Pat Blythe – Busy busy…..and just a few tunes

It’s Tuesday…..writing day. Today’s column is short…..very short. I’m taking my writing time to cogitate, reflect and sort. I’m excited to have just published my 20^th episode of The Pandemic Interviews. I’m teaching, designing, programming, writing, editing and now podcasting. I’m considering bringing back the Back Deck Concert Series, am in the process of having my front lawn dug up and “converted” into a garden, and waiting for travel to open up so I can begin to plan (and book) my trip back to England this year. Sorting out the house lurks in the background. I have no shortage of projects…..things to do. All self-imposed (well except for the telecom work) including most deadlines…..I do like to be busy, but it’s getting a bit crazy busy.

Pat Blythe – 365 Days …and Music!

When this column posts it will be exactly 365 days to the date the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. It’s been 365 days since the entire planet turned upside down, essentially transforming life as we knew it. There have been massive upsides and downsides, upheavals and confusion, disruptions and adjustments. As much as I have an intense dislike for the phrase “new normal”, that’s what we’re experiencing and there is no turning back. So, whether we like it or not, here we are.

Pat Blythe – The music melting pot…….and music

We all seem to have a penchant for “the good old days”…..those seemingly free and easy days of the 60s and 70s. Thing is, they really were…..free and easy. Oh, they weren’t perfect. People had their personal challenges but the music, oh the music.

There was a special kind of ambience, a unique kind of camaraderie among the artists. It was an exceptional time and it was happening everywhere. The music sonic boom of 60s was taking place on both sides of the ocean. There’s been a cavalcade of books and documentaries written and produced about the artists themselves and the influences they and their music have on us all today, and will continue to for generations to come. It was the perfect storm of change culminating in Woodstock in 1969, propelling us full speed ahead into the 70s.

Pat Blythe – Sounds Like Toronto…..and music

There’s been much written about the vibrancy of Yonge Street, particularly beginning in the late 50s to its eventual winding down during the mid to late 80s. Clubs like the Brown Derby, The Colonial Tavern, Club Blue Note, Town Tavern, Le Coq d’Or, Steeles Tavern, Friars Tavern, Hawk’s Nest, The Zanzibar, Silver Rail…..graduating to The Gasworks, Piccadilly Tube, Nickelodeon, Hard Rock Cafe and many others. All gone, except the memories. The jazz and blues, the beginning of the Toronto Sound, rock, disco and punk invasions, the Yonge St. Mall…..

Pat Blythe – The Pandemic Interviews – Conversations in a changing time…..and music

Tuesday, January 26 at 6:01am my first podcast was posted on Podbean. It’s been a work in progress since last May….well technically last August/September. Let me ‘splain…..