New Years Eve 2003 – Edmonton, AB

We flew back to Edmonton for a News Years gig. There was a B.C. ferry strike for a few days over the winter (not good for tourism, folks) and this freaked us out enough for Scott and I to book flights from the Comox airport (on Vancouver Island) direct to Edmonton. What a miracle of modern science!!!!!! No ferry, no drive to the airport. I am talking about hours of time saved!

So, Scott and I got to the airport in Edmonton in time to wait for the rest of the band and crew to arrive. Unfortunately, there was snow in Vancouver, and West Jet ran out of De-Icer for the wings, so the flights out of Vancouver were totally delayed. So, the guys didn’t show up for several hours, and Scott and I spent the day, and the following day, walking around and reading books in the Edmonton airport. I was ok with this. We were out-of-town for 2 days, so whether we spend it in a hotel room or on an airport bench, it all works out the same in the end. Right?

The Edmonton show was very decent; we made it home with a breeze. There was one fool working for WestJet who wanted to charge me a whack of $$$$$$$$$$ to have my keyboard on the plane, so I talked to a different check-in person, and he put Scott’s bass onto a plane going somewhere else. Scott and I drove back in the rain from Comox to Nanaimo, without his bass. It went to Vancouver, was found, and then sent to Calgary, and then Edmonton and then back to Comox, and then a courier brought it home to Scott. Scott said they were quite nice about it, including two $50-off coupons.

January 31, 2004 – Vancouver BC

We basically took 2 months off for the winter. There was national news about the snowstorms in the Maritime Provinces, and we stayed close to home, doing about one show per month. One that stands out to me was the corporate gig at the Bayshore Hotel ballroom in Vancouver for the Canadian Homebuilders Association. This is a great waterfront hotel where Howard Hughes spent some of his last years, looking out the window and watching the seaplanes land. You know, I always wanted to stay at the Bayshore.

Scott, his wife and daughter shared a big room with Tracy and I, and I sat in bed watching the seaplanes land. Our Lighting Director from the summer tour was there, Gary, full of fun and good technical stories about the film school he is attending. The production of the gig was fabulous! A total white stage with big spandex sails over aluminum frames as a backdrop. There were cameramen and 4 high-powered projectors onto big screens. A gigantic modern PA system, big crowd of millionaires, and about 20 people running all the different rigs of boards and switching stations. Quite exciting! I love playing, knowing that everything looks and sounds amazing. There was some gourmet food and tea backstage as well, and one cameraman was a student for Korea, so we discussed spiritual stuff. He said that Korea has some very very old religions, and that his mother is a master of meditation. His religion is simply called Korean Religion, in English, and I guess no one has ever bothered to make up a name for it to suit our cultural needs. Neat guy. I made a couple of decent sandwiches to bring up to the room later for Tracy, who was sleeping in her PJs.

HOME………….

All the lots that we looked at when we were in the market on Protection Island have sold, except one swampy one that is not very good. In fact, everything sells so fast now that anything that does come up doesn’t even make it to the website. Seriously…look! http://www.protectionisland.ca/

HA! Made you look!

Tracy and lent our mellotron http://www.mellotron.com/ to Monte Nordstrom http://www.islandnet.com/monte/ a while back. He recorded his new album and had a release party up Island, invited us, and we had a great time. It was a potluck happy situation, and WOW there was everything there from Indian, Mexican and Japanese food, great people, and oh yes, wonderful music as well. Monte is one of the nicest guys in Canadian rock and certainly deserving of the success that he gets, and will get from his honest music, this one recorded on several different continents.

OK…..Oh I have a funny one. I got called for jury duty. So, I went downtown to the Sheriff’s office and tried to explain to a HUGE grey-haired cop-looking guy in a bulletproof vest, “I would LOVE to be on the jury, but I will have to go on the road with a band! It is a real band, kinda like a show band that employs 8 guys on the road, and I just HAVE to be there….” And on and on I went.

The big scary Sheriff said, “You don’t know who I am do you?”

“No,” I answered, honestly.

“Donny Stephenson….” He continued.

“Dunno…” I felt a bit awkward.

“Roulette, Broadstreet……….”  He hinted at his true identity.

OH MY GOD! This is the guy who played keyboards in these early Nanaimo bands that I used to go and see when I was underage. He had a Hammond B3 with diamond tuft, a clavinet, Rhodes, Roland Jupiter4…“You’re the guy who showed me how to program my Dx7!” He smiled.

He knew all about me playing with Trooper and was just having some fun with me. The court case in question had already been settled, and I asked him what he did before Roulette and Broadstreet. “Well, I graduated in 1965 and played with……..” he told me this amazing story that outlined the entire modern history of live Rock and Roll on Vancouver Island. This was great, except that I was parked in a bad illegal spot, in front of the courthouse with Tracy waiting in the car. She understood. What a great gal I have!

