Pat Blythe – Musings…..thanks…..a few shows…..and music

Is it me, or are the days and weeks running into each other? It feels like I just finished a column and here I am writing another…..albeit late as usual. Today was one of those days where you just seem to bounce from one thing to the next. A 3am bedtime call after spending hours editing today’s podcast, was not conducive to an early morning rise, simply to rush downtown and open my maw for the dentist. Two hours later and I feel like my mouth has received the white glove treatment. Mr. Clean and the Lysol Lady have thoroughly cleaned and sanitized my mouth. Everything is now shipshape and spotless…..just don’t eat. It’s kind of like after your mom cleaned, tidied and dusted the living room. You couldn’t sit anywhere!

Pat Blythe – Chris …and Music

Boy, am I late!!! Soooo late starting this column. Tuesday is my “writing” day, but far too much seemed to get in the way and now it’s 6:15pm and I’m on my third sentence! Good news is I received congratulations from our friends in Ottawa for attaining “senior citizen” status. Not only that, how absolutely thrilled they are to be sending me a monthly stipend of what nobody could live on. I should be grateful I receive anything (and I am), but if that’s what today’s 65-and-up population have to survive on, it’s no wonder we’ve got so many elderly living far below the poverty line. What I am extremely grateful for is that I can still work (when we’re not in the middle of a shitstorm) and continue earning a reasonable living. For how long is anyone’s guess, but this body and brain just keep chugging along.

Pat Blythe – Winter?…Gilda’s Club…a Birthday…and a Little Christmas Music!

I don’t where the time goes but December seems to arrive almost unexpectedly and then….here it is….banging on the front door. Always seemingly on the run, the days just fly by and I sometimes wonder if I’ve even accomplished something, anything, wading through the onslaught of messages, texts, phone calls (yes people still actually talk), emails, etc. and then there’s a column to write and photos to review and oh ya, Christmas is almost here. Then there’s the TO DO list which seems to get longer….not shorter. The hurry up and wait syndrome, lineups for damn near everything. I feel like I’m playing the old game of Red Light, Green Light (remember that one?) and not just in the vehicle.

Pat Blythe – Christmas past, NYC, John Harris, N’we Jinan…and Music!

My house looks like Santa barfed up an entire Christmas store. Lights, decorations, bibs and bobs scattered about, the decorating a work in progress and I haven’t even purchased the tree yet! Chris use to chide me on the amount of Christmas paraphernalia I had accumulated over the years so I decided one year to use the minimalist approach. A week before Christmas day Chris asked me when I was going to decorate? Ya can’t win…. So, five containers, an extensive Santa Claus collection and a couple of supplementary boxes heaved up from the basement, I am now sussing and sorting, banging nails, climbing ladders, walking on the counter to get to the top of the cabinets….letting no space go “unChristmased”. Even my musical Charlie Brown Christmas Tree is back in its place of honour.

Pat Blythe – Dear Frank

Preface …..

The loss of Frank Gutch Jr. has affected so many people both in and out of the music industry. For many, it’s a deeply personal loss.

Frank was a prolific writer and reviewer and there weren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish whatever he wanted to do. There was always a new artist, brand new music or a new release from someone he was following. His dedication was and is unbeatable. His love for the music and for those who created it yet went unnoticed who, in his estimation, should be world famous by now and “why weren’t they?”  There was absolutely no one like him. Irreplaceable, unique, exceptional, matchless…..Frank would blush, lower his head and say he was just doing what he loved and believed in. (I can hear his “aw shucks”) and then change the subject. He had an intense and genuine curiosity about other people’s lives and not only loved hearing about them but in many respects took great joy in living vicariously through all of us.

Pat Blythe: Music, Mayhem and Marvelous People

The weeks are just flying by. As a matter of fact, I think I missed a few just by blinking. This summer was one of the best ever in terms of music, mayhem and marvelous people. I have met countless new faces, made some brilliant new friends and reconnected with numerous folks, long thought fallen through the many cracks of life. It’s been a unending discovery, a wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights discovery, of going places and doing things that never, not even in my wildest neurons, would I have even remotely considered. It’s been a mind-bending, life altering, rollercoaster ride and I don’t want to ever get off. It’s called living!