RobHeath

Andy Nichol: The Luthier's Craft

submitted byrmcAdmin on Feb 05, 2022

My dad has always been creative - he’s painted since his early teens. He supported our family as a commercial artist and supplemented that income selling his paintings for most of his life. At one time his work was so popular that his two-week shows of thirty plus sheets would sell out in the first fifteen minutes of the run, but it doesn’t stop there. He built almost every stick of furniture in our house and has done everything from soapstone carving to decorative eggs. On top of that he is a magnificent chef! He excels at everything he does, which is why when he told me he wanted to try his hand at building guitars I didn’t waste a minute to put him in touch with Andy Nichol.

Andy is a Luthier at Nichol Guitar and offers a guitar-building course. You build yourself the guitar of your choice, under his watchful eye, and if you can’t finish it he will. I thought my dad would build one guitar and move on to some other new challenge. It’s now more than a decade later and he’s built to date 11 guitars and a mandolin for my 2 sons and I, all beautiful guitars that sound better than anything I’ve ever played in a guitar store. Of course with his artistry he’s done inlay in these guitars that are works of art. On the head of one he inlayed a hummingbird with Abalone. Just like a hummingbird, Abalone is translucent and just like a hummingbird as you tilt the neck of the guitar and the angle the light hits it, the colors change. He used over sixty pieces of Abalone in the feathers and its breathtaking to look at.

When I was in LA about four years ago at an ASCAP event, I was sitting in the courtyard at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Hollywood playing one of my dad’s guitars by the pool. A guy sat down and listened for a while. Of course my ego kicked in thinking I was winning a new fan. What happened next is something that has happened several times over the years. It turns out he was a Luthier and was interested in my guitar. I showed it to him and let him play it. Before long, he said “how much will you sell it to me for?” I told him that it wasn’t for sale because it was built by my dad. He offered me ten thousand dollars US in cash, on the spot. Of course I declined. My dad only builds for his family. Too bad, he’d make a pile of money if he’d set up shop and built them as a business but he won’t.

P.S. As recently as a month ago George Canyon approached me in High River and yes we talked about songwriting and stuff but we talked more about the guitar I was holding than we did anything else. If my dad was interested, it was quite apparent, he would have put in an order right there on the spot.

Anna Beaumont’s CD Release Concert

submitted byrmcAdmin on Feb 05, 2022

I attended Anna Beaumont’s CD Release Concert last Saturday night. Anna has always had deep spiritual leanings but I don’t think her music has reflected this as much as in her latest CD, The Doorway. It really is her best ever. She has stepped out of her comfort zone and created something quite different from her previous pop/jazz influenced recordings, and fashioned something unique to her. With its very mystical sound-scape, The Doorway, produced by Thomas Brabec (a.k.a Dr. Octavo), is the perfect home that stunning voice has been searching for. She seems very comfortable cloaked in this world of the soul that she and her very talented band created last night. The concert started at 8 pm and ended close to 11 and I didn’t see anyone looking at their watches. It was a magical night and close to two hundred people floated away looking quite dazzled, after being held in her trance for two plus hours. Even those as skeptical about the metaphysical as I, were left breathless having had a chance to walk in that universe of wonder for just a little while.

The Adventures Continue

submitted byrmcAdmin on May 26, 2010

The weather was great in Montreal and Ottawa. The people were fantastic and I had a bushel fun. I’ve never been to our nation’s capital before. I had a blast playing to a packed house with talented Ottawa songwriters Tony Turner and Tom Lips. In Montreal, I shared the stage with “Plain Folk” a great quartet who’ve been together in one form or another for many years and I met a lot of nice folk afterwards when we all got together for pizza.

I finally have the pleasure of spending my first full month at home before I’m off again to Las Vegas for the WSOP in July. It’s a good thing because I need the time to put the finishing touches on Dragonfly, my musical about street kids, before we start rehearsals. We’ll be staging it every evening at the Youth Emergency Shelter during the Fringe August 12-22. Hope to see you there.

ALBERTA TALENT AT FOLK ALLIANCE

submitted byrmcAdmin on Nov 21, 2011

I have spent the summer writing with a lot of talented young people - defined herein as anyone more than ten years younger than me :) It's brought back to me how much I learned from co-writing when I was doing so much of it in Nashville during the late nineties up to 2004. I’ve had the pleasure of crafting songs with Carrie Day, Marty Pawlina, Ciara Proznik, Chloe Albert and Ruth Blakely and I’m writing tomorrow with Jay Willis and Marissa Kochanski. All are very talented songwriters many of whom have been active members of a songwriting circle I belong to that has convened the first Monday of each month on and off for more than a decade. Each has their own special tools that they bring and all of whom I’ve learned a great deal from.

Alberta has so much talent. I’m just looking over the roster right now for the Alberta contingent that will be at Folk Alliance  in Memphis this coming February. The Memphis Project sponsored by the Bow Valley Music Club (with assistance from Alberta Music and CKUA) are putting together a package of Alberta Artists that are going to showcase Alberta Tunesmiths at this very prestigious conference just a year before it moves to Toronto. The list is a who’s who of Alberta singer songwriters including: Leslie Alexander & Jenny Allen; Chloe Albert; T. Buckley Duo (Tim & Derek Pulliam); Lucas Chaisson; Kat Danser; Lindsay Ell; Braden Gates; Lizzy Hoyt; Nancy Laberge Trio (Nancy, Sarah Nielsen, Mark Cassano); Tim Leacock; Matt Masters; 100 Mile House (Denise Mackay, Peter Stone, Scott Zubot); Pearband (Denis & Lynae Dufresne, Craig Bignall, Aaron Young); The Travelling Mabels (Keith & Lana Floen, Eva Levesque, Suzanne Levesque); Emily Jill West and Brooke Wylie.

Wow I think I'm gonna go!

Another Fringe Has Passed

submitted byrmcAdmin on Aug 23, 2009

I have to admit I only saw two shows, the one my daughter Ellie wrote and acted in (Cadaver) and the one her boyfriend Blake was in (Spiral Dive). I meant to see a couple of others that people I knew staged and one directed by a dear friend but time did not permit. The shows I saw were both outstanding in my unbiased opinion. I was thrilled that both got good reviews and everyone who saw them that I spoke to were glowing in their praise. I’ve always been proud of my daughter because as well as being an outstanding human being she is a talented actress and an accomplished singer. I have to admit though I’m more of a fan of good writing than good performance and so I was doubly thrilled that she has expanded her horizons and added another facet to her already three-dimensional talent scope.

