Pat Blythe – The Mariposa Experience….Part Three…..Eddie Bullen….a Hootenanny and More…..

It’s been a busy Tuesday. It’s the last day with my daughter Colleen. A cappuccino and croissant at Zane’s, the local bakery, and then she’s off to catch her 1:30pm train back to Ottawa after a five-day stay here. At the end of the month it’s back to Thailand for her until summer next year. Later, at precisely 4pm it was tea time.  I enjoyed the company of a friend over for a “British” tea of Welsh cakes, crumpets and Yorkshire Red. What is it about sharing a cuppa….the comfortable, companionable feeling you get whilst draining your second or third cup (or pot) and having a lovely chat. It’s oh so……..British…….and oh so relaxing. It’s the best way to catch up or get to know someone. Will that be one lump or two…….?

Pat Blythe – Festivals, a little Snarky Puppy, Quisha Wint and SING!….plus Music!

So, I’ve been doing some cogitating, ruminating, deliberating, pondering, considering and generally thinking. My first loves are music, dance, writing and photography. Not necessarily in that order but they’re all a number one and blend together rather agreeably…..well…..except for the dance. It’s a little more physical. You have to visualize that one. (okay, you can stop laughing now). I began penning this weekly diatribe over three years ago writing about women in music which graduated to some of the leading ladies of blues and subsequently all those ballsy women of rock ‘n’ roll. Somehow I graduated, or drifted (depending on how you look at it) into writing about all the explosion of talent here in The Big Smoke. I’ve been covering as much as one body will allow me to for the past two-and-a-half years.

Pat Blythe – CMW and Playing Catchup with JRLMA, Hot Lips and more…..

It’s May!!!! Festival season has begun with Canadian Music Week (CMW) and there is something for everyone. From the neophyte to the cynical lifer, CMW includes seminars and panel discussions covering Tech, Music and Radio; Mentor’s Café; Film and Music Festivals, always something to learn.  ….and then there’s the networking…..better known as schmoozing…..done to a fine art. Once again the downtown Sheraton Conference Centre is command central and the heartbeat of CMW. It’s where all the conference sessions take place, the trade show for all things shiny and new is ensconced and of course, much meeting and greeting is done in the lobby bar.

Pat Blythe – What’s old is new again and a fabulous night of music….

Wow! What a pleasant surprise….Eddie Bullen and son Trey-Michael just dropped by. Trey now has Chris’s old film Nikon cameras in his possession….on loan to him and his brother Quincy since both have a strong interest in old cameras. Trey-Michael is a budding photographer and videographer who records most of the Father and Son Dueling Piano’s shows.

Pat Blythe – Women of The “Traps” – Part Two

Let’s just dig right in shall we. Female drummers, and I’ll add percussionists, span the globe.  From Israel to Iran, from China to Europe and back to North America. Although it’s the guys who seem to be in the forefront, drumming is not a just a “manly” profession (and neither is electric guitar but that’s for another discussion). Women have been drumming since…..well….. the very beginning.

Pat Blythe – The Blushing Brides and Smooth Jazz

Holy summer!!! The weather is simply gorgeous. Warm and sunny….Mother Nature has apparently had a relapse or she’s feeling a bit guilty about the rather insipid summer we just…..I don’t know…..experienced?  Let’s see…..what else…..day-to-day shit you don’t need to hear about but I will say this, the homemade grape jelly IS AWESOME!!!! Made from my own concord grapes, the vines are now 20 years old. Every year it’s a battle between me and the urban wildlife. Just who plucks the most grapes? The ones left behind or dropped from the vines eventually ferment, providing the neighbourhood with a little late night comical relief as the raccoons waltz about, stumbling and bumbling until they flop over in a deep slumber. The following night is unusually quiet as they nurse their hangovers.

Pat Blythe – Thoughts & Tyler Simmons, Beach Jazz Festival & Riverboat Mondays

My heart is heavy and my brain is trying to digest what has happened because it doesn’t make any sense. But then, suicide never does, at least not to the living.  ….and so I start with the first new column in five weeks talking about a topic that has been highlighted in the news far too much lately……but the famous are not alone in their despair. I know, I know, not a very uplifting subject but it’s one that has hit precariously close to home…..twice in exactly one week.