Great People - Sublime Moments.

At Ottawa BluesFest 2001, the main headliner was none other than the GodFather of Soul himself, James Brown. And the Trevor Finlay Band got to open up for him! (OK, so there was a band on between him and us...) The cool part was that he came for his afternoon soundcheck, and stayed the rest of the day, hanging out in the backstage area. I came in with our band, put my gear in the onstage area, came down the steps, looked over at one of the trailers, and there was Man himself! He was sitting on the steps chatting with people, and had his hair in curlers! No heavy security, though he was looked after. Trevor got himself introduced through the BluesFest artist liaison, and I thought I'd try catch him later after the show. But when he had finished his show (and his emcee was whipping the crowd up for another encore), he left the stage, came down the steps, and got into the limo before the band was even finished. The car sped off before the crowds could get to him, including me. Oh well, but it was a real treat just to share the backstage area with him. And I did get to chat for a bit with his Musical Director and longtime trumpter, Hollie Ferris. One of the funniest things that day was when JB had to use the backstage porta-potty (there were only three). He got in line like everyone else, but seemed a little self-conscious as we all watched him step into the thing... One of the other BluesFest highlights was meeting Dr. John, who was his usual quintessential "Night Tripper" self. And he had one heck of a band! I renewed my acquaintance with Bill "The Sauce Boss" Wharton as well (see below).

A few years ago, the Jivewires got to jam with Dan Ackroyd, Jim Belushi and Matt "Guitar" Murphy. They were in town with the Blues Brothers for a special benefit show for Carleton University, Ackroyd's Alma Mater. We had heard they'd be in town, and there was a buzz that they might come to the Rainbow after their show at the National Arts Centre. Well sure enough, at around midnight they quietly came into the club. I was about to count off a tune, when I saw our frontman Steve bending down to talk to someone on the dance floor. He comes to the mic and says quite dryly: "There's some guy here named Jim, who wants to know if his friend Dan can get up and play some harmonica." Well, it took the crowd about 2 seconds to figure out what was going on! The three of them came onstage, our frontline 4 piece horn section made some room for them, and we jammed out some classic tunes for about half an hour. They then departed into the night, leaving a rather star-struck crowd - including us!

During the Summer of '94 I got to play with the "Prime Minister of the Blues", Dutch Mason. Dutch is one of the Godfathers of the Candian Blues scene, and he, along with fellow Maritimers the Downchild Blues Band, were THE ones to see. (Go to this link for a good story on Dutchie's 60th Birthday Party.) When Dutch would come out this way in the 90's he usually worked with Ottawa's own Drew Nelson Band. I was working for Drew for a while, and we got the call to go out with Dutchie. He was great to work with, and it's most unfortunate that oiver the past few years his health has been failing him.

I remember this from my first show with him: we were playing a tune with a good swing groove, and Dutch started some of his trademark scat-singing. Well, as he accented those notes, and did a few polyrhythmic things, I, in good jazz tradition, started comping with him and catching those accents. It lasted for a bit, and then we went on to the rest of the song. I hoped that I hadn't overdone it (as some people really don't want any "help" during their solos), so when I got offstage after the set I went to Dutch. I asked him if I had gotten in his way at all, and he looks at me and says "Man, what you were doing was great, and you can do whatever you want back there, and as long as it feels good." Needless to say, I was a happy guy! So that became one of the fun part of the shows. (It helps that Dutch also used to be a drummer... Hmm, all these singers that started out as drummers - like Phil Collins, James Brown, Peter Gabriel, Don Henley...)

I've been on the radio in the past, but always playing someone else's music (and occasionally doing interviews). It was Fall of 2003, and this time it was the Jivewires, as we had just released our "Laughin' in the Poorhouse" CD. Our local CBC Radio station would aways play some of our music went it came out, and we waited to hear what song they would pick this time around. I had written two songs for the new CD (a vocal tune called "My Eggs Are Gettin' Cold", and an instrumental called "Jumpin' Jelly Jam"), but figured that one of Steve's or Kurt's tunes would get the nod. So I was quite surprised when a friend told me that they had heard the "Eggs" song that morning! What a moment... I just sort of sat there and thought "cool - my silly song makes it to the public airwaves". This meant I had both my professional writing debut and my publishing debut within a month of each other! The CBC Morning show played the tune for a while, and the station did play a few other of the band's songs as well. Thanks CBC!

Speaking of Downchild; the illustrious Mr. Donnie Walsh himself lent his harmonica skills to Trevor's CD "Morning Man". Trevor asked Donnie if he'd like to play, and he said "sure". So the next time they came through, Donnie came to the studio on the Saturday afternoon, and laid down some mean harp on the song "Last Saturday Night". Hey, there's a connection somewhere in here... Didn't he just happen to write some tunes the above-mentioned Blues Brothers made famous?? (Hint: Donnie has a boat named "Almost".)

