The California Recordings

A piece of recent hearsay or perhaps an article scanned told me that the human mind spends around three quarters of the time recounting the past or envisioning perfect situations. We design our goals through an experiential sizing-up of sorts; wherein, all the ins and outs of your life’s decisions and practice provide brutal honesty in those long hours of contemplation. Ultimately, scenarios we consider ideal birth when logic actually trusts conviction – often the challenge is in allowing ourselves to become a body of work instead of a some of parts.

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Give It Up For Laser Cake

Since Patrick Southgate was said to have ‘drummed up’ a hail storm at Frog Fest 2012, entertainment pundits and show-goers alike have started to deem this the ‘Year of the Cake’. Electrical affinity, everyone knows, can only be reached when one spends half of their waking life soaking in the bathtub. So as we lubricate and apply hair product in prep to see Patrick play, I suggest getting on to his level by listening to this taste of tonight, a handful of times.

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Beautiful Dreamer

Days prior to traveling to Canada for her film residency with Welcome to the West, Rachel Fannan of the band, Only You cut a version of Beautiful Dreamer in New York City which would be featured in Canon’s Inspired Commercial.

The song, which was originally written in 1864 by Stephen Foster, has been popularized throughout history by various greats such as Roy Orbison and Al Jolson. Lyrically tragic, Beautiful Dreamer tributes the singer’s one true love who lay in a coma and could not be brought back to life. Before the song became popular, Foster himself had passed having written numerous landmark musical compositions including: Oh! Susanna and My Old Kentucky Home.

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In closing: Rachel Fannan Residency

Ok so the piano can come.

Monday finds the West and I winding down in anticipation for our personal 3D viewing of the Hobbit. Know that last week’s blog was skipped in haste, not desire, as we celebrated Welcome to the West’s 3rd Anniversaire. Night one brought us to Weed’s Cafe to enjoy the talents and vibrancy of Vi An Diep, AM Static, and Yarn (aka Lung Puma Animal Skulls). Nothing short of inspiring. Night two found yours truly at the Arrata, sharing the stage with Classical Revolution Calgary, Reuben & the Dark, and accompanying me on gu zheng and percussion, Vi An Diep and Matt Hanson. With a dedication and commitment to excellence that far exceeds the usual DIY glow, Welcome to the West’s crew of artists and volunteers worked tirelessly to transform the space of the Arrata into the peaks of the Canadian Rockies. Capping off our 3 day celebration, we gathered at local hot spot the Area. Here we were kept warm by a winter weave of hot apple cider, the music of Snow Owl, the Bitterweed Draw and just at the stroke of midnight, the remaining audience, packed shoulder-to-shoulder, were wooed over by the old-time serenading of Sunshine Coast’s, Petunia.

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Petunia : the Brakeman’s Blues

A pure Canadian treasure, Petunia – known recently for his work with his band, the Vipers - has become one of our ultimate favourites at the West camp. The yodelling, country-bluesman has glided over the Rockies departing his home on the Sunshine Coast to help us celebrate Three years of music and film. Upon arriving, Petunia gained accompaniment from Nathan M. Godfrey on this rendition, a 1920s pledge to the late/great Jimmie Rodgers on the Brakeman’s Blues.

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Week 2: Rachel Fannan Residency

I fell asleep listening to the wallowy bird calls of Vancouver’s Petunia harking above me through the kitchen floor boards. The house, warm with the smells of pumpkin pie and mary jane, seemed to melt into a dream (which I would later have) where I was baking.

Week 2: Friday afternoon the West and I filmed a tune for CJSW. Rehearsals for our show at the Arrata this weekend continue, and Vi An and I found ourselves at Calgary’s Market Collective playing to warm handfuls of mommies, daddies, babies, hot chocolate, and crafts. I couldn’t be more swept up by the community’s ability to radiate warmth in the face of opposition, and under all this snow.

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