The Night Owl - 2008 - Week of May 5th

Please send stories or enquiries to: doug_lachance@telus.net

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MUSICAL CONNECTION ON "THE ROCK"

To help you catch up to your favorite performers, here's where some are performing:
Abba Cadabra - Mothers Day May 10th at Belle's;
Jim Black Collective with Max Zipursky (keys), Mike Ardagh (drums) and Nimish Parekh (bass) and friends every second Friday at Sideshows;
Blue Voodoo - Open mic at Sawbucks on Wednesdays; Rick and Ted open mic Tuesdays, the Fox and the Fiddle, Langley;
Jason Buie - Thursday 's at Uli's; Tuesday night blues jam at the Sandpiper (May 6th with Harpdog Brown - see below);
Leanne Coleman Band - See Out and About;
Critical Element - Sat. June 7th CD Release party at the Media Club with Kostaman and the Groundbreakers;
Neil Harnett - Thursday May 8th at Belle's; Sundays from 6:30 to 9:30 PM at the Washington Ave. Grill; Wednesdays at Carderos Restaurant;
Left Behind featuring David Blair and David Anthony every weekend at the Southpoint Pub;
Jason Mitchell - Sat. May 24th at Belles Restaurant;
Pancho and Sal with Banda Loca; Mojo Zydeco; and the In Harmony All Stars. Festival Dance at Camp Alexandra Sunday May 18th
Glen Pearson - Thursday night jam at the Sandpiper; Wednesdays at the Sahara Club;
Dennis Sawchuk - Plays piano and sings at Belles Restaurant on Wed, Fridays and Sundays 6 to 9 PM;
Sam Sunderland - Western Swing and Hot Country May 24th at the Wired Monk in Crescent Beach;
Smooth Operators - Sat. May 10th 8:00 pm at Chicken Bob’s Cantina, Johnson Road and Pacific in White Rock, playing jazz standards and jazzy latin and R&B.
Carmen and Camille Thomas - CD release at the Back Stage Lounge May 9th; Media Club May 14th;
Zayne aka Eric Solomon - May 9th CD Release at 8:00 PM at Richards on Richards.
(If you'll let me know where you're performing, I'll let everyone know!! Also, if you'd like a link to your website, if you'll put a link to the White Rock Sun in return, Dave Chesney would be happy to do that for you.)

jason mitchell

MUSICAL PROFILE - Jason Mitchell - The Poetry Begins

I've always been intrigued by the genesis of a song. Where does the creativity and the songs come from? Recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jason Mitchell, one of the most talented and prolific songwriters I know, to find out the story of where his songs began. Jason told me that his earliest musical memory was his 5th birthday party while waiting for his friends to arrive that he heard "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen for the first time. From the very first line: "Suzanne takes you down.." (We ended up singing most of the song as I know many of you will too.) Jason was captivated by the mesmerizing lyrics and voice, "the drone". Jason's memory of the album cover: "Suzanne in chairs with fire all around" made him want to figure out what the song was all about. From that moment on he's been captivated by the poetry of songs. ("Leonard Cohen forever!" Jason exclaimed, with me agreeing wholeheartedly, as we moved on with his story.) From the earliest Jason wanted to be a singer songwriter and his second memory is of telling his Mom at 8 years old that he wanted to be Paul Simon. "Some people have dreams of being Superman." Jason laughed. "I wanted to be Paul Simon!" Jason's Mom, Naomi who is still his #1 fan and attends all his shows she can, was a great influence to Jason. "Mom had a VW Van and we would drive all over BC camping and fishing, and she would play Bob Dylan songs. She'd stop songs many times and say: "What did he say? What did he say?" I'd listen closely and say: "trouble not rubble". It got me hooked on words." By grade 10 Jason was writing poems everywhere. He had a wooden desktop and he would fill it in with words, erasing them at the end of the day. Not always though. "I was trying to capture the emotions in the words so if someone came in and read it they'd get it and understand what I was trying to say." Jason told me. "Pieces of poetry and future songs were everywhere in my life and always in my brain" he added. Jason's Mom and Dad got him guitar lessons in Grade 3 but Jason had no patience whatsoever and the guitar sat around without being played. It was his Grade 12 graduation that changed everything. "I thought I should sing this song I liked that sort of says Good by! and Good luck! A coming out song." Jason explained. "I had never picked up a guitar and I wondered what song I could sing." The song he chose was "Feeling Groovy" using the basic chords he still remembered from Grade 3: "D", "G", and "C". It had stuck. He had a dream; he had a guitar in hand; it was time to follow up. The guitar was just a tool that the lyrics came through. He'd strum and the rhythm would bring the lyrics out. A light song if the chords were bright, or haunting minors in a song for a brooding teenager. Music, and the words that had been in his head forever, came together and brought the songs to life. And they've never stopped. The next installment of Jason's story is called: "The dream comes true" when you'll discover how this young man with a guitar slung over his shoulder landed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Cda. that took him on a whirlwind ride every musician dreams of. Stay tuned..