Living in Edmonton can be a challenge when there is snow on the ground and its bitterly cold outside but it awakens in the spring and from May through to October I doubt if there is a better place on Earth. The many festivals and events that frequent our city make it the place to be.

Back From Peru

submitted byrmcAdmin on Sep 02, 2010

We just got back from Peru where we had intended to visit the historic ruins of Machu Pichu. This is an Inca site built over 500 years ago by the great Inca Ruler Pachacuti who with his son Tupac Yupanqui are compared to Alexander the Great and his father and whose empire at its peak stretched hundreds of miles into Ecuador to the north and Chile to the south of present day Cuzco which was its hub. We did get a chance to see some of the impressive ruins of the Inca’s and many artifacts but a day before we were to take a train to Machu Pichu there was a torrential rain and resultant landslides took out the only two land routes in (the train tracks and the Inca walking trail). At one point our troupe was mulling over the idea of hiring a helicopter to fly us in (this of course before we knew how bad things were and how many people were trying desperately to get out). What we didn’t know was that those caught there were sleeping on a field in the cold rain with no shelter and that the water supply had been contaminated and food supplies were insufficient. On top of that, the landslides had killed people and evacuations were limited to a hand full of helicopters taking victims out a few at a time leading to riots. If we’d gone a day sooner we would have seen Machu Pichu but the price would have been high. Sometimes you have to thank your lucky stars for un-granted wishes.

Canadian WInters, Eh?

submitted byrmcAdmin on Dec 14, 2009

Its thirty-four degrees below zero today. Although the winters in Edmonton seem to be getting a lot milder than when I was a kid, every once in a while we get a jolt to remind us that we’re Canadians and that winter, although visually quite spectacular, has sharp teeth when the thermometer starts to plunge.

Winter’s like an old friend that comes to visit. At first the novelty of that comrade re-joining us brings back warm memories of past visits. After all, what would the holidays be without snow? Everything gets that clean crisp blue/white tinge and that blanket of frozen H20 that caps everything, gives it that fairytale quality. It sets the stage for the arrival of chubby bearded old men in red suits sitting in sleighs pulled by herbivorous mammals with antlers. Even the shortened days and longer nights give us the opportunity to pull in our own reins and cocoon. We revisit the novelty of seeing our breath condense as it leaves our lips to turn into ice crystals. Come January however, when we open our Visa statements and the glow of Xmas cheer starts feeling more like a hangover, our welcome friend begins to look like a freeloader who just doesn’t seem to know when he is no longer welcome.

Often when Canadians hear about global warming, we have mixed emotions. Yes, we don’t want to see the planet in peril but wouldn’t it be nice if winter would hitch a ride back to the North Pole on December 26th in the trunk of that sleigh?

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Discover The Trick - Its Magic

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jun 21, 2012

My producer, Louis, and I are I am almost finished my latest album The Trick. My producer, Louis, and I are nearly done cutting the album and will soon be mixing it. Annelin has started the artwork. So, it will probably be out by Fall. It’s notable that technology is playing a greater role on each successive CD. We did a lot of cutting and most of the recording we did will not even make the final CD. Some of the beds for the songs were cut as far back as eight years ago yet we are still adding tracks. It still makes me laugh that the band playing each song played their parts at different times and in different places. The drummer and bass player from Nashville in the coming weeks will be recording their parts for a song that was written thirty years ago and rewritten ten years ago. The original song was on my first album in 1987. The song was later re-cut as a country demo in the 90’s. This track was then recorded as a guitar vocal by me a few years ago. We’ve added mandolins, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, some keys here in Edmonton and the background vocals were cut at a different time in Vancouver by Gord Maxwell.

A second song was cut twice with two different bands. Various and sundry parts were added including viola, violin, cello, accordion, bass, drums, vocals and back-up vocals then thrown out when we heard a piano track that was accompanying one of the acoustic guitar tracks. We decided to re-cut the piano by itself and then re-cut the main vocal and added a new cello, leaving everything else behind. It sounds great!

Only in today’s techno-savy world could a piano player in Nashville play a Yamaha grand piano in Toronto (via Midi) for a song sung in Edmonton accompanied by a cello played in Vancouver… all on different dates.

Don't Do What I Did

submitted byrmcAdmin on May 25, 2009

In life if you don’t make mistakes you just aren’t trying hard enough. Of course you learn from them and move on but oh can they be painful.

Let me tell you about one I made in 1987 that cost me more than I can even now imagine. I received a call from a guy in New York named John Titta. He had heard a demo of some songs I’d written and loved them. He was a song plugger at Screen Gems EMI who at that time was one of the top two publishing companies in the world. He wanted to sign me to a three year deal. They were going to pay me a nice draw plus demo and traveling expenses to fly me to New York to write with their writers four times a year. It was a hell of a deal looking back but being as green as I was, when the contracts came I handed them over to a non-music lawyer. It wasn’t really his fault he didn’t know the language and customs of the music business and so he chopped their contract up, rewrote it and sent it back to them. When they got it they realized they were not dealing with a professional and walked away. 

In the mean time John had gotten me holds with three big acts. A hold is the first right of refusal to cut a song. Its kind of a gentleman’s agreement between a publisher and an artist that the publisher will stop pitching the song to other acts because the artist thinks it has a good chance of making an album. Of course once EMI walked away from our deal those all dried up and I was left with 100 percent of nothing, which looking back is exactly what I deserved.

This is by no means the biggest mistake I’ve ever made but its one of them and I learned a very important lesson. Always get a MUSIC LAWYER to handle music contracts and legal work. I’ve since shown that contract to one of the top attorneys in Nashville who laughed and assured me the contract EMI sent was a standard agreement and more than a fair arrangement which I would have been wise to sign. OUCH!

Oh by the way, John Titta the junior plugger at EMI who had gone to bat for me, is now one of the Vice Presidents of Warner Chappell (the biggest publishing company in the world) in New York. He’s not answering my calls. (Can you blame him?)

