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Unfortunately I can’t make it as I will be in Montreal, but if you can, you should! There will be a Performance and Reception at the Museum of Anthropology at 6393 NW Marine Drive in Point Grey, Vancouver.

Transcendent music sung in the Haida language, bridging the ancient and the present, by Canadian Aboriginal Music Award winners Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson and Bruce Ruddell.

Terri-Lynn and musicians will perform selections from her new CD ‘New Journeys’ followed by a performance by the Rainbow Creek Dancers and a reception. Admission is complimentary; attendees are encouraged to purchase a copy of the CD. Spread the music! You can RSVP to reception@whiteravenlaw.ca.

I wanted to find out a bit more about Canadian Aboriginal Music Award winner Terri-Lynn and Bruce Rudell’s collaboration. I learned that the broad vision for the “New Journeys” CD is to create music that bridges two cultures and helps people of different backgrounds to connect with each other reflecting the current need in Canadian society to reach reconciliation with Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples. Such a wonderful goal.

I strongly encourage you to attend the CD Release Party which is coming up in a week and a bit, and do let me know if you attend, I’d love to hear your impressions of Terri-Lynn’s music.

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2. Wakali Wa Downtown CD Release Party (Thurs Sep 24th, 2009)
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DJ Emiko offered to drop a few tunes (she carries this handy portable set up) at The Network Hub (where we hosted my blogiversary party) and I am pretty sure everyone had a blast. Of course, I felt the urge to download a few of my favorite deep house own tunes to spin and I even got to drop a couple sets myself. Thanks, Emiko! I really appreciated you coming and sharing my blogiversary and especially sharing your insight on DJ’ing and your amazing DJ’ing skills.

A bit more about DJ Emiko, from her own website:

DJ Emiko is one of Vancouver’s premiere DJs, with years of experience spinning at many corporate & private events around the city. As a boutique music service, clients receive personalized service and a customized approach to their event whether the music is the backdrop to a lovely evening, or center stage at a great party.

You can also find her on Facebook and on Twitter. And read a nice profile on DJ Emiko at Idoluv.

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I am particularly thrilled about the Chutzpah! 2011 Festival in Vancouver because not only does it include music (one of my loves) but also my other two passions: dance and theatre. Seeing as I am a former stage actor and competitive dancer, and given how frequently I write about the fine and performing arts, the Chutzpah! 2011 Festival seems the right festival for me.

For the 2011 Chutzpah! Festival, I am giving away a pair of tickets to Ekodoom, performed by the KIBBUTZ CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY (Israel), choreographed by Rami Be’er (Artistic Director). More information on the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company and Ekodoom here:

The Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company is internationally renowned and one of Israel’s most prominent
dance companies. Having performed all over the world to great acclaim with its exclusive and unique character, a trademark both in Israel and abroad, KCDC has been widely identified with the works of its Artistic Director Rami Be’er whose creations have been met with unswerving world-wide praise.

Featuring a company of 18 dancers, Ekodoom is an incisive and eclectic observation of and about ourselves, performed and choreographed with magnificent skill and artistry. In a penetrating and enthralling sequence of scenes, Be’er creates a world with all its component parts and possibilities; the harsh, cruel, gray world in conflict, and the world of fantasy, dreams and romance.

When: Tuesday & Wednesday February 22 & 23 @ 8pm and Thursday February 24 @ 7pm
Where: Norman Rothstein Theatre (41st and Oak)

To enter this giveaway, you can earn a first entry by checking the programme for Chutzpah! 2011 and coming back here and dropping a comment letting me know about which show you would be most interested in seeing. A second entry can be earned by tweeting the text below:

Music, dance & theatre @ChutzpahFest http://is.gd/1EhSGx – I entered to win tickets to Ekodoom from @hummingbird604 – you can too!

I will draw a random winner from all entries (Twitter and blog) on Valentine’s Day night (February 14th), even though I should let you know that Chutzpah! 2011 starts on February 10th and goes all the way to the 27th of February. Hope you can get to enjoy some of this amazing festival!

