Folk Alliance Conference. Where will you all go when you want to leave the motel and see our fine city? Stay away from Front St., the CN tower is kind of cool but expensive (and on Front St.), Dundas Square is where the Eaton centre is but I wouldn't recommend that either. I would take a quick walk north up Yonge St. to College st. and turn left (West). You can go for a nice half hour walk along there. You will eventually see some parts of University of Toronto and after you pass Spadina Ave. it gets a little more fun and quirky. A must see (and coming up on your left) is Kensington Market. If you walk down Augusta off of College Street you will be in the heart of the market. There are two great used record stores on that street. One on the top on the West side and one on the bottom on the East side (just before Dundas) Sonic Boom and Paradise Bound http://www.yelp.ca/search?cflt=vinyl_records&find_loc=Kensington+Market%2C+Toronto%2C+ON There are lots of great used clothing stores on the next block East (parallel to Augusta) It is called Kensington Ave. (My fave used store is Shoney's on Augusta...today I am wearing the bright orange hoodie that I bought there yesterday!) There is a cool little music store in the market called Paul's Boutique 69 NASSAU ST. www.paulsboutique.ca If you want to keep walking West on College you end up in Little Italy (that is where i live) There are tons of restaurants and coffee joints to keep you busy. Sneaky Dees at the corner of Bathurst and College has some cheaper, fun, fast mexican food. (bit greasy but...) Another very Toronto thing you could do is go see a hockey game! We have two pro hockey teams; The Maple Leafs play tonight in NHL action but tickets are expensive and impossible to come by. (although someone offered me one today!!) A better option would be to go see the Marlies, an AHL team (also the farm team of the Maple Leafs) http://www.marlies.ca/schedule/ I happen to know that they play Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are only $20. Every seat there is good too. It is easy to get to the game. If you take the Bathurst Street car it will take you right to the game. (from Bathurst and College) If you want a bigger adventure perhaps you should get on the Bloor Subway line and go to our best music store; The Twelth Fret. (2132 Danforth Station) Take the subway to the woodbine station. (walk a little bit east on the north side) Oh ya...who wants to go skating?!! You can rent skates, cheap at our city hall and skate on a big fun outdoor rink. Do it!! Alright, good luck. Let me know how it goes. Hope you can make it out see our band The Oolong 7 and our showcases at the conference: tim posgate (banjo) www.theoolong7.com tonight (thursday) at ll50pm room #1265 and Friday room #1259 at 130am..

my current favourite recording!

I love having a new favourite recording. I always have a fave recording of the day week month etc. but it is extra special when it is new. It is also extra special when it is by a friend of mine. Brooklyn fiddle player, composer, arranger, pianist...Dana Lyn is a very special artist. Currently you can see her onstage in New York with Ethan Hawke in the play Clive. The reason I am telling you about her is because her latest CD; The Hare Said A Prayer to the Rainbow and Followed the Fox Down the Hole is rocking my world. As I get more and more interested and involved in the folk, roots, fiddle world etc. I am discovering artists like Dana Lyn who have embrace a tradition (or many) and taken it to a new exciting level. (If you are not a regular reader here you may not know how big a fan of Punch Brothers I am) This Cd she has mad with Kyle Sanna on acoustic guitar is very special. It features traditional and original music from the Irish diaspora as well as some Bach and a nice light sprinkling of electronics and overdubs. Even the happy, fun CD package and the artwork are made with such fine attention to detail. (also designed by Dana Lyn!) Both these artists are clearly at the top of their game. They play their instruments with beautiful tone, phrasing and dynamics; so much so that it give me goosebumps at times. You can buy it at the excellent online CD Store; CD Baby (yes, some of my CDs are available there too!) I am going back to listen again (second time today!) tim posgate

CBC music blog about hockey

It was nice to be asked to contribute to this article. Some really fun hockey stories in here. Greg Keelor's story is hard to beat.

What is your favourite hockey memory? Playing this morning was pretty fun too...coaching my kid's team against the mighty Rangers tomorrow will be fun...how much fun can one guy have.

Stay tuned for some upcoming local gig action.

tp

No one told me!

Last night I went to see Gordon Lightfoot at Massey Hall. What a show! He is such a great songwriter, singer and guitarist.

I feel very fortunate that we got "comped" for the show. We sat in the second row right right in the centre. Amazing. I am far from gaining fame and fortune from my career in music up to this point but wow; do I ever get some great seats for concerts sometimes.

It turns out that my old guitar teacher; Carter Lancaster is Gordon Lightfoots guitarist and has been for the last year and a half. I was as or more excited about reuniting with Carter as I was about going to the concert. It turns out the whole thing was fantastic.

Not only was the show great, our seats were great and I had a nice chat with Carter and some of his friends after the show but I had a couple brushes with greatness. (some might argue this)

First of all, Gordon turned out to be a very friendly, cheerful mellow guy. He came and chatted with us for a few minutes. I asked him if he knew Don Cherry (as he was in attendance that night) Gordon replied that he didn't know him but Don requested Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

You probably know this if you have been reading my blog before but I am a huge hockey fan and I love Don Cherry. So when I spotted him in his seat at intermission I had to go up and ask to have our picture taken together.

I almost wore my plaid jacket that night. (really wish I did as Grapes would have loved it!)

Thanks again to Carter Lancaster for a great night and a great show.

Fame and fortune be damned; I do feel lucky to know all the great musicians I hang out with or have met in passing etc. However, I am starting to wonder if maybe there is something they all forgot to tell me: There are some tricks to winning a Juno award. If you don't know already the Junos are the Canadian sister to the Grammys.

I just found this story from last year that explains how one artist; Linda Chorney used social media etc. to get her first Grammy Nomination. Is it possible there are things like this going on in Canada and I never realized it? (after 7 CD releases!)

You really have to watch this:



So, I am not sure how Gordon Lightfoot, Don Cherry and Linda Chorney are really related but this is just what is on my mind this afternoon after my fine evening at Massey Hall.

For more exciting insight like this (ha!) follow me on twitter: @tposgate

tim
ps. I have a gig. I have a gig. I have a gig. The Oolong 7 are performing at the Freetimes Cafe on College Street on Wed Nov 21. Special guest: the Jessica Stuart Few

Here is the Oolong 7 in the studio with our pal, drummer and recording wiz Anthony Michelli. Thanks to Melissa for shooting the video.