• RobHeath's blog

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival

submitted byrmcAdmin on Oct 08, 2009

I was at the Edmonton Folk Fest yesterday and got to see Patti Griffin, whom I am a huge fan of. I also caught among others Iron and Wine and Rodney Crowell (who I used to share a publisher with). It was a family affair for me, Annelin and I  joining my daughter, my mother and sister and her husband and kids. My mom got in free because she’s a senior.  I do have one rant and that is with workshops which have somewhat morphed into an arms race. Where at one time it was “one person, one instrument, one song” with three or four people swapping songs, now at times there are more side men on stage than performers. As a result often it’s hard to hear the performances on the stage your watching because it’s being drowned out by the next stage. Having said that, I think this year’s line up was one of the best if not the best ever. Well done EFMF!

Fall Heats Up

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jun 09, 2009

Things are heating up for the fall. My next gig is at the Fresh Start Bakery on the 11th of September and there are a few more to announce as soon as we get confirmation. One More Day Above Ground has been very successful in the US on Americana Radio. To date it’s getting spins on almost half of the stations in that format mostly in the northeast and southwest. It’s a growing radio format that was created as an alternative to mainstream country because a lot of great music was not being played on the radio. It’s broader in some cases including Country, Alt. Country, Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Blues, Bluegrass, World Beat and Celtic music. It is the un-genre of genres for those who just enjoy good music. We’re thrilled to be connected with Peter Hay from Twin Vision who’s been spearheading the marketing campaign on radio and has done a wonderful job.

FAR-West

submitted byrmcAdmin on Oct 29, 2010

I’m in the airport on my way home from the Far West Folk Alliance (www.far-west.org) in Santa Clare/San Jose. I had a great time playing several showcases and meeting a lot of people with the same addiction (music) as I have. I was blown away by several artists there. I caught Paul Kamm and Eleanore MacDonald (www.kammmac.com) whose songs and harmonies held me in a trance for the thirty odd minutes they were performing. I also saw a songwriter, Jude Johnstone (www.bojakrecords.com), who’s had cuts with Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and a host of others.  Listening to her I can see why. She is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever seen at one of these conventions. I also caught up with my friends the Koles (www.arlenekole.com) who I met twenty plus years ago when I was working on my first album. They are now living in California and playing with their daughter Skye who has a world-class voice (which of course she inherited from her mother and father who are also world class vocalists). The weather was not characteristic of California but there was so much to do and hear inside the hotel there wasn’t much reason to venture any further. Hats off to Steve Dulson and volunteers who organized a very well run event.

Flights to Space

submitted byrmcAdmin on Nov 01, 2010

Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin and wunderkind of my generation, is offering flights to space starting I believe as early as 2011. I was only a kid when I watched man take his enfant steps into weightlessness. I’ve never for an instant thought that this would be an option for me in my lifetime. Not even a year ago would I have entertained the possibility but it will be possible in 2011 although prohibitively expensive at $200,000 per seat. Most people would have to mortgage their house to raise that kind of money but its about one twenty fifth of what the Russians were charging private businessmen to take them into space only a year or two ago. Is it really that hard to believe that ten years hence we’ll be able to hop onto a Virgin space ship and experience weightlessness and view our blue globe from 60+ miles up for the cost of a first class ticket or less? We truly are living in very interesting times.

Folk Music - Alive and Well in Edmonton!

submitted byrmcAdmin on Oct 20, 2009

I recently learned I was nominated for the Canadian Folk Music Award for "English Songwriter of the Year". It took me a bit by surprise. I also learned that three other nominees for Folk awards were Edmontonians: Maria Dunn, Wendy McNeil and George Koufogiannakis. When we were being interviewed on CBC, we were asked about the Edmonton Folk scene and it made me quite proud how much there is going on here in this city. Folk music is alive and well in Edmonton! We have so many people here promoting Folk Music. There’s Bill Werthman and the volunteers of the Northern Lights Folk Club, Peter Pirquet and the volunteers at The Full Moon Folk Club, Steve Goss and Brian Parsons and the volunteers at the Uptown Folk Club and venues like the Blue Chair in our town. As well, there are promoters like Rhea March supporting young songwriters through U22. We have CKUA Radio which is an Alberta treasure that supports the local roots scene. We have Stony Plain Records, which is an Edmonton-based roots label with an international presence and last but not least the Edmonton Folk Festival. (Sorry if I’ve left anyone out). So, it's not surprising Edmonton will be well represented at the 2009 Canadian Folk Music Awards.

FridayFolk

submitted byrmcAdmin on May 18, 2012

Well, I’m off to Orillia to play at the Orillia Folk Society next Friday (May 25th.) I’m thrilled to be able to visit with my friend Sean McGaughey and family. He is the son of my good friends Ray and Sharon and an accomplished songwriter in his own right. If you’ve ever heard his duck tape song I’m sure you agree.  When I’m there I will be playing songs from all my albums, including the new album that Louis Sedmak and I have almost finished. I am excited that we’ve really gone to town this time and worked very hard to make sure nothing makes it on this album that we don’t love. It's a running joke that for every track that made this album, three wound up on the cutting room floor. (I’m sure that’s an understatement.) If you have friends or relatives in the Orillia area, I would be grateful if you would let them know about this gig. I would love to see them there. Hope all is well.

