My Love Affair with Music

As some of you know I play the bass, as well as dabble in the guitar and sing; if you didn't know that about me, well.....SURPRISE! Seriously though, I'd like to tell you where my love of music came from and the whole journey behind it. I've been thinking about blogging this for a long time; but now is the time that it just had to come out.

I grew up hearing my dad and my sister play guitars and sing songs during get togethers at home, mostly when I was trying to sleep. I remember being a kid and listening to my sister practice her guitar; playing along to the Scorpoion's "the zoo" among others. I also remember seeing her play live with her friends at a fair or something; it was the first time that I can remember that I actually adored my sister and thought she was pretty cool!

When I was about 9 or 10 I would get my parents to buy me compliation albums; "Blast Off" and "Radioactive" are two titles that I can remember. My cousin Kyle and I would air band to the songs on my bed and wet our faces in the sink to make it look like we were sweating! I also remember at the time going for rides to the dump in my dad's half ton and listening to Don Adams, Willy Nelson and Merle Haggard on his 8 track!

During my pre teens I became a fan of Michael Jackson, just like the rest of the world. I bought the Thriller album and even put his poster on my bedroom wall. Then it was in my teens that the infamous "heavy metal phase" kicked in. Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Dokken, Cinderella, Poison, Warrant, KISS, Alice Cooper, Ozzy, Whitesnake, RATT, Autograph, Triumph, Twisted Sister, Queenryche; Skid Row and the immortal King Kobra were all bands I adored and spent a pile of money on; buying their tapes and putting posters on my wall. Yes, I'm a little embarassed to admit it.

Then, between the ages of 18-20; three things happened that cemented my love for music that will last forever. Number one, I became a fan of Metallica. I was a late blooming Metallica fan; I didn't get into them until they made their "... and justice for all" album and my friends drove me crazy playing it in the car on the way to our baseball games. The song "One" really got to me; so I bought the CD and their back catalogue as well. To this day I've purchased all of Metallica's recordings; a couple of home DVD's and seen the band live 4 times.

Number 2: When I was 18 or 19; I taped a "battle of the bands" contest that was on TV. One of the bands was from Winnipeg and they were called "the watchmen." They performed two songs; one of which was called "mister" and I absolutely adored that song. A short time later, my best friend Charlie introduced me to the watchmen's first record "maclaren furnace room." "Mister" was on there; as well as a song he thought was pretty cool called "run and hide." I bought the album and something in me just connected to that band, I really caught on to their music more than any other band I've liked before or since. I got their emotions and inspirations that they were trying to get across in their music, I memorized all of their lyrics; taught myself all of their bass lines; and they are the only band that's written songs that can make me cry when I hear them. As I got into performing music myself (and I'll get to that later) I got to meet Sammy, the watchmen's drummer, and Ken their second bass player whom I idolize, and I got to speak with Joey; their guitar player on the phone. I've never had any contact with Danny, their singer, but that's okay because rumour has it he's a bit of a prick anyway! To this day; I've bought all their albums, and seen them live more times than I can remember. Maclaren Furnace Room and their second record "In the trees" are two of my all time favorie albums.

Number three: At age twenty; I finally got the nerve to call up Dennis Hammerstendt; a local guitar teacher and ask if he could give me lessons. I was always a nervous person and I remember shaking and my voice quivering on the phone when I called him. I asked for bass lessons which some people thought was crazy, they thought I should have asked for guitar lessons instead, but the bass was where I wanted to go; and I had a drummer friend and a guitar player friend, they needed a bass player!

I have to admit, starting out was hard, but Dennis had a way to keep it fun and interesting; he kept teaching me new techniques and after a while, we both noticed I had a bit of a natural feel for bass playing. He liked it when I would come in for a lesson and we'd jam on the jazz chords he taught me last time! What I liked about taking lessons from Dennis was I could bring in a song and he'd learn it by ear on the spot; and teach it to me.

