. : : May 15th, 2012 : : .

Amelia Curran is my constant reminder for giving second chances.

The first time I saw her perform, I gave her performance the sole negative review in a show that featured a dozen or more Canadian performers. Admittedly, I saw potential, and (although I wasn’t sure why) went to see her perform at Glenn Gould Studio in the closing weeks of 2010. I was blown away by a beautiful, engaging show.

The next time I saw her perform, opening for Whitehorse a couple of months ago at the Winter Garden Theatre, I thought the performance was good, but leaning more toward serviceable than great. Was I, then, actually enamored with Phil Sedore, the gentleman who accompanied Amelia at the last show at the CBC building?

The theory would be put to the test when I was going to revisit Amelia Curran at the very site I fell in love with her, and revoked all previous statements to the contrary. This time, the singer-songwriter was flying solo, and wouldn’t have another musician to hide behind. I was curious, intrigued, but also confident. The Glenn Gould Studio is, arguably, the best sounding room in Toronto, and with a third row seat, I wasn’t going to have too bad a view, either.

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© Ashley Gibson
(twitter.com/ashleydtl)

      . : : May 10th, 2012 : : .

I’ve long admired Wesley Verhoeve‘s business model for his New York City-based record label, Family Records. One of my favourite practices is a process called cross-pollination. As a fan of the label’s Wakey!Wakey!, I purchased some of their older, hard-to-get (and now sold out, out of production) albums from their website.

Along with instantaneous download to the album while waiting for the postman to do his duty was a link to a digital mix CD, showcasing a song or two of each of the label’s top talents. If I remember correctly, the first song on that mix CD was Pearl And The Beard‘s Voice In My Throat.

I don’t remember if I ever got past that song, simply because I kept playing it on repeat. It wasn’t long before I’d ordered that album, too. Cross-pollination attempt: successful.

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      . : : May 4th, 2012 : : .

Sorry for the quiet last few weeks, chums.

I recently started a new job that requires more time and attention — especially since I’m still learning just how to do it. Fret not for the future of this blog: I intend to keep at it, and have a handful of concerts lined up this month and next, not to mention the still dozens strong backlog of recordings from last fall and winter.

No matter how busy I am, though, I will always drop everything for Kathleen Edwards, who performed on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last Friday. After losing her voice to the rigors of a harsh touring schedule, Kathleen took a couple of weeks off before resuming the aggressive promotional tour supporting her latest album, Voyageur. Upon returning to the road, long time collaborator Jim Bryson was brought back into the fold after going on a short paternity leave. As much as Daniel Ledwell will be missed, it’s nice to have our old friend back.

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