Highlight of My Middle East Trip

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jul 12, 2010

Somebody asked me the other day what the highlight of my trip to the Middle East was. I've had about a week to think about it and to be honest, in an adventure where every day was a highlight it is a hard call. I had a ten-hour stay over in London on the way to the Tel Aviv and got to see Big Ben, the Tower of London, 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. Had a great meal in a first class restaurant there but… that wasn't it. We landed in Tel Aviv and we were driven to Jerusalem. There we woke up every morning to the skyline of one of the most important cities for three major religions, dominated by the Golden Mosque and the Wailing Wall. We saw Gesthemene where Judas betrayed Jesus, the path he walked to be crucified, Calvary where he was executed and the Church that is built on the ground where he was buried but… that wasn't it. We were then driven to Masada where 1000 Jews held out defying the Roman Empire. We floated on the salty waters of the Dead Sea. In Jordan we saw Petra the Temples carved into the Sandstone Mountains filmed in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. They were awesome but… nope that wasn’t it. We went to Egypt and saw the Sphinx and the Pyramids and cruised the Nile witnessing some of the oldest works of art and architecture that still survive today. It was awesome but… that wasn’t it. I'd have to say the highlight of my trip was my sister. She can make me laugh like nobody else on the planet. We had a great time reconnecting and peed our pants for three weeks at inside jokes, some new, many from the twenty plus years we shared our parents home. That was the highlight of my trip and I will remember that for the rest of my life.

hulbert's Open Stage

submitted byrmcAdmin on Apr 16, 2016

There is an open stage run by Rhea March (promoter of U22) and hosted by Chris and Cameron (the owners of hulbert’s restaurant) every Sunday night starting at 7 PM. It is a “songwriter’s only” open stage, which sets itself apart from the rest because it is the only one of its kind here in Edmonton. It’s become a nurturing place for a lot of young songwriters and its turned into somewhat of a cultural hotspot for those who like to hear new original songs.Personally I’d rather hear someone struggle through one of their own songs than confidently belt out someone else’s.

The quality of songwriting is usually first rate and on any given Sunday you can not only hear established songwriters but also new and very talented songwriters who have just made it out of their basements and are just now beginning to share their songs with an audience.  Rhea, who’s ability to make new and old feel at home and confident enough to “walk naked” in front of an audience, gives this event its magic. The sound is great and Chris and Cam have set up television screens all over the restaurant so there isn’t a bad seat in the house.

Inspiration

submitted byrmcAdmin on Aug 08, 2010

After seeing the play Cadaver last year at the Fringe, co-written and acted by my daughter, I got quite angry at myself that my youngest child, less than half my age, had just gone out and done something I’d first planned to do before she was even born. (The inspiration in my family comes both from the older and the younger generation.) I’m thrilled that as well as moving me to get off my ass and write this play, my daughter Ellie has come all the way from Vancouver to lend her singing and acting talents and those of her close friends to give my characters voices and faces

It’s Never Too Late

submitted byrmcAdmin on Oct 12, 2009

I just finished the first draft of a play that I’ve been procrastinating about writing for a long time. I had an outline and a few ideas for dialogue, which for fifteen years I dusted off every six months and then put away because I just didn’t know where to start. This summer my daughter mounted a play at the Fringe that she co-wrote called Cadaver and it turned out great. She just got a spot at the Fringe and her and two others in the process of a few months wrote and mounted it. This inspired me to get off my duff and take her lead. This time I began with the intention of not quitting until I had finished at least a first draft. Don’t look at the mountain, just the next shovel full of dirt. If you keep digging one day you look up and the mountain is gone. To my surprise I looked up after a few weeks of typing whenever I had the free time and I was done (at least the first draft). It's by no means finished but I’m still shocked I even got this far when I had secretly accepted it was just one more thing on my Bucket List that wasn’t going to get done. Guess it’s never too late to realize it’s never too late.

Just Living

submitted byrmcAdmin on Apr 04, 2011

It’s been a while since my last blog. Sometimes you’re writing and sometimes you’re just living.

After my April 7th gig at the Blue Chair, I am off to do a tour of Northern California again with Mike Ehlers at the end of April. We had a lot of fun last year so we’re going to do it again. Mike is an engaging guy with a lot of different interests. Of late aside from his passion for music he’s been focusing on the environment (Google his song “Use Less”) and social justice. He and his daughter moved to Edmonton years ago when he was transferred here. He loved Edmonton and got quite involved in the music scene here. With trepidation he moved back to California recently leaving behind a lot of dear friends but with some luck maybe we’ll be able to coax him back here some time soon for a show :  )

Legends of Woodstock

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jul 27, 2009

I went to Del Mar California in June with Annelin to see Melanie of “Lay Down the Candles In the Rain” fame, Country Joe• without the Fish (still singing, “Well its one, two, three what are we fighting for”), Canned Heat (light a couple members), Jefferson Starship (minus Grace) and Big Brother and the Holding Company (with a stand in for Janis). They were all playing at the Del Mar Exhibition grounds on a racetrack just outside of San Diego. It was billed “Legends Of Woodstock” which I’m sure made the “Legends” cringe when the promoters pitched it to them. Surprisingly though it raised itself well above the kitsch that it threatened to devolve into. Not only nostalgic, it showed why some of these artists had such a good run. There were some great songs played by some great musicians and after four decades there was only a little rust showing on some of them.

Big Brother was outstanding. They were my least favorite band when I was a kid but they made me a fan that night. The musicianship was outstanding and they brought along a Janis stand in who in my opinion was every bit as good and maybe better than the original. Overall it was a magical night for the now blue haired Woodstock generation that showed up complete with the mandatory space cadets and dancing divas and that smell of cannabis in the air.

I saw Country Joe and the Fish almost forty years ago in an event at Clark Stadium they called “the Orange County Pop Festival.” Albeit it wasn’t in Orange County but it sounded good and it made us all feel like for a moment at least we were in California. Also playing that night were a host of others including Quicksilver Messenger Service and Alvin Lee and Ten Years After  who closed the night doing a half hour version of their “I’m Goin’ Home.”

Less Work, More Play

submitted byrmcAdmin on Dec 07, 2009

Just read Steven King’s book “On Writing” (great book for writers) which comes at a good time because lately I’ve been a bit blocked. We all have our input phases and our output phases. When you’re doing too much of one, chances are the other suffers. In an interview I once read John Hiatt said he doesn’t get paid for the two hours he’s on stage, it’s the other 22 he lives. I guess you have to live to write if you want to write to live.

