Performer of the Week: Kyle Pacey

Kyle Pacey is a talented singer and guitarist in any genre.

Not only has he been nominated for a Grammy for his work on the John Gora CD "Bulletproof" (an extremely diverse disc with polka, blues, R&B and everything in between) but he has recorded electronic music with Randall Cousins as well.

Kyle was also the first local musician to perform at Hamilton Place when he opened for the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

His own CD, In These Times is a wonderful blending of blues, Cajun stylings and roots music.

Links: Main Site, Myspace, The electronic album with Cousins

Jerry Johnson Band - Donnelly's Pub (August 29, 2009)

The Jerry Johnson Band is Jerry Johnson (guitar/vocals), Lord Bubba (bass) and Jack Pedler (Teenage Head) (drums)














Links: Jerry Johnson , More Jerry Johnson Stories

Blues News Bites (Dave Rave, Lee Harvey Osmond, Jim Dickson)

Hamilton

• New Dave Rave Video: Streets of Liverpool
• No Depression Magazine Reviews Lee Harvey Osmond DVD

Canada

• JW Jones featured on Guitar Masters II CD alongside Jimmy Page, Santana, BB King and more

World

• A video look at Woody Guthrie, Political Cartoonist
• New Upcoming Bob Dylan Christmas CD
• 2009 Living Blues Awards Released
• Jim Dickson Passes
• Top Ten Chicago Blues Songs from About.com
• Blind Willie Johnson's Grave Discovered
• Johnny Cash bio-comic coming November 2009
• Comedian Steve Martin playing Bluegrass

Performer of the Week: George Petko and the Soul Shifters

George Petko and the Soul Shifters' music is folk/country rock (emphasis on the rock) at it's very best. Many of these great tunes have a Rolling Stones-ish vibe.

Songwriter, guitarist and lead singer is joined by bass player Kevin Christoff, keyboardist Greg Brisco, and drummer Dan Kolthof.

Links: MySpace

Click here is you can't see the video below.

Rick and the Krickets - August 22, 2009 (Royal Canadian Legion & Crazy Clover)

In the afternoon, Rick and Krickets played a laid-back, quiet show at the Royal Canadian Legion in Stoney Creek with Steve Wolkowski on drums.





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Later that night, the band was joined by Teenage Head's Jack Pedler for a hard-rocking show at the Crazy Clover. We apologize for the dark video - it couldn't be helped.



More Chuck Berry Covers/Stories







More Neil Young covers/stories 

Links: Rick and Krickets Site, More Rick and the Krickets Stories, Jack Pedler

Performer of the Week: Justin Sawicki

Justin Sawicki takes acoustic folk music to new heights. His group (The Sawicki Band) throws in some pop and indie sounds into the works (having a cello player in the band adds a bit of a classical twist as well).

He is also a founding member and main songwriter for the rock group Leaving Sangster.

Originally from Thunder Bay, he is now a resident of the Hammer.

Links: MySpace - YouTube - Facebook

The Sawicki Band - Always and Forever

Dundas Cactus Festival (Aug 15, 2009)

Tim Gibbons and the Driftin' Drawers (featuring Paul Panchezak- Trickbag - on drums)

Dundas Cactus Festival (Aug 14, 2009)

More Beatles Covers/News Stories

Links - Mike Trebilcock site - More Mike Trebilcock stories

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Links: Crawlin' Kingsnakes site, More Crawlin' Kingsnakes Stories

Trickbag @ Cactus Festival (Aug 14, 2009)

Click here for the Trickbag site.

Click here for more Trickbag stories.

More King Biscuit Boy Covers/Stories

Leon Redbone @ Festival of Friends (Aug 9, 2009)

Thanks to mumblemod's YouTube page

News Roundup (Les Paul, Humour, TBS)

We are sad to report that guitar legend Les Paul passed away on Thursday, August 13, 2009.

Click here for the story.

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Comedy website Cracked.com recently posted a hilarious article about the early days of the blues.

Entitled, 7 Songs From Your Grandpa's Day That Would Make Eminem Blush, it humorously describes the sometimes violent and profane nature of the blues' earliest hits songs.

Please be warned that the article contains offensive language and mature situations.

Click here for the article.

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Unfortunately Hamilton's Alfie Smith and Burlington's Melissa Bel didn't win the Toronto Blues Society Talent Search Finals on August 13.

That honour went to Toronto's catl. Congratulations!

