Finally, after a long, cold winter, I’m coming up for airto a bright spring promisinga musical overload. Perfect weather, indeed, for enjoying Fergus Hambleton at Hugh’s Room on Wednesday, where he showcased his sunny signature sound and new CD “Written on the Wind. “
Hey, faithful readers. Welcome back to a new year and a new blog for 2015. The hope of our illustrious leader, Mr. Segarini, was that the DBAWIS Writers Guild might come up with ‘best of’ lists for 2014 to ease us into the new year. Alas, I’ve got nothing.
I find myself immersed in the fascinating and informative Ken Burns opus The Roosevelts, an intimate study of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, that proves, among other things, that not much has changed in the last 100 years. The good fights we fight now, are the same ones we were fighting then. The names change, the sides switch, and the issues grow and evolve, but basically, we continue to learn nothing from the past, and are doomed to repeat our mistakes again and again. That said, we are also blessed with repeating a lot of good things too…we just forget that some things shouldn’t change. We abandon the good with the bad, the baby with the bathwater, and the positive lessons learned are as quickly and easily forgotten as the mistakes we make. Nowhere is that more evident than in music, and the entertainment business in general. The good news is, eventually, the pendulum swings back, and the ideas and mindset that have always held true are re-embraced.
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I spent a bit of of time in downtown Toronto this week having avoided going anywhere near it since 2012 because, well, CONSTRUCTION. The annual FanExpo extravaganza began Thursday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and I took my son down on transit – not to see the actors and actresses hawking their photos and autographs (which we have enjoyed in years past), but to check out the new offerings in the video gaming world.
It appears that Spring not only means a flood of rain and other iffy weather, but a watershed of new music too – including VINYL!!!There has been much said in recent months about the resurgence of vinyl – specifically the album length 12” variety. There has been less ballyhoo about the black (and in one case, mustard yellow) 7” 
kind. This month I received not one, but two artists with fresh 7” PVC wax. There was also the usual plethora of CDs (which labels still insist has no discernible audience) and even one USB offering. Let’s dig in:
Bullseye Records of Canada
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 