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These two are my absolute favorites – You (with Anastasia as the female counterpart) and Love Song (with James, one of the original two male leads). Both were Canadian # 1 top hits in the charts.

On Blip.fm I found a better sounding version of Love Song, which you can listen to by clicking here.

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Credit: Mojave Band

I asked Paul and LJ to answer my 7 Questions series and here are their responses.

1. I am a big fan of eco-minded folks, but you guys really have taken it to heart. You are vegan, and you have made the ecology and environment an integral part of your lives. How did you guys start with this and how has this influenced your music?

Well, we are not separate from nature, regardless of how we’’ve built our society or how we sometimes think our lives are disconnected from the planet. We don’’t live outside the system; we are part of the system of nature. Every living thing that exists on earth is part of nature -– including humans. So nature is no more a resource than slaves were hundreds of years ago. We should not be allowed to own it, to use it recklessly or to treat it without respect. The earth has rights, like all of us, so it deserves fair and just treatment, and should be inhabited in a way that isn’’t harmful or detrimental. Once we realized this, we started changing all aspects our lives to be more conscious about the impact every decision has – and involve that consciousness in every band decision (touring, CD packaging, etc).

As far as how it influences our music, not every song is about hugging trees or dismantling car companies (although we sometimes speak more about environmentalism on stage). It’s more subtle than that – and typically the lyrics we write speak about change and being thoughtful in a more general sense.
- Paul

2. Social media brought us together (and hat tips to Miss604 for introducing us too!). You maintain your online presence not only tweeting about your music, but also engaging with folks on their own blogs and twitter, and so on. How do you think this has impacted how broadly your music is disseminated?

The music industry is changing, and while most big labels thing it’s a bad thing – I love it. Being an impossible to reach “rockstar” just won’t cut it anymore, and bands that are really doing well are doing so because they actually engage their fans in one-to-one conversation.

The way i approach twitter is that it’s not for me to promote my band with, it’s more for me to talk to people – and I happen to be a band. So while I definitely promote our shows and albums, most of the time I’m just chatting with folks about everyday things that interest me.

From that approach, I really think our band has been well received in the social media community – because we are accessable, talkative and completely interested in two-way conversation. There are so many bands that just use things like twitter and myspace to tell their audience their marketing message, and I just think people tune that sort of thing out.
- Paul

3. I’m definitely not a music writer, but I love music. If you had to explain it to me in sort-of-mainstream comparison with groups/singers, whom would you say are the main influences of your music and sounds?

That’s the best thing about music – you don’t have to know anything about it to appreciate it (and it’s completely universal)! For LJ and I, our musical backgrounds are hard rock and heavy metal, so our influences are still bands like that – KillSwitch Engage, Vanna, Deftones, Tool… but we really listen to a bit in every genre. Lately we’ve been listening to a lot of City & Colour, Bon Iver, Calexico, Iron & Wine, Sigur Ros.

I would say though that our music and sound is more influenced by emotion than music. That’s really what i like about writing – if you’re feeling a certain way, writing a song, lyrics, a guitar riff, etc, can help purge that emotion and help you deal with it.
- Paul

4. You shared with us your creative process on Twitter, even during Earth Hour Canada (something I found super-awesome). How does engaging your fans with your music work during the writing/editing process? Does it influence the final result?

Engaging our fans for the entire process was basically AWESOME. We’ve had so many positive comments about it, and it was genuinely fun to do. The only impact on the final result is that (I hope) it makes people more stoked to see what the final result is, since they’ve been part of the journey with us the whole way.

Most of the time in the studio, one person is recording something, and the rest of the band is waiting – so in the “waiting” time, it’s easy to snap a few photos, update twitter, or write a blog post.
- Paul

5. I had a chance to listen to “Your Silence Betrays Me”, and I fell in love with it. The lyrics are rather empowering – what is the inspiration behind it?

I usually write the lyrics but for this album Paul contributed quite a bit. It was nice because for some of the songs the messages shared two points of few to the same situation, and ‘Your Silence Betrays You’ was one of those.

