GWNtertainment #14 – Jaimie Vernon

Jaimie Vernon – GWNtertainment

 

A million years ago (okay, it was 32) I had an idea to start a music magazine to promote Canadian music. The idea didn’t come out of nowhere and there was a catalyst to light the fire. It started as a newsletter in 1989 to promote my rock band Moving Targetz. It was called the M.T. Head Express and was mailed to our fans monthly to let them know about gigs, recordings, and all our shenanigans as a rock band. My ex’s mother, Gail Benson (RIP), said to me one day, “You should expand your news letter to cover other Canadian bands, not just your own.” And, so I did. In early 1990, I launched a 24-page fanzine called Great White Noise Magazine. My ex and I bought a brand new PC with a dot matrix printer for $1320. I had to take out a loan at my credit union to do it. It would take me until 1993 to pay it off!

2020 YEAR-END MUSIC ROUND-UP by Jaimie Vernon

We’re on the final lap of 2020 as we hold our collective breaths anticipating/dreading the upcoming year. Despite the inability to see live music as frequently as many of us would have wanted this year, musicians did what they could to keep cranking out great music to take our minds off of the crap going on in the world. Without further ado here’s the rest of the Christmas tracks and a smattering of new original tunes piling up in my in-box.

Pat Blythe – Summerfolk…Listen!!!…and Music!

Nothing like a good, crackin’ thunderstorm. As I write it rages outside. A torrential downpour. Rain is hammering against the windows. The ferocity and intensity of the wind creates a horizontal sheet of water. Powerful gusts of wind generate waves, pushing them up Kingston Road (which I find amazing since Kingston Road slopes down toward the lake). It will blow through quickly….it’s a violent inversion. Lower temps are in the forecast….and the now the sun comes out.

Pat Blythe – Indie Week — Act II

…..and I’m not completely done yet….. It’s 5:19pm on Tuesday, November 21 and I’m just now starting tomorrow’s posting. It’s going to be a long night……and now we have network/modem problems……SIGH!!!!

Pat Blythe – Classics, Jazz and Blues, 1969….Mix and Match

Again I seem to running in circles while Mother Nature seems to suffer from severe indecisiveness. Dark, ominous clouds roll in, thunder and lightning key up together, sheet rain hits, cue hail and the next thing you know the sun is shining. It’s warm, it’s cool, it’s hot, it’s chilly….make up your mind. I’m not sure if I should be dressing in sandals, sneakers or boots. One thing is for sure, the plants and trees are loving it! So many rich and varied shades of green have been added to the landscape palette and the flowers just enhance it all. For all her varied moods, Mother Nature has created a most beautiful spring. Now, if the weeks would just slow down a bit….

JAIMIE VERNON – IN PRODUCTION

Of late I’ve been finding myself going through my album collection to find something, anything worthwhile to listen to during my 13 ½ hour shifts patrolling cemeteries in Toronto. I’m lucky enough to be driving a current model Dodge Avenger – which is a Dodge Charger on steroids – with a sound system that rocks. It’s fun to toss in a disc while I’m issuing fines to people for letting their dogs piss on tombstones or skiers running rip shod over graves.

Frank Gutch Jr: O Canada: A Nod to The Great White North— (and more of them goddamn notes)

 I am a lost Son of Canada.  I must be.  I love Canadian bacon, though bacon it not really be (except maybe technically).  I love Jennifer Dale, an actor who deserved much more than she has been afforded,  respect-wise (I reveled in her work on Canadian TV and film during Comcast’s all-too-short span of including CTV and CBC on their cable lineups in the ’80s).  I love Due South, one of the most creative and funny-on-so-many-levels series TV has ever created (the transition of Ray to Ray— David Marciano to Callum Keith Rennie— a work of pure writing craftmanship).

Jaimie Vernon: Life’s A Canadian Rock – Part 4

ROCK AND ROLL HIGH SCHOOL

With our induction into first year of high school at West Hill Collegiate in Scarborough, my teen friends and I were determined to keep music first and foremost in our cross-hairs. When we weren’t copping feels of female students during the requisite Leo Sayer slow dance at the school mixers, we were taking in several touring Canadian acts that passed through the school’s auditorium: Nightwinds (featuring future brilliant songwriting brothers Gerald and Terry O’Brien), Zon, Max Webster, Goddo and Triumph to name but a few. As well, we’d occasionally wander off to Records on Wheels music retailer at Morningside Plaza to scour the racks for new 7” single and LP discoveries.