The heat. We’ve been wanting it for over a year, the summer of 2009 having been less than spectacular, at least locally. This year there were days I couldn’t get motivated to do much, some of them even too hot to cycle. Any physical effort seemed to sap much of my strength, and a nap seemed to beckon constantly.
When the spirit moved, there was always something to work on. SCHLOSS found the time to record some new tracks, Scottmandu went back to work at The Rogue Music Lab with the tireless James Paul, and Claude Kent from Clockwise found time in his super-busy schedule to sit around the home campfire and do some fine pickin’ and grinnin’.
My longtime musical friend Don Barber was away at the cottage for a few weeks but he hit the ground running on his return. Within a week we had rehearsed our RingTones repertoire with Mike Roberts for our first public gig in Ottawa and embarked on a road trip to Prince Edward Island to entertain the locals at Sea View. Medical issues had prevented Don from making the trip in 2009 but we made up for it this year with an (all-too-short) seaside retreat and a fun concert under the stars with Bob Binns and John Saksun of Minds In Retreat.
Minds onstage at Branders Pond Aug. 2010
We had a week to regroup before hitting the road again, as The RingTones played the venerable Elmdale House Tavern (est. 1934) in Hintonburg, a colorful neighbourhood on Ottawa’s west side. I had the pleasure of shopping for shirts at the ultra-cool Straight ‘n Wicked, the new storefront from Uncle Bob Cabana of FabGear 64. We had a fab time in Ottawa entertaining three generations of music lovers and family. Thanks for all your support, bandmates and fans alike.
As I write this, the Minds In Retreat boys are gearing up for a late summer rock bash at Toronto’s Cadillac Lounge. Since our drummer is still in cottage mode, we’ve recruited Claude Kent to pound the skins and sing along with us tonight.
I’ll have some more photos and video to share when I get a chance to sort and file. That’s all for now; enjoy the rest of the summer and celebrate every day!
Summer Update
The heat. We’ve been wanting it for over a year, the summer of 2009 having been less than spectacular, at least locally. This year there were days I couldn’t get motivated to do much, some of them even too hot to cycle. Any physical effort seemed to sap much of my strength, and a nap seemed to beckon constantly.
When the spirit moved, there was always something to work on. SCHLOSS found the time to record some new tracks, Scottmandu went back to work at The Rogue Music Lab with the tireless James Paul, and Claude Kent from Clockwise found time in his super-busy schedule to sit around the home campfire and do some fine pickin’ and grinnin’.
My longtime musical friend Don Barber was away at the cottage for a few weeks but he hit the ground running on his return. Within a week we had rehearsed our RingTones repertoire with Mike Roberts for our first public gig in Ottawa and embarked on a road trip to Prince Edward Island to entertain the locals at Sea View. Medical issues had prevented Don from making the trip in 2009 but we made up for it this year with an (all-too-short) seaside retreat and a fun concert under the stars with Bob Binns and John Saksun of Minds In Retreat.
Minds onstage at Branders Pond Aug. 2010
We had a week to regroup before hitting the road again, as The RingTones played the venerable Elmdale House Tavern (est. 1934) in Hintonburg, a colorful neighbourhood on Ottawa’s west side. I had the pleasure of shopping for shirts at the ultra-cool Straight ‘n Wicked, the new storefront from Uncle Bob Cabana of FabGear 64. We had a fab time in Ottawa entertaining three generations of music lovers and family. Thanks for all your support, bandmates and fans alike.
As I write this, the Minds In Retreat boys are gearing up for a late summer rock bash at Toronto’s Cadillac Lounge. Since our drummer is still in cottage mode, we’ve recruited Claude Kent to pound the skins and sing along with us tonight.
I’ll have some more photos and video to share when I get a chance to sort and file. That’s all for now; enjoy the rest of the summer and celebrate every day!