Finally, around the age of 23 or 24; I joined my first band. We were called Bullwhip Griffin and our members were Michael, our singer, and Ammy and Jeff, two of my best friends in the world on guitar and drums. We wrote some songs, recorded a demo, played some live shows in some bars in Winnipeg, and even got a radio interview. Unfortunately it didn't last, but to this day if I ever made a career out of music, I wished it was with that band. We had an energy and an edginess to our music that I absolutely loved; and playing that music for a living would have been my dream job for sure! Ammy and I teamed up with our friend Jaimie and some other people to form "L'Ammy L'Amour and the Gorillas" and played a couple of fund raising socials for Ammy's dentistry class; but that was all.

I eventually sought out some other musicians and joined a band called Sandlefoot. We played rock music but were more classic rock sounding than BG. Same thing, we wrote some songs and recorded a demo and played live, but the band split up when a couple of members couldn't get along anymore.

So when I was about 25 I put my own ad in a local newspaper and even got a few calls. I settled on a group that called itself "Frankie Machine" and they were writing songs for a record. We didn't last too long, but the musicians from the band left to form "Shades of Difference." "Shades" had a good run, we played a lot of shows, recorded and I even met a couple of music industry and radio people. I thought we had a sound that would be popular; and we had a gifted singer/songwriter named Ken and I absolutely loved playing his songs. We wittled down to a three piece band but still were able to keep playing shows; having fun; and meeting new people. In 1999 though, I moved from Winnipeg to Sioux Lookout, Ontario. It was time to grow up and quit trying to "make it" in the music business!

I have to admit; I thought I was done playing music when I moved to Sioux Lookout. SL isn't Winnipeg; and I thought for sure there no bands here. Much to my pleasant surprise, I hooked up with a guy named Pat; who was one of the best singers I'd ever heard; and I joined his band "Badjazz." We had some fun playing covers in the bars here, but I was just relieved I didn't have to quit playing music! When Pat moved, things got really quiet for me musically. I didn't touch my bass for about six months, and I thought for sure that would be it. But, one day I came home from work and there was a message on my answering machine by a girl named Gabby who was a singer and wanted to play at a local music festival that summer, all she needed was a bass player. I was in, and through Gabby, I met Ryan, a local drummer.

Since meeting Ryan that fateful summer about 10 or 11 years ago, we have been collaborating on music projects ever since. Mostly just cover bands for fun, but we also did the sound for a music festival here one summer; my first gig as a soundman!
It was through Ryan that I met Neil and Suzanne. We formed "Edible Rex" about 8 years ago and are still together today; our latest gig was the summer of 2009 where we played our seventh year in a row at the "Fireman's Social;" an annual event during the bluberry festival here in Sioux Lookout. The social is a pretty big event; about 300 to 500 people come out every year and we were their entertainment! Funnest gigs I have ever played for sure. Funny thing; I was so worried about moving here that I wouldn't get to play music, yet here is where I've played the biggest shows of my life!

I should say I kept out all the negative BS and side stories in this writing. If I included them, I'd be writing for a week straight. Music is a very cut throat business full of make believe people who think they are the next great thing. I've met so many people that I couldn't stand because of my music career; so if you know someone who wants to start a band, you can tell them it's not all fun and games.

Today, Edible Rex is still around but dormant; until the phone rings for that next gig. I also play bass for the worship team at our church; so I'm still involved in music a little bit. All through it though, I keep telling myself that day I finally got the nerve to call Dennis was one of the smartest things I ever did in my life!

Thanks for reading. Next post: my love affair with hockey!

Back to the Rink

Haven't posted for awhile because nothing's been new. Except......

The kids started their minor hockey this month and as usual, we are pretty busy with it. Both boys have ice three times a week; as well I have my own hockey two nights a week, so that leaves Friday as my only night off. This year I'm assistant coaching Cameron's Novice team and I'm head coaching Andrew's Atom team. This is my first crack at head coaching so I hope it goes well.