The song is about how easy it is to talk about how you wish things were different but people don’t always make any effort in being part of the change. It’s not about sitting around, waiting and praying for things to be different -nothing happens until you have the courage to make it happen.
- LJ

6. If you had to pick your favorite song from Crow’s Funeral, which one would be?

The song ‘Crows Funeral’ means the most to be emotionally. There are always times when we question ourselves and sometimes our insecurity gets the best of us and we want to give up. This was a song about one of those moments in my life. Plus I got to play banjo on it:) That was a lot of fun!
- LJ

7. Where are you headed next? Tell me a bit about your next shows (and by the way I loved the bit in Spanish in “Save Me”)

Thank you! ‘Save Me’ is always such a fun song to play live. Learning to speak Spanish is one of my goals in life. It’s such a beautiful language. We’ve got a ton of shows coming up this year, this month we’ve got one at The Cellar is not to be missed…we have a little surprise… – 8pm at The Cellar on June 24th.

- LJ

So there you have it! Head over to The Cellar on June 24th for their next gig… I *might*, I just *might* be able to pull something fun for my readers!

Related posts:

1. Mojave: Way more than an eco-minded music band
2. Seven questions with The Hush Now (@thehushnow)
3. Mojave Band live at #yvr #blogathon headquarters (WorkSpace)

Credit: Brad Searles

I fell in love with their song “Pining” (you can download all of The Hush Now’s release CD tunes by clicking here), and was delighted to find that they named a song “Vancouver”. Given that I fell very much in love with their music, I thought it’d be a good idea to interview them on my blog. Despite our repeated efforts to manage to do the interview online (via Skype or podcast) we finally settled on doing a written Q&A. Here for your reading pleasure, The Hush Now…

1. Where does name The Hush Now come from?

I was just trying to find a name that would fit the style of music. I had a lot of bad names I thought of and then The Hush Now fell into place. I liked the imagery it invoked, a mother quieting a child, the murmur of a crowd as something important is about to happen. There’s a sense of peace but expectation. I’d like to say it was from the Jimi Hendrix tune, but that would be a lie.

2. You have been using Twitter quite effectively. How do you find it in terms of keeping in touch and having conversations with your fans?

I love twitter. I’m a bit of a recluse…I hate talking on the phone (hence why our interview probably didn’t happen as planned). But I love texting. I love the efficiency of it. Saying as much as possible in the least amount of text. Twittering is like being able to text your closest 500 friends. I’ve also met some wonderful folks through twitter. I hope it doesn’t get abused and locked down under mountains of spam, because it really is a great social experiment. BTW, my iphone is broken so I haven’t twittered in a bit. Bummed.

3. Most music bands tend to have a MySpace page (you do too). Have you explored other social networking sites? I know that some of your songs are in Blip.fm, as I have blipped them myself!

Today as a band, you have to manage so many social media pages. In the old days, you could just have a website, but that just doesn’t cut it anymore. It’s actually an incredible amount of work for a DIY outfit to make sure all the social media outlets are fresh and up to date. There are some tools that allow you to push to all, but not all. If there is a developer out there, figure out a way to consolidate fans from all sites into a single “sortable” list so bands can let folks know when they’re in town for a show. This would be HUGE.

4. You put one of your albums entirely for download. Do you have concerns in regards to copyright issues? How do you think it will affect your future?

Well, the copyright is always protected because the songs have been registered. The face of the music business is changing (obviously). People really don’t want to pay for music anymore I think. I know I don’t. What I’m trying to foster is to involve people so that maybe they’ll consider coming to a live show. By doing this, you give a band a fighting chance to make a living with music again (if they’re willing to tour). Who knows. At the end of the day, I want people to hear our music. We’ve had over 50,000 downloads to date. If we were selling the album, maybe we would have sold 100 (not including friends and family who are always eager to help out). Right now, we’re unknown, so the goal is to get the word out and try to figure out a new path best we can. Maybe I’ll fuck it up, but it won’t be from not trying. Ha

5. When will we see you in Vancouver (Canada)?

Actually, we’ll be in Seattle on 18 June for a show at El Corazon if anybody wants to make the trip down? Maybe we can make Vancouver our next time out west???

