Summer Update

Scottmandu — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:41:16 +0000

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!

Bob Dylan’s Birthday on Galiano Island, B.C.

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 02:47:31 +0000

My coast-to-coast pilgrimage/ minitour in the summer of 2009 permitted me to reconnect with family members not seen for far too long. There was great music all along the way, much of it with my cousin Glen and his son Greg.

During the course of that action-packed weekend in Vancouver, I was introduced to the story of the annual Galiano Island Bob Dylan Birthday Bash, where musicians, poets, dancers, singers, and assorted Dylan freaks descend on the Island Hall, bring food for a potluck dinner and party through an evening of all things Bob. I decided to get myself invited to the next one, which was scheduled for Monday, May 24, 2010.

A pro packing job!

Scott and Greg in the Rialta

Carolyn Oko at home

Along with the attraction of getting to know a new island, I was looking forward to meeting the other musicians who had been making this pilgrimage for as many as fifteen years. Glen, Greg and I packed the Rialta and headed for the first ferry on Sunday and arrived at Carolyn (Fay) Oko’s house just after noon.

She’s the “den mother” and MC for the annual get-together and had agreed to open her living room for jamming and rehearsals. It wasn’t long before the space started filling with guitars, mandolins, harmonicas, and song. Peter Judd arrived from Mayne Island to round out our “house band” and with Carly, Zack, Nick, Dan the Man and Paul Gregory we jammed until late Sunday night.

Tom Hennessy makes hammocks, but in his real life he’s a Dylan freak. A co-founder of this shindig, he’s also been filming the shows for the last ten years or so and has promised to provide me with footage. In the meantime, we have some homemade footage for you on the “Multimedia” page.

Jamming at Caroline's with Zack and Carly.

Tom Hennessy at home

Heather McRae, Galiano 2010

Tamara Nile is a homegirl and evoked the spirit of the event’s co-founder, Gary Cramer, kicking off the show with his Canadiana anthem, “Truck Drivin’ Man”. She and Zack sounded divine harmonizing on “Mr. Tambourine Man”, then Zack and Carly did a wonderful job on “Oh Sister” and “I Shall Be Released” before leading the evening’s first singalong with “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”.

I was next on the program, I love late 60s-mid 70s Dylan. “If Not For You” was a request for Tom’s wife Anne which I was glad to honour. Proclaiming, “I love blondes”, I followed with “I Want You”, backed up on both tunes by Glen on keys, Peter on bass and Greg on drums. The fans loved it, I was already having a blast and there was a whole night of music ahead.

I can’t possibly list all the performers, but there was a stunning variety of styles and arrangements. From simple solo folk to Hawaiian Hoser throwdowns to interpretive modern dance, straight ahead rockers and Gaelic recitations, the highlights were many. From where I stood, Heather McRae stole the show (just before the Shermans’ closing set, natch) playing accordion, harmonica, ukulele and stomp board simultaneously while singing “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” accompanied my a mad dancing dervish/ electric guitarist. She also got the whole crowd singing along with “Blowin’ In the Wind” which can be viewed on the Multimedia page or by clicking over to our YouTube channel, scottmandu109.

For the big finale, I accompanied Glen on “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” and Po’ Boy, then I took lead vocal for “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat.” The traditional group closer of “Forever Young” and “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” needed a bit of extra spice so we steered the overcrowded stage into a 15- minute raveup on “All Along the Watchtower” that had the crowd up and dancing for the first time in the event’s history. Success!

Peter, Scott, Greg and Glen rock Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat

West Coast Trip

admin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:48:31 +0000

Arbutus on Galiano Island

I love British Columbia, and not just because I have roots there (my father’s family settled there after the Great Depression and many of them stayed). To praise the natural beauty is as redundant as stammering one’s affection in the presence of a supermodel, and almost as embarrassing. But it’s not just the soaring mountain peaks, vast vistas of ocean and mysterious depths of rain forest that make it special. It’s also the people and the whole vibe of the place.

Now I haven’t covered even a miniscule fraction of the terrain, not in person at least. My musician friend Evan Symons and his wonderfully acerbic sidekick Sheena Black have miles (literally) of footage of places, flora and fauna that I’ll likely never get to see in person, but by which I am nonetheless fascinated. They’ve been through many of the northern communities (Evan is from Prince Albert) and have even driven the infamous Dempster Highway to the Yukon and currently split their time between Vancouver (one of he world’s great cities) and Texada Island, the most northerly of the major Gulf Islands. I have developed a strong affection for the life and lives of the Gulf Islands ever since I first set foot on Vancouver Island in 2005. Yes I know it’s shameful, but I hadn’t even been to Victoria before that.

There is a magic in island life. Maybe not everyone gets it, maybe they do. I realized recently that although I was born on an island (Montreal) and spent much of my youth there, I had never recognized or identified myself as an islander so much as a suburbanite, a city-dweller and a Quebecois.

The Expo 67 World’s Fair site was built on islands in the St. Lawrence River, the man-made Ile Nôtre-Dame and the enhanced Ile Ste.-Hélène, which I was also to revisit a few years later as a theatre student at La Poudrière. These seemed like real islands to me because they were, you know, small. I always thought of Montreal as “The City”.

The West Island still holds many fond memories of walking the railroad tracks and biking along the shore of Lac St.-Louis out to the village of Ste.- Anne de Bellevue. Across a short bridge was another “real” island, Ile Perrot.

But as an islander, it’s been fascinating to be introduced to Gabriola, Ruxton, Pylades and most recently, Galiano.

Summer 2010

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:00:45 +0000

There’s been so much going on I don’t know where to start. Between watching the finales of 24, Bones and NCIS, finishing Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, and opening bottles of wine, I have found myself stretching the days and nights to pursue the muse.

Seriously though, May brought many highlights for Double Essence. In Toronto I got to work recording new SCHLOSS tracks with Schwiggy – they’ll be available this summer.

The first of Guy Moreau’s series of Elemental concerts was a smash at Annex Live, and our staging crew did a great job running sound and lights for this successful production. Join us for the next one in September.
With my friends Minds In Retreat, I had a blast rocking out on Mother’s Day at The Cadillac Lounge. We had such a good time that we were anxious to do it again before everyone got G20 fever, so we played a matinée there again on Sunday, June 13. We tried for Fathers’ Day (June 20) but it didn’t work out.
To top it off, I also got to celebrate Bob Dylan’s birthday onstage with my B.C. cousins and assorted other freaks on Galiano Island.