Archive for John Rowlands

GWNtertainment #6 by Jaimie Vernon

Posted in life, music, Opinion, Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 15, 2021 by segarini

Well, here we are, half a dozen issues into our rebirth and we’re getting great feedback from the masses. Thank you for reading and thanks for the time you’ve taken to write to use with your new releases and news. The theme in this week’s issue seems to be a leaning toward synth-pop. A coincidence or are we on the verge of a 1980s synth renaissance? Check out the tunes in our Absolutely Indie section below and see for yourself. Anyway, it’s onward we go….

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

Posted in Opinion, Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2018 by segarini

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.

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Pat Blythe – The Weather, a Wedding, a Toast to Sarah Smith

Posted in Opinion, Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2017 by segarini

Well…..it’s confirmed. Mother Nature has definitely got the time of the year completely messed but who’s complaining. It was an absolutely perfect day for an outdoor wedding last Friday. Sunny, gorgeous, colourful….we could not have been blessed with a better day. Sam Taylor sang his heart out, entertaining the guests as they were seated, serenading the bride as she cruised down the aisle and again during cocktails. The guests were raving about him and his voice well into the evening. A very well documented wedding it was with two official photographers (not including me….I wasn’t ‘official’) and three videographers. They all made sure every teeny tiny moment was captured, including a few late-night wipeouts on the dance floor. The younger set were thoroughly enjoying themselves. My niece Annie and her new husband Jesse are chilling out in Montego Bay as I type this. This spectacular weather remains with us until September 25 (how fortuitous!) and then apparently Fall is due to arrive, albeit a few days late….temperature wise anyway.

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Pat Blythe – Canadian Music Week 2017….The Finale

Posted in Opinion, Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 17, 2017 by segarini

Before I pick up where I left off prior to Bob’s computer turning into a brick, I shall sidestep a titch and segue, for just a moment, into sessions. Yes…those relatively educational, supposedly non-biased, informative, enlightening, seminars/panel discussions or summits, as CMW refers to them. This is the core stuff delegates are actually paying for when they purchase a ticket. I listed the several different streams one can chose from in last week’s column, so I shan’t bore you with the details here. However, suffice to say, there is loads of opportunity to learn as well as “button hole” and query those with a cumulative hundreds of years of experience, and educate yourself in everything that is the entertainment industry. From Mentor’s Cafe to SOCAN, from touring to ticketing, from writing, producing and publishing to understanding Indie labels and Indie rights….and that’s just the music stream.

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Roxanne Tellier – Canadian Music Week 2017

Posted in Opinion, Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 30, 2017 by segarini

My CMW is always a little bit different than most other people’s. Some go for the conferences, some are all about the music. Still others go for the trade show and the mentoring. But me – I go to people watch.

Like, on the first day I hit the Sheraton, to pick up my pass and get the lay of the land. Some people were looking for their friends, or checking out those who tend to get their names in newspaper bold face …  Me, I was in the lobby of the crowded Sheraton Hotel, watching a young male couple dress their teensy tiny pocket puppy in all new Hudson’s Bay swag.

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Pat Blythe – What a Rush!

Posted in Opinion, Review with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 26, 2015 by segarini

little-red-headed-dancing-girl

OMG!!! I can barely contain myself from bouncing around in my seat. There is not one part of my body that is not vibrating. Finally, unencumbered by my theatre seat, the urge gives way to pure, uninhibited “singing and dancing in the aisles”. I just about vaulted over my seatmate beside me to rush the stage and boogie up a storm. It is so liberating to let it just take over. What an encore!!!! Thankfully, my good friend and date for the evening, Pat Kelly, encourages this irrational behaviour. Gotta love him.

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