So, the time off at home was well spent. I never had to convict any murdering thieves, and we slowed-down on the lot leveling when it got too cold. Parts of the ocean actually froze! Amazing. I also learned how to make homemade ice cream, and if I do say so, have become the MASTER! It is so easy if you have one of those crank machines from the ‘70s like the one I got for Christmas at the Church Bizarre. Ever since the first season of The Waltons in the mid ‘70s, I have wanted to make real ice cream, like they did on their porch. If anyone has any interesting recipes, I am always happy to hear about it.

Tracy and I started the restoration of the funky 1954 boat, chipped away at a “to-do” list, practiced piano a lot, recorded a bit, and got some new Super groovy drum and bass tracks on the go with Scott and drummer Billy Hicks. Billy has 3 houses where he cares for adults with head injuries. A couple of his clients sit in with us during the sessions and show us artwork and tell stories during the breaks. Billy is a pretty darn compassionate guy, and one of the greatest drummers on Earth. I am so lucky to be in the company of such great players, on and off of the road.

It is a little bit tricky to arrange the actual recording times, because it must fit the schedules of the musicians, and also of the availability of the drum mics, stands, cables, headphone system, and other digital audio recorder. I synch 2 Roland vs-60-80s together now for 32 tracks. I am the engineer on these sessions, and I am getting better at getting the perfect drum sound. The secret, if you are wondering, is use REALLY good, specialized overhead mics for the drums and the cymbals and high hats will not be harsh. They must sound golden. It is funny to think that people usually spend at least a day mixing the drums, if not a week, and all I do is plug the mics in, check for no red-lining (distortion) and press record.

It has been a year since my Dad passed away, and we are all adjusting well. Tracy really misses him a lot. They were quite close and he kept her company a lot when I was away. He would tell her things that he didn’t tell other people, about his life and the stuff that troubled him. I miss him a lot as well, of course. Did I ever mention my dream? About a month after he died, he was in my dream, just as a voice saying, “Don’t worry about me! I’m fine!” The voice was definitely his, but it was him in his 30s, full of confidence, and almost a bit arrogant, like he is laughing off the suggestion that anyone would worry about him!

I have read somewhere that a person may spend eternity, or whatever part of the afterlife, as the person they once were, at their peak of life. If there is anything to that, I would suggest that my Dad was probably at his peak of health, happiness and potential at about 30, before he got married and had a bunch of responsibility. I write this at the risk of disrespecting his good intentions and actions towards his family, career and friends for more than the last half of his life. The truth will set us all free.

I’m sure that I mentioned that my dad was one of the people who developed the subdivision which became the community on my beloved Protection Island, and that he did a lot of the bulldozing, including the entire gallows point area and beach. So, I am reminded of him every time I step ashore. It’s funny how there are some elitists on the Island who have lived there for a few years, fear the changes that are happening; question me about where I live and how long I have been on Protection Island. I keep good humour with these snobs. I know that Islands are all quite political, and that I am a Prince, because my Dad wore his pirate suit in 1959, when the whole place was forest, rock and sand.

So, the time off at home was excellent and productive. A bit of our local harbour at home actually formed ice for a few days, which was trippy.

Tracy and I went to a Neil young concert at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver. Our good friend Nancy Hall, from Pacifica California http://www.maskproject.com/gallery1999/maskmakers/nancy_hall.html was singing background vocals, and she had arranged a 4-piece girl group from her array of top vocal students. Some highlights of the 2 days (rehearsal day and show day…)

1) Hanging out in one of the 8 tour busses that run on vegetable oil

2) Hanging out with Randy Bachman and seeing how healthy he is these days.

3) Meeting Neil and seeing how REAL and nice he is.

4) Dancing and acting as an extra in the stage show Greendale.

5) Hearing the wonderful new album http://www.neilyoung.com/greendale_frames.html

(Click on LISTEN…best song Bandit).

6) Riding on our new fast ferry, back and forth http://www.harbourlynx.com/

Everyone involved in the show (huge amount of people) are soooooo pro, so heavy and so nice. Neil’s wife is super nice, and his son Zeke; a recording engineer is also lots of fun. I really like these people a lot, and missed them after spending 2 days eating their amazing private catering, (they bring their own staff and cooking facilities) staying at the Four Seasons and listening to hours and hours of music. One thing that struck me as extremely cool. Neil has a big anvil wardrobe case in his backstage room FULL of those plaid shirts and old ball caps that he wears. A big rack of that stuff. When I saw that I knew THIS GUY IS SO REAL! He listens to this great old raunchy black-cowboy bluesy music. These folks spend all day, well, from 4 pm until after the show in the venue. They LIVE in the hotels, busses, planes and venues. Kinda like Trooper, except we spend less time in the venues.

There was really no booze at the gig. There was a HUGE fridge FULL of any type of juice, soy mile, and fancy coffees and teas like I have never seen, and I have seen a lot of tea!

I am the total Neil Young fan, now, always have been really and have the deepest respect for the guy and everyone involved with him and his music. And I am so proud of our friend Nancy for having such great friends, and so grateful to be invited. I thanked Neil for having us and he gave me the classic smile and “you’re  welcome.” He liked the Protection Island stories.