Hello again! I'm back home after a fun weekend to wrap up August playing with the Weber Brothers again with two shows near Peterborough, which included a festival set where it was also a chance to hear plenty of great acts and meet and catch up with musical friends. Over the weekend I got to see/hear Natalie McMaster, Russell deCarle, Tom Wilson, and Lonesome Ace Stringband.
watching Russell deCarle and his band
…and as it turned out, that wasn't the end of the musical weekend, as part of a family visit on Sunday turned into an unexpected catch up. It's the setup to so many jokes - “A musician walks into a bar…” And I walked into the Ganny in Port Hope, noticed the poster and happened to see Wendell Ferguson providing his usual dosage of amazing guitar playing and jokes, and then I ended up sitting in later with Wendell and the house band as part of the open jam session.
Running into Wendell Ferguson at the Ganny, both of us wearing white shirts also unplanned.
So that was a fun end to the weekend and the month, though I'm not counting that as the end of summer, not just based on the calendar, but since there's still one more outdoor festival coming up this month where I'll have a full weekend. And there's a gig coming up in the next few days, so let's get to it!
Blue Standard at La Rev (at the new location)
Raoul Bhaneja and I have had a bunch of exciting gigs and travels this summer, taking our duo Blue Standard show on the road. This Thursday, September 3, we'll be back in TO, “returning” to one of our favourite venues, La Rev, which is at its new location, 825 Runnymede Rd (Runnymede/St Clair). It will be my first time at the new spot, and I'm excited to see it!
Don't forget to reserve your table ahead of time while you still can! You can get your tickets HERE: Blue Standard at La Rev Thursday, September 3 7-9 PM 825 Runnymede Rd
Southside Shuffle in Port Credit (Three shows over two days)
The Southside Shuffle is always a fun festival to go to, maybe I'm biased because it's close to home for me, but it's in a nice location at Memorial Park in Port Credit. The whole festival runs from next Friday to Sunday, but I'll be there on two of those days, on Saturday and Sunday, September 12-13, playing with three different acts.
Saturday I'll be backing up Suzie Vinnick on the Mainstage at 6 PM. Sunday I'll be playing two sets, one right after the other, with (hopefully) just enough time to get myself and my gear from one stage to the other! Sunday at 1:30 PM I'll be at The World Stage, as part of my uncle Ken Whiteley's Sunday Gospel Special. Then at 2:45 PM I'll be back at the Mainstage with The Weber Brothers. It will be a quick turnover but I'm sure it will all make for a good weekend, playing great music with great people. You can visit the festival website for all the stage locations, times and more info.
And for the rest of the month, I'll be doing a couple of my own sets, playing solo piano at The Painted Lady on September 16, 6-9 PM; and with my trio at The Local on September 22! I'll also be guesting on The Kyle Sullivan Show at Sauce on The Danforth next Wednesday, September 9, and joining Collette Savard on her monthly set at The Tranzac in the Southern Cross room on September 11. The rest of the time I'll be getting ready for some upcoming shows playing in The Maple Blues Revueband, and arranging some music for a show coming up in October. I'll have more info to share on that closer to the date! And I guess we'll find out whether or not the Blue Jays can stay alive in the playoff race.
Thanks for reading! Here's the full calendar for the coming months, both for my own dates and all the great artists I'll be backing up. And you can find my dates on my website. Until next time!