On top of it all, I took a refereeing course and will likely ref a few games.

Sounds crazy but I love it; so it's not hard for me to go the rink that often.

See you next post.

The Medicus Dual-Hinge Swing Trainers

Hello folks! As some of you may know, I moonlight as a golf instructor. (I also moonlight as a bass player and an actor in the adult film industry)

Seriously though, people sometimes ask me what the best swing trainer is. My answer is always the same; it's the Medicus. Why you ask? Well, in my opinion, the Medicus teaches you the most fundamentally important aspect to a good golf swing; and that's the swing plane.

The swing plane is simply the path the golf club takes from takeaway to follow through. In a good golf swing, the club stays "on plane" which means the club follows the same path back and then through the ball. A swing that is not on plane does not follow the correct path and that leads to poor ball striking.

Here's one of the best explaining what I mean;



The Medicus dual hinge swing trainer is the best in the business at teaching golfers how to swing on the correct swing plane. If you don't believe me, listen to what this guy has to say.........




You can purchase one of the fine Medicus products at the best price available; by clicking the banner below. Thanks for reading.

Hockey in July

Well we just got home from the boy's hockey camp in Winnipeg. For five days we set up shop at the Canlan Ice Sports arena at 1871 Ellice Ave. in Winnipeg. First thing I have to say is the facility is perfect for a hockey camp. They have 3 indoor rinks, plus an indoor soccer field, a pro shop and a restaurant with a view of all of the rinks upstairs. Pretty nice. The pro shop did the best skate sharpening job I've ever seen, if we go back, I'm bringing my skates in. The gear they had for sale was all high end stuff, no naturally it was pretty expensive.

While we were there, they also had camps going for soccer, and.... wait for it.....ringette! I thought that game was extict, but I guess not.

We mostly hung around the rink and watched the boys practice. All I could think about was how jealous I was that they were playing hockey, it didn't help that there was "pay and play" for adults twice a day there. Next year, if we come back, I'm brining my gear! Anyways, sure sitting and watching the kids skate around pylons got a little boring once in awhile, but luckily Polo Park Mall, Walmart, and most importantly; Golftown were five minutes away. My only complaint was the restaurant upstairs was pretty expensive. $13.00 for a burger, fries and a coke? (mind you, it was a really good burger!)

After hockey each day we did some fun stuff. We took the kids to laser tag in Stonewall one night, and Grand Prix Amusements another night. Plus we took them to Dispicable Me (great movie) and Jennifer and I took in Inception with my best buddy Charlie. (also a great movie.)

So that's it for summer trips for us, except for down to the lake I guess. If you read this and live in the Sioux Lookout area, stop in for a swim! We'll be home!

See ya next post.

My Proudest Moment As A Father (so far!)

In honour of this past father's day, I wanted to post my most proudest moment as a dad, so far. Sure there's the usual things, teaching the kids to ride a bike, learn to skate, do the dishes, cut the grass....(OK those last two were a joke) but this moment is extra special to me.

In March of 2009, Andrew was 7 years old and told Jennifer and I he wanted to play hockey. Since it was too late in the current season, he couldn't start until October, 2009; so to give him a bit of a head start, we put him in a hockey camp in Winnipeg at the end of last August. The plan was for him to stay at my dad's and go to camp for a week while Jenn and I stayed home. Just before he left I gave Andrew a good talk about camp, that it would be fun, but it would be a lot of hard work too; he said he understood and reassured me he would do fine.

Well, two days in, we get a call from my dad. "I don't think Andrew wants to play hockey anymore." He was crying on the ice, crying in the dressing room, and making up any excuse he could not to participate. Andrew even said his skates were hurting his feet, so dad bought him new ones, but nothing was helping.

