Pat Blythe – A Soda, a Wilson, a Taylor and a Merry Christmas!

Curled up on the upstairs couch this morning, enjoying my little Christmas tree with the snow gently falling outside the window, once again leafing through Lisa MacIntosh’s book Music Makers: Stories of The Great Hall. I’m discovering pictures of people I have also photographed during my treks through the Toronto club and concert scene. Faces I recognize but didn’t necessarily know their names or even who they were. (I keep hearing the voice of my friend Sam Taylor in the back of my head….”you know him, you shot him at the Kelly Jay benefit….ya, you know her/him too from (insert show/club/etc. here)…”

Pat Blythe: The Women of Rock – Part 3

March 2 was the 10th anniversary of Hunter S. Thompson’s death and a picture of one of his quotes was making the rounds in Facebook. I found the subject matter rather timely! Many of us will find both the truth and the irony in what he had to say.

Pat Blythe: Women of Rock – Part Two

Ch-ch-ch-cha-changes

I have been slowly getting to know my fellow writers, conversing with them through Facebook, email and over the phone. A what! Yep, a real live telephone. You know, those devices that allow you to actually hear what the other person sounds like while enjoying honest-to-goodness dialogue. Fingers seem to do more walking and mouths less talking these days. We are no longer an oral society. The world of banter, tete-a-tetes and nattering have gone the way of such foods as pineapple upside down cake. (remember those) Mmmmmm……

Pat Blythe: Women of Rock – Part 1

The impetus, for what has now become a series, was my discovery of an old vinyl record by Maggie Bell. I came across it going through one of my many purge cycles. Suicide Sal, released in 1975, was my introduction to the blues….I just didn’t know it then. I wasn’t in the habit of labeling types of music in my younger years, I just knew what I liked. Greg Simpson, who happened to be managing the now defunct Records on Wheels in London, Ontario, recommended the album, thinking I might like it. I loved it and still do. Thank you Greg!