I am a bit sad that I have been spammed here on my blog. Fortunately it is in a post from a few years back and will be ignored, I hope.

I would just delete the post in question but sadly it is the one from three years and a couple months ago where I got the banjo bug. (officially) I watched a DVD of Bela Fleck playing with Edgar Myers and rushed out to Long and McQuade to buy my first set of picks. I remember it clearly; I bumped into the great Hurdy Gurdy player Ben Grossman and told him of my new interest.

Anyways, fast forward 39 months and a few days and now I consider myself a banjo player. In fact next week I have two rehearsals and four gigs in seven days. (all on the banjo)

I feel very fortunate to be part of the local and international banjo community as there are many interesting artists doing great work all over and I live in a city where there are lots of great banjoists too. (Chris Quinn and Chris Coole come to mind first!)

Once I heard a radio feature that pointed out that spam was just another way for people having trouble getting by in North America (often new immigrants) so I feel patience and forgiveness for this part of our world. Also, it allowed me to go back to this point in time and relive and maybe even celebrate my banjo life.

happy days.
tim

Weekends are crazy as a parent. I sometimes don't even feel like a musician when I am home on weekends. It is hockey, birthday parties, cleaning, hockey, birthday parties....Sure it is fun, but hectic. Hence the reason I love Monday mornings. It is not that I am not enjoying all the hectic fun but I really enjoy the switch to a slower gear. Most importantly I head to the basement and practice.

I am super anxious to play my banjo but must get a bit of fiddle in before. Don't forget that Andrew Downing and I are still playing every Monday night at Todo from 9-11pm. Tonight our special guest is Hugh Marsh. Todo is at 217 Ossington just south of Dundas.

Happy Monday!
tim

Today is the day of the hearing regarding the cuts to the Canada Council for the Arts recording grants. Here is the letter I sent off.
-----------------------

To whom it may concern,

Having been on both sides of the Canada Council recording grants as both a juror and an artist receiving the grants I am deeply disturbed by the cuts.

Being a Canadian jazz recording artist has given me the credibility to tour Nationally and Internationally, perform at festivals, teach and generally be a self-sustaining artist making a living through my own creative music.

However, if I had not received the support from the Canada Council I would not have had the opportunity to make a new recording every few years. Through that process I learn about the art of producing, recording, arranging etc. and improve upon these skills each time. Not only are these skills necessary but so are the recordings in order to continue to make a living as a musician in Canada.

Being an artist in a large country like Canada is a challenging way of life to say the least and taking away one piece of the puzzle like this is enough to slow down and perhaps even put a stop to some of our greatest artists.

Being on Canada council juries and seeing how much good music was already not getting funded was a harsh look at the reality of the arts in Canada. This cutback however to zero grants for recording is beyond harsh and should not be part of our reality.

Sincerely,






Tim Posgate
Guildwood Records
422 Shaw St.
Toronto, Ontario
M6J 2X3
416 530-0688


http://www.guildwoodrecords.com

I am starting to take a liking to Tom Allan's voice and sense of humour on Radio two in the mornings. Unfortunately I am having a tough time getting with his music. Although, I know it is not him that chooses it.

I listen to a beautiful Violin Concerto that they are playing now on the show following and wonder why the music can't be this good all morning long. Somehow, for some reason they choose to play a lot of mediocre popular music from Canada.

I am a believer in Can Con but there is so much music being made here that is really good and interesting I don't see how they are choosing theirs. Would you go from Beethoven to Vivaldi to something lousy? In the same way; if you play Bob Dylan, Talking Heads and Radiohead don't follow it up with some new mediocre artist. I have so many friends who are making great music. (unfortunately they don't seem interested in playing instrumental music on that show...very disturbing)

If it doesn't improve soon I will surely move over to Jazz Fm or back to community radio, CIUT or CKLN for my mornings.

I am looking forward to my regular Monday night gig this evening at Todo (on Ossington south of Dundas). Usually it is Andrew Downing on Cello and we have a special guest. Unfortunately Andrew has Chicken Pox.

We are really getting a nice vibe going there with banjo and cello. So fun. Tonight Mike Eckert is playing Dobro and Adrian Gross is playing mandolin and guitar. I guess some might call it jazz grass. Should be a bit of everything. (although I think we will keep it instrumental)

Last night we recorded with the Shinhackers. There is talk of releasing a 45. Yup; a 45rpm. It would be cool, fun, funny, useless, weird and exciting. I always wanted to press some vinyl so this could be my chance.

I do wish I was able to have some second tries on my banjo breaks as I am really not a "one-take" banjoist quite yet. It was a great room for us though. Lenny Solomon bought a house with a huge basement studio with a grand piano, many isolation booths etc. Keep it in mind for Toronto jazz recordings.

Now I am off to the Mac store to see what is up with this laptop.

later gator.

A great part of being a Canadian is the change in the seasons. Sure, I know others get this too but somehow it seems defining for us Hosers. I love the signs of fall that include the beginning of hockey season and the kids back to school. I have already played my first game of the season and the Leafs have their first pre-season game tonight too.

The film festival here in Toronto marks time passing too and I was happy to find out that a studio session I did ended up in the new Atom Egoyan film. I am amazed at how quickly that happens. It was the beginning of summer I did that and here it is on the big screens. I am a fan of Atom's and look forward to seeing it.

He sat beside me at a local cafe recently and although we never met before I asked him if my guitar playing was indeed in the film and he confirmed it for me. (I was also surprised that he would know that, but I guess it is HIS film)

Tonight I am continuing my recent beginnings as a mandolin player and have chosen a tough klezmer tune that I transcribed from a David Grisman/Andy Statman recording. It will be fun to play at Mezzeta with Andrew Downing and David Buchbinder as it has been a long time since I have even been there.

I remember the joy in watching Ed Bickert perform there a number of times.

Don't forget you can hear Andrew Downing on the cello and myself playing the banjo every Monday night at TODO on Ossington just south of Dundas. We play two sets, starting at 9pm.

tim

I always blame my slow blogging on other social networking I do but it is a fact. Twitter, FB etc. take away some of my blogging impetus. You?

Anyways, life continues to roll on down the line. (to quote the Johnny Cash song I am learning) I am really excited that Andrew Downing and I are starting up our Mondays at Todo again. (banjo/cello duets) That will start on Monday Sept 14, 830-llpm.

Todo is on Ossington St. just south of Dundas on the East side.

I am still playing lots of mandolin too and looking forward to some more Shinhackers gigs in the fall before Chay has her baby. (that should slow the band down for at least a couple months!)

I am also excited that I start playing hockey soon and the Leafs are opening training camp pretty soon too. No wonder I love this time of year!

For more regular posts etc. please follow me on twitter: @tposgate or join me on Facebook.

toodaloo!
tim