Loser Blogger

That's me. Loser Blogger. My last post? April of 2007. Many months ago.

Excuses? Many.

a) found myself a bit bogged down after being an official blogger for Jamilton, the Hamilton Spectator's music website. Two blogs were too much. Cross-posting would get boring fast.

b) have been too busy living life to stop and write it down. (still true)

c) not that much happened, really. don't want all my posts to be nothing more than "oh, look at me. look where i went. look what i did." But then, I don't really want my blog to turn into some kind of platform, because heaven knows, I have plenty to say. Best not go there. (Much.)

d) ok that's enough. any further detail would just fall under b so I'll leave it at that and get on with a new post.

News: First of all, I resigned from my decade-long run of being the musical director/bandleader of the Toronto Blues Society Women's Blues Revue. It was time to let go of the reins. Although each and every member of that amazing band could easily be the leader, in the end, it was Suzie Vinnick who was invited to continue with this most challenging position.

With Women's Blues Revue, the task is to bring together a seven-piece band, six or seven incredible vocalists, rehearse them for one hour per singer a day or two before the show, and then go into Massey Hall and perform this material well enough to be recorded live for radio airplay on CBC nationally. That's quality musicianship, and I'm so proud to be a part of it. Thankfully, I continue as the keyboard player in the show, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing Massey Hall for the fourth time on December 1st, 2007, without the added pressure of being in charge. You know what would be even better? Playing Massey Hall when I actually *know* the music... lol

Anyway, the rest of the time, I've been gigging and enjoying Groove Corporation. We played quite a few festivals over the summer plus some clubs, corporate stuff, and charity, and we made lots of new fans. Here's a little youtube video I took right from the stage at Ribfest in Burlington... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpr44d6_e5U. The band has really matured and the eight core members are genuinely committed, especially now that we're working on original material. We hope to have a CD sooner than later. It takes a little longer when you're dealing with a group this size, with members living as far away as St. Mary's and London all the way to Burlington and Stoney Creek, plus, although these guys are all totally professional musicians, they have jobs and/or young families, so clearly, things can't chug as fast as they did with the full time units I've worked with over the years. But that's a good time to segue to telling you about my new employment situation....

Yes, I have a "day job". A real one. Yes, yes, I've been doing web design and free lance lotsa-stuff for years, but my time was always my own to manage. Recently, I accepted a full time position at McMaster University with the Faculty of Engineering, outreach and enrolment department. It's a job with many facets (suits me fine), including overseeing the production of a video, a stock photography project, promotional materials, plus special events planning, and lots more. It is a temporary contract, replacing someone who is away on a long term medical leave, but it will keep me busy until at least the spring. I'm grateful to my dear friend and fellow musician, Tiffany Thompson, who recommended me for the job. Thanks, Tiffy!

And, speaking of Tiffy, we're still working together on Hen Party along with Catherine Bragdon. All of our lives have been crazy busy and complicated (people moving, falling in love, changing jobs, etc. etc.), so things slowed way down, but at least got our picture taken, and made some decisions about our musical direction and style. Our focus will definitely be much heavier on original material, so it will be a while before we'll have a whole night's worth of songs to perform. But we can pull off a set if we need to, and we love every opportunity to perform together.

I've also continued to perform occasionally with other groups, like Rhythm and Bones, and also Brian Blain. Here's a youtube video of Brian and us "Blainettes" performing at the Toronto Jazz Festival. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUFERVW9qX8

Well, that's it for now. Thanks for reading. I'm off to the Maple Blues Awards tomorrow night (weather permitting). I'll try to take some pictures.

Lily