Pat Blythe- Catch up…..Christmas kiboshed…..and music

This week’s column is a bit of a mish mash. It’s been six weeks since my last writing and so much has happened (or not happened)! Where to begin?? Let’s see….another variant tanking Christmas and New Year’s Eve for so many of us; a giant roast turkey all dressed up with nowhere to go; dating my couch; a quiet but lovely New Year’s Eve; Christmas decorations still hanging about, and the storage bins to put away; the closing of “indoor damn near everything”; back to dating my couch, but now we’ve got a threesome going with the fridge…..yep, so much has happened!

Pat Blythe – Hello September…..music news…..and music

September…..the beginning of my favourite time of year. There’s something so crisp and refreshing…..a newness spring doesn’t possess. New jobs, new schools, new grades, new homes, new lives…..September to me has always meant “beginning”. Maybe because it’s the month of my birth, or maybe it’s all the fall colours and brightness of the air, but I always feel inspired and invigorated in the comfortable cool months of fall. Of course, all things pumpkin spice doesn’t hurt either!

Pat Blythe – Keep live alive…..and music

I could continue with the “cymbal saga”, but I think I’ll take a different tact this week….it’s all about the music. Summer is in full swing and coming alive with concerts, both public and private, on both sides of the border. In person or in car, people are attending in droves, almost desperate to see and hear their favourite bands and artists….live and alive. The camaraderie, the faces (both on and off stage), the laughter, the joy, the amps, the earplugs, the dancing, the oxytocin from the many hugs, all those endorphins coming alive, even mic or guitar feedback sounds good these days…..it’s literally impossible to replace any of this over the internet. We all need each other and the “in person” interaction and touch it provides.

Pat Blythe – Suzi Kory….Indie Week….and music

It seems I am perpetually running late these days. I write for Fiverr and never imagined it would get as busy as it has. I’ve been writing brochures, website verbiage, package inserts, “how to” columns, etc. I’ve had to research products and learn how to “do things” and then write about them. So far, so good. It’s all on a timer….you have so many days to deliver your finished product and if you’ve agreed to revisions, they have to be done within the agreed upon time. When you receive multiple “gig” orders all due at the approximately the same time it’s a bit of a panic. So…….here I am…….late again. (sigh) Super, super short but…..this, DBAWS, is one writing “gig” I never want to give up.

Peter’s Advice on Finding the Music and Spreading the Word

Music is omnipresent in our world, and sadly, it is far too tempting to judge the current level of musical proficiency by what gets rammed down our throats on a regular basis. Mainstream radio, the media, even commercials, these all purport to “spread the gospel” of contemporary music to the uninitiated, or at least, to those who want others to do their thinking for them and to dictate their taste.

Peter Plies the Indie Tides

Funny how symmetrical Life is. Nearly a year ago, in a column about indie music, I mentioned how ubiquitous the genre is, and stated that someone would probably send me a video of a North Korean death metal group. “indie week” 2018 has just ended…….and a South Korean pop band won “Best Of The Fest”. Eerie, I would say.

Pat Blythe – London Bluesfest — Savoy Brown, Foghat, Mark Farner…..and Music!

I’m leaving my personal thoughts and musings to the end time……I’m still catching up with the summer and all the wonderful music I heard, the people I met and all those little moments in between.

So….starting with London Bluesfest….my inner teenager was agog, amazed and humbled by the lineup this year. Performers I never had a chance to see and performers that brought back some wonderful memories. I arrived in London on the Friday, just in time to pick up my badge, connect with friend Elaine Sawyer (whose company Wich is Wich was catering the event) and catch Savoy Brown and Foghat.

Pat Blythe: Solstice, Petty and Beer

The days are just flying by and we’ve already reached the longest day of the year. Now the days start to get just a teeny, tiny bit shorter but we don’t start to notice it until sometime late August….it just kinda creeps up on you. And so the cycle continues. I contend the longest day shouldn’t be until summer is over but that’s a discussion I need to have with Mother Nature and quite, frankly, I think she’s a little pissed with how we’ve been treating Gaia. I’ll hold off for another day