OUT AND ABOUT

Jason Buie's Tuesday Night Jam - Unfortunately, I miss many of the musical events going on during the week as my day starts early and I know that once I find the music it will be hard to tear myself away and I probably won't. Now and then I do however, and last Tuesday I was in for a special treat. After the Diamond in the Rough competition was over at Iguana's, I decided to pop in to the Sandpiper and catch a bit of Jason Buie's Tuesday night jam. You can count on good music, and lots of fun anytime Jason's performing and he was his usual terrific self, joined on bass by Gerry Berg with James Badger on drums for the set I caught. I was very pleasantly surprised when next up was the Leanne Coleman Band with James Shepherd ripping it up on guitar, Marco Ibarra playing drums as only he can, and Phil Bournhauser on bass. Leanne kicked off her set with an original song: "Shaky Ground" that captivated the audience in every way that a strong song should. This lady can really sing the blues and she reminds me of a combination of Janis Joplin and Pat Benatar. Leanne mentioned that this was her first time performing in almost two years. (Twins can do that to your career) You can be sure there's much more to come!

Diamond in the Rough
Our third group of contestants presented a particularly difficult choice for the judges. As usual each was wonderfully talented in their own unique way. The winner of the Talent Search was Mike Fabbro. Mike's roots are in progressive metal and on this evening he performed acoustic arrangements of "Jewel Case Coffin" and an original tune "Enter the Alchemist" with powerful lyrics, a great hook, and an energy rarely seen in an acoustic performance. The Live Performance winner was Amanda Lee who also performed a terrific original song: "Til the day I met you" with a great hook as well, followed by "Right to be wrong" by Josh Stone. Amanda performed especially admirably and I was asked by the judges to let her know how close and how difficult their decision was. Max Hirtz, the third contestant, was joined by Andrea Brooks whose beautiful voice was the perfect background to "in every dream is a heart break" by Roxy Music and an original tune "I've been exposed" a soft, wistful ballad with a delightful refrain. The talent of these youngsters is truly amazing. Drop by Tuesday evening to Iguana's for our last group, a contestant from the Semiahmoo House Society, Chanel Stasiuk, and Ashley Arden. Next Tuesday, May 13th will be the first Semi final of the talent Search featuring Kiana Passmore vs. Sabrielle McCurdy.

UPDATE-This week's winners were The Semiahmoo House Band and Chanel Stasiuk. Full dedtails in next week's Night Owl. Next Tuesday the Semi-Finals begin.

MUSIC IN THE WIND

Carmen and Camille Thomas - "are having our DVD release party Friday, May 9th at the Backstage Lounge. We’ll be showing footage from our live DVD that was shot in Boston. Then we will play May 14th at the Media Club, as we were accepted into New Music West, Vancouver’s big music festival."

From the White Rock Blues Society Newsletter courtesy of Rod Dranfield:
- Blues fans are in for a treat this week, an evening of Blues classics next Tuesday, May 6th at the Sandpiper Pub on Marine Drive. Harpdog Brown is in town and will be joining Jason Buie who will be just returning from Toronto after attending the two-night two-location shows for Jeff Healey’s tribute. You can also see them together at Donegal's Irish Pub Surrey, 12054 96th Ave Surrey 604-584-2112 next Friday May 9th and Saturday May 10th.
- Sunday May 18th at 8:00 PM - Festival Dance at Camp Alexandra featuring: Pancho and Sal with Banda Loca; Mojo Zydeco; and the In Harmony All Stars. Tix $15 or 2 for $25 at Camp A or call 604-538-8144
- Ella-Ray Lewis Fundraiser - will be taking place on Saturday, May 31st at the Crescent Legion #240, 2643 128th St. Ella-Ray is a 13 month beautiful little girl who was unfortunately born with “bathing- trunk nevus”. This is a rare skin condition, which has transformed into an aggressive form of skin cancer.

MUSICAL NOTES

Local musicians Cd's are now available at Whitby's Book Store!
Linda Ulrich, the wonderful owner of Whitby's has set up a section in the corner that will feature the CD's of local musicians. Drop by to check out some of the new music from your favorite local singer or band.
Carmen and Camille Thomas had one of their dreams come true when they sang the National Anthems recently at a Canuck's game. In addition to their two upcoming Vancouver gigs, (see above) also from 'the twins' newsletter: "Then we are off to LA again for… get this… a showcase with MTV! Our prize for winning the VMTV Battle of the Band’s is a meet and greet and performance with all the MTV people at their Santa Monica studios June 3rd!!! We are so excited it’s a little silly."

