everything is everything

Help The Hungry / Rock The Vote

One of my former high school teachers is running for mayor of Biddeford, my hometown.  I really wanted to help him out because I feel like he’s the best candidate for the job.  His name is Alan Casavant and he truly loves Biddeford and wants to see it thrive.

I was coming back from a day visit to Long Island, Maine (not New York. Yes, there is a Long Island in Maine).  On my boat ride I was checking Facebook, as much as I hate to admit it.  I saw that Cas (one of Alan’s many nicknames given to him by his students) had posted on Facebook, and it hit me: let’s have a concert for Cas and his campaign!

I sent out a couple emails and less than a week later, the entire event was planned.  I love it when things like this happen.  What started out as a benefit concert for Cas has turned into something even more than that.  While touring the venue where the concert’s being held, Cas decided to turn the event into a way to help the hungry by asking for canned goods to be donated to the local food pantry in Biddeford.

I’m so proud that Canary is a part of this event.  This is my first non-school show in my hometown.  If you’re in the area, even if you’re not a Biddeford citizen, please come check it out.  Canary’s not the only act on the bill.  Along with us is the amazing Joe Boucher, a longtime family friend and stellar musician.  He’ll be doing some music from his Piano Men - the Music of Elton and Billy project.  You may know him from the band the Frotus Caper from a few years ago.  I may be sitting in on his set - not that that means anything.  Just a fun fact.

So that’s that.  I really hope to see you there and here’s all the information you need:

What: Help The Hungry / Rock The Vote - Concert For Cas

Who: Canary and Joe Boucher

Where: North Dam Mill, 2 Main Street, Biddeford Maine

When: Friday, September 23 8PM to 11PM

Cover charge: FREE!  All we ask is for a non-perishable good or two (preferably peanut butter, marshmallows, cream of broccoli soup, saltines, or tomato soup)

CANARY

I have somehow in the past eight months failed to mention one of the most important things in my life: my band, Canary.

I mentioned Canary once many moons ago, back in the fall of 2009 when it was something far different than it is now.  Its initial inception was myself singing and playing guitar in a trio with my friends Isaac Haselkorn and Kyle Hovland.  That idea lasted a mere six months.  I had mono in the early months of 2010 and the band never got off the ground in that capacity because I was unable to do most things.  Everything happens for a reason right?  While I was upset at the time about not being able to play shows, it really wasn’t that bad because of the end result now.

And what is that end result?  The end result is Canary - a full-fledged rock n roll band.  It’s gone from my brainchild to its own entity.

I describe us as the Who meets Fleetwood Mac.  Our current recordings don’t show the Fleetwood Mac side as much (or even the Who for that matter - well, you decide), but we recently added our friend Alex Hartley on keyboards and we can’t tell you how excited we are to have him on board.

As I mentioned above, I had my friend Kyle on bass in Canary’s initial lineup and guess what?  He’s still on board playing bass.

I’m no longer on lead vocal duty.  My friend Jackie Berkley has taken up that post and does it infinitely better than I can.  Asking her to sing is definitely one of the best decisions I ever made.  She and I have been friends since the beginning of our time at Berklee.  She sang whenever I needed a singer - be it a cover band or a project.  It took me about six months to ask her.  I don’t know if she knew that.  Well, if she didn’t, she does now.

We just released a new song - actually it’s an old song.  It’s called White Boy Blues.  I wrote it back in 2009, and I ended up recording it in 2010 with me on vocals (if you really want to hear it, I can send it to you).  Then this past April we recorded it again with our friend Peter D’Angelo at Emerson College in Boston.  He needed a band for his recording class, and we wanted to record a couple songs.  It was a win-win situation.

Enough of my blabbering.  Here’s White Boy Blues and you can download that as well as our first EP Let Down Your Guard.  I hate to make you leave my tumblr page to do so, but you can’t always get what you want. (But if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need!)

Enjoy the music!  And I’ll see you at the shows.

The Blues (Part One of Many)

I’ve been brushing up on my blues history recently, something I should have done years ago.  I never realized how uneducated I am!  I thought I knew a lot of the old great blues musicians - I’ve barely scratched the surface.

My current Blues Legend of Choice is Howlin’ Wolf.  I’ve been well aware of Chester Burnnett for a while now, but I never went much further than being aware.

Time to get on that.

Also, this is how I feel when I play guitar:

The Wolf.

And in honor of the Wolf, here’s probably my favorite Stevie Ray Vaughan song ever.  It’s Howlin’ Wolf’s Commit A Crime.  Watch it.  Watch it now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guh5UmtJU7E