So, here comes 2010! It’s shaping up to be a great year for "input". I’m gonna get some things off of my bucket list: Peru in January (see the Inca ruins), Memphis in February (Folk Alliance), Israel, Jordan and Egypt in March (long overdue trip with my sister), Quebec in May (gig in Montreal), and Las Vegas in June (World Series of Poker). If I can find a Fringe venue for my play “Dragonfly” that will round out the first half of 2010. A little less work and a little more play and maybe that might loosen the log jam  : )

Life is Grand!

submitted byrmcAdmin on Dec 22, 2009

“Life is grand” is what Harry my fine Irish friend used to say. My mom’s version went something like “Don’t take life so seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive”. I still do but I think Harry was right. All you have to do is look up into the infinite and realize how small we are. Even the greatest of the greatest of us will be forgotten in another million years, which is only a spit in the time continuum. Hell our whole lifetime is but a hundred years give or take a few decades. How significant is that compared to the thirteen odd billions years that have passed since the Big Bang and the thirteen billion more before the lights go out? That may make some feel small and insignificant but it actually is kind of liberating if you think about it. Even if we do the unthinkable and erase ourselves from the food chain it won’t really change much in the universe. Life will go on and the generations that would have been will never know what they lost. We won’t either because we won’t be around…so I guess that leaves one thing…now. Now is all we’ve got. Better make it the best now we can. What an amazing confluence of events it was that brought us to this point in time and space to frolic on this rock for a few decades. We can argue about how that happened or by whose hand but the fact still remains here we are and… “Life IS grand.”

Lucky Man

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jul 19, 2010

I’m sitting in the airport right now. I’m one of the luckiest people to have the life I do. I’ve been blessed, to grow up in a country rich with opportunity, having been doubly blessed with the parents and support group around me to encourage me to go out and chase whatever dreams I’ve imagined. Not everyone, even in this wealthy nation, have the same luck I’ve had. To be fortunate enough to have been raised by two outstanding care givers who gave me the belief in myself, to shoot for goals others might not even think are possible. My father, a well-known painter and commercial artist, and my mother, an athlete, coach, choreographer, writer and Renaissance woman, taught me that no dream is out of reach if you’re willing to dedicate yourself to it. They both lifted themselves up from the poverty of the dirty thirties and achieved many of the goals they set out to achieve.

Memphis to Memphis

submitted byrmcAdmin on Feb 16, 2016

I’m off to Memphis Tennessee on Wednesday to play Folk Alliance. It will be a weekend of great music and with any luck we’ll make some new friends and maybe see the ghost of Elvis strolling up and down Beale. Things are heating up with gigs in Calgary, San Francisco area, Montreal and Ottawa over the next couple of months. In between those I am also going to visit the other Memphis (in the land of the Pharaohs) in April with my sister. It’s amazing how small the world has gotten. Not long ago it took months to get from one side of this continent to the other. Now we can be at the other side of the world in a day. Having said that I’m the first to whine about the long lineups at airports and the invasive searches yada yada. I heard a comedian the other day talk about how we complain that the seats on planes today are so small. His punch line was “yeah but you get to sit in a chair 30,000 feet up in the air that’s traveling 500 miles per hour…and you’re complaining?” I guess a few hours of restless leg beats a month of stale biscuits and saddle sores  :  )

MSF

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jun 08, 2009

I first heard about Doctors Without Borders from my good friend Doreen Wicks who with her husband Ben ran an organization called GEMS. They took medical supplies into the third world and later did micro enterprise in the third world. We met when I became a supporter of GEMS. When Doreen retired I began looking for another home for my support and when I asked her whom she liked she instantly answered Doctors Without Borders. She’d witnessed first hand their courage in the field as a relief worker and highly recommended them. I’ve been an avid fan and supporter since.

Founded by a rebel group of French doctors in 1971 Medicins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders annually sends thousands of volunteers into refugee camps and conflict zones where medical care is  desperately needed. They work in dangerous places and many are hurt, kidnapped and even murdered. This Nobel Prize winning group with its   3000 volunteers in 80 countries is the largest independent medical  humanitarian organization in the world. When a country’s on fire and  everyone’s running for cover MSF is usually charging in where no one  else will go. Their heroism is well-documented in books like Touched by Fire and Hope in Hell and the television series Crisis Zone. The   idea of well-paid professionals leaving the security of their comfortable lives to go live and perform surgery in war zones   captivates the imagination. These are truly the last heroes in a world that desperately needs heroes.

My Daughter Is Moving

submitted byrmcAdmin on Aug 31, 2009

My daughter is moving to Vancouver in a couple of weeks and although I wish her well I’m going to miss her. We’ve always been the best of friends and this will leave a big hole in my heart. I know when someone is moving on to greener pastures you should be happy for them but even at my age I’ve still not been able to mature enough to not feel sad that someone I love so very much will not be able to go for lunch with me every week and then set out for a three hour walk in the river valley to talk about everything under the sun. Sure there’s email and phones and Facebook. I know if you want film work you have to go where the film industry is and I know that is her dream. I also know I want her to be happy. But my daughter is moving to Vancouver in a couple of weeks and although I wish her the best I’m going to miss her.

Nerves

submitted byrmcAdmin on May 20, 2009

I always loved song writing but, when I was younger, performing and the terror that accompanied it for me just seemed like something I could never conquer. In my early twenties after playing in a couple bands then doing a solo acoustic thing for a while I decided to pack it in. I still wrote recorded and released records for most of my adult life and had a lot of fun doing that but I never performed again for over twenty years.

After my second album in 1987 I got a publishing deal with Criterion Music, publishers for Lyle Lovette, Rodney Crowell and the owners of the song “These Boots Are Made For Walking”. Bo, the CEO, a class guy whom I’ve since become good friends with, tried to get me a record deal and we did come close with CURB records but as soon as any label finds out you don’t play live that’s all they need to hear so it was not to be.

In 1994 I was at the Broken Spoke, a songwriter haunt in Nashville, where I had been commuting four times a year to write while under contract with Criterion. (After it was apparent I wouldn’t be signed as an artist we decided I would write for other acts). My good friend Rick Perry dragged me up on stage and for the first time in two decades I played for an audience.

My friend Jay recently told me a story about a guy who bought a baseball team in the south and spent most of his fortune doing it. When they asked him why he would take such risk so late in his life he said “If it don’t make your hands shake it ain’t worth doin’ “. I guess that pretty much sums up why I decided at this late stage in my life to start performing. You should never do what you don’t want to do but you should always do what scares the hell out of you. That’s because if it frightens you its probably because its important to you and you should do what’s important to you.