6. Speaking of our fair city, I noticed one of your songs (and one of my personal favorites) is named Vancouver. What was the inspiration for this song?

Yes, I used to play in a band called Cerulean. We were on tour for about 4 months which ran through Thanksgiving. I was living in my car at the time, so instead of heading back to LA for the break, I bought a ticket to Vancouver and holed up in Chinatown for about a week with a guitar. I’d bounce around the city but I always had to make my way through the drug addicts in chinatown. Maybe I was a bit sheltered, but I had never seen anything like it. No teeth, eating ice cream, shooting up between the toes, hookers with falling fishnet stockings, the rows of drinking houses. It was really amazing. I’m not judging, but I was definitely in awe of the spectacle. So I had this idea that if I could choreograph a dance for all these folk out in the streets, that would be soooo awesome (hence the line “we could be beautiful, bending turning if we tried”) Funny thing, I never felt afraid while I was there. It was like an odd disney land ride of sorts. I did see a picasso exhibit while I was there too.

7. I’m personally a fan of Pining. It evokes sounds that bring some tough memories for me. However, the song in itself is beautiful. What was the inspiration behind it? What kind of sounds/artists influenced you in that particular song?

Well, pining for somebody I’ve found can be such a destructive force. My twenties were pretty much a stalemate because I was stuck on somebody. The thing I came to realize though is I was actually pining for the idea of something that didn’t exist. All those imaginary wanderings and what if’s of the perfect love. It didn’t exist. It never existed. And it was incredibly painful. The imagery of the song actually harkens back to Christmas on Long Island. Christmas lights adorning houses. Snow with a frozen crust that crunches as you walk. The desolate cold you feel outside while you long for the warmth you imagine exists in the houses you pass. The song is very much 10cc too, you know that song “I’m not in love” it’s so beautiful. Working with Dave Newton, I just said to him, I want this song to sound like 10cc and he smiled and went to work. Pining, Ashes and Roleplay are my favorites on the album.

As Noel mentions in the Q&A, they will have a show in Seattle on June 18th if anybody can make the trek down (sadly, I can’t). If you like to be in touch with The Hush Now, they are on Twitter and you can become a fan on Facebook as well.

[EDIT - Patrol Magazine compares The Hush Now to Death Cab by Cutie - I love them both!]

Related posts:

1. “Vancouver” by The Hush Now
2. The Hush Now’s new album: Constellations
3. 7 Questions with Mojave

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Three songs I love from this particular Zooropa album – Zoo Station, Even Better than the Real Thing and Mysterious Ways. Here, You Tube gives you a live rendition of Zoo Station. Enjoy!

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqkJ30Kh7ZM&hl=en&fs=1]

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The rhythms in this song are completely along the lines of what I like to dance to, what I dance to when I am at home or in a club. Although I think the last time I heard this type of tunes was (believe it or not) at Bar None (in Yaletown, Vancouver)! Oh no, that’s not exactly true. It was at the Media 2O party (one of the best parties I’ve ever attended – only comparable to BarCamp Vancouver 2008 party!)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua_otcRfJDE&hl=en&fs=1]

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odAd5_vI5uI&hl=en&fs=1]
“On a High” by Duncan Sheik

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUcnDbU3fQo&hl=en&fs=1]
“Brother Down” by Sam Roberts

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6c3emqC6aw&hl=en&fs=1]
“Low Rider” by War

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=310OO8XpOF0&hl=en&fs=1]
“Walk Into The Sun” by Dirty Vegas

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5vsHHrgniI&hl=en&fs=1]

Feel free to add your comments, e.g. if you like it, or not, or whatever

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFihHYuCmco&hl=en&fs=1]

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The first one, it allows me to tap into my musical past. While I hate my own voice (even when I sing in English) and I have frequently asked Mom why I didn’t inherit her vocal abilities (Mom is a soprano coloratura and can belt anything from an aria to a bolero to a mariachi song effortlessly), I love music, and in particular, love singing. I play piano, and I’m a well-trained dancer, but mostly, I love singing. I’m the guy who will never say no to you if you invite me to sing karaoke (or play Rock Band).