Now, Jennifer and I knew this might happen; and there's lots more to the story than what I'm saying here; but to keep it short; about one hour after dad called I got time off work and booked it to my dad's, I got there just as Andrew was going to bed.
I said "Andrew, I know you want to quit hockey, but you are going to finish this week of camp, because that's what you, me, and mom agreed you would do. After this week, if you still want to quit, that's something we will talk about." He agreed and went to sleep. My dad said, "I don't know what you can say or do to change his mind."

The next morning, I took Andrew to hockey camp myself. He was fine all morning but in the dressing room, I could tell he was getting nervous. (Here's my shining moment....) I asked Andrew if he was nervous because the other kids out there were better hockey players than he was, and he said yes. I said "Andrew, don't worry about anybody else; just go out there; listen to your coaches, do the best you can and have fun." He quietly and confidently said "OK" and headed out to the ice.

I have to say that hour I was watching him practice I was on pins and needles the whole time. Although Andrew has skated before and taken some lessons, he was a horrible skater compared to the other kids out there, and he didn't even know how to stop. Every drill he was the last kid done, and I was just waiting for him to come off the ice all discouraged.

But he didn't.......

He got off the ice and in the dressing room he told me he was happy and having fun! I stayed with him the whole day, they did exercises outside and watched videos of hockey drills and ate lunch. Then he had another on ice practice in the late afternoon which he participated in and did great. I could even see a little bit of an improvement in his skating from that morning. That night we had pizza for supper and let Andrew pick a movie at the video store in celebration of his great day.

The next day, we went up again, and Andrew did great in his morning practice. That afternoon, my dad came up to watch him practice. "Holy shit" he said when Andrew got out there. Dad couldn't believe how much progress Andrew had made in a day and a half. Andrew's coach Larry Bumstead or "Bummer" as everybody calls him, saw dad and I standing there and came off the ice to see us. "Is this Andrew's dad?" When dad said yes, Larry reached over; shook my hand; and thanked me for keeping Andrew in camp. "Look at him" he said. "He's smiling and having fun, just like everybody else." I snuck away from my dad and sat in the bleachers by myself for a few minutes, and while I watched Andrew do his drills with a smile on his face, I started to cry like a chick for about 10 seconds. I was so proud of him. Once I regained my composure; I went back and stood by my dad.

The story get better.

I had to leave Winnipeg and get home to go back to work, but Jennifer was able to go and watch Andrew's last couple of days at camp, including the game they have at the end. Well, during that game, didn't Andrew score a goal! Jennifer said the place went nuts and all the coaches cheered for Andrew and gave him high-fives. I got three phone calls that night about Andrew's goal, one from him, one from Jennifer and one from my dad. One of my friends said to me later "You know, that goal is going to cost you about 10,000 bucks on future hockey fees." I know he's right but I don't really care.

This past fall, Andrew played his first season of minor hockey. Although he is still not the best skater, he works hard out there and he's strong on his skates. He scored about 5 or 6 goals this year (10 or 20 if you ask him) but I really noticed was his development as a defenseman. He was hard for kids to get around, but most of all he had fun and wants to play again next year.

So, why was this my proudest moment? Well, anybody who knows me knows I'm passionate about hockey, and to see both my kids playing minor hockey today is a thrill for me. Also, my dad and Jennifer were there to share the experience with Andrew too. Will Andrew make it to the NHL? Probably not, but if he does this would be one hell of a story. Thanks for reading.

May Long

Well, it looks like our family will be making two trips to Dryden this May Long weekend; one for a birthday party and one to catch an Air Show so that should be fun.

If you're travelling this weekend or if your staying home shopping; check out my links in my earlier posts. Sites like Sears and Expedia are having great deals this weekend. Peace y'all!

Travelling this Victoria Day?

Hi all,
Expedia.ca just sent me this link for all those folks interested in doing some travelling during the Victoria Day weekend. Some good deals here so check them out!

Expedia.ca Victoria Day Deals - Last Chance to get a great deal on hotels for Victoria Day! - Expires 6/23/10