I heard Alan Shamblin (cowriter of “I Can’t Make You Love me” for Bonnie Raitte) talk about “running to the roar”. He says that when lions hunt the old lions will position themselves at one end of a herd of buffalo and the young lions will position themselves at the opposite end. The old lions will roar driving the nervous herd into the waiting jaws of the much younger and more dangerous young lions. Shamblin says it’s much safer to run to the roar than away from it. I’d have to say that every time in my life that I’ve done something that scared me to death it always turned out well. For twenty years I cut and ran and to this day I wonder how my life would have been different if I had sucked it up and faced my fears. So now, even though I know I will never be totally comfortable with the dry mouth, shaky hands and churning stomach that live performing gives me, I’d rather deal with them, than one day in my last breath be asking myself “what if”.

Our Song Circle

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jan 04, 2010

Our song circle is convening for the first time in 2010 on Monday. The level of songwriting keeps getting better all the time. We’ve collected a lot of great tunesmiths who are coming on a regular basis and it's great to have so many perceptive minds in the room to help with advice and suggestions about how to improve a song. It's always great to hear a song in its infancy, and then watch how it is molded and changed in the process of rewriting that most of our members go through on the way to make it better. It’s also great to sit with twenty plus other people who all have the same love of music and writing. It’s like a support group for people with the same addiction (to words and music). This is one addiction I don’t think I’ll ever kick so it’s nice to be around others who understand that.

The Power of Words

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jun 15, 2009

My daughter is back from a three month tour of the interior of BC where she was traveling with a theatre company. I missed her terribly. The thought of her and her brothers growing up is satisfying and at the same time terrifying. For the past quarter of a century my primary job was being a parent.

Fatherhood was my finest hour. I loved being a dad. That they are now grown up is only mitigated by the hope that some day there will be grandchildren but I’m not sure I would have been the dad I was if it weren’t for a song.

When I was in my late teens I first heard the Harry Chapin tune “Cat’s In The Cradle”, a story about a man who provides for his family by working hard, but forgets to spend time with his son and finds in his old age his son has no time to spend with him. The implication is he’s learned this from his father. The terror of that fate has always reminded me to spend as much time as I could with my children (and my parents) and my relationship with my family as a result is the richest and most satisfying part of my life. But it might not have been if it were not for those words.

Some years ago I read a book by Alvin Tofler called Power Shift. In that book the author argues (only much more eloquently) that power has many sources. It can come from bullets, from dollars and last of all from ideas or words. You can make a person do something at the point of a gun but once the gun goes away that person will revert back to doing what ever they want. You can pay somebody to do something but as soon as the money runs out they will find something else to do. The ultimate power comes from words. If you convince a person to do something because its right they will continue to do that thing for the rest of their lives. I’m a better father because of the words of a song. I love the richness of the English language and the power of its words. You mix that with the power of music and who knows? You could change the world.

Rhea March’s Sunday Open Stage Finds A New Home

submitted byrmcAdmin on Oct 05, 2009

It's been an eventful summer which extended well into September but now the cold weather is on us. Rhea March has finally found a home for her Sunday Open Stage for songwriters. It is at the Hydeaway All Ages Artspace (an independently run community art gallery and performance space), located at 10209-100 Avenue. I’m sure there will be the usual U22’ers that frequent her open mike and a couple of us 022’ers salted in. If you want to go, you’ll see a Union Jack on the sign advertising the “Jeckyll & Hyde Pub” which is located downstairs from the HydeAway All Ages Artspace. It starts at 7 PM and goes till 10:30 PM. See you there.

Rob to Play at the World Series of Poker

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jun 21, 2010

I’m off to the WSOP (World Series of Poker) July 4th. Its one of the unchecked items on my bucket list and I’m thrilled to get the chance to play Texas Hold’em with the best poker players in the world. I have no delusions of grandeur, of outplaying the Daniel Negreanu’s, Phil Ivey’s or the Doyle Brunson’s, but as any poker player knows, luck gives even the least of us a fighting chance. It’s not the money. If I win anything, its going to charity. No, it’s the adrenaline rush of re-raising a guy who’s got you beat with nothing more than a flush draw and watching him fold his hand. It’s knowing that each time you play a hand there’s a good chance it could end with you getting up from your seat and hopping a plane home. Poker is a brutal game. No limit Texas hold’em is as Doyle Brunson says “the Cadillac of Poker” because its an unforgiving test of wills and skills where one mistake and you’re on you’re way home minus your money and your pride.  Gotta love it!

San Francisco, Montreal, and Ottawa

submitted byrmcAdmin on May 10, 2010

I just got back from San Francisco where I had a great time with my daughter and performing with talented singer songwriter Mike Ehlers in his backyard, Northern California. I’d been to San Francisco before a couple of times but never any farther north. This time I played Napa, Gilroy, Caspar, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol and Ukiah and got to see some beautiful scenery. Mike showed us the beaches he used to surf on, my daughter did some wine tasting and overall we had a wonderful time.  I’m back for a week then I’m off to Montreal and Ottawa to play the Side Door Coffee House in Pierrefonds, QC at 8 PM May 14th and Elmdale Tavern in Ottawa 7 PM May 16th. If know anyone who’s going to be in the neighborhood tell them to drop in and say hello.

Second Cup

submitted byrmcAdmin on Aug 03, 2009

Sad to say but Hulbert’s Sunday night open stage is closed. It was a great run and we’ll miss it and we’re all waiting in anticipation to see what’s next for Rhea, Cam and Chris. For the time being I’ll be lugging my ax down to the Second Cup up on 149 Street to attend Alex Boudreau’s Wednesday night open stage. Alex is a great guitar player with the generosity to give up a night every week to provide us with a soap-box on Hump-day. Hope to see you there.

Song Circle

submitted byrmcAdmin on May 30, 2009

I host a songwriter’s circle, the first Monday of each month, at my home, in downtown Edmonton. Twenty odd songwriters sit in a circle and each play new songs we’ve written and the rest voice their opinions about what they liked about that song and how they’d change it if it were theirs. It’s a great place to get an honest opinion of how an audience is reacting to a new song you’ve written. It’s not for everyone. There are those who feel the first version of a song is a gift from their muse and shouldn’t be changed. On the other hand if you are like me and once you’ve written a song you tend to be so close to it that you have a hard time seeing it objectively, this is a good wake up call if the song is not working.