Another amazing time was Trevor's 1st. CD Release Show. We had the band, Andrea Karam on backing vocals, a five piece horn section (charts by yours truly), and a 12 voice Gospel Choir added in for the big finish! It was very stressful getting everything organized (our sound tech was feeling a little forlorn as he realized he would have to keep track of 30 inputs into the mixing desk...), but it all paid off. What a great night! When the choir came on and we had everything flowing there were serious shivers up and down the spine (and let's face it, isn't that what music is all about?). Rogers Cable 22 was there, and our good friend Shawna Lucey looked after the technical end for them. She also edited the show they broadcast of this event. Even though that was back in June of '98, Rogers still broadcasts it occasionally, along with other events I've partaken in. I don't have cable, but a former neighbour once joked that he was getting sick of seeing me on TV... (ah, Fame, no matter how minor!) You can see photos of the CD Release at Trevor's website.

Sue Foley called me up and asked if I wanted to play in Daytona Beach, Florida. The show was part of "Bike Week", when about 300,000 motorcyclists, most of them on Harleys, descend upon the city. All expenses paid, to Florida? Sure, sign me up! When we arrived at the airport, we were picked up at the airport by a driver with a Lincoln Town Car. (Hey, Harley-Davidson was paying for it, so who am I to argue?) The show went well, the weather was great (though it was early March, and a little too cool to swim in the ocean), but the best part was the return trip to the airport. H-D had decided to send us off in style, and I had my very first limo ride! Though I'm not a fan of these beasts, due to the image they present, it was kinda fun to try it just once! I did ruin the image, however, by sticking my head out the sunroof and waving to the commuters... Oh, I almost forgot; after I finished the set with Sue, I found out that I had missed a True Biker Event. You've heard of mud wrestling and jello wrestling? Well, how about Coleslaw Wrestling? For some reason I'm glad I missed it, and I'm not sure I wanted to know what they did with the coleslaw when they were done with it...

My first show with Charlie Sohmer was the release party for his first CD, Spirit Jewels, at the former Downstairs Club here in Ottawa. Suzie Vinnick was playing bass, and Charlie asked her to sing his beautiful song "I'm Tired". We hadn't rehearsed it, so he suggested I lay out while they got the tune going. Suzie's vocal was so stunning that I almost didn't want to join in! It seemed perfect without me; I was so enthralled with Suzie's singing and the mood set by the song that drums seemed like an interruption!

In May '95 the Jivewires did a tour of the British Isles. There were two big highlights for me on that tour. The first was we were the Headline act for the Opening Night of the Bath Music Festival, which runs for 2 weeks. Apparently the crowd numbered around 20,000! Yikes, that was definitely the biggest crowd I've ever performed for!! I remember how they introduced us - "And now, the band you've all been waiting for [they were waiting for US?]: Canada's Premiere Jump/Jive recording Artists - The Jivewires!" Those 20,000 people burst into applause and cheering, and what a terrifying, yet awesome sound it was! We collectively wet our pants, and then jumped onstage and into our show...

The second highlight, and it has nothing to do with music, was one of those sublime moments that rarely occur when you're stuffed into a small British van with 6 other guys in various states of degraded personal hygiene, PLUS all of our equipment. After playing in Belfast, Northern Ireland, we had to drive northwest to the town of Culdaff. Instead of taking the Motorway, we drove along the coast road. We got to see ancient ruins, the gorgeous blue of the North Irish Sea, and the equally nice green of the carefully tended fields. But the best was yet to come, because on our route was the site of the Giant's Causeway. It is one of those very special places on Earth where you can feel time stand still, and it was wonderful to behold one of nature's true works of Art. The photo below shows a section of it. (And yes, you can walk all over it!)

Back in November 2001, a local protest walk was planned against the planned American incursion into Afghanistan. People were called to partake in a silent (non-speaking) walk from Parliament Hill to a a United Church about a kilometer away, where speakers would talk about current World events. A friend of mine and I were asked by one of the event's organizers if we could provide a solemn, slow drum beat to accompany the Walk. I took my big, homemade surdo drum with me, and the two of us led a group of over 600 people! We travelled down Bank St. (one of the main downtown streets) under Police escort (the RCMP actually seemed quite receptive and perhaps even sympathetic). We played a slow, basic rhythm, and I was told that even folks way at the back (about 4 blocks behind) could hear us. It was a very moving event, and once we reached the church, we stood aside and kept drumming as everyone filed past usino the building. 'Twas a very memorable day, and I was pleased to use my drumming for such a powerful event. The American military went into Afghanistan the very next day...

I've also enjoyed making the acquaintances of some of the many musicians at the various music festivals, whether here in Ottawa or during my travels. As noted above, I sometimes get to meet the stars of the show, but more likely, I meet the men and women who either part of a larger group, or a backup player. When I meet them here, they seem to enjoy their stay in Ottawa, and the mood in the backstage/musicians' area is an interesting mix of tension and release between the musicians who are about to perform, and the ones who already have. It's also great to hear and share road stories, part of that common bond between those whose careers demand so much travelling. During the '00 edition of the Ottawa BluesFest, I had a lot fun hanging out and jamming with Bill "The Sauce Boss" Wharton. And so new friends are made, with email helping us keep in touch.