The second one is the inherently social nature of Rock Band. I used to hate videogames, and never understood why my good friend JT was so into them. Until I was first introduced to Rock Band by my friend Tanya. She has this tendency to organize awesome parties, populated with lots of good friends. We frequently play Rock Band, and doing this kind of activity has actually allowed me to get to know friends of Tanya whom I would have probably not gotten to know any other way.

My friends NMcC and her boyfriend R, and my good friend AF (all of them civilians/offline friends) also enjoy playing Rock Band, and some of the most fun nights we’ve had in past months have been singing “Heroes” by David Bowie, “Wave of Mutilation” by The Pixies, “Roam” by The B-52s, “Orange Crush” by R.E.M. and of course, my favorite (’cause I can sing it well now) “Gimme Shelter” by

The song shown below is my nemesis, though. NMcC, R, AF and myself tried to do it but we couldn’t. Me on bass, AF on vocals (both beginner), R on expert drums and NMcC on guitar intermediate. The last time we tried it, we stayed up until 3.30am (we started at 8pm) and we tried to do this one (Foreplay/Long Time by Boston) but didn’t get it right.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qfFi7RBuQo&hl=en&fs=1]

Sigh. I look forward to playing some more Rock Band upon my return.

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With little time to write a coherent blog post (I got like 12 drafts that will be time-stamped at some point tonight), I should highlight that there are at least four bands that you should see during VFF:

- Michael Franti and Spearhead
- Ozomatli
- Delhi 2 Dublin
- Spirit of the West

Some good news – one of my very best friends, HZ, is back in town this week after an extended absence (he was in Europe for a while). And his girlfriend, who is also a very good friend of mine, is back on Saturday evening (good times!). HZ and I both really like Michael Franti and Spearhead and Delhi2Dublin, so we’ll have to see if we can squeeze some time to see these bands (although by the looks of how my weekend has shaped up, that looks like a very unlikely event – and he probably won’t have time either).

Anyways, worth checking the performances at Vancouver Folk Festival. Hat tips to Rebecca for the reminder. [And incredible coincidence - one of the band members of Ozomatli has the same name as me. He is the reason why I don't appear in the first page of Google!]

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So who are Meld?

MELD is a family rock band that plays mostly soft rock, classic rock, and folk but enjoys the occasional diversion into celtic music and psychedelic math metal. We’re Michael on guitar/vox, Esmie behind the scenes, Leanne on bass/keys?/vox, and Daniel on drums.[MELD]

I haven’t finished uploading all the photos from the gig, nor the videos, but here is a shot that I think captured the evening. The rest are on my Flickr set for this particular evening. After the gig, we came back to the McLaren’s for some Rock Band. As I’ve previously stated, I am HORRIBLE at Rock Band, but I love to play. I will upload the videos to YouTube at some point this week.

It was a very nice and enjoyable evening, and I kind of regret not having seen some of their other gigs, particularly since they played twice in my neighbourhood (Cottage Bistro and Purple Crab) last year. But I’m sure I’ll get to see them when Daniel is back.

As I mentioned to the McLaren’s (Michael and Esmie), in many ways, I saw my life very much re-enacted last night. My parents and I have sang together (my Mom is a soprano, my Dad plays the guitar, we all brothers play the piano) and they never pushed me to do anything. On the contrary, they always encouraged me to do the best I could. That’s what also made it very enjoyable to see another family do the same (Daniel is off to Europe for a year, and his parents have been very encouraging to him). Good times, all around.

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1. What’s so great about Rock Band?
2. RockBand-ing with friends
3. The offline life of an online geek

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yycghdQLbBo&hl=en]

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