The idea is that you take the comments that you hear and if you agree with them you rewrite the song to make it better. Not everyone at our circle is an expert writer but I believe everyone is an expert listener. The comments are often very helpful and almost always well intentioned. For the better part the feedback will come in the form of “what I liked about your song was …… and if it were mine what I would like to see is ……”

It’s a very supportive group. We started over a decade ago at the B Scene Studios, hosted by Todd, the owner. We moved downtown a few years ago and we still have a hand full of the original members. Some show up every month, some every other month, some a couple times a year and some come once and its not for them. Many of the members who’ve hung in have gotten much better over time and the level of craftsmanship has improved tremendously. If you are interested and you think you'd like to join just email me and I'll put you on my mailing list. I send out a general invitation a week before each event which will explain everything you need to know to participate. 

Songwriting

submitted byrmcAdmin on Apr 16, 2009

I’ve been asked several times lately to attend events where I’m supposed to be giving advice about songwriting. It’s always hard to stand up and represent yourself to people as an “expert” when you don’t really see yourself that way. I’ve been writing songs since I was thirteen so for the better part of forty-two years. I’ve recorded four albums, been employed by three different music publishing companies resulting in songs recorded by other artists including a number of songs on radio but at the end of the day I still feel like an imposter. All I’m really qualified to do is pass on things I’ve learned from trial and error, things that have helped me. Often that knowledge is pretty specific to what I do and the kind of songs I write and only apply to a narrow segment of the songwriting community, and that is, those who are trying to write a commercial song for radio.

All my comments and critiques therefore fit narrowly through the eye of that needle and even then may or may not have any relevance to a lot of songwriters who may be writing for any number of reasons all of which are perfectly sound but are different from mine. I say this because I have seen so called experts trash perfectly good songs by new writers leaving them feeling defeated and dejected.

In the end my opinions as well as those of other songwriters are just that, opinions. Well intentioned and sometimes informative, but not always right. Listen to learn, but always listen with a critical ear.

Stand for the Children

submitted byrmcAdmin on Aug 15, 2010

We are staging Dragonfly at the Youth Emergency Shelter. My hope is that there is enough truth in this play that folks will see these kids as I see them… people just like you and I, but who’ve had to overcome obstacles most of us can only imagine. They may not be our children biologically but they are part of our tribe and deserve the same opportunities most of us take for granted. The least of their needs is to have a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs and food in their bellies, oh yeah, and maybe to hear that their dreams just might be possible. I believe that is what YESS is trying to do and by helping them I’m hoping we can help the youngsters who are in their care.

Streetwise

submitted byrmcAdmin on Aug 01, 2010

I conceived the idea for this play after watching a documentary called “Streetwise” more than two decades ago. It gave me a sense of déjà vu. The characters in it reminded me chillingly of the young street kids I met when I was a teenager. The documentary itself was a derivative of a Life Magazine article about homeless kids in Seattle called “Streets of the Lost”. It brought me to tears and to this day, twenty-six years later I can’t get the images of that video out of my mind. Although I’d always thought about writing a play, which would be loosely based on that documentary, I didn’t really type the first word of Dragonfly until fall 2009.

Summertime in Edmonton

submitted byrmcAdmin on Sep 07, 2009

I live in an apartment right across the street from Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton. In the summer time Churchill is a cultural center for our city that revolves, although not solely, around music. At noon on weekdays there’s Brian Gregg, who rocks out on the corner, busking for the lunch crowd, and at night and on weekends I get to listen to the sounds of the many talented singers, songwriters and musicians from Edmonton and abroad. It’s like a music festival that starts in spring and goes until the leaves start falling off the trees and runs the gamut of every possible music style from Folk to Country to Rock to World Beat and I have a front row seat to it all. The level of talent is simply breathtaking and it’s absolutely free to anyone who wants to listen. Right now there’s a Celtic band rocking out and people are dancing all over the square. Think I’ll go check ‘em out.

Surviving Without Any Help

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jul 29, 2010

I wrote Dragonfly about and for those who’ve not been so lucky. For whatever reasons, many young people slip through the cracks in the asphalt of our society. Coming from homes where their caregivers are so wrapped up in their own problems that they fail to give their children the attention and emotional nourishment they need to navigate the potholes of what can be a very dangerous world. Having run away from home when I was young (for reasons that had nothing to do with my parents but rather a quest for adventure), I met a lot of these kids and gained a respect for their resourcefulness and ingenuity in finding ways to survive without the help of anyone else.

Thrilled to be Home!

submitted byrmcAdmin on Apr 05, 2010

No matter how badly you itch to get away, after a long stay abroad, it’s always great to come home. Don’t get me wrong, I had the time of my life. I went to the Middle East with my sister and we laughed, sometimes uncontrollably, as we were dazzled by the places we read about in Sunday school. We were left in awe by wonders like Masada, Petra, the Sphinx and Pyramids and so much classical art and architecture that we’d be hard pressed to name a highlight. More importantly, we got a chance to reconnect. I guess because we’d spent the better part of the first twenty years of our lives together, we soon found it was easy to travel together. We also had a lifetime’s worth of inside jokes that still make us pee our pants, enough to last us to the final day of our three week stay (ok there were a few repeats but some classics just never get tired?). We were both happy however to return to the place of our birth where the people we love are. I’ve spent a great part of my life wishing I lived somewhere where it didn’t snow for half a year but lately I’ve realized that although those places may be warm that’s all they are. There’s nowhere else on this globe I’d rather live than here where I was raised. I’m thrilled to be home!

Time for the Homefest

submitted byrmcAdmin on Nov 03, 2009

Every year about this time an assortment of artists play their music down at the Arts Barns to raise money and awareness for those less fortunate. It’s a celebration of our music for a great cause. It is hard to believe that in the midst of so much affluence there are still people sleeping in alleyways near steam grates because there are not enough beds to accommodate them. I believe those of us who have, are obliged to help those who haven’t. Our sympathy for others and our charity are our most noble qualities. Some religions ask their believers to give up a small percentage of their income under the understanding that their money will find its way to the poor and downtrodden. I am not a religious person but I don’t think you have to be to set aside a tithe or what ever you want to call it for the purpose of donating it to one of the many charities there are out there that take care of the unfortunate. Though I'm not religious, I believe life is a zero sum game. All the bad we do, we either get back in misfortune or we cancel out by good acts. On our dying day, we only get to keep what we gave away.