UPCOMING CONCERTS

Fundraiser for the In Harmony Festival

May 18 Camp Alexandra

Tickets - 604-538-8144

Fundraiser for Ella Ray Lewis

Local little girl has a rare form of skin cancer and will need numerous operations in the coming years.

Tickets 604-538-4718

RECURRING WEEKLY MUSIC VENUES

- Beecher St. Cafe - Fine dining and music on Wednesday's that is eclectic, soft, easy listening and always fresh.
- Belles Restaurant - has live music Wed. through Sunday with Thursday's reserved for live local talent.
- The Breeze - formerly the Caribbean Breeze, now has live music every Friday and Saturday with a new Tapas menu with the flavor and fun of the "islands".
- Crescent Beach Legion - Musical weekends with dinner specials Friday and jazzy Sundays 3:00 to 6:00 PM.
- Crescent Moon Coffee House (Everyone who wants to gets to sing or play) 8:00 PM every Thursday at the Elks Hall on George at Russell.
- The Derby Bar and Grill - provides world class food, off track horse racing, gambling, and entertainment with Fridays and Saturdays Dueling Pianos
- Iguana's - Diamond in the Rough on Tuesdays and live music every weekend;
- Sandpiper - Has jam nights Tuesday and Thursday, and karaoke on Friday and Saturdays;
- Sawbuck's - open mic Wednesdays and live bands on many weekends;
- Sideshows Westcoast Grill has a variety of jazz bands and guests on Fridays and Saturdays on a regular basis.
- Southpoint Pub has house band Left Behind featuring David Blair and David Anthony every weekend.
- Taps Urban Cafe features live music on Wednesdays and sometimes Thursdays
- Uli's Restaurant On Thursday's has a variety of local acoustic talent in an atmosphere of good food and fun.
- The Washington Ave. Grill has live music 5 nights a week (Wed. through Sun.) from an ever changing selection of fine local musical talent.
- Wired Monk Crescent Beach has open mike Wed. and emerging acoustic acts Fri. and Sat.

MUSIC OF THE NIGHT
Beecher St. Cafe - 604-538-1964 Fine dining / music Wed. and most Thurs. is eclectic, soft and easy listening;
Belle's - 604-542-7037 has live music throughout the week in a rich Pub environment;
Caribbean Breeze - Food with a Caribbean flair with the easy sounds of reggae on weekends;
Chill on the Waterfront - 604-536-7707 Fine food / Jazz Wed., and Latin sounds Thurs;
Cielo's Tapas and Oyster's 604-538-8152 Fine dining to share in a cozy atmosphere of fun and music;
Charlie Don't Surf - 604-538-1988 has a diverse menu with fun and classic rock every day and night;
Cres.Beach Legion 604-535-1043 dinner and dancing Fridays; Free Pool and Jazz Sundays;
Derby Bar and Grill - 604-536-2878 has weekend dueling pianos;
Gills and Grapes -604-542-0344 Fine Dining - Tues. and Wed. Three Course Dinner $29;
Iguana's - 604-538-2891- has fine food and live music with a light sound on Fri. and Sat.;
Java Express - 604-538-5523 - features live music every Thur. and Fri. evening;
Ocean Beach Hotel has great pub food, lots of TV's, and music playing all the time;
Ocean Rock Bistro 604-536-2697 - Paninis, pizza, crepes and other delectable delights;
Pearl on the Rock - 604-542-1064 Very fine casual dining in a rich ambience of music and laughter;
Sandpiper Pub 604-531-7625 has Jason Buie Tues; Jam night Thurs; Karaoke Fri and Sat.; and Jazz Sun. aft.;
Sawbuck's- 604-536-6420 - has Pub fare and live music Fri. and Sat.
Sideshows Westcoast Grill 604-542-5621 - Has fine food in a great location with varied music;
Southpoint Pub - 604-541-2510 has Pub food, poker nights, TV's and live music on the weekends;
Tap Urban Cafe - 604-536-1954 - For a meal or appies with live acoustic Wed. and Jazz Thurs.;
The Vault - 604-576-4243 - for fine food and live music on Thurs., Fri., and Sat.;
Uli's - 604-538-9373 - What can I say? Fine food and great fun!!
Washington Ave Grill (WAG) 604-541-4244 Fine dining with the most live music in the peninsula.

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Send me all and any music related items

doug_lachance@telus.net