New Mark McNeil CD: Greetings From Hamilton

Spectator reporter and musician, Mark McNeil recently released his third recording: Greetings from Hamilton.

The six songs on the EP showcase Mark's expressive voice, and his amazing talent with various instruments: guitar (acoustic, electric, Hawaiian, slide), bass, ukulele, banjo and mandolin.

The music is an incredible combination of folk, country, pop and many other styles. There is even a little reggae-esque feeling on the first track, Early Bird.

Lyrically, the album is a wonderful look at the many facets of Hamilton. Mark writes about his experiences in his adopted city (he's originally from Ottawa but has lived here for over 25 years).

"It's kind of a postcard to friends from long ago - to say I'm having a good time and I don't think I'll be moving back to Ottawa any time soon." Mark wrote in the the liner notes.

Joining in his celebration of Hamilton are a few local players such as Steve Sinnicks, Aaron Goldstein, Ray Lyell, Troy Dowding, and more. The disc is produced by Mark and Dan Medakovic and Engineered by Dan Medakovic and Rob Lamothe

More Mark McNeil stories - More CD Releases

Blues News Bites (Sonny Del Rio, Mamma Cass, Cartoons)

This is a new, occasional feature that will focus on smaller local news items as well as national and international stories.

Local

• Part 1 of a 2 part interview with Sonny Del Rio at saxontheweb.net
• This blog is now listed among other great blogs on Hamiltonlive.ca

World

• Vote for Favourite type of blues on About.com
• Mama Cass (Mommas and the Poppas) solo albums to be reissued
• Mississippi Shieks Tribute CD to feature Kelly Joe Phelps, John Hammond, Bruce Cockburn, Jim Byrnes and more

Funny/Weird Stuff

• Wonderful cartoon tribute to Les Paul from Jimmy Margulies
• Another great Blues cartoon from Bill Whitehead

Performer of the Week: Eddie Coffin and His Invisible Men

Eddie and the gang play what they themselves call primitive blues.

Their music feels like old delta blues with a great raw edge. Both their album art and songs have an almost punk-like spirit to them.

Since late 2008 the band's released six singles.

Click here for their myspace page and check out this upcoming band's unique sound

Memories of Jackie Washington Workshop - Festival of Friends (Aug 9, 2009) Part 2

Links: Margaret Stowe, Paul Langille, Brenda Lewis, Donna Creighton, Brian Blain, Joanne Crabtree

Memories of Jackie Washington Workshop - Festival of Friends (Aug 9, 2009) Part 1

Links: Alfie Smith, Margaret Stowe, Paul Langille, Brenda Lewis, Donna CreightonWe'll post more videos of the workshop later on today.

Good Lovin' Gone Bad Workshop - Festival of Friends (August 8, 2009)

Links: Michelle Titian, Steve Sinnicks, Jace Martin, Steven Elmo Murphy, Top Dead Centre

Smoke on the Water, Guitars in the Sky (Update)

Guitars were raised high after a performance of Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water at the Festival of Friends on August 8, 2009. Hamilton musician Christopher Charles and his band were joined by a legion of guitarists scattered across Gage Park.

This was an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for most guitars in a jam performance.

NEW! According to the Spectator, the record wasn't broken (we were 77 short) but we did beat Toronto's recent attempt)

Below is a video of the event. We apologize for the extreme close-ups (the camera was stuck on zoom)

Click here if you can't see it.

Lovers & Other Strangers Workshop - Festival of Friends (Aug 8, 2009)

More Dolly Parton Covers/Stories







Links: Lowest Lanes, Alfie Smith, Carly-Jo, Steve Sinnicks, Bobby Wiseman

Performer of the Week: Dan Rodrigues

Listening to his MySpace page, it's hard to categorize Dan Rodrigues. Some of his great instrumental songs are funky, folky, jazzy, soulful, bluesy, rockin', and many even have a classical touch.

To expand his repertoire even further, he's currently completing a degree in film scoring (some amazing examples of this are on his site as well)

Dan is also a member of Andre and the J-Tones and has performed with the Tewlips as well.

Jack deKeyzer Band - Boston Manor (July 31, 2009)

The band (click on name for link): Jack deKeyzer (guitar/vocals) - Al Duffy (bass), Dave McMorrow (keyboards) - Danny Lockwood (drums) - Chris Murphy (sax)

Links: Jack de Keyzer, More Jack De Keyzer Stories