Unitarian Service Committee (USC)

submitted byrmcAdmin on Nov 09, 2009

I’m thrilled that the Unitarian Service Committee (USC) has asked me to join James Keelaghan and Friends at Festival Place to do a benefit concert for the USC Thursday, November 12th.

The year that Lotta Hitschmanova arrived in Canada as a WWII Czech refugee, she founded the Unitarian Service Committee. She mobilized a whole generation of Canadians to reach out and help others in need. Who can forget that thick Czech accent on TV commercials urging us to take action and help those less fortunate than ourselves by sending our cheques to 56 Sparks Street. She would have been a hundred years old on November 28th.

With its Award winning Seeds For Survival Program, the USC continues Lotta’s legacy by supporting women, small-scale farmers and youth in 12 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

On November 12th, we are at Festival Place to thank her and support them. Check out USC at http://usc-canada.org.

USC at Festival Place Update

submitted byrmcAdmin on Nov 24, 2009

There were a lot of familiar faces at Festival Place on the 18th. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for showing up and supporting a great cause. James Keelaghan was kind enough to donate his time to do this show for the USC and celebrate what would have been Lotta Hitschmanova’s 100 birthday on November 27th. I also saw a lot of my friends who I’d like to thank for supporting not only this great charity, but who come out regularly and support me when I play. I’m always a bit humbled by the number of people who I see at every gig, many of whom I’ve become very close with. For someone who has an ongoing struggle with nerves, it’s nice to know that the audience is peppered with people you know. I really appreciate the support, so thank you again.

Well, it's official!

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jul 23, 2009

Well, it's official. The Sunday Night Open Stage at Hulbert's is winding down.

Chris and Cam are moving on to new horizons and its looking like the new owner may not continue the Songwriter's stage there. Will it move to another venue? One would hope so, in some form or another. This is by far the best showcase in Edmonton of bright new talent and it would be a shame if it doesn't continue in some form or another. Rhea has done a great job of building a real strong core of people with U22 along side a sprinkling of some of us O22'ers. Her charisma mixed with the hospitality provided by Chris and Cam has been a magic combination under which many songwriters, young and old, have germinated and blossomed.

It is a lot of work and a great commitment to give up a Sunday night every week and show the generosity of spirit that Rhea has done, so she might just be happy to have a break from all of us. That won't stop me from telling her what a great job she's done and how much this has meant to all of us who've benefited from the stage she and the boys from Hulbert's have provided us for the past several years.

From all of us best wishes and thank you.

What Have You Got To Lose?

submitted byrmcAdmin on Sep 19, 2009

A few year's ago, my doctor began sending me off every year for a PSA test. I couldn’t understand why someone who had no history of prostate cancer on either side of his family would need such a thing but she insisted and I’ve learned to respect her advice so I relented. In November 2007 I went for my yearly physical and again I got a PSA test but this time something was different. It was high, so high in fact that she shipped me off to a specialist who started testing me for various things and when he’d ruled out everything but the worst he sent me off for a biopsy. To make a long story short I had prostate cancer. I was in the hospital getting it removed within six months.  It is now a year after my surgery and I’m cancer free. The reason I’m cancer free is I got it so early. Why? I was warned about this ticking time bomb by the PSA test my doctor insisted on. Doctors often use the PSA test and DRE (digital rectal exam) as prostate cancer screening tests; together, these tests can help doctors detect prostate cancer in men who have no symptoms of the disease. If you’re over 50 and you're male, these simple tests can save your life. Again, what have you got to lose?

Without Rhyme or Reason (Writer's "Blog")

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jun 23, 2009

I’ve been a little dry lately. I've got a melody that I just composed that I really like but I’ve taken two stabs at lyrics and neither did it justice. It’s written in a time signature (5/4) that I haven’t written in before, inspired by a Glen Hansard song I heard from the movie Once. I toyed with the idea of a love gone bad song but I’m just not there right now in my life. I also fooled around with rewriting one of my favorite Alfred Noyes poems from when I was a child “The Highwayman” which I’ve always wanted to put to music, but I’m not sold on it for this tune.

There’s lots of ways of breaking the logjam when you’re blocked. Usually we write about what ever is affecting our lives at the moment but sometimes those things are just not that interesting to write about. We can find great ideas listening to talk radio or daytime talk shows on TV. Books, CDs, and movies can be gold mines. Newspaper headlines are a good source for title ideas. Joni Mitchell says she sits in restaurants and eavesdrops on conversations, however none of these are bearing any fruit for me. John Hiatt says it’s not the two hour performance fans pay for. It’s the 22 other hours of living. If that’s the case I think it’s time to get out and do some of that.

Young Guns

submitted byrmcAdmin on Jul 06, 2009

From the moment Hulbert’s Open Stage (hosted by Rhea March) went “songwriter only”, I’ve had the weekly pleasure (every Sunday night) to witness the best Edmonton has to offer in young singer songwriters. My generation was quite self absorbed and well versed in its own music but had little use for the music that preceded us. I find young people today are much less generationally chauvinistic. On my kids iPods there are songs from Billy Holiday to Led Zeppelin to Stevie Ray Vaughn and Patti Griffin to Radiohead and forward. As a result they draw from a wider influence when they write. It makes their songs richer and more diverse.

I was at a concert at the College St Jean last night. There were two performers that blew me away. Andrew Perri and Lyra Brown, a couple of young Edmonton songwriters (I think around seventeen) performed their tunes with some friends for a crowd of about a hundred. I think Andrew had booked the venue and they were promoting the event themselves. Lyra has got kind of a Regina Spektor vibe and Andrew has a voice that reminds me of Billy Joel with the guitar stylings of a John Mayer. Both Andrew and Lyra were riveting performers, Lyra with her quirky originality and Andrew with his warm charisma and smile that lit up the room. Both are talented well beyond their years. I was asked by the father of one of the performers to come. I wasn’t expecting to see something this original and entertaining. It was a humbling experience.